Nadal, Gauff in Day 1 Motion

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — A look on the Australian Open, the primary Grand Slam tennis match of 2023:

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Play within the two-week match begins Monday morning in Australia (Sunday night time EST) and there are day and night time periods. The ladies’s singles closing is Saturday, Jan. 28; the boys’s singles closing is Sunday, Jan. 29.

The Australian Open begins at Melbourne Park on Monday morning (Sunday night time EST) with 18-year-old American Coco Gauff in motion in Rod Laver Arena towards Katerina Siniakova. The most attention-worthy match in all probability is the one later within the day in Laver that options 22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal dealing with off towards fellow left-hander Jack Draper. Nadal has misplaced six of his previous seven matches courting to final season, together with an 0-2 mark to date this 12 months. Nadal is the defending champion in Australia. Other previous main champions in motion on Day 1 embody Daniil Medvedev — who was the runner-up in Melbourne to Nadal in 2022 and to Novak Djokovic in 2021 — towards Marcos Giron of the U.S.; Iga Swiatek towards Jule Niemeier; Emma Raducanu towards Tamara Korpatsch; Sofia Kenin towards Victoria Azarenka in a matchup between two ladies who personal a mixed three Australian Open trophies; together with Stan Wawrinka, Bianca Andreescu, Elena Rybakina and Jelena Ostapenko.

Cloudy. High of 86 levels Fahrenheit (30 Celsius).

Iga Swiatek is seeded No. 1 within the ladies’s bracket, her first time in that spot on the Australian Open, the place she reached the semifinals a 12 months in the past. Nadal is the No. 1 seed within the males’s draw, shifting up a spot as a result of top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz withdrew from the match with a leg damage. Novak Djokovic is seeded No. 4 as he makes his return to Melbourne.

2022 WOMEN’S SINGLES CHAMPION

2022 MEN’S SINGLES CHAMPION

Barty grew to become the primary Australian in 44 years to win a singles trophy on the nation’s Grand Slam match by beating Danielle Collins 6-3, 7-6 (2) within the closing. That gave Barty the third main title of her profession — after the French Open in 2019 and Wimbledon in 2021 — and prolonged her keep at No. 1 within the WTA rankings. Less than two months later, she introduced her retirement from tennis at age 25. Nadal earned his twenty first Grand Slam trophy by way of an epic comeback, turning issues round to beat Daniil Medvedev 2-6, 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-4, 7-5. It was the primary time in 57 years {that a} man gained an Australian Open closing after dropping the primary two units. Before the match started, all eyes had been on Djokovic, who flew to Australia regardless of being unvaccinated towards COVID-19, then had his visa revoked, was deported and couldn’t take part in a match he has gained 9 occasions.

This is the primary Grand Slam match since Serena Williams and Roger Federer — homeowners of a mixed 43 main singles championships — introduced final 12 months they had been ending their enjoying careers. Also now retired: Barty. Other key gamers who will not be within the area embody Alcaraz, Venus Williams, Marin Cilic, Paula Badosa and Ajla Tomljanovic (all injured), Naomi Osaka (out of motion since September, she not too long ago introduced she is pregnant and can take 2023 off) and Simona Halep (serving a provisional doping ban).

22 — Grand Slam singles titles for Nadal, a report for males — yet another than Djokovic, two greater than Federer — and one away from the general Open period mark held by Williams.

Total prize cash for the 2023 Australian Open is $76.5 million Australian {dollars} (about $53 million). The ladies’s and males’s singles champions every will likely be paid $2.975 million Australian {dollars} (about $2 million), a drop of 37.5% from final 12 months’s checks of 4.4 million Australian {dollars} (about $3.15 million).

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