When Is the Australian Open 2019 Draw

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The Grand Slam calendar will reopen this month as the 2019 Australian Open gets under way, and Thursday's draw will decide the paths along which each contender must plot their course to victory.

The competition starts at Melbourne Park on Monday, January 14, where it looks as though reigning men's champion Roger Federer may have to beat a rejuvenated Novak Djokovic if he's to successfully defend his crown.

In the women's singles, Caroline Wozniacki will look to double up in Grand Slam honours and add a second Australian Open to her cabinet one year after clinching a maiden major in Melbourne.

Simona Halep and Angelique Kerber look to be her main competition heading into the draw, while Serena Williams is also bound to be a threat.

Competition organisers are yet to confirm an official start time for Thursday's reveal, although it's begun at 8 am. GMT (3 a.m. ET, 7 p.m. local time) for the past two years.

Draw Date:Thursday, January 10

Live Stream:Eurosport Player (UK), Tennis Channel (U.S.)

Preview

With Djokovic back atop the ATP rankings by a wide margin, a sense of equilibrium returned to men's tennis toward the end of 2018, with the Serb again displaying his lethal streak in recent months.

The 31-year-old is tipped as the favourite to win a seventh Australian Open title this month, just ahead of veterans Federer and Rafael Nadal, per OddsShark:

OddsShark @ OddsShark

Odds to win the Australian Open – Men's (@BovadaOfficial): Djokovic +120 Federer +550 Nadal +600 Zverev +750 Murray +2000 Cilic +2000 Kyrgios +2000 Thiem +2500 Kachanov +2500 Nishikori +3300 Raonic +3300 Wawrinka +3300 Shapovalov +4000 Wawrinka +3300 Shapovalov +4000 Chung +4000

Djokovic's peers will take heart after his defeat to Roberto Bautista Agut in the semi-finals of the Qatar Open semi-final on Friday, though, after he made it to the final of the previous five competitions he took part in, per ATPTour.com:

#AusOpen @ AustralianOpen

Welcome back to Melbourne, @andy_murray! We missed you 🙌 https://t.co/bEkp7puiAn

Nole sits level with Federer and Australian great Roy Emerson (in the amateur era) as joint-leader for all-time wins in this major, but one of the former could finally pull clear as the outright record-holder with victory this month.

British fans may also be able to look forward to the return of Andy Murray in Melbourne after he appeared for practice this week, though it's still unknown if his hip issues will allow him to compete:

Simon Briggs of theTelegraph wrote on Saturday that there was doubt surrounding Murray's participation after he succumbed toDaniil Medvedev, 7-5, 6-2, at the Brisbane Open last week.

Murray is doing his utmost to prolong his tennis career after battling a string of injuries in 2018, whereas ever-controversial Australian Nick Kyrgios has said he'll consider quitting the tour for the rest of the year if he wins in Melbourne, via 7 News Brisbane:

7 News Brisbane @ 7NewsBrisbane

.@NickKyrgios says he's sick of life as a travelling tennis player, and if he wins the @AustralianOpen he'll quit the tour. @ChrisGarry7 #AusOpen #7News https://t.co/dQHb42AeOB

Wozniacki, 28, appeared far more motivated to compete at the Australian Open and attempt to defend her crown after arriving for her preparations:

Caroline Wozniacki @ CaroWozniacki

Hi Melbourne👋🏼 Hi @RodLaverArena 👋🏼 Nice to be back here again! @australianopen https://t.co/t89or0mIkm

Halep (first) and Kerber (second) are the only players above the Dane in the WTA rankings leading up to the draw, while Naomi Osaka and Sloane Stephens follow in fourth and fifth, respectively.

That makes up a capable world top five—with an average age of just 26—but there's a certain seasoned superstar who owns seven Australian Open titles, which is the same number of combined major wins for the quintet of WTA rankings leaders:

#AusOpen @ AustralianOpen

We could watch this all day... @SerenaWilliams having a Sunday morning hit with @GrigorDimitrov 🙌 https://t.co/Wt7rFElnUp

Williams, 37, will be one to watch out for as she looks to end her two-year wait for another Grand Slam crown, having reached the finals in Wimbledon and U.S. Open last year only to fall short at each hurdle.

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Source: https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2814196-australian-open-2019-draw-date-time-live-stream-info-and-more

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