Scotland's new tennis sensation lands epic first round draw at Australian Open

Scotland’s Jacob Fearnley has landed a mouthwatering first-round draw at the Australian Open after being paired with home favourite Nick Kyrgios.

In his maiden appearance at the Australian Open, Edinburgh-born Fearnley will play one of the plum ties in Melbourne against Kyrgios, who is returning to frontline tennis after months on the sidelines with injuries.

Fearnley was still at college in the United States when the tournament was staged last year, but now ranked No 99 in the world following an excellent end to 2024, the 23-year-old has a direct entry in Melbourne and will likely play on one of the show courts against the Australian.

Edinburgh-born Jacob Fearnley will face Nick Kyrgios in the first round of the Australian Open. | Getty Images

Kyrgios has not played in his home slam since 2022 after two years on the sidelines following knee and wrist surgeries. The 29-year-old revealed after making his return at the Brisbane International last week, where he lost to Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in a final-set tie-breaker, that he is not sure if his wrist will hold up to best-of-five-set tennis, while he also has a minor abdominal strain.

He will need to be close to his best against Fearnley, who took a set off Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon last year and won four titles on the ATP Challenger Tour. Should the Scot prevail, he would face either 28th seed Sebastian Baez of Argentina or Frenchman Arthur Cazaux.

This will be the first Australian Open since Fearnley’s compatriot Andy Murray retired from the sport, but the 37-year-old will be involved in a coaching capacity alongside world No 7 and ten-times champion Novak Djokovic.

Murray’s first match as a coach will come against American wildcard Nishesh Basavareddy, who is currently in the semi-finals of the ASB Classic in Auckland.

Speaking earlier this week, Murray admitted he was completely against the idea of going straight into coaching before Djokovic tempted him back on tour.

The former Australian Open finalist revealed: “I was actually playing golf. We’d actually been exchanging messages. Novak had messaged me just wanting to chat.

Nick Kyrgios has not played in Melbourne for two years due to injury. | Getty Images

“I was on the 17th hole of the golf course and the guy I was playing with said to me, ‘Do you know what’s next’? I was like, ‘No, not really’. He said ‘Do you have any plans to do any coaching’? And I said, ‘Honestly, I can’t think of anything worse to do right now’.

“And then 30 minutes later I was in the car and I called Novak, and then we had a conversation and he asked if I would be interested in helping, which I obviously wasn’t expecting.

“I said to him, ‘Look, I need to think about it and talk to my family’. So I spoke to them and, after a couple of days, I thought that it was a pretty unique opportunity and experience.”

Murray spent a week and a half with Djokovic in Spain during pre-season but for now the arrangement only extends until the end of the Australian Open, which the Serbian will be bidding to win for an 11th time.

Murray has not ruled out a more permanent deal going forward, adding: “I thought it would be a good idea to try it together and spend some time in the off-season through Australia and see how it goes for both of us, because it’s a little bit different. It’s not the usual kind of set-up.

“So it made sense to trial it and see if it works. And then we said we’d make a more definitive decision after the tournament.”

In terms of other British interest in the first round of the Australian Open, Emma Raducanu was the only one to draw a seed. The former US Open champion pulled out of her scheduled warm-up tournament in Auckland with a back niggle but has been practising at Melbourne Park this week. Raducanu will have to be sharp from the start after being paired with 26th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova.

Andy Murray is coaching Novak Djokovic at this year's Australian Open. | AFP via Getty Images

British women’s No 1 Katie Boulter, who is seeded for the first time here at 22, will take on Canada’s Rebecca Marino hoping to build on her encouraging start to the season at the United Cup while men’s 15th seed and top male Brit Jack Draper faces Argentina’s Mariano Navone.

Like Raducanu, Draper’s preparations have been disrupted by injury, with a hip problem delaying his journey to Australia, but the US Open semi-finalist will hope for another deep run providing his body holds up.

Should Draper make the fourth round, he could face third seed Carlos Alcaraz, while Djokovic is also in that quarter of the draw.

Cameron Norrie has been given a difficult first match against former Wimbledon finalist Matteo Berrettini. Jodie Burrage will make her grand slam return against a qualifier after wrist and ankle problems last year, while debutante Sonay Kartal faces Spain’s Jessica Bouzas Maneiro.