Kwon Soon-woo to face Kokkinakis at Australian Open

Kwon Soon-woo faced Andrej Martin during the ATP Great Ocean Road Open on Feb. 1. [TENNIS AUSTRALIA]

Korean tennis player Kwon Soon-woo will face Australia's Thanasi Kokkinakis in the first round of the Australian Open on Tuesday.

World No. 97 Kwon will face world No. 266 Kokkinakis on Tuesday at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The Australian Open began Monday, with Kwon set to play on the second day. If he wins, he will face either Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas or France's Gilles Simon in the second round.

Kwon advanced to the second round at the U.S. Open last year, his best grand slam performance to date. He has also played in the Australian Open twice before, in 2018 and 2020, but has never made it past the first round. Kwon's opponent Kokkinakis made it to the second round in 2014 and 2015.

This year's Australian Open is being held three weeks later than normal after the tournament was postponed due to Covid-19 concerns.

BY SEO JI-EUN [seo.jieun1@joongang.co.kr]