Australian Open draw stacked with Aussies, but can we dare to dream?

It’s said Nick Kyrgios can beat anyone on his day. The problem is he’ll probably need to beat everyone to have any chance of ending the country’s four-decade long drought of a singles champion at the Australian Open.

Considered one of the most dangerous unseeded players in Melbourne over the next fortnight, Kyrgios has his own torturous path through the opening week, should he even survive the first round. First up is former Wimbledon finalist Milos Raonic with a possible encounter against 2014 Australian Open champion Stan Wawrinka in the second round.

Nick Kyrgios.Credit:AAP

Look any further and world No.4 Alexander Zverev could be waiting in the fourth round.

There’s been plenty of focus this week on Kyrgios and Bernard Tomic – both of whom copped tough first-round opponents (in Tomic’s case last year’s finalist Marin Cilic) – but the reality is there’s a roll call of Australian players to keep close tabs on as the opening major of 2019 heats up.

Ashleigh Barty is Australia’s highest-ranked player and the country’s best chance of having a grand slam singles champion this year. In conjunction with Alex de Minaur, joint winners of the Newcombe Medal, they headline a large Australian contingent at Melbourne Park.

De Minaur shot up the rankings in 2018 and, now ensconced in the world’s top 30, is Australia’s only representative amongst the men’s seeds. Comparisons with Lleyton Hewitt abound. Don’t be surprised if the pacy 19-year-old similarly achieves some significant moments in his tennis career at a tender age.

Then there’s John Millman, currently the world No.38, and with perhaps his finest tennis moment under his belt in 2018. That was a fourth-round elimination of Roger Federer in a much-watched night session match-up at the US Open.

And Thanasi Kokkinakis overcame a wildcard snub to progress through three rounds of qualifying to become Australia’s 12th man in the 128-strong field.

Throw in James Duckworth – who has drawn Rafael Nadal in the first round – Jordan Thompson, Matthew Ebden, Alex Bolt, Alexei Popyrin, Marc Polmans and Jason Kubler, and there’s plenty of Australian talent to monitor. With six men in the world’s top 100 – de Minaur, Millman, Ebden, Kyrgios, Thompson and Tomic – there’s rosiness about Australian tennis.

Combined with the women, 22 Australians – or not that far off 10 per cent of players – will feature in the singles draws at Melbourne Park.

On the women’s front, Queenslander Barty will spearhead the charge with world No.34 Daria Gavrilova just missing a seeding and the improved Ajla Tomljanovic boasting a sub-50 world ranking.

Ash Barty.Credit:AAP

Sam Stosur is the fourth Australian representative in the WTA top 100 and, perhaps with a lessened burden of expectation, can look to progress through a few early rounds.

There will be eyes again on Victorian wildcard Destanee Aiava, who drew American 17th seed Madison Keys. Aiava was impressive in the opening round last year before succumbing to eventual finalist and current world No.1 Simona Halep.

Priscilla Hon, Eliza Perez, Zoe Hives and Astra Sharma, who won her way through qualifying,  complete Australia’s contingent of 10 women in the main draw.

It’s been a long time since Mark Edmondson in 1976 and Chris O’Neill in 1978 gave Australia a grand slam champion on home soil. Pat Cash and Lleyton Hewitt went exceptionally two decades apart. Could it yet be a Barty Party in just over a fortnight?

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