Australian Open Draw 2024: Can anyone stop Djokovic from Winning his 11th Title?

The 2024 Australian Open is just three days away, and the draw was unveiled on Thursday at 1 pm AEDT.

Aside from the opening stanza, which contains plenty of exciting matchups, the main intrigue is who can stop Novak Djokovic from winning an unprecedented 11th Australian Open title after his incredible 2023 season.

The Serb will ease into his title defence with a Qualifier or Lucky Loser, but further down the line, the likes of Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, Daniil Medvedev and Holger Rune amongst others, hope to have a hand in taking out the number one seed.

Read on for a full breakdown of the 2024 Australian Open draw, including Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz’s paths to the final, plus some matchups to look out for in the first week.

Tournament Info

Australian Open 2024 Seeds

1. Novak Djokovic (SRB)
2. Carlos Alcaraz (ESP)
3. Daniil Medvedev (RUS)
4. Jannik Sinner (ITA)
5. Andrey Rublev (RUS)
6. Alexander Zverev (GER)
7. Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE)
8. Holger Rune (DEN)
9. Hubert Hurkacz (POL)
10. Alex de Minaur (AUS)
11. Casper Ruud (NOR)
12. Taylor Fritz (USA)
13. Grigor Dimitrov (BUL)
14. Tommy Paul (USA)
15. Karen Khachanov (RUS)
16. Ben Shelton (USA)
17. Frances Tiafoe (USA)
18. Nicolas Jarry (CHI)
19. Cameron Norrie (GBR)
20. Adrian Mannarino (FRA)
21. Ugo Humbert (FRA)
22. Francisco Cerundolo (ARG)
23. Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (ESP)
24. Jan-Lennard Struff (GER)
25. Lorenzo Musetti (ITA)
26. Sebastian Baez (ARG)
27. Felix Auger-Aliassime (CAN)
28. Tallon Griekspoor (NED)
29. Sebastian Korda (USA)
30. Tomas Martin Etcheverry (ARG)
31. Alexander Bublik (KAZ)
32. Jiri Lehecka (CZE)

2024 Australian Open Draw

Top Half

Bottom Half

Full PDF printable draw. Qualifiers to be added.

Thoughts on the Draw

Number one seed Novak Djokovic landed in the top half of the draw, and he’ll start against a Qualifier.

That should be a comfortable outing, but at least some capable opponents like Lloyd Harris and Alex Molcho could make the main draw.

]Talented Croatian Dino Prizmic is also in with a shot of making his first-ever Grand Slam Main draw, which would be a fun first round for the Balkan pair.

Round 2 is likely the heavy-hitting Alexei Popyrin, who has the game to do damage but probably lacks the consistency over five sets to sustain it.

Much of the tennis media are building up round three as a potential blockbuster against Andy Mur. Still, we all know, at best, the Brit will struggle through the opening rounds in five sets only to come up short physically should he meet Novak. He also faces Etcheverry in the opening round, which isn’t straightforward.

The fourth round could then see a rematch of one of last year’s most talked-about matches, or at least the celebration aspect of it, as Ben Shelton is his seeded opponent. Shelton is currently playing in Auckland after losing early in Brisbane and is starting against Bautista-Agut, who hasn’t been in great form lately.

Mannarino is also in this section and is a tricky customer for all comers; he starts against former champion Stan Wawrinka who’s not played since getting injured at the end of last year.

Djokovic’s Potential Path

The bottom quarter of the top half is the more loaded of the two sections with Sinner, Rublev, Tsitsipas, Fritz and the in form de Minaur in this section.

The fourth-seeded Italian opted out of playing any warm-up events, instead arriving relatively early in Melbourne to practice.

Based on Sinner’s exploits at the back end of last season, he’s rightfully the third favourite for the tournament behind Djokovic and Alcaraz. However, I’m not a huge fan of not playing a tournament in Australian conditions before the tournament.

Rublev or de Minaur are his potential quarter-final opponents, with Khacahnov and Tiafoe’s potential hindrances in round 16.

Carlos Alcaraz slotted in as the second seed in the bottom half and has a reasonably tricky draw. First up for him is veteran Richard Gasquet, who has just dropped out of the top 100 for the first time since 2005. That should be straightforward.

Dan Evans could be his opponent in round two, and the pair have played some highly entertaining matches. Evo needs to overcome Sonego, though, which is far from straightforward.

In the fourth round, last year’s semi-finalist, Tommy Paul, is the seeded opponent. Jack Draper is also in this section, and he beat Paul earlier today at the Adelaide International.

A quarter-final could then pit the Spaniard against my dark horse, Alexander Zverev. I was impressed by the German’s game at the United Cup as he didn’t play his absolute best tennis but ground out some significant victories.

If he can fuse that mentality with his best ball striking, he’ll be one to watch. Although he’ll have to block out the attempted derailment from the woke crowd who claim ‘we need to talk about Zverev and the allegations’. No, we don’t. 

Casper Ruud is Zverev’s likely quarter-final opponent, and he had a very nice run at the United Cup, winning his three singles matches in straight sets, so that could be an entertaining match should it happen.

Daniil Medvedev is the third seed in the bottom half’s upper quarter. Like Sinner, he opted to take an extended off-season with no lead in tournaments. Again, I wouldn’t say I like that move, but we’ll see if it works for him.

Rune is also in this quarter, and he looked much sharper making the final in Brisbane, so I expect him to perform well even without Becker in his corner, who’s not accompanying him in Melbourne. 

The man who beat Rune in the Brisbane final is also in this section, Grigor Dimitrov. The Bulgarian has played some of his best tennis recently, and many expect him to carry that into Melbourne Park.

I’m unsure, as a letdown often follows an emotional title win. However, he’s had a week to get back to business and knows he can play well down under, coming within a whisker of beating Nadal back in the 2017 semi-finals.

Alcaraz’s Potential Path

Interesting First-Round Matches

Who do you have winning the 2024 Australian Open? Let me know your picks in the comments.