Alcaraz avoids Sinner, but not Djokovic in the Melbourne climb

Good or bad luck, depending on how you look at it. This thing about raffles is always relative. In any case, Carlos Alcaraz already knows his theoretical route in the Australian Open that begins this Sunday and the Murcian draws a double reading: relief from the start because, after all, he would not run into Jannik Sinner until a hypothetical final, and at the same time a tickle in the stomach knowing that the draw held this Thursday could pair him with the king of Melbourne in the quarterfinals. That is to say, he gets rid of Sinner but not of a good handful of dangers or of Novak Djokovic, for whom Australia is something like Roland Garros for Rafael Nadal. Although today’s Nole seems to have lost some of its edge, its quality and knowledge of the environment, its simple name, transform it into a major enemy.

Alcaraz, 21 years old and currently third in the world, will debut in the first round against the Kazakh Alexander Shevchenko (72nd), whom he defeated last year with ease on the arena of the Caja Mágica in Madrid. Subsequently, the order of the draw outlines potential duels with Yoshihito Nishioka (63rd), the local Jordan Thompson (27th) and the Englishman Jack Draper (15th), all of them of high demand. From there, the aforementioned meeting with Djokovic and, if he progresses to the semifinals, another fight full of thorns against Alexander Zverev, the opponent who defeated him a year ago in the penultimate round of the tournament. The greats do not offer shortcuts and Alcaraz faces a winding slope with the aim of raising fifth major of his career, with which he would complete the bouquet on the big stages.

The Murcian started the preseason in December and since then he has been working tirelessly to arrive in optimal conditions for the first big event of the season. As in 2024, the tennis player has chosen not to compete before the Australian Open and has prioritized training, in which he has placed special emphasis on service. It will take everything to try to overthrow Sinner, the man who sets the pace in recent times. The Italian, 23 years old and at the top of the list since June, will not find an escape either and will have to respond from the first day to obstacles such as Nicolás Jarry (34th), Holger Rune (13th) or Hubert Hurkackz (18th), Alex de Miñaur (8th) or Stefanos Tsitsipas (11th) and Taylor Fritz (4th) or Daniil Medvedev (5th), depending on how events unfold.

Sinner will defend the champion title in the coming days, while Djokovic aspires to his eleventh crown in the tournament, which would be equivalent to his 25th major. The 37-year-old Serbian entrusts himself to the guidance of Andy Murray from the bench and envisions a friendly takeoff against Nishesh Basavareddy (133rd) and Pavel Kotov (99th), before the curves arrive; The confrontations with Tomas Machac (26th), Grigor Dimitrov (10th), Alcaraz, Zverev and Sinner would theoretically complete the route to success. In any case, Nole will have to recover the lost ground with respect to the Italian – superior in the semifinals of the last edition – and the Spanish, who today are one or several steps above the rest. If there is a bullet that Belgrade should take advantage of, it is, without a doubt, Melbourne’s.

On the asphalt of the state of Victoria, Martín Landaluce from Madrid will parade for the first time, who will savor his first experience in a Grand Slam thanks to his victory over Dalibor Svrcina (2-6, 6-1 and 7-5) in the last qualifying round .He is the only national representative who has managed to make the cut.Installed at the heights of the circuit,Paula Badosa (12th in the world) will try to prolong the progression of recent times in the middle of a minefield. The Catalan, 27 years old, faces an uncertain and new debut for her against the Chinese Xinyu Wang, with a ranking significant (37th); The Turkish Zeynep Sonmez (93rd) then appears as an accessible obstacle, but from there, more and more unevenness: if logic were followed, the competition would pair her with Marta Kostyuk (18th), Jessica Pegula (7th), Coco Gauff ( 3rd), Aryna Sabalenka (1st) and Iga Swiatek (2nd) in the final episode.