The draw for the men’s and women’s wheelchair and quad wheelchair singles for the Australian Open took place this afternoon at Melbourne Park to set the tone for what should be another intriguing tournament.
From the outside courts to hosting the final at Rod Laver Arena, wheelchair tennis has grown leaps and bounds over the years thanks to legends of the game such as Australia’s own Dylan Alcott to provide the event the exposure and recognition it deserves.
16 players containing four seeds from both sides will contest for the right to call themselves champion as the week concludes.
The quad wheelchair singles will experience the same format as the event is open to athletes who have additional restrictions to their preferred playing arm.
Men’s Singles Draw:
Alfie Hewett (Great Britain)[1] v Takashi Sanada (Japan)
Alexander Cataldo (Chile) v Anderson Parker (Australia) [Wildcard]
Martin De la Puente (Spain) [3] v Joachim Gerard (Belgium)
Daisuke Arai (Japan) v Ruben Spaargaren (Netherlands)
Tom Egberink (Netherlands) v Casey Ratzlaff (USA)
Maikel Scheffers (Netherlands) v Gordon Reid (Great Britain) [4]
Ben Weekes (Australia) [Wildcard] v Stephane Houdet (France)
Takuya Miki (Japan) v Tokito Oda (Japan) [2]
Despite winning 10 more doubles titles at Grand Slam events than the singles, world No.1 Brit Alfie Hewitt will be extremely tough to overcome as he aims to go back-to-back at the Australian Open.
Four Japanese players make up the draw including number two seed Tokito Oda, but someone who can spring an upset later down the line is Spanish world No.3 Martin De la Puente who is more than capable of translating his doubles success into the singles.
Two Australian wildcards have been granted to Anderson Parker and Ben Weekes in an attempt to improve their respective ranking and qualify for direct entry into Grand Slams in the future.
Women’s Singles Draw:
Diede De Groot [1] (Netherlands) v Lucy Shuker (Great Britain)
Maria Florencia Moreno (Argentina) v Aniek Van Koot (Netherlands)
Jiske Griffioen (Netherlands) [3] v Shiori Funamizu (Japan)
Xiaohui Li (China) v Zhenzhen Zhu (China)
Pauline Deroulede (France) v Manami Tanaka (Japan)
Kgothatso Montjane (South Africa) v Momoko Ohtani (Japan) [4]
Angelica Bernal (Colombia) v Dana Mathewson (USA)
Lizzy De Greef (Netherlands) v Yui Kamiji [2] (Japan)
A quarter of the women’s section is made up of Dutch talent, including world No.1 Diede De Groot who will look to add to her 20 major singles titles. The 27-year-old already has a decorated career, currently on a winning singles streak starting in February 2021.
Unfortunately, there will be no Aussies to cheer on this time around, but two-time Australian Open champion Yui Kamiji is an exciting talent and remains a serious threat to De Groot’s streak in the projected final. Her eight Grand Slam titles offer the experience required to etch her name on another trophy.
Quad Wheelchair Singles Draw:
Niels Vink (Netherlands) [1] v Ahmet Kaplan (Turkey)
Gregory Slade (Great Britain) [Wildcard] v Francisco Cayulef (Chile)
Guy Sasson (Israel) [4] v Ali Ataman (Turkey)
Finn Broadbent (Australia) [Wildcard] v Robert Shaw (Canada)
Tomas Masaryk (Slovenia) v Heath Davidson (Australia)
Donald Ramphadi (South Africa) v David Wagner (USA) [3]
Diego Perez (Chile) v Andy Lapthorne (Great Britain)
Ymanitu Silva (Brazil) v Sam Schröder (Netherlands) [2]
21-year-old Niels Vink comes into Melbourne Park as the world’s top-ranked player having already won four Grand Slam titles. The only major missing from his cabinet is the Australian Open having reached the final last year.
Second and third seeds Sam Schröder and David Wagner share a combined 14 Grand Slam singles titles, who will both no doubt be major challengers for Vink.
Aussies Finn Broadbent and Heath Davidson will have the golden opportunity to represent their country at a home Slam, with the latter perhaps with the best chance of making a deep run, as the 36-year-old is the highest-ranked player that isn’t seeded.
Action gets underway on Tuesday.
Comments