Less than a week after beating Takashi Sanada 6-2, 6-2 in the Melbourne Wheelchair Open semi-finals, Alfie Hewett will play Japan’s world No. 8 at a Grand Slam for the first time when he begins his men’s single title defence on Tuesday at Melbourne Park. Hewett takes a 6-1 head-to-head lead into Tuesday’s tie.

Defending champion Hewett and 2016 Australian Open champion Gordon Reid are drawn in separate halves of the draw, with Reid having the opportunity to reverse last week’s Melbourne Open quarter-final loss to Dutchman Maikel Scheffers, who is another former champion.

British No.1 Lucy Shuker will hope to be on top form after she was drawn to play world No.1 and three-time defending champion Diede de Groot in the first round of the women’s singles. It’s the second time since 2019 that Shuker has drawn Diede Groot in the first round at Melbourne Park and since then they’ve also met in the first round at Wimbledon in 2021 and at the US Open in 2022, while Shuker also played De Groot in the 2022 Australian Open semi-finals and last year’s US Open quarter-finals.

Greg Slade and Andy Lapthorne both face Chilean opponents when the first Australian Open quad singles draw to feature 16 players gets underway. Lapthorne will play Diego Perez for the first time in his career, while Slade will aim to make his Australian Open debut his first win over Francisco Cayulef in three attempts.

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Wheelchair doubles draws

Hewett and Reid will open their bid for a fifth successive Australian Open men’s doubles title against Australian duo Anderson Parker and Ben Weekes, the two wild card entries for the men’s singles.

Shuker, a four-time Australian Open women’s doubles finalist, will play her second Grand Slam alongside Frenchwoman Pauline Deroulede. They will play Colombia’s Angelica Bernal and Zhenzhen Zhu. Quarter-finalists at the 2023 US Open, Shuker and Deroulede ended last season by teaming up to reach the final of the Open Paratennis du Loiret in France.

It’s 10 years this year since Lapthorne paired up with American David Wagner to win the first of their four Australian Open quad doubles title, with their most recent title at Melbourne Park coming in 2022. Lapthorne and Wagner reunite again this year and face Turkey’s Ali Ataman and Ymanitu Silva of Brazil in their opening match.

Slade teamed up with Australian Finn Broadbent for the first time at the Melbourne Wheelchair Open, where they won their first match before bowing out to Lapthorne and Wagner in the quarters. Slade and Broadbent begin their Australian Open campaign against Australian-Canadian second seeds Heath Davidson and Robert Shaw.