There are just a few days left until the draw for the Australian Open 2024 in Melbourne, which will be held on Thursday 11 January. The favorite of the tournament is obviously Novak Djokovic and, after him, Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner and Daniil Medvedev. A few days before the draw, who are the tennis players most likely to pose a threat to the top seeds? Who are the players to avoid in the very first rounds among those not included among the seeds?
Djokovic© Kelly Defina / Stringer Getty Images Sport
It should certainly be underlined that Rafael Nadal’s withdrawal has taken away the thoughts of several players. Nadal would not have been seeded and therefore could have potentially found anyone in the Melbourne draw, even Djokovic or the others. But his injury against Jordan Thompson at the ATP 250 in Brisbane put him out of competition for the first Slam of the year. Given that the favorite tennis players who come to Australia with decidedly important ambitions have all the potential to get the better of any opponent among those not included in the seedings, there is some opponent who, all things considered, would happily be avoided on their debut.
The players who could put the top seed in danger, in the Australian Open first round
Certainly among these is the young rising star Arthur Fils, born in 2004. It is also better to avoid the Russian Roman Safiullin who at the beginning of the year surprised Ben Shelton in the first round in Brisbane and also beat Matteo Arnaldi before giving up in the semifinals to Holger Rune. Also definitely changing the generation is a cross with some great players capable of winning Slam tournaments in the past, such as Stan Wawrinka and Andy Murray. And probably also two other experienced players like Milos Raonic and Gael Monfils. They are the loose cannon tennis players who can pose the most serious danger to the tennis players who, on the eve of Melbourne, are considered favorites for the final victory at the Australian Open.
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