Nishesh Basavareddy will take on the legendary Novak Djokovic in the first round of his inaugural Australian Open - and the challenge has him pretty excited.

Australian Open begins January 12 in Melbourne, and the draws for the men’s and women’s singles are intriguing — and have thrown up some blockbuster first-round matches. The Athletic’s tennis writers,

Serbia's Djokovic drew American wildcard Nishesh Basavareddy to start but has a huge task in front of him to win an 11th Australian Open and record 25th Grand Slam. He is seeded to meet world number 10 Grigor Dimitrov in round four and Spain's Alcaraz in the last eight, before a potential clash with Alexander Zverev in the semi-finals.

Here are some of the top men at the Australian Open, which starts at Melbourne Park on Sunday morning local time (Saturday night EST), with money-line odds via BetMGM Sportsbook: Jannik Sinner Seeding: 1 Career-Best Ranking: 1 Country: Italy Age: 23 2024 Record: 73-6 2024 Titles: 8 Career Titles: 18 Grand Slam Titles: 2 — Australian Open (1: 2024),

Novak Djokovic has revealed his father is putting pressure on him to retire from tennis as the 2025 Australian Open rapidly approaches. The Serb, who failed to win a major in 2024, will be hoping to secure glory Down Under - having previously done so on 10 occasions over the years.