Roger Federer vs Jurgen Melzer, Australian Open 2017: Where to watch live, preview and betting odds

Roger Federer is seeded 17th in the tournament.

Roger Federer will take on Jurgen Melzer in the first round of the 2017 Australian Open at the Rod Laver Arena.

Where to watch live

The match is set to start at 10am GMT. Live coverage is available on Eurosport 1.

Overview

Federer has been waiting patiently for his 18th Grand Slam win which has eluded him over the last few years. Starting the year as the 17th seed, the former world number one has a few tough battles coming up.

He made his return from injury in the Hopman Cup in the beginning of the year, where he won convincingly against Richard Gasquet and Dan Evans but was beaten by Richard Gasquet in a three- setter. He will be looking to put his failure behind him and aim for his sixth Australian Open title, placing him alongside Novak Djokovic as the most successful player in the tournament.

Melzer, a former top 10 player, dropped out of the top 500 rankings after he missed an entire year through injury. He got his act together over the last year and made his way back into contention by qualifying for the Australian Open and will be looking to get back into the top 100 with a good run.

The duo have not met since 2011 with Federer holding a 3-1 advantage over Melzer in the four times they have met in various ATP events.

What players say

Roger Federer on being branded an underdog:"Yeah, why not for a change? I mean, I prefer to be the favourite. Underdog is OK. As long as I'm healthy and I feel like I can go four, five sets, I can go many matches in a row, then I think it's going to be fun. If I feel like I'm in pain in the matches, then obviously it's no fun. Then it doesn't matter what your seeding or ranking is, it's always the same. But, no, it's a great draw because I'm in the draw. So for me I'm super pleased that I made it here, that I have an opportunity to win matches. How many remains to be seen. I'm cautious myself. So, yeah, clearly an underdog this time around."

Betting odds