Nick Kyrgios has avoided facing a seed in the first round of his home grand slam – but he could face a daunting match-up if he wins through to the third round in Melbourne.

Kyrgios is a natural sledger and he will begin his Australian Open campaign with an Ashes battle against Britain’s Jacob Fearnley. 

The Aussie is playing his first Grand Slam since the 2022 US Open and will be happy overall with his draw – but Fearnley is a dangerous opponent, having risen from outside the top 1000 to 86 in the world in a little over a year.

Win that and the imposing figure of world No.2 Alexander Zverev looms.  

Tennis fans who are dreaming of seeing him face off against defending champion Jannik Sinner will likely be disappointed, as the pair are on opposite sides of the draw and can only meet in the final. 

Nick Kyrgios (pictured practising in Melbourne on Thursday) has avoided being drawn against any of the biggest stars at the Australian Open

The Aussie firebrand will face Britain’s Jacob Fearnley (pictured) in his first match – with very tough tests in store if he progresses against the world No.86

The outspoken Aussie is coming into the grand slam under an injury cloud after announcing he has an abdominal strain that could put him in doubt for the tournament, although he was seen practising on Thursday in an indication it isn’t a serious setback.

Alex De Minaur is the best hope for an Aussie champion and he opens against Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp, the man who stunned Carlos Alcaraz at the US Open last year. 

Seeded in the top eight at a grand slam for the first time, De Minaur will need to fire quickly.

While now ranked a lowly 82nd in the world, van de Zandschulp ousted Carlos Alcaraz from last year’s US Open and was as high as No.22 before being hindered by injuries.

If he can get past van de Zandschulp, the eighth-seeded Aussie will play either a qualifier or Argentine Federico Coria in round two.

De Minaur’s first projected seeded opponent is Argentina’s world No.31 Francisco Cerundolo in the third round, with 2023 runner-up Tsitsipas a likely opponent in the last 16.

Alex De Minaur has been seeded in the top eight at a grand slam for the first time – but that didn’t stop him from getting a prickly draw on Thursday

There is also much hope around 25th seed Alexei Popyrin, whose first opponent will be maverick Frenchman Corentin Moutet – and he could face countryman Rinky Hijikata in round two.

World No.27 Jordan Thompson, who is also seeded at a grand slam for the first time, opens against a qualifier.

On the women’s side the most eye-catching draw is 18-year-old Aussie prodigy Maya Joint against world No7 and US Open finalist Jessica Pegula. 

Ajla Tomljanovic plays American Ashlyn Krueger and Daria Saville faces Russian Anna Blinkova.

Overall, of the 20 home players in the draw only three will face seeded opponents, meaning there is a good chance there will be plenty of Aussies in the second and third rounds.

Sinner has landed in a plumb section of the draw but Carlos Alcaraz is on a collision course with Novak Djokovic.

Aryna Sabalenka and Jannik Sinner (pictured) had very different draws, with the reigning women’s champ facing a very tough test in the first round and the Italian landing in a great section of the field

Sinner and Alcaraz won all four Grand Slams between them this year but they are yet to meet in a major final, having been drawn in the same half three times in a row.

But fans can hope for that dream final in Melbourne after Alcaraz was placed in a stacked bottom half of the draw, away from his Italian rival.

Alcaraz, who plays Kazak Alexander Shevchenko in the first-round, is due to face 10-time champion Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals and No2 seed Alexander Zverev in the semis.

Sinner could play either Daniil Medvedev, who he beat in last year’s final, or Taylor Fritz in the semis.

The defending champion’s first round against Nicolas Jarry, of Chile, is harder than he would have liked but he ought to be extremely happy with his draw overall.

The women’s draw delivered a couple of blockbuster first rounds for the favourites, with defending champion Aryna Sabalenka facing 2017 US Open champion Sloane Stephens, and No.3 seed Coco Gauff taking on Sofia Kenin, who won the title here in 2020.

Sabalenka and Gauff are set to meet in the semi-finals, which leaves No2 seed Iga Swiatek sitting rather pretty in the bottom half of the draw.