Alex de Minaur faces difficult Australian Open draw, Emerson Jones to face former Wimbledon champ

Alex de Minaur is actively embracing the pressure and expectations after drawing a challenging path at the Australian Open in Melbourne. As a first-time top-eight seed at a Grand Slam, he will need to quickly find his best form.

De Minaur's first-round opponent is the big-serving Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp, while former finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas looms as the biggest threat to the local hope. Although van de Zandschulp is currently ranked only 82nd in the world, he eliminated four-time Grand Slam champion Carlos Alcaraz at last year's US Open and had previously reached a career-high of world No. 22 before injuries hampered him.

If de Minaur can overcome van de Zandschulp, he will face a qualifier or Argentine Federico Coria in the second round. His first seeded opponent is expected to be Argentine Francisco Cerundolo in the third round, with 2023 runner-up Tsitsipas potentially waiting in the round of 16. Last season, de Minaur became the first Australian since Lleyton Hewitt in 20 years to reach three consecutive Grand Slam quarter-finals, raising hopes that he might finally break the nearly half-century drought of a local champion in the Melbourne Park men’s singles.

"I really can't wait to play in front of my home crowd," de Minaur told fans at the ASICS Tennis Summit on Thursday. "I've become a better version of myself, and there's always more expectation when you step out for the first time of the year. But most importantly, I'm excited to play in front of you guys. I know they'll be supporting me from the first point to the last, and geez, I'm excited to get started."

Australian 25th seed Alexei Popyrin will face Frenchman Corentin Moutet and could meet fellow countryman Rinky Hijikata in the second round. World No. 27 Jordan Thompson, also a first-time seed at a Grand Slam, will face a qualifier in his opening match. Nick Kyrgios, playing in his first Grand Slam since reaching the quarterfinals at the 2022 US Open, will face British world No. 86 Jacob Fearnley, provided he overcomes an abdominal strain that forced him to withdraw from an exhibition event in Melbourne this week.

The draw, which took place on the steps of Margaret Court Arena on Thursday, was not so kind to Australia's female players. Teenager sensation Emerson Jones, who has been compared to retired superstar Ash Barty, will make her main draw debut as a wildcard, and will face 6th seed and former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina in the first round. Ironically, Barty nominated Rybakina as her pick to lift the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup this week, giving the 16-year-old Jones a daunting first-round task. Another young player, Maya Joint, will face 7th-seeded American Jessica Pegula in her opening match.

Women’s top seed Aryna Sabalenka, seeking to join the greats with a hat-trick of titles in the Open era, will face out-of-form former US Open champion Sloane Stephens. Martina Hingis was the last to achieve this feat in 1999, following in the footsteps of Steffi Graf, Monica Seles, Evonne Goolagong Cawley and Margaret Court. “Hopefully, I’ll be able to bring my best tennis every time I step on the court, and hopefully, I’ll be able to put my name next to those legends,” Sabalenka said at the draw ceremony.

Men’s top seed and defending champion Jannik Sinner will open his campaign against Chilean world No. 34 Nicolas Jarry. Meanwhile, 10-time Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic, seeking an unprecedented 25th Grand Slam singles title, will face American wildcard and world No. 133 Dino Prizmic in his first-round match.