New Delhi: Tennis fans across the globe are in for a high octane action for the next fortnight when the 2019 Australian Open commences from Monday at Melbourne Park. The first Grand Slam of the year shall witness the best players of the planet locking horns against each other to reign supreme. The star studded field has a mix of seasoned stalwarts and young guns who would be vying for top honours in the 107th edition of the tournament. In the men's draw, defending champion Roger Federer and World No. 1 Novak Djokovic are the hot favourites to win the title whereas Serena Williams looks the best bet to win her record equalling 24th Grand Slam title.

In the men's section, Spain's No. 2 seed Rafael Nadal would be the other strong contender to watch out for. Among the promising youngsters, Germany's hard hitting Alexander Zverev looks to have the game on the surface to win his maiden Grand Slam title. Some seasoned veterans -  Marin Clic, Kei Nishikori, Tomas Berdych, Milos Raonic and Kevin Anderson have the arsenal to cause an upset and go the distance to win the title. Meanwhile Andy Murray, who shall be playing his last Australian Open after announcing that he would retire from the sport at Wimbledon would be hoping to win his maiden title at Melbourne. The most notable absentee in the men's singles draw in this year is World No. 5 Juan Martin Del Potro who is recoverig from a fractured right kneecap.

The Indian challenge in the men's singles draw would come in the form of Prajnesh Gunneswaran who qualified for his maiden Grand Slam. The highest ranked Indian singles player won three rounds of qualifiers to secure a berth in the main draw of the tournament.

Here is all you need to know about the seeds, venue, match timings of the 2019 Australian Open

Dates - January 14th - January 27th

Venue - Melbourne Park

Courts - The matches will be played in its three primary courts, the Rod Laver Arena, Hisense Arena and the Margaret Court Arena followed by outside courts.

Match Timings -  The Australian Open is split into two sessions with the Day session beginning at 11:00 am local time or 0530 am as per Indian Standard Time (IST).  The play in the night session beings at 7 pm local time or 1:30 pm (IST).

Which channel will broadcast the tournament Live in India ?

The live broadcast of the tournament in India will be on Sony ESPN and Sony ESPN HD. The LIVE telecast will begin from 5.30 AM IST.

How do I live stream Australian Open 2019?

The Australian Open 2019 will be live streamed on SonyLiv app and website.

Here are the seedings for the men's singles

  1. Novak Djokovic, Serbia

  2. Rafael Nadal, Spain

  3. Roger Federer, Switzerland

  4. Alexander Zverev, Germany

  5. Kevin Anderson, South Africa

  6. Marin Cilic, Croatia

  7. Dominic Thiem, Austria

  8. Kei Nishikori, Japan

  9. John Isner, United States

  10. Karen Khachanov, Russia

  11. Borna Coric, Croatia

  12. Fabio Fognini, Italy

  13. Kyle Edmund, Britain

  14. Stefanos Tsitsipas, Greece

  15. Daniil Medvedev, Russia

  16. Milos Raonic, Canada

  17. Marco Cecchinato, Italy

  18. Diego Schwartzman, Argentina

  19. Nikoloz Basilashvili, Georgia

  20. Grigor Dimitrov, Bulgaria

  21. David Goffin, Belgium

  22. Roberto Bautista Agut, Spain

  23. Pablo Carreno Busta, Spain

  24. Hyeon Chung, South Korea

  25. Denis Shapovalov, Canada

  26. Fernando Verdasco, Spain

  27. Alex de Minaur, Australia

  28. Lucas Pouille, France

  29. Gilles Simon, France

  30. Gael Monfils, France

  31. Steve Johnson, United States

  32. Philipp Kohlschreiber, Germany