Nadal begins Open defense, Swiatek targets maiden Melbourne title

MELBOURNE: Rafael Nadal returns to the scene of one of his greatest Grand Slam triumphs when the Australian Open begins Monday, with women’s number one Iga Swiatek headlining the night session on the showpiece Rod Laver Arena. A year ago, the 36-year-old Spaniard defied a long injury layoff and a two-set deficit in the final against Daniil Medvedev to win his second Melbourne Park title and a record 21st Grand Slam. The top seed, who extended that record to 22 titles at Roland Garros, faces a testing first-round clash against emerging 21-year-old Briton Jack Draper, who reached the Adelaide semifinals last week.

“Probably one of the toughest first rounds possible... young, powerful, growing very, very fast in the rankings, playing well,” said Nadal of Draper, the world number 40. Swiatek said she was ready for an “intense” opening match against Germany’s Jule Neimeier, the world number 69 who reached the quarter-finals at Wimbledon last year.

The pair’s only previous meeting came in the last 16 of the 2022 US Open, where Swiatek dropped the first set before coming through 2-6, 6-4, 6-0 and going on to win her third Grand Slam title. Earlier, American seventh seed Coco Gauff will have the honor of playing the opening match on Rod Laver Arena against the Czech Republic’s world number 46 Katerina Siniakova. Seventh-ranked Gauff heads into the first Grand Slam of the year on a high after winning her third WTA title at the Auckland Classic this month.