Lleyton Hewitt is tipping one other milestone second as Jason Kubler, not undeservingly, leads the native cost on day one of many Australian Open in Melbourne.
Enjoying a career-high rating after selecting up in 2023 the place he left off in his breakout 2022 season, Kubler is chasing his maiden main-draw win on the Open towards South American baseliner Sebastian Baez on Monday.
Baez isn’t any mug, ranked forty first on this planet, however the match-up presents born-again 29-year-old Kubler with a golden alternative to lastly break his Melbourne Park duck after a luckless profession dogged by knee accidents.
After departing final yr’s Open ranked No.215 following one other unsuccessful qualifying marketing campaign, Kubler has rocketed to 84th after a surprising run of outcomes highlighted by a cost to Wimbledon’s final 16 and a Davis Cup debut in September.
He delivered once more for Hewitt with two singles wins over top-40 rivals Dan Evans and Albert Ramos-Vinolas on the season-opening United Cup, leaving the Australian captain believing the late bloomer can “absolutely” trigger some Open injury on the yr’s first grand slam.
“I just think he’s going to grow just from being around Alex (de Minaur) as well and playing big matches and how to deal with his emotions,” Hewitt informed AAP.
“Just him going through those experiences, he’s going to be a better player.
“We all know the accidents and setbacks he is had and he is put that apart rather well and he is received his physique into nice form in the mean time.
“He plays well on all surfaces as well but for a while there he probably didn’t believe that he belonged on the big stage or in the bigger tournaments.
“When he was a hitting associate on the Davis Cup in Sydney in March, April, we had been so impressed with how he hit the ball then. He might have simply performed in that Davis Cup tie.
“He got his opportunity later in the year and he’s gone from strength to strength and he’s going to be a dangerous floater at the Aussie Open.”
With seeded huge weapons Nick Kyrgios and Alex de Minaur not launching their title quests till Tuesday, Kubler is the highest-ranked Australian in motion on day one.
Five native wildcards additionally play on Monday, together with veteran John Millman towards Swiss Marc-Andrea Huesler and Rinky Hijikata towards German qualifier Yannick Hanfmann.
Olivia Gadecki, the 20-year-old prodigy being mentored by retired reigning champion Ash Barty, makes her much-anticipated Open debut towards teenage qualifier Polina Kudermetova.
Storm Hunter performs Wang Xinyu and Talia Gibson faces Frenchwoman Clara Burel.
AUSSIES IN ACTION ON MONDAY AT THE AUSTRALIAN OPEN FIRST ROUND (PREFIX DENOTES SEEDING):
Men’s singles, first spherical
Jason Kubler v Sebastian Baez (ARG)
John Millman v Marc-Andrea Huesler (SUI)
Rinky Hijikata v Yannick Hanfmann (GER)
Women’s singles, first spherical
Olivia Gadecki v Polina Kudermetova (RUS)
Storm Hunter v Wang Xinyu (CHN)
Talia Gibson v Clara Burel (FRA)
