Australian Open 2016: Top seeds Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams in action
Tuesday 19 January 2016 15:34, UK
Heather Watson and Kyle Edmund will be flying the British flag on Monday when the Australian Open gets underway at Melbourne Park.
Watson, ranked 53rd in the world, is one of six British players in the main draw, with Johanna Konta the other female, while Andy Murray, Aljaz Bedene, Edmund and qualifier Dan Evans represent in the men's tournament.
British No 2 Watson, who is being coached by Judy Murray on an interim basis in Melbourne, goes up against Hungarian Timea Babos while Edmund takes on world No 81 Damir Dzumhur from Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Watson and Babos know each other well, having come through the youth ranks at similar times and also played junior doubles together, but it was Babos who won their last encounter, a tight three-set match in Cincinnati last year.
Watson will be last on Court 8 but she might have hoped for a Tuesday match - as by her own admission she is still recovering from playing two opponents in one day at the Hobart International on Thursday.
Edmund, 21, from Yorkshire, is set for an exciting year after recently breaking into the world's top 100 [he is now 88th] and making his Davis Cup debut in Britain's final win over Belgium, losing in five sets to David Goffin and will fancy his chances of making progress.
In the day's other matches, Novak Djokovic will look to extend his sensational run of form at the tournament while Serena Williams begins her quest to equal Steffi Graf's Open-era record of 22 Grand Slam titles
All eyes are on the world No 1 Djokovic and his bid for a calendar-year Grand Slam after he fell just short during his brilliant 2015 season.
The 28-year-old is yet to drop a set this year and his performance in the Qatar Open final was described as "perfect" by his flummoxed opponent, Rafael Nadal.
Djokovic could even pick up the first ever men's 'Golden Slam' if he manages to unite the four major titles and be crowned Olympic champion at Rio de Janeiro in August.
He opens his Grand Slam season against South Korea's Chung Hyeon and is already having to play down his chances of what could be an historic year.
"It's only the beginning of the season. It's too early to talk about what I can or can't do later in the season. I'm here to focus on Australian Open," he told reporters in Melbourne.
"If I am able to do the same or better, like 2015, I'm not sure," he added. "Honestly, as I said, it's just the beginning. I try to take one tournament at a time."
Roger Federer is also in action on day one, against Georgia's Nikoloz Basilashvili, with Djokovic's other main challengers Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka starting on Tuesday.
Djokovic, who has five Australian Open titles, has only lost once in the last five years at Melbourne Park, when he was stopped by Wawrinka in the 2014 quarter-finals.
Following a dominant 2015, Williams is gunning for a seventh Australian crown adamant that she is over the knee problems that hindered her during the latter half of the year and during her Melbourne Park build-up.
She has been preparing for a tricky first-round encounter with Italian Camila Giorgi, the highest ranked non-seeded player in the women's draw.
Williams is in a tough half of the draw with Russia's Maria Sharapova, seeded five, potentially awaiting her in the quarters.
Sharapova, 28, is also lacking match practice after a left forearm problem forced her out of the Brisbane International, but she too said all is now well.
"Yes, I might be rusty, make a few more unforced errors than I would like, but I'm ready to go," said the 28-year-old, who is attempting to win her first title at Melbourne Park since 2008.
She opens her tournament against Japan's Nao Hibino, with temperatures forecast to hit a sizzling 37 Celsius (98.6 Fahrenheit).
Also in action will be home hope Nick Kyrgios, Japanese trailblazer Kei Nishikori, Czech Tomas Berdych, former US Open champion Marin Cilic and two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova.
We will bring you all the news, views and reaction from the Australian Open starting on Monday 18th January.
