For the locals, it could be worse. Much. But what was a reasonable result for the host nation in the annual Australian Open draw lottery was less comfortable for six-time women's champion Serena Williams and four-time men's winner Roger Federer, whose lowly 17th seeding means he may need to beat top 10 duo Tomas Berdych and Kei Nishikori just to reach a quarter-final against first-time top seed Andy Murray.
Leading local prospect Nick Kyrgios has the opportunity to progress to a fourth-round clash with US Open champion Stan Wawrinka, his former adversary. Kyrgios, the senior Australian seed at No.14, will meet 81st-ranked Gastao Elias of Portugal in the opening round, and then either Andreas Seppi - whom he beat on Hisense Arena to reach the quarter-finals two years ago - or another veteran, Paul-Henri Mathieu.
The 22nd seed, Pablo Cuevas, could be next for Kyrgios, whose preparation has been affected by a knee injury that prompted his withdrawal from the World Tennis Challenge in Adelaide this week. But three Open matches that should be on his racquet could precede a compelling stoush with Wawrinka, whom the trouble-prone Canberran famously enraged with a sledge about the Swiss star's girlfriend at the 2015 Montreal Masters.
The other seeded Australian man, Bernard Tomic, will open against Thomasz Belluci and in the third round could meet seventh seed Marin Cilic, the Croatian Tomic lost to in the well-remembered 2010 match that he later complained was scheduled "way past my bed-time". The Queenslander, at 24 and a confirmed night-owl these days, is contesting his ninth Open
Friday's withdrawal of injury-cursed Thanasi Kokkinakis left Jordan Thompson and James Duckworth as the only other home-grown direct entries in the men's draw, with the Sydneysiders to start against Joao Souza and Paolo Lorenzi respectively.
Among the wildcards, Omar Jasika - against former world No.3 David Ferrer - and debutant Chris O'Connell - versus No.15 Grigor Dimitrov - both drew seeds, with Wimbledon junior finalist Alex de Minaur starting against Austrian Gerald Melzer, Sam Groth to play Steve Darcis and Andrew Whittington against Czech Adam Pavlasek.
Federer, in the unfamiliar seeding territory that is his lowest at a grand slam - he was 15th at 2001 Wimbledon when only the top 16 were protected, rather than 32 - will start with consecutive matches against qualifiers, before a likely third round duel with former Wimbledon finalist Berdych and a possible fourth against world No.5 Nishikori. Then Murray. Ouch.
The Swiss will be among the players taking to the court on Monday with the top half of both draws to feature on day one.
The Swiss will be among the players taking to the court on Monday with the top half of both draws to feature on day one.
Yet Federer's former coach, Paul Annacone, is one who liked what he saw of his comeback from his six-month knee injury hiatus at the recent Hopman Cup. "He's playing very well and he's one of those guys that historically can just play at a very high level very quickly," Annacone said of the 17-time major winner. "He doesn't need a ton of match repetition."
Defending champion Novak Djokovic drew Spanish veteran and former Open semi-finalist Fernando Verdasco in round one, with No.8 Dominic Thiem the next highest seed in a quarter of the draw that also includes Brisbane title winner Grigor Dimitrov. Among the stellar first-week clashes could be one between ninth seed Rafael Nadal and rising star Alexander Zverev, the 24th, with the winner to potentially play No.6 Gael Monfils.
"(My) mindset is very much like everybody else's here: not to 'defend' but to return and chase the title and try to win it," said Djokovic, owner of five of the past six and going for a record seventh at Melbourne Park.
Williams, the women's No,2 seed, has a testing start against talented Swiss Belinda Bencic to progress to a follow-up against either former French Open finalist Lucie Safaraova or Yanina Wickmayer in what is easily the most stacked section of the draw.
Australian No.1 Sam Stosur will not be looking past Britain's Heather Watson, but, if she did, might glimpse experienced Russian Elena Vesnina, the 14th, and then No.3 Agnieszka Radwanska. She would, on past form at her home slam, be happy to get that far, while Fed Cup teammate Daria Gavrilova will follow-up last year's round-of-16 breakthrough against heavy-hitting Brit Naomi Broady.
The tournament's youngest player, Melbourne 16-year-old Destanee Aiava, plays a qualifier, but could then meet Olympic gold medallist Monica Puig, and Ash Barty marks her tournament return after a year's absence against Annika Beck, with fourth seed Simone Halep lurking next. Arina Rodionova was the only Australian to draw a seeded opponent, former world No.1 Caroline Wozniacki.
O'Connell, the 22-year-old who was awarded the final men's wildcard after qualifying for his hometown Sydney International, was philosophical about his fate, having admitted to some pre-draw nerves. "Probably wouldn't have liked to have drawn Dimitrov, but it's going to be a great opportunity for me, a great experience," said the world No.238.
"I'm so pumped to get out there. It's a big step up. I've been playing Futures in Europe, so I've even jumped to the Challenger level, and now I'm playing the Australian Open, probably on a big court, against Dimitrov, who's been in the top 10."
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