Briton Jacob Fearnley might be forgiven for having a sinking feeling after seeing his name bracketed with Nick Kyrgios in the first round of the Australian Open.

Britain's Jacob Fearnley is set to face Nick Kyrgios - and a partisan home crowd - in the controversial Australian's return to Grand Slam tennis.

There have still been plenty of words written about Kyrgios while he was away from the tour, especially regarding his outspoken criticism of world number one Jannik Sinner over two failed doping tests.

Nick Kyrgios has hailed the ‘X factor’ of rising British tennis star Jacob Fearnley ahead of their first-round showdown at the Australian Open. Fearnley, 23, is set to feature in his second Grand Slam main draw having impressively pushed Novak Djokovic to four sets at Wimbledon last year.