Djokovic to face Basavareddy in Aussie Open first round

MELBOURNE- Serbia's top-ranked tennis player Novak Djokovic was on Thursday drawn to play American Nishesh Basavareddy in the Australian Open first round.

In the second round, Djokovic could potentially face Russian Pavel Kotov or a qualifier.

His potential Round 3 opponents are American Reilly Opelka, Indian Sumit Nagal, Czech Tomas Machac or a qualifier.

Djokovic's possible opponents in the round of last 16 are Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov or Czech Jiri Lehecka, and he could potentially face Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz in the quarter-finals.

In the opening round, Serbians Miomir Kecmanovic and Dusan Lajovic will fight it out for a second round berth.

The winner of the tie will take on Pole Hubert Hurkacz or Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor.

In the women's singles, Serbian Olga Danilovic will face Dutchwoman Arantxa Rus in the first round.

If she wins, Danilovic will play the winner of an all-Russian tie between Kamilla Rakhimova and Liudmila Samsonova.

Fellow Serbian Nina Stojanovic has failed to qualify for the main draw of the tournament after losing to China's Sijia Wei 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (11-9) on Thursday.

Australian Open will take place from January 12 through 26.