Australian Open tennis: Nadal, Djokovic drawn on opposite ends

Jan. 13 (UPI) -- Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal can't meet until the final, but Coco Gauff and Iga Swiatek could battle in the quarterfinals of the 2023 Australian Open, according to Thursday's singles tournament draws.

Main draw play for the first Grand Slam tournament of the tennis season will start Monday and run through Jan. 29 in Melbourne.

Local time in Australia is 16 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time, which means coverage will begin Sunday night on ESPN platforms in the United States.

A total of 256 players will compete, with 128 each in the women's and men's singles brackets. The full draw is available here.

Each champion will receive $2.1 million. The runner up of each circuit will earn $1.1 million. Players who exit in the semifinals will receive $639,360 apiece.

Carlos Alcaraz is the top men's singles player, but is out of the tournament due to a leg injury. Alcaraz's absence moved Nadal, a fellow Spaniard, to the top seed in Melbourne.

Casper Ruud of Norway, Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece, Djokvoic (Serbia) and Andrey Rublev of Russia are the other Top 5 seeds in the men's singles circuit.

Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada, Daniil Medvedev of Russia, American Taylor Fritz, Holger Rune of Denmark and Hubert Hurkacz of Poland are the other Top 10 men's seeds.

Djokovic, who owns a record nine Australian Open titles, is the favorite to claim a 10th crown. The Serbian's last win came in 2021. He missed the 2022 Grand Slam due to issues with his visa and COVID-19 vaccination status, resulting in his deportation.

Nadal went on to claim the 2022 title, which moved him past Djokovic and Switzerland's Roger Federer for the most men's singles titles in history (21). He later claimed a 22nd Grand Slam singles title at the 2022 French Open.

Swiatek, of Poland, is the favorite to win the women's singles title. Swiatek, Ons Jabeur of Tunisia, American Jessica Pegula, Carolina Garcia of France and Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus are the Top 5 seeds in the women's circuit. They also join Swiatek as the favorites to win the title.

Retired Australian Ash Barty won the 2022 Australian Open. Twenty-three time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams, who appeared in 20 of the last 25 editions of the tournament, also stepped away from the game.

Naomi Osaka, a two-time Australian Open champion, announced this week that she is pregnant and withdrew from the tournament.

Maria Sakkari of Greece, Gauff (USA), Russians Daria Kasatkina and Veronika Kudermetova and American Madison Keys will be the other Top 10 seeds in the women's singles field.

Swiatek claimed two of the last three women's singles titles at Grand Slams. She will start her run in Melbourne with a match against German Jule Niemeier. She could meet No. 13 Daniel Collins (USA) as soon as the third round.

Gauff, 19, will start the tournament against Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic. The American could face No. 11 Paula Badosa of Spain as soon as the third round.

Swiatek, Collins, Bianca Andreescu of Canada and No. 22 Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, the 2022 Wimbledon champion, are among the players Gauff could meet in the fourth round.

Pegula, Sakkari and Keys share another section of the bracket. Whoever advances from that section will likely meet Swiatek, Gauff or another top player from the top of the draw in the quarterfinals.

Jabeur will start her run against Qatar's Tamara Zidansek. Sabalenka is the only Top 10 player Jabeur could face in the quarterfinals. No. 12 Belinda Bencic of Switzerland, No. 14 Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil and No. 18 Liudmila Samsonova of Russia are the other top players in that quadrant.

Garcia, Kasatkina and Kudermetova are among the players who could meet Jabeur, Sabalenka, Bencic or another Top 20 player in the quarterfinals.

On the men's side, Nadal will face England's Jack Draper in his first match. The Spaniard will face an American in the next round, if he slips by Draper, with the winner of a Brandon Nakashima-Mackenzie McDonald match moving onto the second round.

American Frances Tiafoe (No. 16) and No. 18 Karen Khachanov of Russia are the only top 20 players Nadal could face in the fourth round. Hurkacz and Medvedev are among the strongest players Nadal could meet in the quarterfinals.

Tsitsipas, Auger-Aliassime, No. 11 Cameron Norrie of England, No. 15 Jannik Sinner of Italy are among the other top players in the next quadrant and could meet Nadal, Hurkacz or Medvedev in the semifinals.

Djokovic will start his run against Spaniard Roberto Carballes Baena. The Serbian shares a quadrant with Rublev, Rune, No. 14 Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain and No. 19 Nick Kyrgios of Australia. Carreno Busta is the only one of those players Djokovic could meet before the quarterfinals.

Ruud leads the bottom half of the bracket. No. 13 Matteo Berrettini of Italy is the only Top 20 player he could face before the quarterfinals. Fritz, No. 11 Juan Pablo Varillas of Peru and No. 12 Alexander Zverev of Germany also share a quadrant and could meet Ruud, Berrettini or another top player in the quarterfinals.

Whoever escapes those quadrants will most likely meet Djokovic, Rublev, Rune, Carreno Busta or Kyrgios in a men's semifinal.

Australian Open schedule

All times EST

Sunday

First round from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. on ESPN+, 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. on ESPN, 11 p.m. to 2 a.m. on ESPN2

Monday

First round from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. on ESPN+, 11:30 p.m. to 3 a.m. on ESPN2

Tuesday

Second round from 2 to 5 p.m. on ESPN2, 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. on ESPN+ and ESPN3, 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. on ESPN2

Wednesday

Second round from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. on ESPN+ and ESPN3, 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. on ESPN2

Jan. 19