Emma Raducanu will face 26th-seeded Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova in the first round of the Australian Open, while British number one Katie Boulter had an excellent chance to reach the second week of a Grand Slam for the first time .
Raducanu also faced Alexandrova in the first round at Wimbledon, but the Russian withdrew due to illness. The 30-year-old is an extremely aggressive player, but Raducanu should take advantage of her chances as she continues to train freely after a back injury cut short her pre-season.
As for Boulter, the 22nd seed starts against Canadian Rebecca Marino, who was handily defeated by Raducanu in the Billie Jean King Cup final in November.
Marino's game, with a great serve and forehand, is very similar to Boulter's, but the 28-year-old from Leicestershire should be a class above. In the second round she would play either Olivia Gladecki or Veronika Kudermetova (nothing to fear there), before a possible third round meeting with No. 15 seed Beatriz Haddad Maia, whom Boulter has beaten in two of their three meetings.
Sonay Kartal will play Jessica Bouzas Maneiro and Jodie Burrage will face a qualifier or a lucky loser. Good draws, then, in her Australian Open debut, but big beasts lurk in the second round: Kartal could play defending champion Aryna Sabalenka and Burrage would likely face Coco Gauff.
On the men's side, the standout draw for the Brits was Jacob Fearnley, also debutant here in Melbourne, against returning anti-hero Nick Kyrgios.
The draw was kind to Katie Boulter (pictured playing in the United Cup in the run-up to the Open), who will relish her chances of reaching the second week of a Grand Slam for the second time in her career.
Russian 26th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova awaits Emma Raducanu (pictured in a practice session this week) in the first round in Melbourne.
The antagonistic Australian has been left down by injury and this is his first Grand Slam since 2022. He has doubts about his fitness for his first round match after suffering an abdominal strain, so Fearnley could still face a lucky loser.
Jack Draper has a good draw against the Argentine Mariano Navone, whom he beat in New York last year on the way to the semifinals of the US Open. The 15th seed could face Carlos Alcaraz in the fourth round and Novak Djokovic in the quarters, so another run to the last four seems unlikely.
Cam Norrie has a tough draw against former Wimbledon finalist Matteo Berrettini.
The number of Brits in the draw will remain seven after the two remaining qualification hopes were lost on Thursday. Harriet Dart and Billy Harris were seeded third and 19th in the standings, but both lost in straight sets in the final round.
Defending Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner landed on a vertical section of the draw, but Carlos Alcaraz is on a collision course with Novak Djokovic.
Sinner and Alcaraz have won all four Grand Slams between them this year, but have yet to meet in a major final, having been tied in the same half three times in a row.
But fans can look forward to that dream final in Melbourne after Alcaraz finished in the bottom half of the draw, away from his Italian rival.
However, the news isn't so good for Cam Norrie (pictured playing at the ASB Classic in New Zealand this week)
Jacob Fearnley will face the tournament's biggest local draw, Nick Kyrgios, in his first match.
Aryna Sabalenka had to face a tough first round opponent in Sloane Stephens, while Jannik Sinner will be happy with the section of the draw he landed in.
Alcaraz, who plays Kazakh Alexander Shevchenko in the first round, will face ten-time champion Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals and second seed Alexander Zverev in the semifinals.
Sinner could face Australian number one Alex de Minaur in the quarterfinals and then Daniil Medvedev, whom he beat in last year's final, or Taylor Fritz in the semifinals.
The defending champion's first round against Nicolas Jarry of Chile is tougher than he would have liked, but he should be very happy with his overall draw.
The women's draw offered a pair of successful first rounds for the favorites, with defending champion Aryna Sabalenka facing 2017 US Open champion Sloane Stephens and No. 3 seed Coco Gauff facing Sofia Kenin, who won the title here in 2020.
Sabalenka and Gauff will meet in the semifinals, which leaves No. 2 seed Iga Swiatek looking pretty in the bottom half of the draw.