Roger Federer will open his Australian Open title defence against Slovenian Aljaz Bedene
Thursday 11 January 2018 10:07, UK
No 14 seed Novak Djokovic was handed a testing Australian Open draw on Thursday, with Roger Federer in his half.
Djokovic, who has shaken off the elbow injury that scuppered his 2017 to play in Melbourne, will begin against Donald Young.
No 2 seed Federer, who won last year's Australian Open, has a first-round tie against Aljaz Bedene, who previously represented Great Britain.
Top seed Rafael Nadal, in the other half of the draw to Djokovic and Federer, will meet Victor Estrella Burgos first.
Djokovic and Federer must navigate past Juan Martin del Potro, David Goffin, Mischa Zverev and Alexander Zverev in their half of the draw. The Zverev brothers, who have never been opponents, are on a third-round collision course.
Nadal's half notably includes Marin Cilic, Nick Kyrgios, Jack Sock and Grigor Dimitrov.
Kyle Edmund, Britain's sole men's representative, faces US Open finalist Kevin Anderson first.
Third seed Grigor Dimitrov will face a qualifier with Alexander Zverev, ranked fourth, playing Italian Thomas Fabbiano.
Home hopes will rest on Nick Kyrgios, who takes on Brazil's Rogerio Dutra Silva, the world No 100, in the first round, with a potential third-round showdown with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and fourth-round meeting with Dimitrov on the cards.
Teenager Alex De Minaur, who reached his maiden ATP World Tour semi-final last week in Brisbane, will hope his superb form continues when he takes on No 19 seed Tomas Berdych in the first round.
