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The Australian Open 2018 draw has been made and we are now just four days away from the season-opening Grand Slam. In this article, we take a look at the projected routes to the men’s singles final for the top four seeds and the returning Novak Djokovic.
Note: Projected routes have been developed based on the assumption that the higher seeded/ranked player will win their respective matches.
Rafael Nadal
The World No. 1 has got a comfortable first week to get the hang of the surroundings. He starts off his campaign with a first-round match against Dominican Republic’s Víctor Estrella Burgos. Once that’s done, he might have to navigate the Argentine Leonardo Mayer and Bosnian Damir Džumhur in the next two rounds.
Week 2 is when things get interesting, as there is a prospect of a fourth round clash with American big-hitter John Isner. He would then possibly face 2017 Wimbledon finalist Marin Cilic.
The semi-final and the final matches are well poised to be a repeat of last year’s encounters in Rafa’s case as ATP Finals winner Grigor Dimitrov and defending champion Roger Federer could wait at the other end.
Roger Federer
Defending champion Roger Federer is chasing an unprecedented 20th Grand Slam title as he prepares to win a record-equalling 6th Australian Open title. He begins his defence of the title with a first round match against Aljaž Bedene. He then could face the German Jan-Lennard Struff in the second round.
The draw is not as kind for Roger as it is for Nadal as he might begin facing the well-known names in the tennis circuit starting in the third round itself, where Richard Gasquet could meet him.
The fourth round could see him facing American No. 1 Sam Querrey. In the quarter-finals, he faces the prospect of facing David Goffin, followed by a semi-final against one of the most promising young players on the circuit, World No. 4 Alexander Zverev.
When all that is said and done, we could see Federer and Nadal grace the court yet again as if the clocks stopped running for a decade.
Grigor Dimitrov
The Bulgarian must be looking at this year as the year where he finally goes and grabs that legendary status that has been eluding him for so long. Nicknamed ‘Baby Fed’, Grigor Dimitrov hasn’t really been able to impose dominance in a Grand Slam in the last few years but having had a wonderful 2017 season, which he capped with the ATP Finals trophy, the current World No. 3 would really look to step up. This could very well be the opportunity for him to do so.
A very favourable Week 1 awaits him as he navigates through a couple of qualifiers in the first two rounds. He then faces the prospect of meeting Next Gen superstar Andrey Rublev in the third round.
In Week 2, he might have the small matter of facing Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, followed by a clash with Jack Sock before he potentially deals with Nadal in the semi-final, and Federer in the final.
Alexander Zverev
Alexander 'Sascha' Zverev starts his campaign with a match against Thomas Fabbiano and would possibly follow that up with a match against Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Kukushkin. The third round gives us a prospect of a sibling clash, as brothers Alexander and Mischa could meet – they have never squared off before in a Slam.
If he makes through that, things might get very serious as the daunting prospect of facing six-time Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic awaits in the fourth round. Dominic Thiem would possibly then be his quarter-final opponent, and with him being drawn in Roger Federer’s half, a match between the World No. 2 and 4 could possibly determine who faces World No. 1 Nadal in the final.
Novak Djokovic
Look who is back! The record-holder champion returns to the tour, albeit with a ranking of 12. As with Federer last year, this will be a test of talent, character and fitness for Djokovic over the fortnight, as understandably he has a difficult road to the final. With doubts still lingering over his fitness, it remains to be seen if he competes in the tournament after all.
If he feels fit enough to compete though, he is slated to start off with a match against Donald Young. The difficulty levels then shoot up where he is likely to face the unpredictable Frenchman Gael Monfils. He could end the first week with another tough game against World No. 24 Albert Ramos Vinolas.
As if that wasn’t enough, the level of competition in the second week goes up multiple notches with possible matches against Alexander Zverev in the fourth round, followed by a quarter-final clash against the guy who humiliated him in the French Open last year -- Dominic Thiem.
The old matter of battling Roger Federer (in the semis) and Rafael Nadal (in the final) awaits him en route to a seventh Australian Open title.
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