Australian Open, day 2, with the presentation of Djokovic and Schwartzman: what time they play and how to watch them, live

The presentations of three blue and black and white rackets and the awaited return of Novak Djokovic to the courts of Melbourne parkafter the telenovela that saw him as the protagonist last year, he will liven up the second day of the competition Australian Open 2023which will be launched in the Argentine night of this Monday.

diego schwartzmann, 26th in the standings and 23rd seed, will be one of the first to take the field. He will face, from 21:00 in our country and on ESPN, Ukrainian Oleksii Krutych188th in the standings, coming from quality and Grand Slam debutant. Of course, if your leg allows it.

is that the littlesemifinalist at Roland Garros 2020, arrives at the tournament with a left adductor injury suffered in the duel against Jenson Brookby for the first round of Auckland ATP 250, his first tournament of 2023 (he withdrew after losing the first set 6-1). And although the problem is not as serious as it initially seemed, he himself admitted on Monday that his participation was not guaranteed.

“Everything will depend on my sensations and how much pain I will have these days to see if I can play or not,” he said. ESPN who has not lost a Grand Slam since Wimbledon 2014.

Also in the first round, from 21:00 (only on Star+), it will debut Facundo Bagnis. The man from Santa Fe, 32 years old and 91st in the standings, will have a very tough first round match against the English Daniel Evans25th seed.

Bagnis will be playing in the Australian main draw for the third time and will be looking for his first win. In his previous two appearances, he was fired on debut. In 2017 he fell, right against Evans, in the only duel they played between them in their career. And in 2022, with the Chilean Cristian Garín. His best historical performance in a “big” is the third round of the 2021 US Open.

Pedro Cachin, the third Argentinian to take the Australian field on Tuesday, will also not have an easy start. Because he will clash in the second round, around 11pm (from Star +), with the Spaniards Pablo Carreno Busta15th in the world.

Cordovan will make their all-time debut in the Oceanic Grand Slam, which will be their third tournament in this category in their career. In a 2022 dreamed of for him – with great performances, he climbed 201st places in the standings until he reached his best historical position (54th) -, he reached the second round of Roland Garros and the third of the US Open.

Ranked 58th in the standings today, the Bell Ville native will play his second ATP match against Carreño. The first was in the round of 16 in Córdoba, in 2019, with the Argentine’s victory against him due to the abandonment of his rival.

This Monday, at the start of the competition, Argentine tennis celebrated the victories of Francis Cerundolo Y Thomas Etcheverry -a first for both at this level of tournaments- and Nadia Podoroska. Meanwhile they broke up Guido Pelle (lost at Cerúndolo), Frederick Coria Y Sebastian Baez.

Djokovic’s time

Beyond the presentations of the Argentines and the many favorites, the eyes of the world will be focused on what will happen in the duel of the last round of the Rod Laver Arena, in which Novak Djokovic will star in his return to the Australian Open a year after being expelled from that country for his refusal to get vaccinated against Covid-19 and after several days of controversy.

The Serbian, fifth in the standings today, will clash with the Spaniard Robert Carballes in the center court night session -around 7am in Argentina, by ESPN- and will try to take the first step in the pursuit of his 10th title in Melbourne and 22nd in a Grand Slam, with which he would equal the historical record which is in the hands of Rafael Nadal.

In the last hours of Monday, the alarm went off when the former number one was seen training with a large bandage on his left thigh and many began to hypothesize a possible withdrawal of Freight. However, he himself has ruled out that possibility. “It’s okay, see you at the match,” he said in an informal chat with journalists from his country.

The duel between the Serbian and the Spaniard will close the day’s action at Rod Laver, who will have four duel favorites ahead.

Three from the women’s draw: Aryna Sabalenka (5th)-Tereza Martincova; Caroline Garcia (4th)-Katherine Sebov (first two rounds) e On Jabeur (2nd)-Tamara Zidansek (in Djokovic’s preview).

And a fourth, unmissable, for the men’s team, which will see the protagonist – around one in the morning in our country – the Italian Matthew Berrettiniseeded 13, and Scotsman Andy Murrayformer number one in the world.

Another of the highlights will be the clash between the Russians Andrei Rublevfifth seed, and the Austrian Dominic Thiemwho became world No. 3 before being plagued by injuries and given a wild card to enter the contest.

The German will also appear again in an important tournament Alexander Zverev, after the serious ankle injury sustained in the semifinal of the last Roland Garros against Nadal. Sascha, seeded 12th, will clash with the Peruvian John Paul Varillas (lucky loser) not before 00.30 at Margaret Court Arena.

In the last duel on that same track, the Norwegian Casper Ruudsecond favorite, he will begin his search for his first Grand Slam – after the two finals he lost last year, at Roland Garros and at the US Open – against the Czech Thomas Machac (115°).

With information from AFP