Australia Open Draw - top 32 seeded players

The draw is at present as follows:-

1       Danill Medvedev

2       Alexander Zverev

3       Stefanos Tsitsipas

4       Andrey Rublev

5       Rafael Nadal

6       Matteo Berrettini

7       Casper Ruud

8       Felix Auger-Aliassime

9       Hubert  Hurkacz

10      Jannik Sinner

11    Cameron Norrie

12     Diego Schwartzman

13     Dennis Shapovalov

14     Roberto Bautista-Agut

15     Cristian Garin

16     Gael Monfils

17     Aslan Karatsev

19     Taylor Fritz

20     Nikoloz Basilashvili 

21    John Isner

22     Reilly Opelka

23     Daniel Evans

24     Lorenzo Sonego

25     Grigor Dimitrov

26     Matin Cilic

27     Karen Khachanov

28     Hugo  Humbert

29      Lloyd Harris

30     Carlos Alcaraz

31    Alec de Minaur

32    Alexander Bublik

The above is the provisional seeded players.   It can change  if the Aussie Government goes ballistic when it comes to the world's most well-known anti-vaxxer Djokovic.   

64 of the matches has been played in the qualification round and the next Round of 32 matches are set for tomorrow and the final 16 qualification matches will be played on  Friday.

Once the seedings and draws are announced I would give a breakdown of 

*   how the seeded players are divided between the top and bottom halves of the draw;

*   and the match-ups  of all games to be played in Round 1

  I will update as soon as the final draw is available.   

Insofar as qualification is concerned  all 64 round 1 qualifying matches involving 128 players have been completed - and 24 of the 32  qualifying matches - involving 64 players has also been completed.   That will mean the qualifying m atches will all be completed  on  Friday.   

We will only on Saturday get the full match schedule and will then be certain whether Djokovic and Tsitsipas will in fact be playing.      

The draw is finalized and the matchups in Round 1 are as follows:-

Top Half of the  Draw

4       Andrey Rublev                     vs     Gianluka Mager

Miomir Kecmanovic                    vs      Salvatore Caruso

Tommy Paul                                vs       Mikhail Kukushkin

Oscar Otte                                   vs       Chun  Tseng

24     Lorenzo Sonego                 vs       Sam Quarrey

32     Alexander Bublik               vs       Federico Cordia

Salvatore  Caruso                        vs       Ernesto Escobedo

Federico Delbonis                       vs       Pedro Marinez

15      Cristian Garin                    vs       Facundo Bagnis

11      Cameron Norrie                 vs       Sebastian Korda

Corentin Moutet                          vs       Lucas Pouille

Fabio Fognini                              vs       Tallon Griekspoor

18      Pablo Correro-Busta         vs        Tomas Etscheverry

30      Carlos Alcaraz                   vs        Alejandro Tabilo

Dusan Lajovic                             vs       Marcos  Fucsovics 

Stefan Kozlov                              vs      Jiri Vesely

6        Matteo Berrettini              vs        Brandon Nakashima  

2         Alexander Zverev              vs      Daniel Altmaier

Feliciano Lopez                            vs      John Millman

Yoshihito Nishioka                       vs      Radu Albot

29     Lloyd Harris                        vs       Aleksandar Vukic

22    Reilly Opelka                       vs       Kevin  Anderson

Dominik  Koepfer                        vs       Carlos Taberner

Soonwoo Kwon                            vs       Holger Rune

13    Denis Shapovalov                 vs      Laslo Djere

9      Hubert Hurkacz                     vs      Egot Gerasimov

James Duckworth                          vs      Adrian Mannarino

Mackenszie McDonald                  vs      Nikola  Milojevic

17     Aslan Karatsev                      vs       Jaume Munar

27     Karen Khachanov                  vs      Denis Kudla

Benjamin Bonzi                              vs      Peter Gojowczyk

Thanasi Kokkinakis                        vs     Yannik Hanfmann

5     Rafael   Nadal                          vs      Marcos Giron

Bottom Half of the Draw

7     Casper Ruud                            vs       Alex Molcan

Ilya Ivashka                                    vs       Pablo Andujar-Alba

Andreas Seppi                                vs       Kamil Majchrzak

31    Alec de Minaur                       vs       Lorenzo Musetti

20    Nikoloz Bashilashvili             vs       Andy Murray

Taro Daniel                                     vs       Tomas Barrios

Steve Johnson                                 vs       Jordan  Thompson

10    Jannik Sinner                           vs       Joao  Sousa

14    Roberto Bautista-Agut            vs       Stefano Travaglia

Philipp Kohlschreiber                    vs        Marco Cecchinato

Frances Tiafoe                                vs        Marco Trungelliti

19    Taylor Fritz                            vs        Maximilian Martener

25     Grigor  Dimtrov                     vs         Jiri Lehecka

Benoit Paire                                    vs        Thiago Monteiro

Sebastian Baez                               vs         Albert Ramos-Vinolas

 3       Stefanos   Tsitsipas               vs        Mikael Ymer

16     Gael Monfils                           vs      Gianluca Mager

 Roberto Carballes  Baena              vs        Ricardas Berankis

Timofey Skatov                             vs        Norbert Gombos

26       Marin Cilic                         vs        Emilio  Gomez

23     Daniel Evans                        vs        David Goffin

Alexei Popyrin                              vs        Arthur Rinderknech

Alejandro Davidovich Fokina       vs        Alex Bolt

8       Felix  Auger-Aliassime         vs        Emil Vuusuvuori

12     Diego Schwartzman              vs        Filip Krajinovic

 Christopher O'Connell                  vs        Hugo Gaston

Juan Manual Cerundelo                 vs        Tomas Machac

21    Johm Isner                              vs        Maxime Cressy

28    Ugo Humbert                          vs        Richard Gasquet

Botic  van de Zandzschulp             vs        Jan-Lennard Struff

Nic Kyrgios                                    vs        Liam Broady

1      Danill Medvedev                    vs        Henri Laaksonen                                              

Those games without opponents will be qualifiers to be added on Saturday.   There are only 16 players to qualify - others will be lucky losers.   

The fact is that Djokovic's name has already been deleted from the  list of matches scheduled in the draw and the chances of him playing is indeed remote.   I have to change the above seedings accordingly - but am waiting for the changes to the draw to be confirmed.   

All the 16 qualifying matches have  already been completed.    The main draw included Nic Kyrgios - but he has already indicated his withdrawal from the Open .   

So all 16 qualifiers will be included in the main draw  plus 2 lucky losers.       

All the qualifiers have been updated - the only problem remaining is the Djokovic saga 

All the qualifiers have been updated.   Tennis Australia just brought on board Salvatore Caruso to replace Djokovic - the rest of the draw became a nightmare and the following changes have been made:-

*    Rublev will replace Djokovic at the top of the draw and play Kecmanovic;

*     Rublev's place to play Mager,  will now be Monfils

*    Alexander Bublik will now play Federico Coria

*    The resultant vacancy to be filled by a Lucky Loser, namely Salvatore Caruso - who will play Escebedo.

I hope I have got it right.    Instead of moving th remaining top 4 seeds they only moved Rublev from the Bottom Half of the Draw to the Upper Half of the draw and made some resul tant moves as a result.   

The first matches will start at 02:00 SA Time tomorrow.   The most interesting match starting at 02:00 will involve Carlos Alcaraz - the 18 year old seeded player.        

ROUND 2

The draw is finalized and the matchups in Round 2 are as follows:-

Top Half of the  Draw

Tommy Paul                                vs       Miomir Kecmanovic 

24     Lorenzo Sonego                 vs      Oscar Otte     

16     Gael Monfils                       vs     32     Alexander Bublik

15      Cristian Garin                    vs       Pedro Martinez 

Sebastian Korda                          vs       Corentin Moutet

18      Pablo Correro-Busta          vs       Tallon Griekspoor

30      Carlos Alcaraz                    vs       Dusan Lajovic

6        Matteo Berrettini                 vs      Stefan Kozlov 

2         Alexander Zverev              vs      John Millman

Aleksandar Vukic                         vs      Radu Albot

22    Reilly Opelka                        vs      Dominik  Koepfer

13    Denis Shapovalov                 vs      Soonwoo Kwon 

9      Hubert Hurkacz                     vs      Adrian Mannarino

17     Aslan Karatsev                      vs        Mackenszie McDonald 

27     Karen Khachanov                  vs      Benjamin Bonzi

5       Rafael   Nadal                        vs      Yannik Hanfmann

Bottom Half of the Draw

Alex Molcan                                  vs       Pablo Andujar-Alba

31    Alec de Minaur                       vs       Kamil Majchrzak

Andy Murray                                  vs        Taro Daniel

 10    Jannik Sinner                         vs       Steve Johnson 

14    Roberto Bautista-Agut            vs       Philipp Kohlschreiber        

19    Taylor Fritz                            vs         Frances Tiafoe

25     Grigor  Dimtrov                     vs        Benoit Paire

 3      Stefanos   Tsitsipas               vs        Sebastian Baez        

4       Andrey Rublev                       vs       Ricardas Berankis

26       Marin Cilic                         vs        Norbert Gombos

23     Daniel Evans                        vs        Arthur Rinderknech

8       Felix  Auger-Aliassime         vs      Alejandro Davidovich Fokina

12     Diego Schwartzman              vs        Christopher O'Connell        

Maxime Cressy                               vs        Tomas Machac

Botic  van de Zandzschulp             vs        Richard Gasquet

1      Danill Medvedev                    vs       Nic Kyrgios   

The above is a mess - according to the APT rule is as follows when a player in the positions 1-4 are out of the series and in that event the arrangement is as follows:-

*    The number 5 seeded player (Rublev) moves into the position of the non-available player;

*    The number 17 player (Monfils) moves into the position on the log occupied and vacated by the number 5 player; and

*     The new 32 seeded  player (Bublik) moves into the position occupied  by the number 17 player.

However - due to the match schedule for round 1 was already done and published the above was not implemented and it remains to be seen if it is in fact going to be implemented.   Should that happen - Rublev would move to the top half of the draw into the position Djokovic would have occupied - Monfils would have to be moved to the bottom half of the draw and Bublik would  have remained in the Top half of the draw.   

What is also weird is that the commentators are  referring to the old seed numbers and not the fact that with no 1 (Djokovic) not playing at all the numbers of all 32 seeds move up 1 position and Bublik coming in as the number 32 seed.  .   

IT is thus far clear that  the changes provided for in the ATP rules will not be made and the above reflects the situation  as players go into Round 3.

Of the seeded players Casper Ruud withdrew from the tournament due to a practice injury - a twisted ankle.   Of the remaining 31 seeds 5 were beaten in Round one.   The latter included Cameron Norrie, John Isner and Lloyd Harris.   Fact is both SA  players - Harris and Anderson - went out in Round 1.   

Of  the  64 matches played 14 wen into 5 setters - with  20 matches be decided in 4 sets.  Some of the matches lasted longer than 4 hours - an example being the match between Basilashvili and  Andy Murray was 4 hours 30 minute long.    Some of the 14 winners of 5 setters are going to find it very hard to go through to Round 3     

The best junior performance  was Alcazar who easily beat his opponent.   Watch out for this guy in the next round as well when he plays Dusan Lajovic.   Another 18 year old that did very well will be up against Stefanos Tsitsipas  in Round 2.

ROUND 3

The draw is finalized and the matchups in Round 3 are as follows:-

Top Half of the  Draw

24     Lorenzo Sonego                 vs       Miomir Kecmanovic      

15      Cristian Garin                    vs       16     Gael Monfils     

18      Pablo Correro-Busta          vs      Sebastian Korda                           

6        Matteo Berrettini                 vs      30     Carlos Alcaraz

2         Alexander Zverev               vs       Radu Albot

13    Denis Shapovalov                 vs       22    Reilly Opelka

17     Aslan Karatsev                      vs        Adrian Mannarino

5       Rafael   Nadal                        vs       27   M  Karen Khachanov

Bottom Half of the Draw

31    Alec de Minaur                       vs       Pablo Andujar-Alba

10    Jannik Sinner                         vs       Taro Daniel

14    Roberto Bautista-Agut            vs       19    Taylor Fritz   

 3     Stefanos   Tsitsipas                  vs        Benoit Paire

4       Andrey Rublev                       vs       26       Marin Cilic 

8       Felix  Auger-Aliassime         vs        23     Daniel Evans

 Christopher O'Connell                 vs        Maxime Cressy                              

1      Danill Medvedev                    vs       Botic  van de Zandschulp 

The fact is that due to non-implementation of standard rules of ATP  only 2 seeded players meeting in Round 2 will play each other,    Of the  other 31 matches to be played -

*      7 matches will be between unseeded players;

*    24 matches will involve seeded players playing unseeded players.

Based on performances thus far a number  of seeded players will be strongly challenged in Round 2  and I will not be surprised if there are not further seeded player losses in Round 2. 

This thread will be updated as results come in tomorrow (top half of the draw) and Thursday (bottom half of the draw). .       

The Top Half of the draw has been completed  and the Round 3 players were finalized.   The three  best performers were Alexander Sverev, Gael Monfils and Carlos Alcaraz.   The bookmakers make Alcaraz to beat Berrettini in Round 3.   

The Round 3 players in the bottom half of the draw will be updated tomorrow.  It  was not an assy day for some players.   4  matches were 5-setters and 3 were 4-stters.  

Thus far and there are still 3 matches not completed iro of the bottom half of the draw  was a rather messy affair for the seeded players and Andy Murray - the latter game is not yet completed - but for Murray to win it would have to be a five-setter,  They are still in the third set. So here goes -

*    Tsitsipas struggled against the youngster Baez from Argentina who took him to a 4-setter - in all set he lost Baez was pressing Tsitsipas and in a way the latter was lucky to win\

*    Auger-Aliassime were in even a more dicey game against Davdovich Fokina - another difficult youngster to be contend with - he ended up in winning  played because he won 3 pf the 5 tie-breakers played;

*     Dimitrov-  who was praised by Mozart for doing spectacular tennis a favor when he beat Medvedev - was defeated by the 72 ranked player Paire.

*     Another seed who lost was Schwartzman.

*     Andy Murray lost against the unknown Taro Daniel. 

In the bottom half of the draw the best performances were by Rublev and Batista-Agut.

The crowd behavior  in the game between Medvedev was disgusting.   

ROUND 4

The draw is finalized and the matchups in Round 4 are as follows:-

Top Half of the  Draw

16     Gael Monfils                      vs       Miomir Kecmanovic    

6        Matteo Berrettini               vs       18      Pablo Correro-Busta 

2         Alexander Zverev             vs       13       Denis Shapovalov              

5        Rafael   Nadal                    vs       Adrian Mannarino 

Bottom Half of the Draw

10    Jannik Sinner                         vs      1    Alec de Minaur   

3       Stefanos   Tsitsipas               vs      19    Taylor Fritz  

8       Felix  Auger-Aliassime        vs       26       Marin Cilic

1       Danill Medvedev                  vs        Maxime Cressy

This will be updated as results come in.   

Totally with you Arthur….the tournament feels like a sham.

I am following it - but who says the real champ is out?   Djokovic did not cover himself with glory in the last three tournament he played in and lost against Zverev and Medvedev.   Fact is since November 2020 he lost more games against those two players than he won.   He may have been the favorite to win - but to claim he would have automatically won is farfetched.

The one game I did watch yesterday was the one between Berrettini and Alcaraz  - which Berrettini won in 5 sets.   Lucky win - the last set was a tie-breaker and so was another one.   When they called Alcaraz the next Federer or Nadal - the answer is simple.   He is not the next anybody - he is Carlos Alcaraz - who has done better  than any other top player at the age of 18.   He will at the age of 19 be a top 10 player by the end of 2022. 

The other matches were rather below what is normally expected from Zverev.   Nadal is doing well enough - but he will not get past the quarterfinals.              

Quarterfinals

The draw is finalized and the matchups in are as follows:-

Top Half of the  Draw

6        Matteo Berrettini               vs       16     Gael Monfils 

5        Rafael   Nadal                    vs       13       Denis Shapovalov      

Bottom Half of the Draw

 3       Stefanos   Tsitsipas               vs       10    Jannik Sinner 

1       Danill Medvedev                  vs       8       Felix  Auger-Aliassime 

What happened to Alcatraz!!!

What happened to your favourite Rublev?

According to the comments of the commentators Rublev consulted a sport psychologist about his approach as he is losing in games against players he never lost to before.    However, yesterday again showed that the whole problem still is the same.   

The fact is that Rublev is the hardest hitting speed wise of the balls in rallies ever, but he is extremely problematic when it comes to serving.   In most cases he lose matches not because of being out-played but a tendency to make double faults in serving.   He made double the number of double faults and also double the number of unforced errors that Cilic did yesterday.

I have identified that problem  already more than 6 months ago.    It is unfortunate that it happens the way it does and I thought until yesterday that the commentators were correct in what they said.   In Mo0scow last year Rublev lost against Berankis - but on Tuesday he wiped the floor with him.    

By the way - I have no favorites amongst any sportsmen - I look at the actual performances and said already six months ago that Rublev would be out of the top 20 is he keeps failing like he did.    I also think there maty be a coaching problem - maybe a coach like Juan-Carlos  Ferrero - with a much more professional attitude would help in getting the Rublev problems solved.  

Look at what he did for the 18 year old Carlos Alcaraz  who by the end of 2022 will definitely be in the Top 10 rankings in the world - ie better than either Federer, Nadal and Djokovic did at the same age.          .   

I don’t hate Medvedev, I just find his tennis boring.  

You find Medvedev's   tennis boring?   Is it because he plays a superior technical game that cause opponents to cry like Djokovic did in the US Open last year.   Prejudice is a hard thing when it comes to performance evaluation and normally leads to sport idiocy.   

I am going to go radical tomorrow and my Superbru selections are;-

Shapovalov, - beating Nadal

Sinner           -  beating Tsitsipas

Barty 

Kanepi

Semifinals

The draw is finalized and the matchups  are as follows:-

5        Rafael   Nadal                    vs        6        Matteo Berrettini      

1        Danill Medvedev               vs       3       Stefanos   Tsitsipas            

The fact is the two quarterfinals already played were of the worst matches I have seen in many years iro tennis matches.   Both winners relied more on the mistakes and unforced errors made by their opponents to win in five-setters and the quality of tennis were boring and poor.   The attacks by the winners were minimal and that allowed for poor tennis to be played.    

The match between Medvedev and Auger-Aliassime lasted 4 hour and 45 minutes and was an epic - one of the best played match  I have ever seen.   Totally different from the shams we saw yesterday.     The two matches yesterday  as well as the Medvedev match were all three 5-setters  - but only the one played today was the best ever            

The best ever match….seriously?

Sure - it was the best ever match I saw on TV.     It was a high ball speed game played on a level never achieved in tennis before.      

Rackets were changed since Borg's days  and Borg as a better athlete than his competitors were.   At his day Borg was top class, but  would he still be competitive at present - doubt it very much.

On their performances  Federer, Nadal and Djokovic ruled the tennis world since 2004-05, but their rule is ending fast and  recent performances confirmed that.    Federer is out of tennis virtually completely - Nadal is not a shadow of the player he used to be and Djokovic has since Wimbledon 2021 won nothing of consequence.    

Time to move on and accept the changes that are found in all codes of sport.                 

The first semi-final was another poor quality and slow-paced game won by Nadal.   The other semi was a different kettle of fish - very competitive with the balls hitting at high pace.   It was very competitive until the fourth set when Tsitsipas caved in in the fourth set.

So the final is going to be between Medvedev nd nadal and if Nadal manage to break Medvedev once it will be  world miracle.   The last Russian Nadal played in a series was in Monte Carlo where he lost 6-2,4-6,6-2 against Rublev.- the pace of he ball caused him to lose the plot and I cannot see anything different in the final on Sunday.     

A different ‘cattle of fish’….if you could actually produce this stuff intentionally you could be a stand up comic.

I corrected my mistake.   So what about the facts I listed above?     You are a stand-up comic when it comes to player performances in any code of sport.    If facts contradict your version  - it is easy for you to dream up  something which you us as "facts" to support your imagined "shortcomings.     

Congrats t o Nadal - he thoroughly deserve the win - even though medvedev encountere an injury in the third set - who in the end had an impact on the result.   

Balls.