Melbourne VIC, Australia, 25 August 2014 | tennis.com.au

Nick Kyrgios, Matt Ebden and Anastasia Rodionova will be the first of 12 Aussies to play their first-round matches on Monday. Kyrgios takes on unpredictable Russian 21st seed Mikhail Youzhny (first on, Court 17), Ebden will play Germany’s Tobias Kamke (first on, Court14) and Rodionova will face Camila Giorgi (third on, Court 6).

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Twenty-seven-year-old Irishman James McGee, whose run through the qualifying rounds provided the first feel-good story of the tournament, will play his first main draw match at a major on day 1 versus Aleksandr Nedovyesov.

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Also scheduled to play on Day 1 include men’s top seed Novak Djokovic, who is shooting for his fifth straight final in New York, Wimbledon finalist Simona Halep, reigning Australian Open champ Stan Wawrinka, Maria Sharapova, Andy Murray and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

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And it seems that Marinko Matosevic has caught the attention of second seed Roger Federer, who had this to say about the Australian in the lead-up to their first-round encounter: “This year he’s really moved up the rankings. Clearly I’m aware that he can play some dangerous tennis, but at the same time, I feel like it’s on my racquet. I have to make sure he has to work extremely hard and he knows the finish line is really far away.”

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