The draw for year’s first grand slam, Australian Open 2018 took place on January 11. Rafael Nadal of Spain and Simona Halep of Romania were named top seeds of men’s and women’s singles draw respectively. Australian Open commences on January 15 and prior to it, list of seedings and matches schedule was announced in tournament’s draw ceremony. Defending champion Roger Federer and 2008 Aussie Open winner, Maria Sharapova were present during the showpiece event held at the Margaret Court Arena. While Russian star’s presence attracted a fair share of criticism as she returned after serving a 15-month doping ban, Aus Open director defended the decision to allow Sharapova at the big event.

World number one and the Australian Open 2009 champion, Rafael Nadal is handed the top billing in the men’s singles. The previous year’s finalist at Melbourne Park who lost to Federer will face Victor Estrella Burgos in the first round. The 37-year-old Dominican Republic player is currently ranked 81 in ATP world rankings. World No. 2 and Reigning champion, Roger Federer of Switzerland is the second seed who will kickstart his Down Under campaign against Slovenia’s Aljaz Bedene, the world number 51.

One player in men’s section that will draw maximum eyeballs is Novak Djokovic. The Serbian ace is seeded 14th after he missed out the entire second half of 2017 due to a persistent elbow injury. Six-time Melbourne Park victor is in the quest to win record seventh Australian Open title. However, Novak is handed a tough draw beginning with his opening match against tricky American opponent, Donald Young.

Andy Murray, the fourth player to form the Big Four (Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and Murray) is, unfortunately, giving the tournament a miss as he opted to undergo a hip surgery. Nevertheless, the crowd will get to see top-10 seeded players Grigor Dimitrov, Alexander Zverev, Dominic Thiem, Marin Cilic, David Goffin, Jack Sock and Stan Wawrinka in full action.

Coming to women’s draw, it is pint-sized Romanian, Simona Halep at the top of the seedings list.

The 26-year-old world number one will face Destanee Aiava, a talented 17-year-old tennis player from Victoria. It is another precarious first rounds for Halep in a grand slam after she was drawn against Maria Sharapova in the opening round of US Open 2017. An unseeded Sharapova playing her first grand slam post making comeback after serving doping ban had ousted Halep in three sets. The WTA number one would hope to get better of Aiava in short span of time.

In absence of defending champion, Serena Williams who is back America with her four-month-old daughter, Alexis Ohanian Jr. women’s section has opened up to interesting possibilities of having new winners. Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark, Garbine Muguruza of Spain, Elina Svitolina of Ukraine and Venus Williams of USA complete the top-five seedings. However, one is not ruling out the huge chance of Sharapova of a good, long run at the Melbourne Park.

Sharapova who missed out playing Australian Open due to ban returns as world number 47. The Russian superstar has already made her presence felt by carrying the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup into the draw ceremony amidst the hush-hush by critics. The 30-year-old is a former champion and been a finalist in 2007, 2012 and 2015 is hungry for success and prove her mettle to the world once again. Sharapova is drawn against Maria Tatjana of Germany in the first round. With no Serena in the tournament, this is Russian player’s best chance to win the sixth major.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 11, 2018 11:42 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).