World No.1 Dylan Alcott faces a challenging first-round assignment when he kicks off his AO 2022 quad wheelchair singles campaign.
Alcott is contesting his final Australian Open before hanging up his racquets – in the process targeting an incredible eighth straight singles title at Melbourne Park.
But after the wheelchair event draws were unveiled on Friday, it emerged that Alcott would first up face Niels Vink, the Dutch teenager who very nearly ended Alcott's quest for Paralympic gold in Tokyo.
Alcott eventually won their semifinal in three gruelling sets, declaring Vink would one day himself be a Paralympic gold medallist.
"That's the hardest match I've ever played," Alcott reflected. "To win it, to pull that out, is the proudest I've been on the tennis court I think."
MORE: Quad wheelchair singles draw AO22
Alcott's path through the AO draw gets no easier should he progress.
Vink's countryman Sam Schroder, the second seed who beat Alcott in the 2020 US Open final, looms as a projected opponent in the final.
Also in the draw are Alcott's doubles partner Heath Davidson – who opens against Japan's Koji Sugeno – and Andy Lapthorne, the British star who beat Alcott to win the 2019 US Open crown.
Lapthorne could face Alcott in the semifinals if both win their first-round matches.
Despite the challenges that lie ahead, Alcott enters the 2022 event full of confidence.
The Australian star recorded one of the finest seasons in wheelchair tennis history in 2021, winning all four Grand Slam titles plus Paralympic gold to complete the calendar-year Golden Grand Slam.
Women's singles
We say ‘one of' the finest, and not ‘the' finest, because at the same time, Dutch superstar Diede De Groot was completing exactly the same feat in women's wheelchair tennis.
The world No.1 headlines the women's singles field at Melbourne Park in 2022, having drawn American Dana Mathewson as her first-round opponent.
MORE: Women's wheelchair singles draw AO22
No.2 seed Yui Kamiji, who opens against De Groot's countrywoman and doubles partner Aniek Van Koot, is on a title-deciding collision course with De Groot.
De Groot is playing for her fourth Australian Open trophy, and sixth straight Grand Slam crown.
Men's singles
In the men's singles, No.1 seed Shingo Kunieda will meet defending AO champion Joachim Gerard in a blockbuster first-round match, with Kunieda on a quest for a jaw-dropping 26th Grand Slam singles title.
MORE: Men's wheelchair singles draw AO22
The Japanese legend faces plenty of competition for the title, however, with Alfie Hewett, Gordon Reid, Gustavo Fernandez and Australian wildcard Ben Weekes also among the entrants.
Hewett, the second seed who opens against Fernandez, is the reigning Roland Garros champion.
The wheelchair tennis action begins at Melbourne Park on Sunday, January 23.