Comfortable Australian Open starts for Nadal, Williams
World No 1 Rafael Nadal will take on Bolivian Hugo Dellien in the Australian Open first round next week while Serena Williams faces Anastasia Potapova in her quest for a 24th Grand Slam title.
The Spaniard is attempting to match Roger Federer’s record 20 Grand Slam singles titles on his least favourite surface, having won in Melbourne just once, back in 2009.
Australian Nick Kyrgios could be waiting for him in the fourth round, the draw revealed Thursday.
Defending champion Novak Djokovic will start his bid to lift a record eighth Australian Open title against Jan-Lennard Struff.
The Serb had a fine 2019, winning five titles including at Melbourne Park and Wimbledon on the way to ending the year as No 2, behind only Nadal.
Fresh from helping his country win the ATP Cup, he will start his drive to extend his incredible Melbourne run – he holds a 68-8 record – against a German who crashed at the first hurdle last year.
Djokovic could meet Greek
Former world welterweight champion Danny Garcia is looking at Manny Pacquiao and Errol Spence in a bid to reclaim the throne, provided he gets past Ukrainian Ivan Redkach next week.
If Garcia defeats Redkach on January 25 at the Barclays Centre, he would be in line to fight World Boxing Council and International Boxing Federation champion Spence (26-0 with 21 knockouts).
But Garcia has also been mentioned as a possible next foe for Filipino icon Manny Pacquaio (62-7 with two drawn and 39 knockouts), the World Boxing Association champion at 147 pounds (66.7kg), and the 31-yearold US fighter fancies his odds against either reigning champion.
“I feel like my style is dangerous for both Spence and Pacquiao,” Garcia said. “For Errol, I see he likes to stand in front of his opponents and he isn’t the hardest guy to hit.
“With Manny, I feel like my counter punching and style would young gun Stefanos Tsitsipas in the last eight.
The ageless Federer, 38, is up against American Steve Johnson in the third quarter of the men’s draw as he targets a seventh Australian Open title, winning his last in 2018.
Williams, who is seeking to match Australian Margaret Court’s record 24 major singles titles, gets underway against 90th ranked Russian Potapova with a potential quarterfinal against defending champion Naomi Osaka.
Seeded eight, she heads into the tournament on the back of ending a three-year title drought by winning the Auckland Classic. She is gunning for an eighth Australian crown and her first Slam title since Melbourne in 2017.
Her sister Venus has a blockbuster first round clash against exciting young American Coco Gauff, with the winner potentially facing Osaka in the third round.
Third seed Osaka starts her title defence against Marie Bouzkova.
Garcia eyes Pacquiao, Spence in bid to regain crown
also be hard for him. So, I like my chances against both of them.”
Pacquiao, 41, took a 12-round split decision over Keith Thurman last July in Las Vegas to capture the WBA crown.
For the moment, Garcia (35-2 with 21 knockouts) must concentrate on southpaw Redkach, 23-4 with one drawn and 18 knockouts.