The 2022 Australian Open draws were released four days before the start of the first Grand Slam tournament of the year. Only one of the defending champions will be playing.
The current No. 1 men's player, Novak Djokovic, has brought the most attention to the draw. After being allowed a medical exemption to travel to Australia despite being unvaccinated for COVID-19, he was denied entry into the country when he arrived. He won an appeal but then had his visa canceled a second time. He lost an appeal of that decision Sunday and was forced to withdraw. He was set to play the No. 78 player in the world, fellow Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic, in the first round.
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Defending women's champion Naomi Osaka will be playing in this year's tournament. Osaka took some time off from the sport after the U.S. Open because of ongoing mental health issues. She sits as the 13th seed and will face the No. 53 player, Colombia's Camila Osorio, in the opening round.
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Here's a summary of the other top seeds heading into the 2022 Australian Open, along with which Americans will be playing in the tournament.
Men's singles draw
Top players in the world
Coming in as the second seed is U.S. Open champion Daniil Medvedev. He will play Henri Laaksonen of Switzerland in the first round. Alexander Zverev is the No. 3 seed for the tournament. The young German has yet to win his first Grand Slam title.
Rafael Nadal, who is tied with Djokovic and Roger Federer for most Grand Slam titles won in men's singles history (20), comes in at No. 6. Nadal missed Wimbledon and the U.S. Open last year because of recurring injuries.
Three-time major winner and five-time Australian Open finalist Andy Murray will play in Melbourne for the first time since 2019, but this time as a wild card. Murray has played occasionally since his 2018 hip surgery. He will face the No. 21 player, Nikoloz Basilashvili, in the first round.
Stefanos Tsitsipas (No. 4), Andrey Rublev (No. 5), Matteo Berrettini (No. 7), Casper Rudd (No. 8), Felix Auger-Aliassime (No. 9) and Hubert Hurkacz (No. 10) round out the top 10 seeds in the men's singles draw.
Federer is expected to miss at least the first half of the year as he continues to recover from knee surgery.
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American players
Fifteen American men are playing in this year's Australian Open, with three of them seeded: Taylor Fritz (20th), John Isner (22nd) and Reilly Opelka (23rd). There is only one all-American matchup in the first round: Isner vs. Maxime Cressy.
Other American men's players who have had grand slam runs in the past include Sam Querrey, Sebastian Korda, Steve Johnson and Frances Tiafoe.
Women's singles draw
Top players in the world
Australian Ashleigh Barty comes in as the No. 1 player in the world. The two-time Grand Slam tournament winner has yet to make it to an Australian Open final in her career. Her first-round opponent is Lesia Tsurenko, a qualifier from Ukraine who is ranked 120th in the world.
The 2021 U.S. Open champion, Emma Raducanu (17th), will face American Sloane Stephens in the first round. Raducanu became the first qualifier to win a Grand Slam tournament.
Spanish player Garbiñe Muguruza sits at No. 3 after winning the 2021 WTA Finals title. The two-time Grand Slam tournament champion has made it to the Australian Open final once, in 2020.
Many of the top 10 women in this year's tournament are newbies, with a few previous Australian Open champions now seeded lower. For example, 2016 champion Angelique Kerber is 16th this year.
Aryna Sabalenka (No. 2), Barbora Krejcikova (No. 4), Maria Sakkari (No. 5), Anett Kontaveit (No. 6), Iga Swiatek (No. 7), Paula Badosa (No. 8), Ons Jabeur (No. 9) and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (No. 10) complete the top 10 seeds in the women's singles draw.
Seven-time chamipon Serena Williams announced in early December that she will not be competing in the Austrailan Open this year.
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American players
Nineteen American women are playing in this year's Grand Slam opener, with four of them seeded.
The top-ranked American women's player is Sofia Kenin at No. 11. She won the Australian Open in 2020 for her only Grand Slam win to date. She will face fellow American Madison Keys in the first round.
Young superstar Coco Gauff (18th) has never made it past the quarterfinals in a Grand Slam tournament. She will face Chinese player Qiang Wang in the first round.
The other seeded American women's players are Jessica Pegula (21st) and Danielle Collins (27nd).
Full Australian Open draws
Men's Draw
Women's draw