Explained: Scenarios for the Australian Open draw depending on what happens with Novak Djokovic's visa

The draw for the Australian Open has finally been released and several interesting match-ups await the fans. Novak Djokovic has provisionally been allotted the No. 1 seed in the men's singles draw. However, there is no guarantee that the Serb will be able to play in the tournament.

Immigration Minister Alex Hawke's decision on whether he is going to cancel the 34-year-old's visa and deport him from the country is still pending and can be expected in the next few days.

So how does that affect the draw?

There are three possible scenarios to consider:

#1 If Novak Djokovic is forced to withdraw before the first day's order of play is announced

If Novak Djokovic withdraws after order of play is announced, his place will be taken up by Andrey Rublev

If Novak Djokovic is deported from Australia between now and the release of the order of play for the first day of the event (January 17), the fifth seed Andrey Rublev will be moved into Djokovic's vacant spot. Following that, 17th seed Gael Monfils will take Rublev's place.

World No. 35 Alexander Bublik will be promoted to replace Gael Monfils in the draw.

As of now, the Serb is scheduled to play Miomir Kecmanovic in the first round of the Australian Open and Rublev faces off against Gianluca Mager in his first-round fixture.

Deportation for the World No. 1 will lead to Rublev playing Kecmanovic in the first round and Mager playing against Monfils. Federico Coria, who is expected to play Monfils, will face off against Bublik instead.

Djokovic's expected quarterfinal opponent is World No. 7 Matteo Berrettini, and World No. 2 Daniil Medvedev is expected to come up against Rublev in the last eight. In the event the Serb is deported before the announcement, the quarterfinal matchup could become Monfils vs Medvedev and Rublev vs Berrettini.

#2 If Novak Djokovic is forced to withdraw after the first day's order of play is announced

If the World No. 1 is deported from Australia after the first day's order of play is announced, there will be no tinkering with the seeds. Instead, a lucky loser will be chosen at random from those who lost in the final round of qualifying to replace the the Serb in the draw.

#3 If Novak Djokovic is forced to withdraw after the tournament has begun

If Novak Djokovic withdraws after the tourunament starts, his opponent will get a walkover

If the Serb is deported from Australia after one or more matches are played, then no player can replace him. Whoever is drawn to play the Serb after that will merely get a walkover into the next round.

If no decision arrives, the 20-time Grand Slam champion will simply keep progressing in the tournament as long as he keeps winning.