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Five Australian tennis men face the tallest of orders in their opening-round clashes at Wimbledon following an unkind draw at the All England Club.
THE WIMBLEDON DRAW HAS THROWN UP SOME DELICIOUS MEN'S SINGLES MATCHES, BUT WHETHER FIVE LEADING AUSSIES FEEL THAT WAY IS A DIFFERENT MATTER:-
ALEX DE MINAUR v SEBASTIAN KORDA
The Australian No.1 could only sigh when he heard of his own draw against one of the most brilliant young players on the circuit, Korda: "Well, it is what it is ..." De Minaur is playing some of the best tennis of his career and he'll need to be again with the 20-year-old Korda, son of former Australian Open champion Petr Korda, bursting into the top 50 and ready to unleash his big game at SW19 where his dad once reached the quarter-finals. He was great in the clay-court season, winning his first title, and looked ominously good on the Halle grass in reaching the quarter-finals. "Obviously not an ideal draw," de Minaur shrugged with his straightest bat.
NICK KYRGIOS v UGO HUMBERT
What a classic this pair delivered in the Australian Open before Kyrgios edged through in the fifth set. Not that the mavericks' maverick was necessarily overjoyed at having to tackle this soaring 22-year-old French leftie again. "Sheeeshhhh, Ugo not again mannnnnnn," tweeted Kyrgios on hearing the news of their blockbuster rematch on Friday. He hasn't played since Melbourne and hasn't played overseas since Acapulco in February 2020 while the 21st seed Humbert, meanwhile, has risen to a career-best No.25 and has just annexed his first grass-court title in Halle.
JORDAN THOMPSON v CASPER RUUD
'Thommo' loves the grass-court season, recalling his last superb summer on the green stuff in 2019, but having travelled over from Mallorca where he's been preparing, the moustachioed cavalier might have hoped for a kinder draw than being thrown in with Ruud. The young Norwegian 12th seed followed him from Spain after also reaching the quarter-finals there. The good news for Thompson? Ruud's an absolute beginner on the grass still. The bad news? He's an indecently quick learner as his triumphant clay-court campaign, which has seen him soar to No.14 in the world at just 22, demonstrated.
JOHN MILLMAN v ROBERTO BAUTISTA AGUT
Aussie No.2 Millman has not had much luck of late, having to pull out of Roland Garros injured moments before he was due to play his opening match. The Queenslander hasn't had much fortune either in drawing 'RBA', the excellent 33-year-old 'Senor Consistency' who's got more and more comfortable on the grass to the point where he was able to reach the semi-finals at Wimbledon in 2019. Bautista Agut even took a set off then champion Novak Djokovic and as No.8 seed, he might be scenting a repeat performance this year.
CHRIS O'CONNELL v GAEL MONFILS
Sydney's O'Connell was rightly ecstatic to have battled through qualifying but might not have been so overjoyed about drawing the much-loved Monfils. The French cavalier will have the crowd on his side and, when in the mood, can be nigh on unplayable. On the other hand, at 34 he is increasingly accident-prone as his loss to another lesser-ranked Australian Max Purcell in Eastbourne this week proved. The No.13 seed could be at his most vulnerable to an early exit at the hands of a player who demonstrated his resilience in an agonising five-set loss at the French Open.
