Australian Open 2022: Men’s Singles Draw Preview and Prediction

The first grand slam of the year, the Australian Open will commence from January 17 and the draw for the same is out. Novak Djokovic, who is looking to defend his title at Melbourne Park will go in as the top seed while 2021 runner-up Daniil Medvedev is seeded second.

Tournament Details:

• Tournament: Australian Open 2022
• Date: January 17- 30, 2022
• Number of Entrants: 128 (Singles), 64 (Doubles)
• Venue: Melbourne, Australia
• Surface: Hard Court
• Prize Money: $3,149,322 (Winner)
• Defending champion: Novak Djokovic

Top Seeds at the Australian Open 2022

• Novak Djokovic
• Daniil Medvedev
• Alexander Zverev
• Stefanos Tsitsipas
• Andrey Rublev
• Rafael Nadal
• Matteo Berrettini
• Casper Ruud

Top Half

First Quarter

Amidst all the controversies, Novak Djokovic will headline the first quarter of the draw and has got a very easy draw as per his standards. He will face fellow countryman Miomir Kecmanovic in the opening round. He is then expected to face either a qualifier or Tommy Paul in the second round. Italian 25th seed Lorenzo Sonego could be Djokovic’s third round opponent and opens against US veteran Sam Querrey.

In form Gael Monfils is also in the upper quarter and opens against Argentine Federico Coria and will face either a qualifier or Alexander Bublik in the second round. 16th seed Cristian Garin will face Facundo Bagnis in the first round and could face either Pedro Martinez or Federico Delbonis in the second round. Monfils and Garin could meet in the third round with winner facing Djokovic in the Round of 16.

7th seed Matteo Berrettini will face Brandon Nakashima in a tricky first round encounter. He could then go on to face Jiri Vesely in the second round and Spanish sensation Carlos Alcaraz in the third round. The teenager will face a qualifier in the first round and could face Serbian Dusan Lajovic in the second round.

12th seed Cameron Norrie and 19th seed Pablo Carreno Busta are in the same section of the draw. Norrie will face Sebastian Korda in a tough first round match while Carreno Busta will take on a qualifier and then could face Italian Fabio Fognini in the second round. The winner of this section will probably face Berrettini in the Round of 16.

1st Quarterfinal Prediction: Novak Djokovic vs Matteo Berrettini

Second Quarter

World No.3 Alexander Zverev will lead the second quarter of the draw. He faces countryman Daniel Altmaier in the first round and will then take on either John Millman or Feliciano Lopez in the second round. 30th seed Lloyd Harris could be Zverev’s probable third round opponent who opens against Aleksandar Vukic.

14th seed Denis Shapovalov is also in Zverev’s bracket and will face Laslo Djere in the first round. He will face either Holger Rune or Soonwoo Kwon in the second round and could face big serving American Reilly Opelka in the third round who will open his campaign against Kevin Anderson. Opelka and Shapovalov could meet in the third round.

20-time grand slam champion Rafael Nadal has received a very tough draw. He opens against Marcos Giron and could face in form Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis in the second round. Rafa could face Olympic silver medalist Karen Khachanov in the third round who faces Denis Kudla in the opening round.

10th seed Hubert Hurkacz and big hitting Russian Aslan Karatsev are also in Rafa’s bracket. Hurkacz will face Egor Gerasimov in the opener while Karatsev takes on Jaume Munar in the first round. Hurkacz and Karatsev are expected to meet in the third round with the winner facing Nadal in the Round of 16.

2nd Quarterfinal Prediction: Alexander Zverev vs Rafael Nadal

Third Quarter

World No.4 Stefanos Tsitsipas will headline the third quarter of the draw and opens his campaign against Mikael Ymer. Tsitsipas could face Albert Ramos Vinolas in the second round and 26th seed Grigor Dimitrov in the third round. Dimitrov faces a qualifier in the opening round and could face Frenchman Benoit Paire in the second round. Tsitsipas and Dimitrov could meet in the third round.

In form Roberto Bautista Agut will lock horns with Stefano Travaglia in the first round and is expected to face another Italian Marco Cecchinato in the second round. 20th seed Taylor Fritz will face a qualifier in the opener and could face another qualifier or Frances Tiafoe in the second round. Bautista Agut could face Tsitsipas in the Round of 16.

8th seed Casper Ruud opens against Alex Molcan and is expected to face Ilya Ivashka or Pablo Andujar in the second round. Alex de Minaur face Lorenzo Musetti in a blockbuster first round match with the winner facing the winner of Kamil Majchrzak vs Andreas Seppi in the next round.

11th seed Jannik Sinner gets a fairly easy draw and will open against a qualifier. He could face Jordan Thompson or Steve Johnson in the second round. Nikoloz Basilashvili will once again face 3-time grand slam champion Andy Murray in the opener with the winner meeting Pablo Cuevas in the second round. Murray could face Sinner in the Sinner in the third round.

3rd Quarterfinal Prediction: Jannik Sinner vs Stefanos Tsitsipas

Fourth Quarter

2021 US Open champion Daniil Medvedev will headline the bottom quarter of the draw and will face Henri Laaksonen in the first round. He could then face Australian showman Nick Kyrgios in a blockbuster second round clash. Kyrgios will open his campaign against a qualifier. Medvedev can go on to face Ugo Humbert in another tricky third round clash if he gets past Kyrgios. Humbert will opens against fellow Frenchman Richard Gasquet in the first round and could face Jan Lennard Struff in the second round.

John Isner will face in form Maxime Cressy in the first round with the winner facing Juan Manuel Cerundolo in a probable second round clash. Diego Schwartzman will face Filip Krajinovic in the opening round and could face Hugo Gaston in the second round. Schwartzman could face either of Isner or Cressy in the third round.

5th seed Andrey Rublev will take on Gianluca Mager in the opening round and will face either Ricardas Berankis or Roberto Carballes Baena in the second round. He could then go on to face Marin Cilic- who’ll face two qualifiers in the first two rounds.

9th seed Felix Auger Aliassime takes on Emil Ruusuvuori in a tricky first round tie and the winner is expected to face Spaniard Fokina in the second round. British Dan Evans will face Davis Goffin in another blockbuster first round clash and the winner is expected to face either Alexei Poprin or Arthur Rinderknech in the second round.

4th Quarterfinal Prediction: Daniil Medvedev vs Andrey Rublev

Semifinals

The first semifinal will be a repeat of Olympics and US Open semifinal and will be played between Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev. The Serbian will obviously start the favorite but Zverev has shown in recent matches that he could give it back to the top seed. Zverev won their last meeting in the ATP Finals and could once again topple him to reach the final.

Daniil Medvedev could face a surprise opponent in Jannik Sinner in the second semifinal. Sinner got lucky with the draw and will back himself to pull out his best ever career result. But Medvedev will once again back himself to win the match and make it back to back finals in Melbourne Park. Expect a thrilling match with Medvedev reaching his second final Down Under.

Australian Open Final: Alexander Zverev vs Daniil Medvedev

Final

The two lead NextGen players- Alexander Zverev and Daniil Medvedev are expected to meet in the final. They are currently the two best players apart from Djokovic on the ATP tour and will fancy their chance at a big triumph. They last met in the final of the ATP Finals where Zverev came out the victor but Medvedev with his big match temperament will back himself to win the second major of his career.

Champion: Daniil Medvedev

Also read: BREAKING: The 2022 Australian Open draw has been “postponed” until further notice

Stay Updated!

Join our newsletter to receive exclusive updates and curated insights directly to your inbox.

Subscribe NOW