Rafael Nadal gets his first chance to break the record he shares with Roger Federer for the most men’s Grand Slam singles titles at the Australian Open.
Nadal, who tied Federer’s record 20 Slams with his 13th French Open title in October, is seeded second in Melbourne behind top-ranked Novak Djokovic, the male record eight-time Australian Open champ.
Federer will miss his third consecutive major due to knee surgeries.
Nadal has reached five Australian Open finals but won just one of them, his least successful of the four Grand Slam tournaments.