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Australian Open 2021 gets underway with a packed schedule of matches on Monday – here’s our pick of the best of them.

Denis Shapovalov [11] vs Jannik Sinner
In what promises to be a blockbuster, the top-ranked Canadian faces off against the in-form Italian, who claimed the Great Ocean Road title on Sunday. Expect scintillating shotmaking in this first-ever meeting between the pair who, at 21 and 19 respectively, may look back on this clash as the foundation of a long rivalry.

MORE: Day 1 schedule of play

After two weeks of practice in Adelaide last month with AO 2009 champion Rafael Nadal, Sinner meets another southpaw in Shapovalov, who similarly delivers his best results on hard courts. The Canadian is seeking to better his third-round appearance in Melbourne in 2019, where he fell to eventual champion Novak Djokovic in four sets.


Sinner comes into AO 2021 with winning momentum
Naomi Osaka [3] vs Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
Power and precision? Expect both in this intriguing match-up. AO 2019 champion Osaka, unbeaten since February 2020, thrives on hard courts and at just 23, can navigate her way through a major like a veteran. The Japanese fan favourite can expect a spirited challenge from the Russian, who has reached three of her six career Grand Slam quarterfinals here in Melbourne.

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Osaka will need to be on her guard against Pavlyuchenkova
Last year, Pavlyuchenkova toppled seeds including Karolina Pliskova and Angelique Kerber en route to the final eight. The duo has a 1-1 head-to-head record, each recording straight-sets wins – Osaka’s being the most recent, in September 2019.

Kei Nishikori vs Pablo Carreno Busta [15]
This is a rematch two years in the making. The Japanese former world No. 4 came back from a two-sets-to-love deficit against Carreno Busta at Australian Open 2019 to clinch victory after a grueling five-setter that featured three tiebreaks and lasted over five hours. A stalwart on tour and seeded at majors for the bulk of the past decade, Nishikori has reached four quarterfinals in Melbourne, but he’ll need to produce his best to post an upset over Carreno Busta.

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Carreno Busta was in fine form for Spain in the ATP Cup
The 29 year-old’s best results come on hard courts – the Spaniard made the semifinals of the US Open just five months ago, a feat he’d previously achieved in 2017.

Bianca Andreescu [8] vs Mihaela Buzarnescu [LL]
Tennis fans have been waiting for Andreescu’s comeback with bated breath. Sidelined by injury since 2019, shortly after capturing her maiden Grand Slam in New York, many are wondering if the Canuck will pick up where she left off: unflappable, explosive and fearless.

MORE: ‘Happy to be back’: Andreescu calm ahead of return

The 20 year-old's return to competitive tennis pits her against Buzarnescu, a left-handed Romanian who isn’t afraid of big stages or players in the top 10 – she eliminated Elina Svitolina in straight sets at Roland Garros 2018, and took a set off Simona Halep during their second-round match at Wimbledon 2019.

Grigor Dimitrov [18] vs Marin Cilic
Get your popcorn ready. It’s a role reversal from the last time these players dueled at Roland Garros 2019, when the unseeded Dimitrov upset Cilic, then seeded 11th, in a memorable five-setter. The Bulgarian, who posted his best result in Melbourne in 2017 by reaching the semifinals (lost to Nadal), will need to dig deep to earn victory over the Croat, who he’s beaten just twice in six head-to-head meetings.

Cilic, the former world No. 3, reached the Australian Open 2018 final, where he lost to Roger Federer. Despite being unseeded in Melbourne last year, Cilic took out seeds Roberto Bautista Agut and Benoit Paire, both in five-set marathons.

Thiem, Zverev also feature in Day 1 action

Toss the playbook out the window.

The trusted and time-tested warm-ups, the routines, the rituals employed in the lead-up to the year’s first major? Yeah, you can scrap those, too. This is an Australian Open like no other, after all, one held amidst a global pandemic; one that’s seen athletes quarantined and the run-of-the-mill practice session become a treasured commodity.

Hotel rooms became improvised gymnasiums, fitted with stationary bikes, yoga matts and hand weights. Mattresses became backboards, entryways suddenly ideal for suicide sprints. But sometimes you’ve just got to make do.

“Players are so used to routines. They like to be in control. They’re not in control,” observed Chris Evert, a two-time Australian Open champion. “I think it’s going to demand a lot of patience and a lot of flexibility and who’s going to really adjust and adapt the best under those precarious circumstances.”

“This is obviously totally unprecedented,” echoed John McEnroe, who’ll partner with Evert in the ESPN broadcast booth throughout the fortnight. “I guess you have to sort of go into it in ‘be-prepared-for-anything’ mode. Look at the glass half-full instead of half-empty. Some players will be better at that than others.”

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Novak Djokovic is among those who are learning to adjust on the fly. Though Serbia fell short in its title defence at the ATP Cup (l. to Germany, 2-1), the full-throttle match play should serve the top seed well as he sets out in pursuit of a record ninth Norman Brooks Challenge Cup at Melbourne Park. The two-time defending champion, who in 2020 matched boyhood idol Pete Sampras by finishing year-end No. 1 in the FedEx ATP Rankings for a sixth time, will be the featured opening-night attraction in Rod Laver Arena when he faces veteran Frenchman Jeremy Chardy. Djokovic is a perfect 13-0 against his fellow 33-year-old, including a straight-sets victory on these same courts in their first encounter back in 2009.

Another former champion, 17th seed Stan Wawrinka, will also be in action Monday. The 2014 titlist is set to face Portugal’s Pedro Sousa in what will be their first meeting.

Tennis aficionados are gleefully envisioning a third-round tussle between countrymen Denis Shapovalov and Felix Auger-Aliassime, the 11th and 20th seeds, respectively. But both Canadians — first-round casualties last year — have their work cut out for them if that is to become a reality.

As luck would have it, Shapovalov drew fast-rising Italian Jannik Sinner in the opening round, a highly anticipated match-up in Margaret Court Arena. Sinner comes in hot, having won his second ATP Tour title at the Great Ocean Road Open on Sunday. The #NextGenATP Italian enters the Australian Open on a 10-match winning streak, after finishing his 2020 campaign with another title run at the Sofia Open.

The 20-year-old Auger-Aliassime, who advanced to his seventh ATP Tour final at the Murray River Open, will meet lucky loser Cedrik-Marcel Stebe of Germany on Court 13.

“Felix has an opportunity to be potentially the best player in the world in the future. There’s not many players that you can say that about,” said McEnroe of the World No. 21.

The question for both Sinner and Auger-Aliassime will be how they recover after the quick turnaround from Sunday’s ATP 250 finals. Will they have anything left in the tank?

Shapovalov and Auger-Aliassime aren’t the only Canadians hitting the court on Day 1. No. 14 seed Milos Raonic, who’s reached the quarter-finals or better on five occasions in Melbourne, opens against Argentine Federico Coria in 1573 Arena.

<a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/nova ... iew'>Novak Djokovic</a> defeated <a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/domi ... w'>Dominic Thiem</a> in five sets to win the 2020 <a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/ ... Australian Open</a> final.

Last year's finalists Novak Djokovic and Dominic Thiem could meet in this year's semi-finals.
No. 3 seed Dominic Thiem, who broke through for his first major singles title last year at the US Open, will face Kazakhstani Mikhail Kukushkin in Rod Laver Arena. Thiem’s foil at Flushing Meadows, No. 6 seed Alexander Zverev, is scheduled to take on former UCLA standout Marcos Giron of the United States. Zverev helped lead Germany past Serbia in Group A play at the ATP Cup, teaming with Jan-Lennard Struff in doubles to down Djokovic and Nikola Cacic for the clincher, 7-6(4), 5-7, 10-7.

Marin Cilic, an Australian Open finalist in 2018, won’t have the luxury of slowly working his way into form on the speedy courts of Melbourne Park. The 32-year-old Croat is sure to be tested from the get-go against Grigor Dimitrov, a semi-finalist in 2017. Cilic holds a 4-2 advantage in his ATP Head2Head rivalry against the talented Bulgarian, though Dimitrov claimed their most recent clash at Roland Garros in 2019, a thrilling 6-7(3), 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-3 nail-biter.

Homegrown favourite Nick Kyrgios’ return to Grand Slam tennis is also among the most intriguing storylines as the 2021 Australian Open gets underway. Out of precaution, the Canberran opted out of both Roland Garros and the US Open in 2020, playing only nine matches all year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. His first-round opponent will be Portuguese qualifier Frederico Ferreira Silva, ranked No. 184.

Also on the Day 1 schedule are four-time quarter-finalist Kei Nishikori vs. No. 15 Pablo Carreno Busta; Elias Ymer vs. No. 8 Diego Schwartzman; No. 10 Gael Monfils vs. Emil Ruusuvuori; Albert Ramos-Vinolas vs. No. 27 Taylor Fritz; and Reilly Opelka vs. Yen-Hsun Lu.

How they fare under these unique circumstances is anybody’s guess. That patience Evert spoke of, that ability to adjust, will surely come in handy.