Zverev at the start against Bedene - Kerber meets Hercog
The draw took place in the Margaret Court Arena, where Alexander Zverev had just knocked over in a training game about two hours earlier. Defending champions Roger Federer and Caroline Wozniacki brought the trophies onto the "stage".
by Ulrike Weinrich
last edit: Jan 10, 2019, 12:07 pm
Fourth placed Alexander Zverev meets Slovenian Aljaz Bedene in the first round, whom he has defeated twice in two previous matches. Once Bedene had to give up.
However, concerns about Zverev increased again on Thursday. Only recovered from a thigh injury did the winner of the ATP final bend over in a training match and left the court prematurely. How serious the injury is is not yet clear.
Wimbledon winner Angelique Kerber faces Polona Hercog (Slovenia) at the start of the Happy Slam.
Last year, the Kiel native had reached the semi-finals in Melbourne and narrowly lost there against industry leader Simona Halep (Romania) in the best 2018 Grand Slam game. Kerber awarded two match balls in the third set.
In the round of 16 there could be a game between Kerber vs Görges
In the round of 16, "Angie" could face the German duel with her Fed Cup colleague Julia Görges, who meets Danielle Collins from the USA in her first match. Wimbledon semi-finalist Julia Görges had won the tournament in Auckland at the weekend.
On the big stage, Tatjana Maria demands none other than 23-time major winner Serena Williams (USA) in the opening round - and long-time injured Laura Siegemund the two-time Melbourne champion Victoria Azarenka (Belarus).
Jan-Lennard Struff could face a very special challenge on a big court in the second round. Should the Warsteiner defeat the local hero Matthew Ebden, the French Open record winner Rafael Nadal, who was in second place, would probably be the next and extremely well-known competitor of "Struffi".
So far twelve German professionals in the main field
Philipp Kohlschreiber, who is in position 32, has to face wildcard holder Zhe Li from China. A tough competitor awaits Peter Gojowczyk - namely the Russian and Paris Masters winner Karen Khachanov (No. 10).
A total of six German women and six German men have been in the main field so far. In the last and third qualifying round, another four DTB men and one DTB woman still have the chance to make the leap into the 128 field.
The first major tournament of the year is worth a total of around 38.45 million euros (62.5 million Australian dollars). Compared to 2018, this means an increase of a whopping 14 percent.
2.52 million euros each for the winner of Melbourne
The winner not only receives the "Norman Brookes Challenge Cup" (men) and the "Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup" (women), but also prize money of 2.52 million euros each. For the losers of the finals, at least half are left (1.26 million euros each).
The heat policy for the benefit of the professionals has already been tightened for the upcoming Australian Open. Among other things, men's matches can now be interrupted for 10 minutes. Until now, this was only possible for women's games. "The health of professionals is a top priority," said Craig Tilley, tournament director of the Happy Slam, about the reasons for the "update"
The HSS is a new component of the Extreme Heat Policy
As part of the "Extreme Heat Policy (EHP)", which has existed for years, the so-called "Heat Stress Scale (HSS)" has been officially launched by a medical team of the Australian association (Tennis Australia) and experts from the University of Sydney was worked out.
The climatic factors air temperature, radiant heat of the sun, air humidity and wind speed influence the "HSS". Several measuring stations on the system give the experts information about the height of the "HSS".