Australian Open 2022 - Is Novak Djokovic playing? When's the draw? What's the schedule? Is Emma Raducanu playing?

Published 10/01/2022 at 14:15 GMT

Is Novak Djokovic playing the 2022 Australian Open? Will Naomi Osaka defend her women's title? How can I watch every day? When is the draw? What is the schedule? Who are the favourites? Everything you need to know ahead of the first Grand Slam of the year. Stream the 2022 Australian Open live and on demand on discovery+

Novak Djokovic - Australian Open 2021

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All you need to know ahead of the 2022 Australian Open as Novak Djokovic’s participation remains uncertain and Naomi Osaka looks to defend her women's singles title.

When is it?

The main draw for the Australian Open gets started on Monday, January 17.

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The qualifiers will take place from January 10-14. You can see the full tournament schedule further down the page.

Who’s playing?

Questions continue to linger over whether Novak Djokovic will defend his title.

The 20-time Grand Slam champion was released from detention on Monday after winning his appeal to remain in Australia. Judge Anthony Kelly ruled that it was "unreasonable" to cancel Djokovic's visa and his passport and personal items were returned to him immediately.

However, Australia's Immigration Minister Alex Hawke may consider a second notice of cancellation of Djokovic's visa.

If Djokovic does play the first Grand Slam of the year he will do so without competing in any warm-up events and with less than time than expected on the practice courts.

The two biggest names missing from the men’s side are Roger Federer and Dominic Thiem.

Federer is recovering from a third knee surgery and has said he may not even be back in time for Wimbledon, when he will be approaching his 41st birthday.

Thiem looked on track to play in Melbourne after a wrist injury but has opted to spend more time on the practice courts and will instead return competitively for the first time in six months on clay later in January. The 2020 US Open champion pulled out of the Mubadala Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi and then withdrew from Australian Open warm-up events scheduled for early this month.

Former Australian Open champion Stan Wawrinka is also out as he recovers from foot surgery. Wawrinka, who won the first of his three majors in Melbourne in 2014, has not played since March 2021.

Also missing are Milos Raonic, Guido Pella, Jeremy Chardy, Kyle Edmund, Aljaz Bedene and Pierre-Hugues Herbert.

Roger Federer will not be returning to Melbourne this year

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Former world No 3 Raonic has slipped down the rankings in the last few years and is out with a heel injury. British No 3 Edmund underwent knee surgery last summer and pulled out of the Battle of the Brits event recently. He has not played a competitive match since October 2020. Herbert has opted not to compete in Australia due to the vaccination rules.

On the women’s side, there will be no Serena or Venus Williams for the first time since 1997.

Venus Williams has not played since August due to a leg injury and, now ranked No 318 in the world, would have needed a wild card to enter the tournament. Serena Williams, who won her most recent Grand Slam title in Melbourne in 2017, has been out of action since withdrawing from her first-round match at Wimbledon with injury.

"While this is never an easy decision to make, I am not where I need to be physically to compete,” Serena said in December.

“Melbourne is one of my favourite cities to visit and I look forward to playing at the Australian Open every year. I will miss seeing the fans, but am excited to return and compete at my highest level.”

Serena Williams made the last four of the 2021 Australian Open and two of the other semi-finalists are also out. Fellow American Jennifer Brady, who lost in the final to Naomi Osaka, has withdrawn due to a foot injury and Karolina Muchova is also not playing.

Osaka returned from a five-month break to play at the Melbourne Summer Set 1 and is set to defend her women's title.

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Andy Murray is going to play the Australian Open for the first time since 2019 after getting a wild card. Murray is a five-time finalist at the tournament and is set to finalise his preparations at an ATP 250 event in Sydney.

Emma Raducanu withdrew from a warm-up event after testing positive for Covid-19 last month but is joining Murray in playing in Sydney before competing at the Australian Open for the first time.

Rafael Nadal made an impressive return to action after five months away as he won the Melbourne Summer Set. Nadal, 35, has been battling a foot problem and tested positive for Covid-19 recently, but will feature at the Australian Open.

Nick Kyrgios is a doubt after testing positive for Covid-19, while world No 4 Stefanos Tsitsipas is a potential injury worry as he recovers from elbow surgery.

When is the 2022 Australian Open draw?

The draw will take place on Thursday, January 13, time TBC.

How can I watch the 2022 Australian Open?

Eurosport will be providing live coverage of all 14 days of the tournament.

Barbara Schett and Mats Wilander will be among the team providing expert analysis from Melbourne.

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Full tournament schedule

Men’s and women’s singles first round: Monday, January 17 and Tuesday, January 18 (play starts at midnight GMT, night session starts at 7.30am)
Men’s and women’s singles second round: Wednesday, January 19 and Thursday, January 20 (play starts at midnight GMT, night session starts at 8am)
Men’s and women’s singles third round: Friday, January 21 and Saturday, January 22 (play starts at midnight GMT, night session starts at 8am)
Men’s and women’s singles fourth round: Sunday, January 23 and Monday, January 24 (play starts at midnight GMT, night session starts at 8am)
Men’s and women’s singles quarter-finals: Tuesday, January 25 and Wednesday, January 26 (play starts at midnight GMT, night session starts at 8am)
Women’s singles semi-finals: Thursday, January 27 (play starts at 8.30am GMT)
Men’s singles semi-finals: Friday, January 28 (first semi-final at 3.30am GMT, second at 8.30am)
Women’s singles final: Saturday, January 29 (8.30am GMT)
Men’s singles final: Sunday, January 30 (8.30am GMT)

Tickets and general info

The 2022 Australian Open is expected to be at full capacity.

Every spectator will need to be vaccinated, unless they have an exemption, and there will be various Covid-safe measures around Melbourne Park.

Fan capacity was reduced because of the pandemic during the 2021 Australian Open, which included five days of empty stands due to a Covid-19 outbreak in Melbourne.

Tennis Australia CEO Craig Tiley has said there are “zero expectation of a cap on crowds” for the 2022 edition.

“If there’s a position we have to limit numbers we’ll respond accordingly,” he said.