Australian Open: Nadal gets tough draw; Murray could face Federer in last 8

Nadal given a tough first round match

World No.1 Rafael Nadal‘s return to Rod Laver Arena will see him clash against crowd favorite Bernard Tomic in the biggest first round match at this year’s Australian Open.

Tomic, the young Australian who has been touted by many as one of the superstars of tennis’ next generation, could pose significant problems to Nadal as he returns to the courts at Melbourne Park after missing out last year due to injury. Should Nadal manage to get past Tomic, he has potential threats in the form of Gael Monfils who he could face in Round 3. Nadal could run into young sensation Kei Nishikori or Aussie veteran Lleyton Hewitt in the round of 16 with Argentine dark horse Juan Martin del Potro potentially looking to ruin his party in the Quarter Finals(QF).

Andy Murray and Roger Federer have been drawn in the same quarter of the draw and could face each other in the QF. The British No.1 will take on Japan’s Go Soeda in his opening match. Big serving American John Isner could ask some uneasy questions of Murray in the round of 16.

Roger Federer takes on local boy James Duckworth in round 1 but could run into Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the round of 16. Federer faced Tsonga in last year’s QF and took 5 sets to get past the big hitting Frenchman before losing to Andy Murray in the semifinal.

Nadal, Murray and Federer have all been drawn in the same half of the draw.

David Ferrer and Tomas Berdych have been drawn in the 3rd Quarter of the draw & could face each other in the QF.

Novak Djokovic opens his title defence with a first round match against Slovakian Lukas Lacko. The Serb has a relatively easy path to the QF where he could run into Switzerland’s Stanislas Wawrinka. The two of them played out a classic in the round of 16 of last year’s Australian Open with Djokovic prevailing in over 5 hours.

India’s Somdev Devvarman faces a tough first round match against Spanish 26th seed Feliciano Lopez.

In the Women’s draw, Serena Williams looks likely to get into another Australian Open final with relative ease as Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova were drawn in the same half.

Chinese 4th seed Li Na and Czech 6th seed Petra Kvitova are in the same half as Williams.

Maria Sharapova and Jelena Jankovic look set to face each other in the QF while defending champion Victoria Azarenka could face her first real challenge in the QF with Polish sensation Agnieszka Radwanska potentially waiting for her in the last 8 stage.