Draw gods kind to Eugenie Bouchard at the Australian Open as first-round matchups are determined

MELBOURNE, Australia – Genie Bouchard fans – including a couple of members of the Genie Army in attendance at the draw ceremony Friday – were on high alert to see if the luck of the draw would favour the 21-year-old Canadian at the Australian Open.

It worked out well for her. Unseeded for the first time at a major tournament in awhile, Bouchard could have drawn Serena Williams or Maria Sharapova or any of the top players in the world. Instead, she will play tiny Serbian Aleksandra Krunic in the first round.

That's a positive outcome by any stretch. Krunic, a 22-year-old born in Moscow currently ranked No. 121, was ranked high enough at the time of the entry deadline for the Australian Open that she was able to get straight into the main draw without having to qualify. A fourth-round effort at the US Open in 2014 brought her some attention, and despite her size she possesses a very good serve, but her career-high ranking sits at No. 62.

In other words, she's no Serena Williams.

On the men's side, top Canadian Milos Raonic is seeded (lucky?) No. 13, and faces up-and-coming young French player Lucas Pouille in the first round.

Raonic has first-hand, recent experience against Pouille; he defeated him 6-4, 6-4 in the quarter-finals of the Brisbane tournament just a week ago.

The second Canadian, Vasek Pospisil, drew another Frenchman, but one with far more experience. Pospisil will play No. 14 seed Gilles Simon. The two met once, in 2013 at the Masters 1000 event in Cincinnati; Pospisil won when Simon retired early in the second set.

There will be no additional Canadians in the singles main draws as all four who played in the qualifying lost in the first round on Wednesday and Thursday.

On the men's side, Frank Dancevic was beaten by No. 17 seed Bjorn Fratangelo 7-6 (5), 6-1 on a day that was so hot, it rivaled the Canadian's hallucinatory experience in the first round in 2014 against Benoit Paire. Peter Polansky lost to Brit James Ward 7-6 (6), 6-4.

On the women's side, Aleksandra Wozniak's Australian comeback swing was ended by Slovakia's Kristina Kucova, who defeated her 6-3, 6-3. Heidi el Tabakh, who had issues with an Achilles during off-season training a few weeks ago and has played very little tennis in the last year because of an assortment of injuries, was defeated by Elise Mertens of Belgium 7-5, 6-2.

Raonic ended up in the quarter of the draw with the No. 4 seed Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland – by ranking the best outcome he could have had. At any rate, anyone but Novak Djokovic is a good bet. Raonic defeated Wawrinka at an exhibition in Abu Dhabi a few weeks ago, in Wawrinka's first – albeit unofficial – match of the season.

The 25-year-old has some very, very solid players in his way.

If Bouchard can get through her first round, she could face No. 4 seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland in the second round. A hardy adversary but again, not Serena Williams.

Here are some scenes from the official draw ceremony, attended by the defending men's and women's singles champions, Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams.