Australian Open 2019: Croatians find out first round opponents
- by croatiaweek
- in Sport
10 January 2019 – The Croatian players involved in the opening Grand Slam of the year have found out their first-round opponents after the Australian Open draw on Thursday.
Marin Čilić, who is the tournament’s 6th seed, will meet Australian-Croatian Bernard Tomić in round one.
Čilić and Tomić have met three times before with Čilić leading the head-to-head battle 2-1. Their first encounter was at the Australian Open in 2010. If Čilić can overcome Tomić then he will play the winner of the Andrey Rublev and MacKenzie McDonald match.
Croatia’s next highest ranked player in the tournament, 11th-seed Borna Ćorić, will play Belgium’s Steve Darcis in the opening round. The pair
The in-form Ivo Karlović, who jumped 31 places after reaching the final in Pune last week, will play Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz first up.
Croatia’s number one women’s player, 29th-seed Donna Vekić, will meet France’s Kristina Mladenović in the opening round whilst 31st-seed Petra Martić has drawn Brit Heather Watson in round one.
Roger Federer, who is defending his title and aiming to reach Grand Slam number 21, will play Denis Istomin first up.
The Australian Open starts on 14 January.
