The bandana-wearing 21-year-old reached the third round at Melbourne Park last year, while Krejcikova – on the comeback from injury – has twice reached the quarterfinals.
Projected match-ups
Arguably the biggest possible clash of the first week could come to pass if top seed Sabalenka runs into 2021 US Open winner Raducanu.
Sabalenka leads the ledger 3-0 but only narrowly snuck through in their most recent meeting in Cincinnati last year.
Following the disappointment of a narrow semifinal defeat to eventual champion Keys last year, Swiatek could find the second week tough going early in a potential fourth round against two-time champion Naomi Osaka, a player she owns a 2-1 record against.
After a barnstorming run to the final in Brisbane last week, including beating three top-10 players in succession, 20th seed Marta Kostyuk could pose a fourth-round obstacle to seventh seed Paolini, but she would first need to overcome a 0-2 record against 11th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova in the third round.
Should Anisimova pass a projected third-round test against AO 2020 champion Sofia Kenin, she could run into heavy-striking 13th seed Linda Noskova, the Czech who toppled top seed Swiatek in the third round two years ago.
