Get To Know Novak & Rafa’s First Round Opponents

For players battling on the ATP Challenger Tour, competing in the main draw of a Grand Slam is a special opportunity. It is often the reward for years of hard work and dedication to honing their talents. Nothing is taken for granted at this stage and the ability to clash with the game’s elite can greatly impact a player’s career.

This is the opportunity that awaits World No. 231 Mitchell Krueger and World No. 238 James Duckworth as they begin their Australian Open quests. Their first-round opponents? None other than the top-two players in the draw: Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal.

When the former champions step foot on Rod Laver Arena to open their bids, the spotlight won’t only be shining on them. The world will be watching as Krueger and Duckworth enter one of the biggest stages of their careers.

Krueger will look to dent Djokovic’s impenetrable Aussie armour when he meets the six-time champ in Tuesday’s night session. For the 25-year-old, this will be his second Grand Slam main draw appearance after punching his ticket from qualifying. A native of Fort Worth, Texas, he is already battle-tested at Melbourne Park, with all three of his qualifying encounters having gone the distance.

Krueger has been plotting his ascent on the ATP Challenger Tour for more than four years and was finally rewarded with his biggest breakthrough at last year’s US Open. There, he qualified for his first Grand Slam after saving three match points in his second-round match and rallying from a set and a break down a day later.

Having won a pair of matches at the ATP Masters 1000 level – in Cincinnati (2017) and Indian Wells (2018) – he will be in search of his third tour-level victory and undoubtedly his biggest. 

While Krueger will face a Top 10 opponent for the first time, Duckworth has plenty of experience against top competition. His Monday afternoon meeting with Nadal will be his fifth against the Top 10 at a Grand Slam. In 2014, he squared off against Roger Federer in his opening match in Melbourne.

But his impending encounter against 2009 champion Nadal will arguably be his most rewarding of them all. A former top 100 stalwart, Duckworth’s story is one of unyielding determination. The Sydney native went under the knife on five occasions – all in the span of 13 months in 2017-18 – enduring three foot surgeries, as well as shoulder and elbow operations.

But, having made his return to the court in May of last year, it did not take long for Duckworth to return to the winners’ circle. After pushing Andy Murray in a tight four-set affair at the US Open, he secured his sixth Challenger title weeks later in Cary, North Carolina, prevailing as a qualifier. Having resided outside the Top 1,000 of the ATP Rankings upon his return, he has soared more than 800 spots to his current position of No. 238.

And Duckworth would go on to earn his spot in the Australian Open main draw after clinching the Wild Card Play-off in December. 

With Krueger turning 25 on Saturday and Duckworth turning 27 a week from Monday, both birthdays will be ones they won’t soon forget.