Australian Open draw: Alexander Zverev meets Lucky Loser Varillas
The draw for the Australian Open is out - the placement of the qualifiers and lucky losers now too. Alexander Zverev meets one of the latter.
by Florian Goosmann
last edit:
Jan 12, 2023, 09:32 am
Zverev will face Juan Pablo Varillas in Round 1 of the 2023 Australian Open. This was announced just three hours after the main draw, now that the final qualifiers have ended.
However, Varillas is not a qualifier, but a lucky loser: He lost to Yosuke Watanuki in the qualifying final, but has now made it into the main draw as a "lucky loser" due to the cancellation of actually qualified players.
Who is Zverev's opponent Varillas?
Varillas is currently ranked 104th in the ATP ranking and is a classic clay court expert - he has won all his five Challenger titles on the red ashes. Likewise his greater ATP successes, such as the quarter-finals in Gstaad in 2022 (loss to Dominic Thiem) and the round of 16 of the Generali Open in Kitzbühel, which brought him into the top 100 for the first time. His best ranking: 97th place.
His record at Grand Slam tournaments is moderate: At the Australian Open he is in the main draw for the first time this year, at the French Open that was the case last year. This was the end of round 1. In Wimbledon and at the US Open, he never got past the first qualifying hurdle in the past two years.
How strong is Alexander Zverev again?
Zverev started the year with two clear defeats in the United Cup, and the old service problems were also there again. So patience is required after the long break (since the French Open 2022). A long run already in Melbourne? Unlikely. However, the match against Varillas could be a good test for Zverev to assess his current level.
Should he win, either David Goffin or Laurent Lokoli would be a qualifier in Round 2.
Zverev is currently busy training (with Dominic Thiem, among others), on Thursday there was even a small meeting with basketball legend and tennis friend Dirk Nowitzki.
Who are the other German gentlemen playing against?
Oscar Otte, next to Zverev in the main draw, meets the qualifier Juncheng Shang, Daniel Altmaier meets Frances Tiafoe, who is 16.
Qualifier Jan-Lennard Struff was drawn to Tommy Paul, his colleague Yannick Hanfmann to the Australian wildcard holder Rinky Hijikata.