Melbourne (dpa) – Alexander Zverev will be challenged in a German clash at the start of the Australian Open.
The Olympic tennis champion, seeded third, will play Daniel Altmaier in the first round of the first Grand Slam tournament of the year starting on Monday. This was the result of the draw in Melbourne on Thursday. Davis Cup player Jan-Lennard Struff will face Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp. The 38-year-old Philipp Kohlschreiber will play his first-round match against the Italian Marco Cecchinato.
In the women’s draw, 16th seed Angelique Kerber was given an uncomfortable task with her match against Estonian Kaia Kanepi. Former Melbourne winner Kerber had travelled late to Australia after suffering from a Corona infection. Andrea Petkovic is the outsider in her opening match against the world number four Barbora Krejcikova from the Czech Republic, as is Tatjana Maria in her match against the number five seed Maria Sakkari from Greece. The world number one Ashleigh Barty from Australia will meet a qualifier.
Meanwhile, German women’s hope Jule Niemeier is just one win away from making it into the main draw. The 22-year-old from Dortmund won clearly against Simona Waltert from Switzerland with 6:1, 6:1 and is now in the final of the qualification. There, Niemeier will meet Arianne Hartono from the Netherlands on Friday.
In the men’s singles, three Germans are still in the final qualifying round. Tobias Kamke and Maximilian Marterer will meet in a direct duel on Friday, so another German tennis professional will definitely make it into the main draw. Yannick Hanfmann will face Alessandro Giannessi from Italy
