Australian Open 2015 Draw Results: Full List of Seedings and Brackets

After a small handful of events to allow players to get their legs under them, the 2015 tennis season kicks off in grand fashion with the Australian Open starting on January 19 in Melbourne. Before the action begins Down Under, though, there was the matter of slotting the competitors on the bracket. 

One thing that can be said with certainty is there will be a new champion on the women's side. Li Na, who finally broke through in this event last year, retired last September due to various knee problems. That opens the door for No. 1 seed Serena Williams and No. 2 Maria Sharapova. 

On the men's side, last year's champion Stan Wawrinka is still in the mix in 2015. He faces the usual stiff competition from Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. 

In a sport where the end results for the men and women have been more or less predictable for years, the Australian Open is the one Grand Slam tournament at which funny things have happened. Here is a look at the draw for the year's first major event and a breakdown of what it means. 

Seed	Men's Draw	Women's Draw
1	Novak Djokovic	Serena Williams
2	Roger Federer	Maria Sharapova
3	Rafael Nadal	Simona Halep
4	Stan Wawrinka	Petra Kvitova
5	Kei Nishikori	Ana Ivanovic
6	Andy Murray	Agnieszka Radwanska
7	Tomas Berdych	Eugenie Bouchard
8	Milos Raonic	Caroline Wozniacki
9	David Ferrer	Angelique Kerber
10	Grigor Dimitrov	Ekaterina Makarova
11	Ernests Gulbis	Dominika Cibulkova
12	Feliciano Lopez	Flavia Pennetta
13	Roberto Bautista Agut	Andrea Petkovic
14	Kevin Anderson	Sara Errani
15	Tommy Robredo	Jelena Jankovic
16	Fabio Fognini	Lucie Safarova
17	Gael Monfils	Carla Suarez-Navarro
18	Gilles Simon	Venus Williams
19	John Isner	Alize Cornet
20	David Goffin	Samantha Stosur
21	Alexandr Dolgopolov	Peng Shuai
22	Philipp Kohlschreiber	Karolina Pliskova
23	Ivo Karlovic	Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
24	Richard Gasquet	Garbine Muguruza
25	Julien Benneteau	Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova
26	Leonardo Mayer	Elina Svitolina
27	Pablo Cuevas	Svetlana Kuznetsova
28	Lukas Rosol	Sabine Lisicki
29	Jeremy Chardy	Casey Dellacqua
30	Santiago Giraldo	Varvara Lepchenko
31	Fernando Verdasco	Zarina Diyas
32	Martin Klizan	Belinda Bencic

Note: Full schedule of play can be found at AusOpen.com by clicking here.

The full bracket draw was posted online by The Herald Sun on Twitter:

Women's Draw

Mark Baker/Associated Press

This is going to be a pivotal year for Williams. She's been the most dominant player on the women's side for a decade and has won five major events since the beginning of 2012. Last year, though, there were cracks in the armor as she failed to make it past the fourth round at the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon. 

The Australian Open official Twitter account released a list of potential semifinal matchups:

Williams did salvage 2014 with her third straight U.S. Open title. Most players would be happy with one victory in a Grand Slam tournament, but that's not the standard she has set for herself. Since she's 33 years old, which is young for normal humans but old in tennis, you wonder how much time she has left at the top. 

Tom Perrotta of The Wall Street Journal broke down how Williams has fared early in the 2015 season, noting that it's been ugly so far:

"

Earlier this month, Williams needed a mid-match espresso to win her first battle of the season at the Hopman Cup in Perth. She later lost to Agnieszka Radwanska. In a mixed doubles match with partner John Isner, Williams smashed her racket and called the chair umpire a “liar.” Not what one expects from the world’s best player at an exhibition—but really, nothing should surprise us about Williams.

"

Williams has to be on top of her game because there's more depth in women's tennis than there has been in years. Sharapova had some of the same problems Williams had last year, not advancing past the fourth round in a Grand Slam, except when she won the French Open. 

Howard Bryant of ESPN.com believes that Taylor Townsend, who is currently ranked 100th in the world, seems poised for a breakout season in 2015:

"

There is her stellar junior career in which she was the top-ranked junior in the world and her winning the French Open junior doubles title with Genie Bouchard. There is the way she competed against Serena Williams in last year's night match at the US Open on Arthur Ashe.

But mostly there is Townsend's eclectic game. She's a left-handed serve-and-volley player who can hit from the baseline and serve with some deceptive power.

"

Townsend will have to be at her best, as her first two matches have the potential to go wrong in a hurry:

Another underrated player to watch is Victoria Azarenka, who won this event in 2012 and 2013 before injuries wrecked her 2014 season. She's fallen down to 41st in the world rankings but is 25 years old and not far removed from being one of the best players in the sport. 

Azarenka will take part in one of the most intriguing first-round matchups against budding American star Sloane Stephens, per the Australian Open's official Twitter:

Even though that's bad news because it takes away one potential sleeper right away, it could be a nice steppingstone for the winner to build momentum as the tournament moves on. 

Click here to view the complete women's singles draw, courtesy of AusOpen.com.

Men's Draw

Mark Baker/Associated Press

On the men's side, all eyes are on the top four with everyone else looking up at Djokovic, Federer, Wawrinka and Nadal. 

Nadal is the question mark in that group because a wrist injury forced him to miss a lot of time late in the year, including the U.S. Open.

He told The Associated Press (via Tennis.com) that he feels good but isn't going to get ahead of himself: ''I'm back, and I'm healthy, but it's hard to come back after such injures. I will hope for first round, second round, and take the wins as they come.''

Nadal's first-round opponent won't be a pushover, as Mikhail Youzhny has a better track record against the Spanish star than most would think, as noted by the Australian Open on Twitter:

Federer, who hasn't won a major title since 2012, will hope to avoid Nadal at all costs, as Carl Bialik of FiveThirtyEight.com notes the four-time Australian Open champion has been a mess against his archrival:

Wawrinka's title last year went through Djokovic in the quarterfinal and Nadal in the final. He wasn't able to repeat that success in any of the other Grand Slam events, getting knocked out in the quarterfinal at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. 

Matt Wilansky of ESPN.com has been impressed with Wawrinka's early-season performance heading into the Australian Open:

"

You might recall Wawrinka slugged his way to the Aussie Open title a year ago. All indications suggest he won't be a pushover this time around, either, as Wawrinka won the Chennai Open on Sunday without dropping a set the entire week. You'd expect a title run in Melbourne would be trickier this season, considering he won't be overlooked, but as we've seen time and time again, if Stan is on, Stan is almost impossible to beat.

"

The "sleeper" on the men's side is Andy Murray, who is the No. 6 seed and finished last season on a good run to salvage an otherwise disappointing year. The 27-year-old has been a finalist in this tournament three times, most recently in 2013, but he struggled to recover from the back surgery he had in late 2013. 

Murray will have his hands full, especially if he gets deep into the tournament. The Australian Open tweeted the list of potential quarterfinal matchups, which would have the 2013 Wimbledon champion facing Federer:

If Murray is fully recovered from the health problems of last year and stays focused, he's the one player outside the top five who can throw a monkey wrench into the festivities. 

As you can tell from the both draws, the Australian Open looks as wide open as it has been in a long time. No one will consider it a surprise if the two No. 1 seeds end up winning, but at least four other players on each side pose a legitimate threat. 

Click here to view the complete men's singles draw courtesy of AusOpen.com.