MELBOURNE, Australia -- It's summer Down Under, and that means it's time for the Australian Open. The Day 1 forecast at Melbourne Park is calling for lots of sun and temperatures in the high 80s -- which is appropriate because there are some unusually smoking-hot, first-round matches.
Here's how you can follow all the action on opening day:
How to watch every match
To watch matches beginning at 7 p.m. ET on Sunday, Jan. 15 on ESPN2 & WatchESPN, click here.
To watch the matches around the grounds, click here.
To view starting times for upcoming days, click here.
Where to get tournament live scores
Our real-time scoreboard, updated stats and social handles can be found in one spot: Australian Open CourtCast.
Schedules
To view a full schedule of Day 1 at the Australian Open, click here.
Notable Day 1 matches
No. 13 Venus Williams versus Kateryna Kozlova, second on Rod Laver Arena (Watch)
With top-10 player Madison Keys out with a wrist injury, the Williams sisters are the only seeded American women. Venus, ranked No. 13 among WTA players at the advanced age of 36, is still a formidable player. She reached the fourth round at the US Open and French Opens and lost to future world No. 1 Angelique Kerber -- in the semifinals of Wimbledon last year. Venus' worst outing was in Australia when she lost in the first round to No. 47-ranked Johanna Konta, who is now a top-10 player. This could be tight. Venus beat Kozlova in the first round of last year's final Slam -- but it took three sets.
No. 1 Andy Murray versus Illya Marchenko, third on Rod Laver Arena (Watch)
Murray has been to the final here an astounding five of the past seven years. If not for Novak Djokovic, Murray might have four Australian Open titles in his possession. As it turns out, he has none. The oddsmakers seem to think it might happen this year, installing him and Djokovic as co-favorites here. Murray and Marchenko, a 29-year-old from the Ukraine, have met once before. It was in the Australian Open in the second round six years ago, and Murray won in straight sets.
No. 14 Nick Kyrgios versus Gastao Elias, not before 2:30 am ET Monday, Hisense Arena (Watch)
The volatile 21-year-old Australian had quite a 2016 season, finishing with a No. 13 ranking and winning 39 of 54 matches. Oh, and he also got fined for tanking and made some ATP-induced visits to the psychiatrist. So what will Kyrgios bring to the table in 2017? This is your first chance to find out, when he plays Elias, a 26-year-old from Portugal. Make no mistake, Kyrgios can play. He reached back-to-back semifinals in Umag and Bastad and was ranked as high as No. 57. These two have never met.
No. 1 Angelique Kerber versus Lesia Tsurenko, Monday, 3 a.m. ET, Rod Laver Arena (Watch)
Similar to the men's side, the 2017 season is likely to feature a battle of the No. 1 and No. 2 players among women. Kerber probably won't lose the top spot here -- Serena needs to get to the final just to have a chance -- but surely a good showing will send a message. The German lost her second match in Brisbane, to Elina Svitolina, but Kerber is 1-0 against Tsurenko, with their only meeting coming two years ago in Sydney.
No. 17 Roger Federer versus Jurgen Melzer, following Kerber-Tsurenko, Rod Laver Arena (Watch)
The last match of the first day features the 17-time Grand Slam champion against a mere qualifier. Although Federer won two of three matches a few weeks ago in Perth, they were technically exhibitions. This is his first ATP match in more than six months -- when he reached the semifinals at Wimbledon. A tender knee forced him to miss the Rio Olympics and the US Open, but he says he's good to go in Australia. So who would the random qualifier process produce as an opponent? Why it's Austrian Jurgen Melzer, also 35, a good friend of Federer's going back to their time as juniors. Federer won the first three meetings, but Melzer won the last, nearly six years ago in Monaco.