Australian Open – draw: German duel for Alexander Zverev, huge task for Andrea Petkovic

A high hurdle is also waiting for Tatjana Maria. The Bad Saulgauerin faces the two-time Grand Slam semi-finalist Maria Sakkari from Greece in round one.

The German number two in the men, Jan-Lennard Struff, will meet the US Open quarter-finalist Botic van de Zandschulp from the Netherlands – Dominik Koepfer will face Carlos Taberner from Spain.

Oscar Otte has to deal with wildcard starter Chun-hsin Tseng from Taiwan, while Peter Gojowczyk plays against the French Benjamin Bonzi.

An interesting lot caught veteran Philipp Kohlschreiber, who is up against the former French Open semi-finalist Marco Cecchinato from Italy.

As things stand at the moment, only nine German professionals have made it into the main field of the first Grand Slam event of the season – six men and three women.

Djokovic before Serbian duel

Although the participation of defending champion Novak Djokovic is still open, the superstar’s first-round opponent has also been determined.

Djokovic gets – should he be allowed to compete – to do with compatriot Miomir Kecmanovic. The two Serbs first faced each other. In 2021 Djokovic defeated the current number 78 in the world in the quarter-finals in Belgrade 6-1 and 6-3.

An overview of matches with German participation:

Men:

• Alexander Zverev (Hamburg / No.3) – Daniel Altmaier (Kempen)
• Jan-Lennard Struff (Warstein) – Botic van de Zandschulp (Netherlands)
• Dominik Koepfer (Furtwangen) – Carlos Taberner (Spain)
• Oscar Otte (Cologne) – Tseng Chun Hsin (Taipei)
• Peter Gojowczyk (Munich) – Benjamin Bonzi (France)
• Philipp Kohlschreiber (Augsburg) – Marco Cecchinato (Italy)

Women:

• Angelique Kerber (Kiel / No. 16) – Kaia Kanepi (Estonia)
• Andrea Petkovic (Darmstadt) – Barbora Krejcikova (Czech Republic / No. 4)
• Tatjana Maria (Bad Saulgau) – Maria Sakkari (Greece / No. 5)

(SID)

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