![]() ![]() 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. The pair last met in the 2022 Gijon semis, with Rublev earning a 6-4, 6-4 victory on the way to the title. 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. 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. 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. A five-time finalist in Melbourne, the Briton reached the second round last year after earning his first win at the event since 2017. 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. 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. 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. Murray's lone win against Berrettini came in 2019 (Beijing).īerrettini, 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. Berrettini also defeated Murray in the Stuttgart final last season, and will bring a 3-1 ATP Head2Head edge into their Melbourne meeting. Murray has a chance for instant Grand Slam revenge after a closely contested four-set loss to Berrettini at the 2022 US Open. 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.Ī breaks down five matches to watch in the first round Down Under. The youngster’s lefty serve will be especially tough on the Khachanov backhand and should carry him into the second week of the season’s final Grand Slam.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. Four-set wins over Denis Kudla and Thiago Monteiro don’t inspire much confidence, as Draper is a whole different beast. He comes in at 31st in the world and had been just 6-6 in his last 12 matches prior to this fortnight. The 26-year-old Russian has been going in the opposite direction from Draper since capturing the silver medal at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. 53 on Friday is a first-ever meeting with Khachanov. Draper opened with a 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 rout of Emil Ruusuvuori and then had no trouble upsetting Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 on Wednesday night. The 20-year-old Brit reached the quarterfinals in both Montreal and Winston-Salem and now he is crushing opponents in New York–very good opponents, too. Draper is without question one of the top rising stars in the game, and at the moment he might be the hottest of all.
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