Sinner on semi-final collision course with Djokovic; Gauff, Venus set for potential Australian Open match in 2nd round

Jannik Sinner was drawn on Thursday against France’s Hugo Gaston to start his Australian Open defence and is on a collision course to meet 10-time champion Novak Djokovic in a blockbuster semi-final.

World number one Carlos Alcaraz opens against home hope Adam Walton in his bid for a career Grand Slam and first Melbourne Park title.

The Spanish superstar is on the same side of the draw as last year’s beaten finalist Alexander Zverev and is scheduled to meet him in the last four.

Italy’s Sinner saw off Germany’s Zverev in straight sets in last year’s final and went on to add the Wimbledon and ATP Finals crowns to his growing collection.

If the 24-year-old makes it three in a row he would join Djokovic as the only men in the Open era to do so.

The Serbian great is aiming for a record 25th major title and will meet 71st-ranked Spaniard Pedro Martinez first up.

“The draw is very difficult, it doesn’t matter who you play,” said Sinner at the draw ceremony.

“We are the best players in the world and the way is very, very long and very far. We will go day-by-day.”

World number three Zverev faces big-serving Gabriel Diallo in round one while sixth seed Alex de Minaur has a tough encounter against former number six and 2022 semi-finalist Matteo Berrettini of Italy.

Meanwhile, in the women’s draw, American defending champion Madison Keys will take on Ukraine’s Oleksandra Oliynykova while world number one Aryna Sabalenka kicks off against French wildcard Tiantsoa Rakotomanga Rajaonah.

Keys stunned then title-holder Sabalenka 12 months ago in a classic three-set final to win her first major title aged 29.

But she failed to kick on from there, not winning another tournament all year, and Keys, the world number nine, will have a target on her back as champion.

Coco Gauff and Venus Williams could meet in the second round of the Australian Open, another potential chapter in a tennis tale that started with a 15-year-old on her Grand Slam debut beating a seven-time major winner at Wimbledon. Gauff thanked Williams for being such an inspiration for her career after that win at the All England Club in 2019, saying “I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for her.”

She followed it up with a first-round win at the Australian Open in 2020.

Now she’s the No. 3 seed and a two-time major winner. The 45-year-old Williams has a wild-card entry for the Australian Open, where she’s playing for the first time in five years.

The tournament starts Sunday at Melbourne Park. When the draw was conducted Thursday, Gauff was drawn to open against No. 91-ranked Kamilla Rakhimova and No. 576-ranked Williams - who made her Australian Open debut in 1998 and has twice reached the final - was drawn to face No. 68-ranked Olga Danilovic in the first round.

Williams is set to become the oldest woman to compete in an Australian Open main draw, surpassing the record previously held by Japan’s Kimiko Date, who was 44 when she lost in the first round at Melbourne Park in 2015.

To have any chance of facing Gauff again, she needs to do something she hasn’t done in 2026: record a win. In the last two weeks, Williams played tournaments in New Zealand and in Hobart, losing in the first round at both.

After a 6-4, 6-3 win over Williams on Tuesday, Tatjana Maria said it was a tough one because “everyone loves Venus. I love her, too.”

Gauff and Williams are in the same half of the draw as top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka, who won back-to-back Australian Open titles before losing last year’s final to Madison Keys.

Agencies