American superstars, young and old, could face each other in the second round of the Australian Open after Thursday’s draw in Melbourne.
Coco Gauff, 21, and Venus Williams, 45, were on a collision course.
Williams, ranked 576th in the world, received a wild card to participate in the Australian Open for the first time since 2021. Her enemy in the first round will be Serbian Olga Danilovic, 68th.
Despite winning seven career major championships, Williams has never won the Australian Open. Her best results in Melbourne were final round appearances in 2003 and 2017, when she lost to sister Serena Williams each time.
Gauff, seeded third, had her best performance at the Australian Open in 2024, when she reached the semi-finals. The two-time major champion will face Uzbekistan’s No. 91 Kamilla Rakhimova in the first round.
Another American player, Madison Keys, seeded ninth, will open the defense of her first Grand Slam championship by facing 90th-ranked Oleksandra Oliynykova of Ukraine. Keys’ section of the draw includes a possible third-round match against No. 22 Canadian Leylah Fernandez and a potential fourth-round match against No. 6 American Jessica Pegula.
Aryna Save, top seed from Belarus, finalist at the keys in 2025, will open against when. 118 Tiansoa Rakotomanga Rajaonah of France.
On the men’s side, two-time defending champion Jannik Sinner of Italy, seeded second, begins the event by facing Frenchman Hugo Gaston, number 93.
The Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, seeded number one, will start against a favorite from his country by meeting the Australian Adam Walton, n°80.
Fourth seed and ten-time Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic will face No. 71 seed Pedro Martinez of Spain in the first round. Djokovic is in Sinner’s half of the draw, setting up a possible semi-final – if each wins their first five matches.
–Field level media
