This morning’s Australian Open first round draw saw Novak Djokovic face fellow Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic, despite the decision of his deportation still dragging on.
The 34-year-old will be hoping he can defend his major title in Melbourne next Monday, but his involvement in the tournament is still as uncertain as last Thursday when he was forced into a quarantine hotel.
Top seed and nine-time #AusOpen champion 🇷🇸 @DjokerNole begins his title defence against Miomir Kecmanovic.#AO2022 pic.twitter.com/96MAlHNElG
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 13, 2022
The draw was originally supposed to take place at 3pm local time (4:00 GMT) but was delayed by one hour and 15 minutes with no reason given by the authorities.
US Open champion Emma Raducanu, 17th seed, faces American Sloane Stephens, ranked 68th in the world.
A tough opening round for the 2021 BBC Sports Personality of the year, who’ll be looking to bounce back after crashing out of the last 16 of the Sydney International in straight sets on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Andy Murray may be feeling a sense of deja vu on Monday as he faces Nikoloz Basilashvili for the second time in less than a week.
The wildcard pick came from from a set down to beat the Georgian in the Sydney International on Wednesday.
Murray was supposed to be in action this morning in the quarter-finals but his opponent David Goffin was forced to withdraw due to a problematic knee injury.
The double Wimbledon champion has now reached his first tour-level semi-final since 2019.
World No.1 and favourite Ash Barty will also be in action in front of a passionate home crowd albeit, capped 50% due to an omicron surge in Melbourne.
The main draw gets underway on Monday, January 17 and continues in Melbourne for two weeks, before the Mens Final on Sunday, January 30.
