Defending champion Naomi Osaka could meet Serena Williams in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open after the women’s draw was revealed.
The third seed has been given a fairly tough section of the draw ahead of her second grand slam title defence in Melbourne.
After her first slam title defence ended in a fourth round exit to Belinda Bencic in New York, the Japanese star will look to do slightly better here as she takes on Marie Bouzkova in the opening round.
Beyond her first match, Osaka is set to meet Barbora Strycova in the last 32 but could be set to meet the winner of the Wimbledon rematch between Venus Williams and 15 year-old Cori Gauff.
Should Osaka get to the last eight, then a rematch with Serena Williams could await who is Osaka’s idol and also the player who she beat in the final of her first grand slam title.
As for Serena, her bid for grand slam singles title 24 will begin against talented Russian Anastasia Potapova. Although the first week looks set to be a comfortable one for the 38 year-old, the likes of Johanna Konta, Caroline Wozniacki and Dayana Yastremska could await to begin the second week.
The winner of this quarter will play the winner of the Ash Barty-Petra Kvitová quarter, which looks set to be a fairly comfortable one for the best player in the world.
After a stunning 2019 season, Ash Barty will begin her 2020 grand slam campaign against Lesia Tsurenko with Elena Rybakina as a projected round three opponent.
Life could get a bit trickier in the second week with a potential rematch against Alison Riske awaiting the Australian after losing to her at Wimbledon.
In the other section in the quarter, last year’s finalist Petra Kvitová will begin against compatriot Katerina Siniakova. A hard-hitting match with Madison Keys could await in R4, with the American opening up against Daria Kasatkina.
Halep Faces Tough Opener
Meanwhile in the bottom half of the draw, Simona Halep has been given a difficult draw if she wants to win her third grand slam title.
An opening round against Jennifer Brady could be tough for the Romanian with the last year’s semi-finalist and the in-form Danielle Collins awaiting in round three.
Should Halep navigate her way through a tricky opening week, the Wimbledon champion is the favourite then to set up a potential quarter-final with Belinda Bencic.
Bencic will begin against Anna Karolina Schmiedlova but could be up against Jelena Ostapenko in round two, while the match of the third quarter sees Donna Vekic take on Maria Sharapova, who will look to prove she has one last deep grand slam run in her.
Meanwhile the final quarter sees Karolina Pliskova face a bumpy road to a maiden grand slam with Kristina Mladenovic awaiting in round one.
The likes of Anastastia Pavlyuchenkova, Marketa Vondrousova and Angelique Kerber will look to stop Pliskova’s run to the last eight.
While Elina Svitolina, Anastasija Sevastova, Garbine Muguruza, Amanda Anisimova and Kiki Bertens will all look to stake their claim in the other section of this quarter.
Here are some of the key matches and the full draw with play starting on Monday:
Key Matches:
Ashleigh Barty (1) v Lesia Tsurenko
Madison Keys (10) v Daria Kasatkina
Katerina Siniakova v Petra Kvitová (7)
Venus Williams v Cori Gauff
Johanna Konta (12) v Ons Jabeur
Kristie Ahn v Caroline Wozniacki
Anastasia Potapova v Serena Williams (8)
Donna Vekic (19) v Maria Sharapova
Carla Suarez Navarro v Aryna Sabalenka (11)
Kirsten Flipkens v Karolina Muchova (20)
Jennifer Brady v Simona Halep (4)
Ajla Tomljanovic v Anastasija Sevastova (31)
Irina-Camelia Begu v Kiki Bertens (9)
Marketa Vondrousova (15) v Svetlana Kuznetsova
Kristina Mladenovic v Karolina Pliskova (2)
#AusOpen Women's draw: pic.twitter.com/JtxJlB47ZK
— José Morgado (@josemorgado) January 16, 2020
