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Ten Australians are in the main draw to compete for a chance at hometown glory at this year’s Australian Open, which begins on 16 January. Among them are a handful of young guns anxious to make a successful start, some current ATP World Tour standouts reaching for further success, and one veteran who still exudes intense passion for the sport.

World No. 50 Nick Kyrgios will start his Australian Open campaign against World No. 57 Federico Delbonis in their first meeting on the ATP Tour. The 19 year old, who reached the second round last year (l. to Paire in five sets) and won the 2013 Australian Open juniors title (d. Kokkinakis), was drawn in the same quarter as No. 2 seed Roger Federer. A potential second-round match against No. 23 seed Ivo Karlovic looms.

“I think Nick’s section of the draw is pretty good,” said Lleyton Hewitt, reflecting on the No. 1 Australian’s chances. “If he’s fully fit, I’m sure he’ll be fine out there. Karlovic second round is a dangerous floater. He beat Novak [Djokovic] a couple of weeks ago. But I don’t think it’s that bad for Nick over five sets.’’

In his 19th consecutive Australian Open, Hewitt will contest his first round match in Melbourne against Chinese wild card Ze Zhang. The 2005 runner-up (l. to Safin) owns a 2-0 FedEx ATP Head2Head record against Zhang. The lone Australian player in the top half of the draw, Hewitt is in World No. 1 Novak Djokovic’s quarter and the same half as defending champion and No. 4 seed Stan Wawrinka. Last year, the 33 year old lost in the first round to No. 24 seed Andreas Seppi in a thrilling four hour, 18-minute match.

Six Australians were drawn into the same quarter as No. 3 seed Rafael Nadal, which is also the same half as Federer. World No. 71 Bernard Tomic, whose best result in Melbourne was reaching the fourth round in 2012 (l. to Federer), meets German Tobias Kamke in the first round in their first career meeting. Should he prevail, he will face the winner of No. 22 seed Philipp Kohlschreiber and Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu.

“It’s tough, what I experienced last year,” said Tomic, who retired in the first round last year with a groin injury during his match against Nadal. “I think that’s the worst you can experience. But I’m a much better player now – fitter and stronger.”

Also in Nadal’s quarter is Thanasi Kokkinakis, the 2013 Australian Open junior runner-up who reached the second round last year (l. to Nadal). This year, the wild card will start against No. 11 seed Ernests Gulbis, with a match against the winner of Australian Sam Groth and Filip Krajinovic on the line.

As for the first-round matches for the other Australian players, Marinko Matosevic will start against a qualifier, John Millman will face No. 26 seed Leonardo Mayer, James Duckworth will play Blaz Kavcic, wild card playoff winner Jordan Thompson will face Joao Sousa, and wild card Luke Saville, the Australian Open junior champion in 2012, will take on Dudi Sela.

Watch a free live stream of the 2015 Australian Open qualifying rounds from 14-17 January. Coverage from Melbourne begins at 10am (11pm GMT and 6pm EST) on 16 January, and at 12:00pm (1am GMT, 8pm EST) on 17 January. The 2015 Australian Open main draw runs 19 January - 1 February.