ROGER FEDERER & RAFA NADAL ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF 2017 AUSTRALIAN OPEN TENNIS DRAW ANNOUNCED IN MELBOURNE

Written by: Staff on 12th January 2017

Practice sessions - Tennis Australian Open 2017

ROGER FEDERER & RAFA NADAL ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF 2017 AUSTRALIAN OPEN TENNIS DRAW ANNOUNCED IN MELBOURNE

epa05706482 Roger Federer of Switzerland in action during a practice session ahead of the Australian Open tennis tournament on Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 09 January 2017. The Australian Open starts on 16 January. EPA/JULIAN SMITH AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT |

Federer, Nadal on opposite sides as Australian Open draw is announced in Melbourne

By Ricky Dimon

The Australian Open draw ceremony was held on Friday afternoon in Melbourne, where Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal avoided serious danger in the early rounds despite being saddled with unusually low seeding numbers by their names. Federer finds himself in Andy Murray’s quarter, while Nadal landed on the other side of the draw near Milos Raonic.

Seeded ninth and 17th, respectively, Nadal and Federer had a one-in-eight chance of going head-to-head as early as round three. Instead, No. 10 seed Tomas Berdych is the one who is on a third-round collision course with the 35-year-old Swiss. Federer will begin against a qualifier and will face another qualifier if he wins his opening match. A difficult top quarter of the draw also features Murray, Kei Nishikori, Lucas Pouille, and John Isner.

Nadal also has a potential blockbuster third-round contest on his hands, even though it cannot come versus Federer. Alexander Zverev, who almost upset the 14-time Grand Slam champion at last season’s Indian Wells Masters, is Nadal’s nearest seed. Both players, however, have work to do in advance of another possible meeting. After opening with Florian Mayer, Nadal would face the Marcos Baghdatis-Florian Mayer winner. Zverev is kicking things off against recent Auckland quarterfinalist Robin Haase. The third section of the bracket also includes Raonic, Gael Monfils, Roberto Bautista Agut, and David Ferrer.

Rafael Nadal of the World team in action against Nick Kyrgios of Australia during the Sydney Fast 4 Australia v World tennis exhibition match at the International Convention Centre in Sydney, Australia, 09 January 2017. EPA/DAN HIMBRECHTS

After losing in the Aussie Open first round last season, Nadal certainly won’t be looking ahead. And guess who his 2016 conqueror, Fernando Verdasco, has right away this time? That would be none other than six-time champion Novak Djokovic. Verdasco and Djokovic just collided this past week in Doha, where the Spaniard squandered three match points before falling 4-6, 7-6(7), 6-3.

Aside from his opener, Djokovic has a favorable draw in by far the weakest of the four quarters. Only potential fourth-round opponent Grigor Dimitrov, who lifted the Brisbane trophy last weekend, is in particularly strong form.

The host nation will be especially intrigued by the bracket’s second section, which is home to Nick Kyrgios and Bernard Tomic. Both men are physical question markets right now, but the draw is a manageable one for each one if they somehow arrive in Melbourne 100 percent. Kyrgios could run into well-documented rival Stan Wawrinka in the fourth round.