Australian Open 2017
Tennis - Australian Open - Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia - 16/1/17 Japan's Kei Nishikori serves during his Men's singles first round match against Russia's Andrey Kuznetsov. Reuters / Issei Kato

The 2017 Australian Open, the first tennis grand slam of the new calendar year, kicks off at Melbourne Park Monday with top seeds Andy Murray and Angelique Kerber in action.

While Murray has suffered a record five finals defeats at the Rod Laver arena, including four losses to arch rival Novak Djokovic, Germany's Kerber won the tournament last year and is tipped as the favourite to repeat as champion. Many analysts expect Murray to add the Australian Open 2017 to his kitty of grand slam wins.

Murray and Kerber are expected to make quick work of Ukranian tandem Illya Marchenko and Lesia Tsurenko respectively, during their first round matches.

Meanwhile, local favourite Nick Kyrgios and 17-time Grand Slam winner Roger Federer will also be seen in action during a power-packed Day 1 lineup. While world no. 14 Kyrgios would square off against Portgual’s Gastao Elias, Federer will be up against Austrian Jurgen Melzer at the Rod Laver Arena.

Australian Open 2017: Other local favourites in action

Bernard Tomic, Ashleigh Barty, Destanee Aiava, James Duckworth and Sam Groth are some of the other Aussies that will be seen in action during Day 1 of the 2017 Australian Open. Tomic, the 27th seed, will face Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci, who achieved a career-high singles ranking of World No. 21 in 2010.

Other marque matches include fourth seed Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland against Slovakia's Martin Klizan, fifth seed Kei Nishikori of Japan against Russian wild card Andrey Kuznetsov and aging legend Venus Williams, seeded No. 13, squaring off against Ukraine's Kateryna Kozlova.

Australian Open 2017 Day 1 -- List of marquee televsied matches

Night matches
Nick Kyrgios (AUS) [14] v Gastao Elias (POR) -- starts 6:30 PM AEDT
Roger Federer (SUI) [17] v Jurgen Melzer (AUT) -- second up on court

Day matches
Bernard Tomic (AUS) [27] v Thomaz Bellucci (BRA)
Andy Murray (GBR) [1] vs Illya Marchenko (UKR)
Ashleigh Barty (AUS) vs Annika Beck (GER)
Destanee Aiava (AUS) vs Mona Barthel (GER)
James Duckworth (AUS) vs Paolo Lorenzi (ITA)
Steve Darcis (BEL) vs Sam Groth (AUS)

Australian Open 2017 live stream: How to watch

Time: 11 AM to 11 PM (AEDT), 7 PM to 7 AM (PT) on Sunday-Monday
On TV: Channel 7, 7TWO and 7mate (Australia), ESPN 2 (USA)
Live Stream: 7 TENNIS app (Australia), Watch ESPN (USA), Official website (Global)

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