Novak Djokovic is the three-time defending champion, but his ability to compete and defend his title was jeopardised when his visa to enter Australia was denied. Despite having been granted a medical exemption to the tournament's COVID-19 vaccine requirement by Tennis Australia,[1][2] the Australian Border Force confirmed that after being detained at Melbourne Airport for eight hours, Djokovic's visa had been cancelled and he would be denied entry to the country because of his inability to prove exemption to its vaccination requirements.[3][4] Djokovic sought an injunction to prevent his deportation.[5][6] The Federal Circuit and Family Court ruled in favour of Djokovic, ordered his release from detention and directed the federal government to pay his legal expenses.[7]
Djokovic and Rafael Nadal will be attempting to win an outright record 21st major singles title and surpass a joint-record they hold with Roger Federer.[8] Djokovic is also vying to become the second male player in tennis history, after Nadal at the French Open, to win a singles major at least ten times. Nadal is also vying to become the second male player in open era tennis history, after Djokovic, to win all singles majors at least twice.
The following are the seeded players. Seedings are based on ATP rankings as of 10 January 2022. Rank and points before are as of 17 January 2022.
As a result of pandemic-related adjustments to the ranking system and changes to the ATP Tour calendar in 2020 and 2021, players will have the following potential adjustments to their ranking points after the tournament:
Players who are defending points from the 2020 tournament will have those points replaced by the higher of their points from 2021 or 2022 (points from 2021 will still be valid at the end of the 2022 tournament because the 2021 tournament took place later in the calendar year).
Players who are defending points from the 2021 tournament will have those points replaced by 2022 points only if the latter are higher.
Players who have points from the 2021 tournament still counting towards their ranking on 31 January 2022 will have those points dropped on 21 February 2022 (52 weeks after the 2021 tournament); any 2021 points will be replaced by 2022 points at that time.[9]
Players who are not defending points from either the 2020 or 2021 tournaments will have their 19th best result replaced by their points from the 2022 tournament.