Fearnley against Kyrgios, Dimitrov against Fognini

Nick Kyrgios will return to Melbourne Park when he takes on Jake Fearnley in the first round of the Australian Open on Monday. Veterans Grigor Dimitrov and Fabio Fognini are also part of the Day 2 playing order.

Jake Fearnley vs Nick Kyrgios

Kyrgios is playing at the Australian Open for the first time since 2022. The 29-year-old Australian missed virtually all of 2023 and 2024 due to various injuries and a general disinterest in tennis, but is finally back on the court. His comeback game in Brisbane was relatively encouraging, although it ended in defeat as Kyrgios fell to the red-hot Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard 7-6 (2), 6-7 (4), 7-6 (3).

Leading the way for the former world No. 13 on Monday is Fearnley, who has moved up to No. 86 in the rankings in his short time on tour since leaving TCU. The former college star won four Challenger titles and finished second in another in 2024. He started 2025 with a semi-final performance (losing to rising star Joao Fonseca at the Canberra Challenger). Unsurprisingly, Kyrgios receives treatment at night at the John Cain Arena – his favorite venue. The crowd will inspire him to make this as competitive as possible, but Fearnley is winning games everywhere while Kyrgios hasn’t won a single game since October 2022.

Selection: Fearnley in 5

Fabio Fognini vs (10) Grigor Dimitrov

Dimitrov and Fognini will face each other for the eighth time in their careers when they meet again on Monday. The head-to-head series is 5-2 in favor of Dimitrov, who won their only meeting since 2017 with a 6-0, 7-5 decision at the 2022 Paris Masters. All signs point to the 33-year-old Bulgarian getting the job done once again. He’s still ranked No. 10 in the world and generally enjoys playing in Australia – with two Brisbane titles, runners-up finishes in Brisbane and Sydney and four trips to at least the quarterfinals of the Aussie Open (one to the semifinals). ).

At 37 years old, Fognini isn’t quite ready to call it a day, but he’s clearly much closer to the end than Dimitrov. The Italian sits 89th in the rankings after posting a modest 12-14 record on the Main Tour last season. Any game between these two guys can go either way as Fognini remains extremely talented and Dimitrov is always a question mark physically. However, if starting value #10 is 100 percent, it should be one-way traffic.

Selection: Dimitrov in 3