The 2017 Australian Open was one of the most thrilling and dramatic Grand Slam events of all-time. Can the 2018 version match last year’s excitement?
It will have to do so without several big names: Serena Williams, Andy Murray, Victoria Azarenka, and Kei Nishikori are all absent. In addition, major champions like Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Stan Wawrinka, and Garbine Muguruza arrive in Melbourne with many questions surrounding their physical condition.
The upcoming Australian fortnight will surely be full of intriguing and surprising storylines, as all Grand Slam events are. Let’s take a look at some of the most enticing matches on Day 1’s schedule.
Rafael Nadal vs. Victor Estella Burgos
This will be Nadal’s first official match in two months, since his loss (and subsequent withdrawal from the tournament) against David Goffin at the ATP Finals. As Christopher Clarey of the New York Times recently reported, Nadal has never won a major without a playing a warm-up event, and usually needs a tournament win leading into a major to give himself momentum. How will his knees react to returning to best-of-five set matches on hard courts? There’s definitely many doubts regarding Rafa’s chances, but he did easily win the last hard court major just a few months ago. And he’ll surely be eager to avenge last year’s heartbreaking loss in the Australian Open final against Roger Federer. Nadal be a big favorite on Monday, and hopefully this match reveals where his game is and how his body is feeling.
Venus Williams vs. Belinda Bencic
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Last year, Bencic was drawn to play Serena Williams in the first round of the Australian Open. Bencic was not in good form a year ago, but this year she’s playing extremely well heading into her first round match against Venus. After suffering multiple injuries, the 20-year-old returned in September and subsequently went 28-3 at lower-level tour events. She won four titles and ended 2017 on a 15-match win streak. Just last week, Bencic won the Hopman Cup with partner Roger Federer. Momentum clearly favors Bencic, as Venus lost her only match thus far in 2018 to a resurgent Angelique Kerber. That being said, Venus is 4-0 lifetime against Belinda, having never dropped a set. This is an extremely tough challenge in the opening round for last year’s Australian Open finalist.
Jack Sock vs. Yuichi Sugita
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Sock’s seeding at number eight is by far the highest of his career, coming off the best results of his career at the Paris Masters and the ATP Finals. Can Sock transfer that success to the majors? He’s never advanced farther than the fourth round at a Grand Slam event. Just two weeks ago, he was playing Sugita at the Hopman Cup when he was forced to retire after dropping the first set due to a hip injury. Jack subsequently lost in his opening round match last week in Auckland. Sugita also defeated Sock in their other previous meeting, just last summer in Cincinnati. Ranked 41st, Sugita is one of the highest-ranked players Sock could draw in the first round. Considering all this, Sugita should be considered the favorite on Monday.
Andrey Rublev vs. David Ferrer
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This is a rough first round draw for Rublev in his first major as a seeded player. Ferrer struggled to win matches through the first half of last year, but in the summer he played more like the David of old. Ferrer won the title in Bastad, and made the semifinals at the Masters 1,000 event in Cincinnati. And just last week, Ferrer advanced to the semifinals in Auckland. Meanwhile, 2017 was a breakout year for Rublev. He won his first tour title in Umag, and made his first major quarterfinal at the US Open. Rublev started 2018 by making the final in Doha. This will be the first meeting between two players hitting with confidence, and could easily become a prolonged four or five set battle.
Denis Shapovalov vs. Stefanos Tsitsipas
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The ATP Next Gen campaign will be on full display here, with the 18-year-old Canadian against the 19-year-old Greek. Shapovalov has made more waves than Tsitsipas thus far, but Tsitsipas impressed many already in 2018 with his upset of Richard Gasquet in Doha. He also defeated David Goffin in October, so it’s obvious the teenager has game. In a recent article on the ATP website, Stefanos stated he expects to advance to at least the third round at the Australian Open. That’s a big goal for a man who is yet to get his first win at a major. After taking the tennis world by storm last summer, Shapovalov has simmered a bit. He’s just 3-8 in his last 11 matches. This may a good chance for Tsitsipas to upset his younger, yet more accomplished opponent.
Full order of play for day 1
Rod Laver Arena
Jelena Ostapenko (7) vs Francesca Schiavone
Venus Williams (5) vs Belinda Bencic
Grigor Dimitrov (3) vs Denis Novak
Night session (from 7pm local/8am GMT)
Rafael Nadal (1) vs Victor Estrella Burgos
Daria Gavrilova (23) vs Irina Falconi
Margaret Court Arena
Sloane Stephens (13) vs Zhang Shuai
Matthew Ebden vs John Isner (16)
Samantha Stosur vs Monica Puig
Night session (from 7pm local/8am GMT)
Mihaela Buzarnescu vs Caroline Wozniacki (2)
Kevin King vs Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (15)
Hisense Arena
Sofia Kenin vs Julia Goerges (12)
Timea Babos vs Coco Vandeweghe (10)
Yen-Hsun Lu vs Marin Cilic (6)
Not before 6.45pm local/7.45am GMT
Nick Kyrgios (17) vs Rogerio Dutra Silva
Court 2
Taylor Townsend vs Magdalena Rybarikova (19)
Dominika Cibulkova (24) vs Kaia Kanepi
Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Denis Shapovalov
Not before 4pm local/5am GMT
Yuichi Sugita vs Jack Sock (8)
Court 3
Kevin Anderson (11) vs Kyle Edmund
Jaimee Fourlis vs Olivia Rogowska
Not before 3pm local/4am GMT
John Millman vs Borna Coric
Ivana Jorovic vs Elina Svitolina (4)
Court 5
Kirsten Flipkens vs Alison Riske
Philipp Kohlschreiber (27) vs Yoshihito Nishioka
Gerard Melzer vs Nikoloz Basilashvili
Jana Fett vs Misa Eguchi
Court 7
Irina-Camelia Begu vs Ekaterina Makarova (31)
Vitkor Troicki vs Alex Bolt
Peng Shuai (25) vs Marta Kostyuk
Ruben Bemelmans vs Lucas Pouille (18)
Court 8
Pablo Carreno Busta (10) vs Jason Kubler
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (15) vs Kateryna Kozlova
Marcos Baghdatis vs Yuki Bhambri
Court 10
Duan Ying-ying vs Mariana Duque-Marino
Federico Delbonis vs Gilles Muller (23)
Denisa Allertová vs Pauline Parmentier
Elias Ymer vs Mackenzie Mcdonald
Court 12
Pablo Cuevas (31) vs Mikhail Youzhny
Aleksandra Krunic vs Anett Kontaveit (32)
Viktorija Golubic vs Kateryna Bondarenko
Nicolas Jarry vs Leonardo Mayer
Court 13
Pierre-Hugues Herbert vs Denis Istomin
Jennifer Brady vs Magda Linette
Gilles Simon vs Marius Copil
Anna Karolína Schmiedlová vs Daria Kasatkina (22)
Court 14
Monica Niculescu vs Mona Barthel
David Ferrer vs Andrey Rublev (30)
Luksika Kumkhum vs Johanna Larsson
Salvatore Caruso vs Malek Jaziri
Court 15
Alize Cornet vs Wang Xinyu
Kiki Bertens (30) vs Catherine Bellis
Paolo Lorenzi v Damir Dzumhur (28)
Dustin Brown vs Joao Sousa
Court 19
Alexandr Dolgopolov vs Andreas Haider-Maurer
Maria Sakkari vs Katerina Siniakova
Carla Suarez Navarro vs Magdalena Fręch
Casper Ruud vs Quentin Halys
Court 20
Alison van Uytvanck vs Petra Martic
Andreas Seppi vs Corentin Moutet
Ivo Karlovic vs Laslo Djere
Viktória Kužmová vs Elise Mertens
Court 22
Dudi Sela vs Ryan Harrison
Diego Schwartzman (24) vs Dusan Lajovic
Nicole Gibbs vs Viktoriya Tomova
