Tennis Olympic champion Alexander Zverev meets a qualifier in the first round of the Australian Open.
That was the result of the draw for the first Grand Slam tournament of the year in Melbourne on Thursday.
The 25-year-old from Hamburg is number 12 after a long injury break due to a serious foot injury.
"For me it's about getting back to my usual form," Zverev said recently about his main goal when returning to the Grand Slam stage.
Title expectations, on the other hand, would be “unrealistic” and “pretty stupid”.
Otte and Maria in happiness
Like Zverev, Oscar Otte also has to deal with a qualifier at the start.
Otte could meet Daniel Altmeier in the second round, but he would first have to master the difficult task against the American Francis Tiafoe.
Jule Niemeier was very unlucky in the draw.
The Wimbledon quarter-finalist meets world number one Iga Swiatek right at the start.
The Dortmund native had recently lost against the Pole at the US Open in the round of 16.
The Wimbledon semi-finalist Tatjana Maria got a much better deal with a qualifier.
Laura Siegemund has to deal with the Italian Lucia Bronzetti.
Tamara Korpatsch is just an outsider against former US Open winner Emma Raducanu from Great Britain.
From a German point of view, Jan-Lennard Struff, Yannick Hanfmann and Eva Lys also gained a place in the main field in the qualification.
The Australian Open starts on Monday.