- The Australian Open starts on January 12; draw published on Thursday
- Mark Edmonson was the last Australian to win the men’s title in 1976.
Three local men’s hopes will be seeded for the first time in 43 years as Alex de Minaur, Alexei Popyrin and Jordan Thompson look to defy the odds and claim a famous triumph at the Australian Open.
De Minaur will be seeded eighth, Popyrin 25th and Thompson 27th when the Open draw is made in Melbourne on Thursday night.
Not since 1982, when the Grand Slams had only 16 seeds and the Australian Open failed to attract the world’s best players, has the host country had three men protected from higher-ranked opponents in the early rounds.
Wimbledon 2000, when Pat Rafter, Lleyton Hewitt and Mark Philippoussis shone on the courts, is the only time Australia has had three men’s seeds at a Slam this century.
But without a men’s Grand Slam singles champion in 23 years, these are relatively exciting days for Australian men’s tennis.
Nine players are ranked inside the top 100 and are coming off a milestone at the US Open in September.
Three local men’s hopes will be seeded for the first time in 43 years as Alex de Minaur (pictured) Alexei Popyrin and Jordan Thompson look to defy the odds and claim a famous triumph at the Australian Open.
Alexei Popyrin is one of the most improved players on the ATP circuit and will be ranked 25th at Melbourne Park.
Australia had a total of 20 players in the singles main draw at Flushing Meadows, a first in 42 years, with De Minaur reaching the quarter-finals after eliminating Thompson in the fourth round, and Popyrin arriving as a Grand Slam force with the victory over the great Novak Djokovic under the bright lights of New York.
Four months on, De Minaur is back to full fitness after recovering from a nagging hip injury, while Popyrin and Thompson are ranked in a major for the first time after establishing themselves in the top 30 in the world.
De Minaur also has the peace of mind of knowing that he will not beat a higher-ranked rival until at least the quarterfinals.
But Australia’s best hope remains wary of unseeded threats such as enigmatic countryman Nick Kyrgios, who, if he can overcome an abdominal injury, looms as a first-round nightmare for every player in the 128-player draw.
‘Nothing is guaranteed. You still have to beat everyone. “Everyone is extremely dangerous, the environment is very open and anything can happen on any given day,” De Miñaur said.
Even though Djokovic anointed Popyrin as a genuine Grand Slam title threat after losing to the 25-year-old in New York, bookmakers view the Open as largely a three-way battle.
Defending champion Jannik Sinner, third-ranked four-time Grand Slam winner Carlos Alcaraz and ten-time AO champion Djokovic are the only players with single-digit odds of lifting the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup after the end of Australia Day.
As world number one, Sinner is the top seed ahead of Alexander Zverev and Alcaraz, with Taylor Fritz completing the top four finishers projected to reach the semi-finals.
Powerful backfielder Jordan Thompson is ranked 27th with the draw taking place on Thursday night in Melbourne.
The top-seeded trio and Kyrgios, who has not played in a Grand Slam since the 2022 US Open but is playing in an injury-protected ranking, are among the 20 Australians in the main draws.
Chris O’Connell, Aleksandar Vukic, Rinky Hijikata, Thanasi Kokkinakis, James Duckworth and Adam Walton gained direct entry into the men’s singles, and Tristan Schoolkate, Li Tu, Omar Jasika and James McCabe received wild cards.
Olivia Gadecki was the only woman to gain direct entry, while Ajla Tomljanovic, Daria Saville, Maya Joint, Talia Gibson and Emerson Jones play as wild cards.
World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka is bidding to become the first woman since Martina Hingis in 1998 to complete a hat-trick at the Australian Open and heads the field as a heavy favorite after starting her season with a win at the Brisbane International.
Iga Swiatek, American United Cup heroine Coco Gauff and Italian revelation Jasmine Paolini, who reached two Grand Slam finals in 2024, make up the top four women’s seeds.