Although the ‘A Night with Novak and Friends’ at Rod Laver Arena was billed as an extravaganza, Stefanos Tsitsipas limped off injured with a lower back issue.
Novak Djokovic and women's world No.2 Aryna Sabalenka were matched up with men's world No. 7 and AO 2023 finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas and world No. 8 Maria Sakkari, but the Greek star ended his participation after the first set due to pain in the lower back.
https://twitter.com/tsitsidaily/status/1745355195893067813?s=20
The men’s draw for the 2024 Australian Open has been announced, and as always there are some juicy match ups to dissect, both in the first few days of the tournament and further down the line.
Novak Djokovic will ease into his title defence with a clash against either a qualifier or lucky loser, before possibly taking on Australian Alexei Popyrin in the second round. However, things get a little more complicated from here, as Andy Murray or Gael Monfils may well await the Serb in the third round, before a potential match up against Us Open semi-finalist Ben Shelton in the round of 16.
Speaking of big early encounters, they don’t get much better than Stefanos Tsitsipas v Matteo Berrettini in the first round of the Australian Open. Tsitsipas has an excellent record down under, twice making the final including in the 2023 edition, while Berrettini, who has struggled with injury in recent years, was a semi-finalist at the Australian Open in 2022.
However, with the Greek ending his participation in the exhibition match, it raises questions whether he will be ready for his match up with Berrettini by 14 January.
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