Bouchard could face Radwanska in second round; Raonic may meet Wawrinka in round of 16
Toronto, January 14, 2016 – The official draws for the first Grand Slam of the 2016 season were conducted on Friday morning in Melbourne, setting the stage for the next two weeks of tennis action at the Australian Open. Canada will be represented in the singles main draws by Eugenie Bouchard (Montreal), Vasek Pospisil (Vancouver), and Milos Raonic (Thornhill, Ont.).
Bouchard will open her tournament against world No. 121 Aleksandra Krunic of Serbia in what will be their first meeting. Currently ranked world No. 47, Bouchard made the quarter-finals in Melbourne a year ago and the semifinals in 2014. She is unseeded at a Slam for the first time since the 2013 US Open. In the second round, Bouchard could face a tough task in world No. 4 Agnieszka Radwanska, who owns a 1-0 advantage over the Canadian.
Seeded No. 13, Raonic will face off in the first round against Frenchman Lucas Pouille, who he beat just one week ago en route to his title in Brisbane. The 25-year-old’s path could then include Tommy Robredo and No. 21 Viktor Troicki before a potential fourth-round meeting with former champion, No. 4 Stan Wawrinka. Should he get past the two-time Slam winner, Raonic could see No. 5 Rafael Nadal in the round of eight. Raonic will be aiming to make his second consecutive quarter-final in Melbourne.
Pospisil’s draw will see him take on a challenging opening opponent in No. 14 seed Gilles Simon. The two athletes have only faced off once before, in 2013, with Pospisil taking the first set and earning the win when Simon subsequently retired. Should Pospisil advance past round one, he could play world No. 94 Evgeny Donskoy from Russia or No. 72-ranked Spaniard Inigo Cervantes in the second round. Pospisil, currently ranked No. 39, sits in the same quarter as world No. 1 Novak Djokovic. His best result at the Australian Open is the third round in 2014 and 2015.
The 2016 Australian Open will begin Sunday evening at 7 p.m. ET and run through till January 31.
