Andy Murray faces Alexander Zverev in first round of Australian Open
Tuesday 19 January 2016 15:38, UK
Andy Murray starts his title challenge at the Australian Open on Tuesday morning in Melbourne.
The world No 2 reached the final of last year's tournament and begins his current campaign against German teenager Alexander Zverev in the second scheduled match on the Margaret Court Arena.
Fellow British No 1 Johanna Konta, Rafael Nadal, and Stan Wawrinka are also in action on the second day of the championships.
Murray went head-to-head with the German teenager at the recent Hopman Cup, claiming a 6-3 6-4 win over Zverev.
The 18-year-old German is considered one of the rising talents of the game, but is yet to progress past the second round of a major competition and Murray will be expected to overcome his opening opponent.
Konta has been handed a much tougher test as she was drawn against former world No 1 Venus Williams.
But the 24-year-old can draw confidence from their quarter-final clash at the Wuhan Open, which saw Konta serve for the match before eventually losing a three-set clash.
Former champion Nadal will be hoping for a promising start to the year when he faces fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco.
The world No 5 produced the occasional promising result in a difficult 2015, but has received a tough opener against Verdasco, who has won two of their last three matches.
Wawrinka, another former winner in 2014, makes his first appearance against Russian Dmitry Tursunov.
Women's title contenders Simona Halep and Garbine Muguruza take to the court, with the Romanian drawn against Shuai Zhang, while the Spaniard will play Anett Kontaveit.
David Ferrer, Gael Monfils and Ana Ivanovic also feature during a busy schedule on day two.
