Only ÖTV hope
Australian Open: Grabher knows her opening opponent
Julia Grabher will face China's Wang Xiyu in the opening round of the Australian Open. The Vorarlberg native, who will start in the main event thanks to a "protected ranking", was Austria's only entry in the singles draw for the first Grand Slam tournament of the year on Thursday. If Grabher manages to advance, there could be a duel with the US number eight seed Emma Navarro in the 2nd round.
After a long injury break, Grabher is currently only ranked 413th in the WTA rankings and is therefore an outsider against the number 108 from China. However, Grabher won the only previous match-up between the 28-year-old and Wang, who is five years younger, in the first round of the hardcourt tournament in Cleveland in 2023. Immediately after the US event, she suffered a serious injury to her wrist in training and was out of action for months afterwards.
Most recently, Grabher prepared for Melbourne at the 250s tournament in Auckland. She first managed her first victory at WTA level since August 2023 against a qualifier - that against Wang - before the end of the line against former world number one Naomi Osaka.
Sinner against Chile's Jarry
Jannik Sinner starts his title defense mission against Chile's Nicolas Jarry as one of the tournament favorites. Last year's winner Aryna Sabalenka will face former US Open winner Sloane Stephens. Novak Djokovic, who is aiming to win his eleventh Australian Open title, will open his campaign against American Nishesh Basavareddy, who is competing thanks to a wild card.
The Serb could face Carlos Alcaraz in the quarter-finals. The Spaniard starts against Alexander Shevchenko from Kazakhstan. The Australian Open starts on Sunday.
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