Match: Roger Federer v Jurgen Melzer
Date: 16 January, Monday
Time: 5:30pm SGT/3pm IST/9:30am GMT (onwards)
Competition: Australian Open 2017
Venue: Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne Park
TV Channel: In Singapore, Fox Sports will provide live TV coverage.
Live Streaming: The matches can be watched live online at AO TV Live, Watch ESPN, Tennis Channel Live
Overview
Roger Federer returns to competitive action after a long injury layoff that kept him out of post Wimbledon season in 2016. The Swiss enters the season's first Grand Slam as the 17th seed and he will open his campaign against unseeded Austrian Jurgen Melzer.
Also see
Rafael Nadal v Florian Mayer: Live streaming, TV coverage information and match time
Novak Djokovic v Fernando Verdasco: Live streaming, TV information and match time
Federer's record 65 consecutive Grand Slam appearances came to an end last year when he missed French Open after suffering a knee injury. The 35-year-old reached the semi-final of Australian Open last year but lost to eventual winner Novak Djokovic. He came back to play the Wimbledon, in which he once again suffered a defeat in the last-four stages, this time to Milos Raonic.
The Swiss started 2017 by featuring in the Hopman Cup where he defeated Richard Gasquet and Dan Evans but lost to to Alexander Zverev making it 2-1 singles count. The 17th seed is reportedly happy with his "underdog status" and his first priority is to get a few wins under his belt.
However, the path to an 18th Grand Slam title at this year's Australian Open is a tough one for Federer as he might have to face four top-10 seeds from his third round, a list that includes Tomas Berdych, Kei Nishikori, top seed Andy Murray and Djokovic. The four-time Australian Open winner though is likely to have it easy against Melzer at the Rod Laver Arena on Monday.
The two players have met four times in their career before, with the last meeting coming at the quarter-final of 2011 Monte Carlo Masters, which Melzer won. However, Federer holds a 3-1 head-to-head advantage over his opponent and is looking good to make it 4-1 after the end of the first round's play at the Melbourne Park.
TV Schedule
Australia: Seven
India: Sony Six
Japan: NHK, WOWOW, Sportsnavi
Malaysia: Fox Sports
US: ESPN
UK: Eurosport
Philippines: Fox Sports
South Korea: Fox Sports, JTBC
Thailand: Fox Sports
Cambodia: Fox Sports
China: CCTV, Guangdong Sports, BTV Sports
France: Eurosport
Spain: Eurosport
Germany: Eurosport
