Australian Open 2016 Order of Play, Schedule, Preview: Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams on the Spotlight

By Jude Abastar, Christian Post Contributor Monday, January 18, 2016

All eyes are on Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams as the Australian Open gets underway in the land down under. Both players had a great 2015 and they're hoping to follow that up with a win in the first major tournament for the New Year.

The Serbian tennis great won 10 trophies last year, allowing him to grab the world No. 1 ranking in tennis; the titles he won include the Australian Open, Wimbledon, and US Open, apart from the fact that he also won six Masters Events. It's no wonder therefore that he's coming into the tournament as the favorite to win it.

Williams, on the other hand, will face a tough battle right at the opening match against Camila Giorgi, the highest-seeded unranked player. But the American is known to rise to the occasion when facing highly touted opponents. She won three Grand Slam titles last year, but will be in a tough group headed by Maria Sharapova and Victoria Azarenka.

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Schedule, Venue

This year's tournament began on Monday, Jan. 18 and will last up to Sunday, Jan. 31, with Melbourne Park the venue for the first match. The men's final will be held on the last day, while the women's championship will be a day earlier, on Jan. 30.

Order of Play

Day 1

Practically all the big names won in Day One of the tournament, with Djokovic and former world no. 1 Roger Federer winning in straight sets against their opponents. Williams also won against the highly touted Giorgi, while Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was the talk of the day after a heated exchange with the officials in his four-set win against Marcos Baghdatis. The Frenchman complained about how disruptive the partisan crowd was in his match versus the crowd darling from Cyprus.

Day 2

Here's a look at some of the anticipated matches in the order of play for today:

Rod Laver Arena

• Anett Kontaveit (Est) v (3) Garbine Muguruza (Spa)
• (8) Venus Williams (US) v Johanna Konta (GB)
• (5) Rafael Nadal (Spa) v Fernando Verdasco (Spa)
• James Duckworth (Aus) v Lleyton Hewitt (Aus)
• (14) Victoria Azarenka (Blr) v Alison Van Uytvanck (Bel)

Hisense Arena

• Adrian Mannarino (Fra) v Samuel Groth (Aus)
• Kimberly Birrell (Aus) v (9) Karolina Pliskova (Cze)
• Tammi Patterson (Aus) v (20) Ana Ivanovic (Ser)
• (16) Bernard Tomic (Aus) v Denis Istomin (Uzb)

Margaret Court Arena

• (15) Madison Keys (USA) v Zarina Diyas (Kaz)
• Alexander Zverev (Ger) v (2) Andy Murray (GB)
• Anastasija Sevastova (Lat) v Jarmila Wolfe (Aus)
• Shuai Zhang (Chn) v (2) Simona Halep (Rom)
• Dmitry Tursunov (Rus) v (4) Stanislas Wawrinka (Swi)