By Chris Oddo | Thursday January 10, 2019
Defending and six-time Australian Open champion Roger Federer has been bundled into the same half of the draw as 2009 champion Rafael Nadal at this year’s event. Federer is slated to face Denis Istomin in the first round while Nadal opens with Australian wild card James Duckworth.
That means that top-seeded Novak Djokovic will avoid facing either player until the final. Djokovic, also bidding for a record seventh title in Melbourne, will open with a qualifier before facing the winner of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Martin Klizan.
It’s a relatively balanced draw among the top three players. Federer would face the winner of an all-qualifier battle in the second round and could potentially face Gael Monfils in the third round and Stefanos Tsitsipas in the round of 16.
Nadal would face the winner of Jan-Lennard Struff and Matthew Ebden in the second round and could potentially face Alex de Minaur in the third round and either Kyle Edmund or Diego Schwartzman in the round of 16.
Djokovic could potentially face Canadian teenager Denis Shapovalov in the third round and Daniil Medvedev in the round of 16.
If the seeds hold, the quarterfinals shake out as follows:
Notable first-rounders include Andy Murray vs Roberto Bautista Agut, Stan Wawrinka vs. Ernests Gulbis, Kyle Edmund vs Tomas Berdych and Nick Kyrgios vs. Milos Raonic.