Tennis fans have been eagerly anticipating the year’s first major, and with the draw now set, it’s clear that the Australian Open will provide fireworks from Day 1.

Thursday’s draw ceremony revealed a host of marquee matchups in the men’s singles opening round, including Matteo Berrettini taking on Andy Murray and Andrey Rublev squaring off with Dominic Thiem.

ATPTour.com breaks down five matches to watch in the first round Down Under.

[13] Matteo Berrettini (ITA) vs. Andy Murray (GBR)

Murray has a chance for instant Grand Slam revenge after a closely contested four-set loss to Berrettini at the 2022 US Open. Berrettini also defeated Murray in the Stuttgart final last season, and will bring a 3-1 ATP Head2Head edge into their Melbourne meeting. Murray’s lone win against Berrettini came in 2019 (Beijing).

Berrettini, who is featured in Netflix’s Break Point tennis docuseries, enjoyed a career-best run to the Australian Open semi-finals last year, including an epic five-set win against Carlos Alcaraz. His journey with Team Italy to the final of the inaugural United Cup leaves him with plenty of match play ahead of the Murray showdown. Berrettini produced a 3-2 singles record to open his 2023 season at the mixed-gender team event, earning Top 10 wins against Casper Ruud and Hubert Hurkacz before tight losses to Stefanos Tsitsipas and Taylor Fritz.

Murray, by contrast, has played just one ATP Tour match this season — a straight-sets defeat to eventual finalist Sebastian Korda at the Adelaide International 1. A five-time finalist in Melbourne, the Briton reached the second round last year after earning his first win at the event since 2017.

[5] Andrey Rublev vs. [WC] Dominic Thiem (AUT)

Two of the game’s biggest baseline hitters will trade blows in a matchup that would have been reserved for the later rounds in years past. As Thiem continues to work his way back up the Pepperstone ATP Rankings following a wrist injury, he has lost the protection of a Grand Slam seed. But if he can break Rublev’s four-match winning streak in their ATP Head2Head series, Thiem will inherit the fifth seed’s path in the draw.

The pair last met in the 2022 Gijon semis, with Rublev earning a 6-4, 6-4 victory on the way to the title.

Neither man will be particularly happy to face such a challenging first-round opponent in Melbourne, but whoever comes through this blockbuster matchup will be battle-tested for the journey ahead.

[1] Rafael Nadal (ESP) vs. Jack Draper (GBR)

Defending champion Rafael Nadal will not have the luxury of playing his way into the tournament, with the dangerous Jack Draper awaiting him in the opening round. While Nadal is still seeking his first win of 2023 after two United Cup defeats, Draper already owns a Top 20 win this year after he beat Karen Khachanov to advance to the semi-finals at the Adelaide International 2.

Draper also upset Tommy Paul in Adelaide in what will serve as a warning shot to Nadal, who was beaten by Paul at the Rolex Paris Masters in November.

The matchup will be the first between the 36-year-old Nadal and the 21-year-old Draper, who competed at the Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan to close out his 2022 season.

“It’ll be amazing to play on court with him, he’s a great champion,” Draper said of Nadal. “[There are] a lot of emotions obviously when I think of playing him, but that’s one thing… I’ve still got to go and play tomorrow [in Adelaide] and hopefully do well in this tournament first.

“Whatever happens, it’ll be a special occasion for me, still very young in my career, so it’s great to have these sort of experiences and exposure to playing someone like Rafa on a big court like that. But I want to play really well and I want to compete hard and do the best I can.”

Thanasi Kokkinakis (AUS) vs. Fabio Fognini (ITA)

Home favourite Thanasi Kokkinakis will look to extend his perfect 2-0 record against Fabio Fognini in this matchup, one year after storming to the Australian Open doubles title alongside Nick Kyrgios. The Aussie has never been beyond the singles second round at his home Slam, but he will enter this year’s event full of confidence after upsetting Andrey Rublev in Adelaide this week — a year after lifting his first ATP Tour title in his hometown.

Fognini will be seeking his first win of 2023 after a three-set defeat to Jenson Brooksby this week at the ASB Classic. The Italian has reached the Australian Open fourth round on four occasions, most recently in 2020 and 2021. He also reached the men’s doubles quarter-finals at the event last season alongside Simone Bolelli.

[21] Borna Coric (CRO) vs. Jiri Lehecka (CZE)

Two Next Gen ATP Finals alumni will square off in this intriguing contest, with both men eager to build on strong 2022 seasons. Borna Coric was named the Comeback Player Of The Year in the 2022 ATP Awards for his success after missing a year due to a shoulder injury. After making his return at Indian Wells, the 26-year-old charged back into the winners’ circle in style at the Western & Southern Open, defeating Nadal, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Tsitsipas en route to the ATP Masters 1000 title.

Jiri Lehecka finished his 2022 campaign by reaching the finals in Milan before kickstarting the new season with a win against Alexander Zverev at the United Cup. The 21-year-old is set to meet Coric for the first time in Melbourne.

Rafael Nadal will face a difficult opening test at the Australian Open against British lefty Jack Draper, while Novak Djokovic and Nick Kyrgios are in the same quarter of the draw, it was revealed Thursday afternoon at Melbourne Park.

Defending champion Nadal will need to be sharp from his first match against Draper, a 2022 Next Gen ATP Finals competitor. The 21-year-old, who owns two Top 10 wins, has made a quick start to his season. The World No. 40 will compete in the Adelaide International 2 semi-finals on Friday.

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If 22-time major winner Nadal navigates past the British star, his path will not get much easier, with one of two Americans — Mackenzie McDonald or Brandon Nakashima — waiting in the second round.

Also in the Spaniard’s quarter is seventh seed Daniil Medvedev, which means a rematch of the 2022 Australian Open final between Nadal and Medvedev could be played in the last eight. Sixteenth seed Frances Tiafoe, who upset Nadal at last year’s US Open, is a potential fourth-round opponent for the lefty.

^{Photo Credit: Graham Denholm/Getty Images}
In the bottom half of the draw, nine-time Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic and Australian Nick Kyrgios landed in the same quarter. The 19th-seeded Kyrgios could play ninth seed Holger Rune in the third round and fifth seed Andrey Rublev in the fourth round before a quarter-final clash against Djokovic, who begins his pursuit of a record-tying 22nd major title against Spaniard Roberto Carballes Baena.

Rublev’s first-round clash will be a blockbuster against his close friend, former World No. 3 and 2020 Australian Open finalist Dominic Thiem. Thirteenth seed Matteo Berrettini will open against former World No. 1 Andy Murray.

More to come…

They say revenge is best served cold, but Jack Draper was in no mood to wait during the hot Australian summer.

One week after losing to Karen Khachanov in Adelaide, the 21-year-old Briton snapped back at the same venue with a 6-4, 7-6(3) win on Thursday at the Adelaide International 2. The victory earns Draper his second ATP Tour semi-final appearance.

Aggressive from the first ball with his first-strike tennis, Draper saved the only break point he faced until he stepped to the line to serve out the match at 5-4 in the second. After a loose game gave new life to the third-seeded Khachanov, a visibly frustrated Draper regrouped to finish the match in straight sets.

“In the last game I got a bit nervous, but that’s part of the game,” the lefty said in his on-court interview. “I’m still young, I’m still learning from these things.”

The crucial point of the tie-break came at 2-1, when Draper defended from corner to corner, ultimately drawing an error to claim a mini-break. This time he would not let the lead slip, mixing in a serve-and-volley to close out a tie-break in which he won all five of his service points.

“Against guys like Karen, you can’t give them an inch, otherwise they run away with it,” Draper said after earning his first ATP Head2Head win in three tries against Khachanov. “He plays so aggressively and serves really big. Off the back of the court he looks to be on the front foot, and if you’re not willing to try and get up there with him, he takes charge of the game. I did well to impose my game a little bit more today than last week.”

Draper’s win against the World No. 20 comes after two Top 10 victories last season over Stefanos Tsitsipas (Montreal) and Felix Auger-Aliassime (US Open). Entering the week at a career-high of No. 40 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, the Briton will be the favourite in his semi-final matchup against either qualifier Mikael Ymer or lucky loser Soonwoo Kwon.

Thanasi Kokkinakis served up a treat for the home fans at the Adelaide International 2 on Wednesday, when the Australian downed top seed Andrey Rublev 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals at the ATP 250 event.

Kokkinakis held off a mid-match resurgence from Rublev to notch the third Top 10 victory of his career in one hour, 57 minutes. The Australian, who lifted an ATP 250 trophy in Adelaide in 2022, now has an 11-2 tour-level record in his hometown across 2022 and 2023 — no other player has won more matches there in that timeframe.

“I’ve had my best memories on this court,” said Kokkinakis in his on-court interview. “Last year was an incredible feeling. It’s something that you dream of as a kid, and to play in front of you guys in this atmosphere, it’s incredible.”

Kokkinakis took advantage of an error-strewn first-set display from Rublev to move ahead in the pair’s first tour-level meeting. Despite the top seed battling back to claim the second set, Kokkinakis remained largely dominant behind his serve as he fired 17 aces and won 86 per cent (38/44) of points behind his first delivery to blunt Rublev’s powerful return game.

“It’s a big part of my game,” said Kokkinakis. “If I’m serving well, I feel like I have a chance to beat a lot of guys. Especially when the new balls came, I tried to take a little bit of pace off my serve and really try and land it, hit the spot. Fortunately, there were a few unreturnables.”

Kokkinakis claimed the only break of the deciding set in the fourth game to set up his victory. His next opponent will be Miomir Kecmanovic, who earlier dashed hopes of an all-Australian quarter-final in Adelaide by completing a 5-7, 7-6(1), 6-4 comeback win against Jason Kubler.

Soonwoo Kwon also notched a major upset on Wednesday by taking out second seed and World No. 15 Pablo Carreno Busta for the second Top 20 win of his career.

The 25-year-old Kwon, who fell to Tomas Machac in the final round of qualifying in Adelaide before beating the Czech as a lucky loser in the first round, converted three of seven break points to register his first victory against Carreno Busta in three tour-level meetings. The South Korean will face Mikael Ymer in his maiden quarter-final appearance in Adelaide, after the Swede prevailed 3-6, 7-6(2), 6-3 against Mackenzie McDonald.

Cameron Norrie maintained his unbeaten start to the 2023 season on Wednesday at the ASB Classic in Auckland, where the second-seeded Briton fended off a stiff second-round challenge from Czech rising star Jiri Lehecka to reach the quarter-finals with a 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-3 victory.

The persistent stop-start rain that has affected the schedule this week in the New Zealand capital was again a factor in Wednesday’s play, and Norrie found himself in a second-round battle after 2022 Next Gen ATP Finals runner-up Lehecka produced a strong second-set tie-break to force a deciding set in a match featuring several interruptions and eventually a move indoors due to the weather.

“It was nice to get it out of the way,” said Norrie, who is now 4-0 for 2023, after his two-hour, 45-minute win at the ATP 250 event. “It’s tough on the concentration, obviously throughout the match I had to stop and start, even on the court. You’re constantly thinking if you’re going to slip on the lines and it’s not easy.”

SO close, SO good! 🙌@jirilehecka | @cam_norrie | @ASB_Classic | #ASBClassic pic.twitter.com/tVj9VAMUMt

— ATP Tour (@atptour) January 11, 2023

As well as navigating the tough conditions, Norrie was delighted to come through his opening match in the country where he lived from the age of two to 16.

“Obviously, there were [some] nerves in me,” said Norrie. “Coming back to New Zealand I wanted to play well in front of everyone, and Jiri’s a great player. So, it was not easy, and credit to him in that second set for playing a really good tie-break. He really took it to me, but I really enjoyed the time on the court.

“[It is] good to be back in New Zealand, just a little bit disappointed I couldn’t talk in front of everyone. Everyone was very patient with the rain, not just us, but I’ll take the win and nice to serve it out the way I did in the end.”

Jenson Brooksby had earlier advanced to the quarter-finals on tournament debut after third seed Diego Schwartzman was forced to retire from the pair’s second-round clash with the American having taken the first set 6-1. Brooksby will meet Frenchman Quentin Halys, a 6-3, 6-2 winner against #NextGenATP American Ben Shelton, in the last eight.

With the rain forcing the evening session to take place indoors, David Goffin downed qualifier Christopher Eubanks 6-2, 6-4 to set a quarter-final meeting with Richard Gasquet, who booked his last-eight spot on event debut with a 7-6(2), 6-2 win against Joao Sousa.