Kyrgios To Meet Fognini In Sydney; Karatsev, Murray In Action
Nick Kyrgios has been drawn to face fellow shot-maker Fabio Fognini in the first round of the Sydney Tennis Classic, which features Aslan Karatsev and former World No. 1 Andy Murray.
Kyrgios, who has not played an ATP Tour event since the Laver Cup in September 2021, beat Fognini 6-3, 6-3 in March 2018 at the Miami Open presented by Itau. The Australian wild card or seventh seed Fognini could meet fourth-seeded Reilly Opelka in the quarter-finals.
Murray, who also features in the bottom half of the draw on his Sydney debut, is set to face a qualifier in his first match, with a second-round clash against second seed Nikoloz Basilashvili on the horizon. Murray beat Basilashvili 6-4, 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 in the Wimbledon first round last year. Third-seeded Briton Daniel Evans, in the top half, plays Alexei Popyrin or Pedro Martinez in the second round.
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Top seed Karatsev, who began his journey up the ATP Rankings as Russia’s secret weapon at the 2021 ATP Cup and went onto reach the Australian Open semi-finals (l. to Djokovic), will play Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic or a qualifier in the second round.
Lorenzo Sonego, Dusan Lajovic and David Goffin also feature at the ATP 250 tournament at the Sydney Olympic Park Tennis Centre. In a loaded doubles field, top-seeded Croatians Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic, and second-seeded Colombians Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah headline.