The official draw for the 2017 Australian Open took place Friday morning in Melbourne (Thursday evening on the East Coast of the United States). On the women's side, defending champ Angelique Kerber drew Lesia Tsurenko in the first round. Serena Williams will open against Belinda Bencic. For the men, Novak Djokovic draws Fernando Verdasco and Andy Murray opens against Ilya Marchenko. Last year, Williams and Djokovic entered the first Slam of the year as the top seeds. But both Williams and Djokovic have dropped a spot entering this year's tournament, with Kerber and Murray now the top–ranked player in the WTA and ATP, respectively. Djokovic beat Murray in the final of the Qatar Open this past weekend. Roger Federer, a four–time Australian Open winner, is set to play in his first tour event following a long injury spell. Federer returned to action in the Hopman Cup last week; his last non-exhibition event was at Wimbledon last summer. See the full draws: Projected women's quarterfinals - Angelique Kerber v. Garbine Muguruza - Simona Halep v. Svetlana Kuznetsova - Karolina Pliskova v. Agnieszka Radwanska - Dominika Cibulkova v. Serena Willians Projected men's quarterfinals - Andy Murray v. Kei Nishikori - Stan Wawrinka v. Marin Cilic - Gael Monfils v. Milos Raonic - Dominic Thiem v. Novak Djokovic
