Novak Djokovic confirmed as number 1 seed for Australian Open

Djokovic won a court battle to compete in the Australian Open but still faces the threat of deportation

The uncertain status of top-ranked Novak Djokovic didn’t stop Australian Open organisers from listing him as the top seed for the Grand Slam tournament beginning next Monday at Melbourne Park.

As expected, homegrown talent and top-ranked Ash Barty was given the No. 1 seeding in the women’s singles draw when the list was released on Tuesday. Defending champion Naomi Osaka is seeded 13th.

Djokovic won a court battle to compete in the Australian Open but still faces the threat of deportation because he is not vaccinated against COVID-19. He’s level with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal with 20 Grand Slam singles titles each. A 10th Australian Open win on Jan. 30 in the men’s final would give him the men’s all-time record.

Federer is not playing in Melbourne while he continues his recovery from right knee surgery.

Daniil Medvedev, who beat Djokovic in the US Open final last year to prevent the Serbian player from capturing a calendar-year Grand Slam, is seeded second, followed by Alexander Zverev at No. 3, Stefanos Tsitsipas at No. 4 and Andrey Rublev at No. 5.

Nadal is seeded sixth, followed by Matteo Berrettini.