The draw for the Grand Slam tennis tournament Australian Open 2023 has been announced. Ana Bogdan, Patricia Maria Ţig, Jaqueline Cristian, Sorana Cîrstea, and Irina Begu will represent Romania in their respective categories.

In the first round, Irina Begu will team up with former French Open finalist Zheng Saisai (China) and Sorana Cîrstea will face three-time Grand Slam quarterfinalist Yulia Putintseva from Kazakhstan. From seed 3, Jaqueline Cristian will compete with Jessica Pegula (USA), who’d just received her all-time highest career ranking (no. 3) last year.

Ana Bogdan will play Anna Bondár (Hungary), a Grand Slam newcomer who made her Australian debut last year, and Patricia Ţig is seeded 23rd to meet Zhang Shuai (China), who previously lost to Simona Halep at the Canadian Open last year.

The Australian Open will take place at Melbourne Park between January 16 and 29, 2023, pitting the world’s best tennismen and tenniswomen for a total cash prize of AUD 76,5 million. The main highlights of the tournament will be Novak Djokovic’s return to the biggest stage after his three-year ban was overturned, and Rafael Nadal’s attempt to defend his title in the men’s single category.

Australian star Ashleigh Barty was the reigning champion in the women’s single category but chose to hang up her boots. Following her retirement, 21-year-old rising star Iga Świątek claims the WTA’s number-one ranked player and becomes the first Polish tenniswoman to do so.

rafly@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Zhukovsky | Dreamstime.com)