Australian Open favourite Aryna Sabalenka headlines a powerful cast of characters at Melbourne Park along with Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff as they look to shape the early-season narrative at the year's opening Grand Slam.

The Australian Open main draw is almost here, and plenty of players have already fought their way through qualifying to earn a spot on the big stage. But not everyone made it.

Raducanu will begin her tournament against Thailand’s Mananchaya Sawangkaew, who will be making her grand slam main draw debut, while her possible second-round opponents are Russian-born No 59 Anastasia Potapova or the Netherlands’ No 85 Suzan Lamens.

Two-time defending champion Jannik Sinner and record 10-time winner Novak Djokovic are in the same half of the Australian Open draw, revealed Thursday in Melbourne.

Check out the American’s possible path to a maiden title, AO seeded players, live streaming info, and everything you need to know about the Grand Slam

Meetings between Jessica Pegula and Madison Keys and Ben Shelton and Jannik Sinner were among likely bouts shown in Thursday's Australian Open draw.

Carlos Alcaraz and Aryna Sabalenka are the top seeds for the Australian Open, with Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek the second seeds as the first grand slam of the year gets underway.