SINNER'S HARD START, DJOKOVIC'S HARD DRAW

Italian faces Jarry in Australian Open 1st rd, with Serb on course to meet Alcaraz, Zverev

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World No. 1 Jannik Sinner was drawn on Jan 9 against big-hitting Nicolas Jarry to start his Australian Open defence, while Novak Djokovic is on a collision course to meet Carlos Alcaraz in the quarter-finals.

Italy's Sinner defeated Russia's Daniil Medvedev in the 2024 final in Melbourne to secure his first Grand Slam title and went on to add the US Open and ATP Finals crowns to his collection.

He will be hoping to build on the momentum, but the top seed will begin his title defence under a doping cloud after twice testing positive for traces of the steroid clostebol in March.

Sinner was exonerated by the International Tennis Integrity Agency but is anxiously awaiting the outcome of an appeal against the decision by the World Anti-Doping Agency, which is seeking a ban of up to two years.

The Italian must maintain his focus and hit the ground running, after being paired with Chilean Jarry, who beat him in their first meeting in 2019 and took him to three sets in a losing effort in Beijing last season.