The unveiling of the Australian Open draw means Grand Slam tennis season is quickly approaching.
Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime, Denis Shapovalov, Gabriel Diallo, Leylah Fernandez and Rebecca Marino learned their first-round opponents for the Australian Open at the draw on Thursday in Melbourne.
Fernandez, seeded 30th in the women’s draw, will face world No. 100 Yuliia Starodubtseva of Ukraine. It will be the first career meeting between the two players.
The 98th-ranked Marino, who got a late spot in the main draw after some withdrawals, takes on No. 22 seed Katie Boulter of Great Britain. Boulter has a 2-0 lead in the lifetime series.
Two-time defending champ Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus is the top seed. She faces American veteran Sloane Stephens in the first round.
On the men’s side, the 87th-ranked Diallo will make his main-draw debut at the tournament against world No. 90 Luca Nardi of Italy. The two never have squared off in ATP play.
Auger-Aliassime, the No. 29 seed, takes on world No. 42 Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany. They have split four career matches.
The 58th-ranked Shapovalov meets world No. 51 Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain. The Canadian has a 3-0 series edge.
Defending champ Jannik Sinner of Italy is the No. 1 seed. He faces Nicolas Jarry of Chile in the opening round.
The tournament starts Sunday (Saturday night in Canada).
