Novak Djokovic has learned his fate at the Australian Open, with the Serbian drawn to face Nishesh Basavareddy in round one.
Basavareddy only just featured at the Next Gen ATP Finals in Jeddah last month, where Joao Fonseca emerged victorious.
Rafael Nadal messaged Fonseca after his success in Saudi Arabia, with Basavareddy finishing third in the Red Group.
The 19-year-old American wildcard has now been handed the Australian Open draw of a lifetime, taking on record 10-time champion Djokovic in round one.
Djokovic has been training with Andy Murray ahead of his opener, having hired the Scot as a coach for the first Grand Slam of 2025.
Tennis fans worry for Novak Djokovic after ‘brutal’ Australian Open draw
But many tennis fans have predicted their run in Melbourne to be a short one after the draw that the veteran was handed.
He is in the same half as the likes of Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev, with one fan writing on X: “Brutal draw for Novak.”
A second fan commented: “If he ends up winning it will probably be the greatest slam run in quite some time.”
Other fans wrote: “Toughest draw for Djokovic at Grand Slam in years” and “If Carlos makes it to the QF this is the hardest draw Novak had at a GS in a long time.”
Others predicted where he might exit, saying: “Nightmare from round 3” and “Making the quarter-final will be a decent result,” with a very worried Djokovic fan commenting: “We are so cooked.”
What is Novak Djokovic’s potential route to the Australian Open final?
The good news for Djokovic is that he has avoided defending champion and world number one Jannik Sinner in his half of the draw.
But the bad news is that there is still a long list of talented players that the Serbian will likely need to overcome to reach a likely final against the Italian.
Fortunately, Pavel Kotov or a qualifier awaits in round two if Djokovic can successfully navigate past rising star Basavareddy.
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But the going is likely to get very tough from then on in, with Tomas Machac or Reilly Opelka potentially up next in round three, with the latter having just knocked the legend out of the Brisbane International.
Grigor Dimitrov or Jiri Lehecka could be faced in round four, with the small matter of one of Carlos Alcaraz, Jack Draper, Sebastian Korda or Jordan Thompson potentially in the quarter-final.
It would represent a first such meeting with Alcaraz for Djokovic, with all seven of their ATP matches having come in the semi-finals or later.
And if indeed the Spanish icon can be conquered, the Serbian would then potentially need to beat one of Alexander Zverev, Casper Ruud, Tommy Paul or Ugo Humbert for a final spot.
World number one Sinner would then be his likely opponent, although Taylor Fritz, Daniil Medvedev and Alex de Minaur are all potential candidates, in what really is an intriguing draw to say the least.
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