Good Draw for the Croatians at the Australian Open

There will be 6 Croatians, if Petra Martić fails to get through qualifying this weekend, at the year’s first tennis Grand Slam in Melbourne next week…

The first round draw for the Australian Open has been a favourable one for the Croatians, with only Borna Ćorić drawing a seeded player in the opening round.

Ćorić will play 29th seed Jérémy Chardy, who is a former tournament quarter finalist. If Ćorić manages to get through to the 3rd round then a match up with Roger Federer awaits. In the bottom half of the draw 23rd seed Ivo Karlović will play against a qualifier, whilst Ivan Dodig will play Brazilian and world number 115 Joao Souza. Dodig will play US Open finalist Kei Nishikori in the next round if he wins.

In the women’s event, Ana Konjuh plays world number 46 Magdalena Rybarikova, whilst Donna Vekić will be hoping to get past world number 40 Mona Barthel in the first round. Mirjana Lučić-Baroni will play the Czech Republic’s Tereza Smitkova.

Croatia’s top player, world number 9 Marin Čilić, pulled out of the tournament with a shoulder injury.