Djokovic-Sinner half, Alcaraz with Medvedev

The Australian Open draw ceremony was held on Thursday afternoon at Melbourne Park. If the seeds hold to form, the semifinals will be Novak Djokovic vs. Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz vs. Daniil Medvedev.

It’s an all-around interesting–although not necessarily difficult–road to an 11th Aussie Open title for Djokovic. The top-ranked Serb could face Andy Murray or Gael Monfils in round three and potentially Stan Wawrinka in the last 16. Of course, Ben Shelton is a more likely opponent than Wawrinka at that stage of the tournament. Djokovic infamously defeated Shelton in the U.S. Open semifinals this past summer.

Sinner’s path to a possible semifinal showdown with Djokovic gets underway with Botic van de Zandschulp on the other side of the net. The fourth-ranked Italian has an overall favorable draw that is likely to include either Karen Khachanov or Frances Tiafoe in the fourth round and either Andrey Rublev, Alex de Minaur, or Sebastian Korda in the quarters.

The bottom half of the bracket appears to be of similar quality. Carlos Alcaraz is in a section with Alexander Zverev, Casper Ruud, Tommy Paul, Cameron Norrie, and Jack Draper. Medvedev’s quarter features Holger Rune, Hubert Hurkacz, Grigor Dimitrov, Ugo Humbert, and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.

Possible quarterfinal matchups are Djokovic vs. Stefanos Tsitsipas, Sinner vs. Rublev, Medvedev vs. Rune, and Alcaraz vs. Zverev.

First-rounders to watch include Sinner vs. Van de Zandschulp, Tsitsipas vs. Matteo Berrettini, Shelton vs. Roberto Bautista Agut, Dimitrov vs. Marton Fucsovics, De Minaur vs. Milos Raonic, Murray vs. Tomas Martin Etcheverry, Wawrinka vs. Adrian Mannarino, Tiafoe vs. Borna Coric, Felix Auger-Aliassime vs. Dominic Thiem, and Dan Evans vs. Lorenzo Sonego.