Nadal
Spain's Rafael Nadal bounces a ball on his racquet during a practice session at Melbourne Park, Australia, January 16, 2016. The Australian Open tennis tournament starts January 18. Reuters/Issei Kato

Rafael Nadal will open his 2016 Australian Open campaign against fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco at Melbourne Park on Monday. Nadal, who failed to win any major titles last season, hopes to have a different story in this year’s Australian Open.

Nadal lost against Czech Tomas Berdych during last year’s tournament in straight sets in a season full of setbacks for the Spaniard. However, the “King of Clay” expects to play better at the first Grand Slam event of the year, despite failing to start his season on a winning note following his crushing defeat against Novak Djokovic at the Qatar Open in Doha.

"Last year, I was playing so bad here, to reach the quarter-final was a great result," Nadal said, reports the The Sydney Morning Herald. "Sometimes you really play better or you really feel that you are ready, and you have a worse result."

Nadal has the upper hand against Verdasco, but according to ESPN’s Peter Bodo, the first round match-up would not be a walk in the park for the former world No. 1. Nadal leads Verdasco in their head-to-head matchups by 14-2. However, the Spaniards were 1-1 in 2015, with Vedrasco winning at the ATP Miami Open in March, while Nadal bouncing back at the Hamburg Open in July.

“This is not the first round that the fifth-seeded Nadal, still rebuilding his confidence from a frustrating 2015, would have wished for,” Bodo wrote. “

Nadal and Verdasco are bound to relive their classic rivalry six years ago, where the former won after a match that lasted for five hours and 14 minutes. In 2009, Nadal faced Verdasco in the semifinals round of the Australian Open in what was one of the most memorable matches in the history of the tournament. Nadal won the epic showdown by 6-4 in the fifth set.

Live streaming info and score updates

Watch the Australian Open 2016 live via ATP’s official website or TennisTV . Live scores for matches will be available on game days via Australian Open’s official website .

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