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Can Nick Kyrgios get his Australian Open off to a winning start or will Gastão Elias cause a major upset and send the Aussie packing? Join The Roar from around 6:30pm (AEDT) for live coverage.
Nick Kyrgios has had a strong start to the summer at the Hopman Cup as well as in exhibition showings. The world No.13 has been dealt a good draw and will be looking to improve on his career-high quarterfinal appearance back in 2015.
The Australian kicked off 2017 against Spaniard Feliciano Lopez in his Hopman Cup title defense, securing a 6-3, 6-4 straight sets victory before marching onto knock off the Czech Republic’s Adam Pavlásek 7-5, 6-4.
Kyrgios then went into the third tie with the USA undefeated, a knee injury seeing him fall to Jack Sock 6-2, 6-2.
Australia’s current best player on the ATP Tour then made an exhibition appearance at the Fast4 Showdown in Darling Harbour, his strong service leading to a four-set victory over Rafael Nadal following a final set tie-breaker 4-3, 2-4, 4-3, 4-3.
Kyrgios will have the weight of a nation on his shoulders as he attempts to become the first Australian to win the Norman Brookes Cup since Mark Edmondson way back in 1976.
Ranked world No.81 on the ATP Tour, 26-year old Gastão Elias will be hoping to secure an early upset over 13th seed and home town hero Nick Kyrgios.
The Portugese native has had a slow start to 2017, having secured just one main draw win so far this season. He kicked off the year in Chennai, going down in three sets to Jozef Kovalik 6-7, 6-3, 6-2 before flying out to Sydney where he gained qualification into Apia International following wins over Luca Vanni and Nikoloz Basilashvili.
Elias, who reached a career high of world No.57 last October, secured a first round scalp over promising young Aussie Christopher O’Connell 6-7, 6-4, 6-1 before being drawn against world No.8 Dominic Thiem whom he pushed to three sets, eventually going down 6-7, 6-3, 7-5.
Interestingly, Elias has very little experience in the big ATP events, having never qualified for a Masters tournament and never winning a main draw match at a grand slam. In fact, 2017 will be his Australian Open debut after failing to qualify in 2015 and 2016.
While unlikely, a win would do wonders for Gastão Elias. He has never played Nick Kyrgios on the ATP Tour before.
The winner will face a second round matchup against either of Paul-Henri Mathieu or Andreas Seppi.
Prediction
Nick Kyrgios will fly through the first round, securing a straight-sets win to march through to the second round.
Kyrgios in straight sets.
Join The Roar from around 6:30pm (AEDT) for live coverage following the completion of Svetlana Kuznetsova and Mariana Duque-Mariño.
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