Poor Aljaz Bedene. No sooner has he returned to the bosom of Slovenia after failing to qualify for Great Britain in the Davis Cup than he draws Roger Federer in the first round of the Australian Open, which starts here on Monday. The Swiss, while suitably cautious and humble, will, in the absence of several key players including Andy Murray and Kei Nishikori, regard this as a pretty soft start to the defence of his title as he reaches for a 20th major at 36.

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The favourite by default as much as form, given the shredded draw, Federer will likely make short work of an opponent he has never met and who lies 49 places below him in the rankings at No51.

Kyle Edmund, meanwhile, remains stoutly British – and 49th in the world after a decent run lately – but has only a slightly less daunting opener against the 2017 US Open finalist, Kevin Anderson. The South African with the serve that frightens slow ballkids at the back of the court, will relish a surface that all the players believe to be as fast as it ever has been.”

Anderson, who had his best season last year after a long spell away tending a hip problem (the injury du jour on the circuit), beat Edmund in their only previous match, in the third round of the 2017 French Open. “It was a very close match, five long sets,” Anderson recalled. “He’s a terrific player and has improved a lot. His forehand is very dangerous.”

There must be minor concern about Edmund’s right ankle, which he rolled during his three-set defeat by Grigor Dimitrov in the quarter-finals in Brisbane last week, and he took the precaution of withdrawing from the Auckland warm-up tournament on Tuesday.

Dimitrov remains one of the favoured contenders and, seeded third, has the luxury of facing yet-to-be-determined qualifiers in the first two rounds.

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Rafael Nadal, whose struggle with a recurrence of his knee problems has put his prospects of reaching the final for the second straight year in doubt, was not at his best on Tuesday when losing to Richard Gasquet. He plays here as the first seed and opens against the seemingly ageless Dominican Víctor Estrella Burgos.

Federer, who shocked himself and everyone else by reaching the 2017 final after seven months out injured – and defied all logic when he came from 3-1 down in the fifth set to beat Nadal – will start as the favourite but it is still asking a lot of him to go through seven best-of-five matches unbeaten.

He nevertheless looked relaxed and quietly confident at the draw ceremony, as he reflected on his remarkable career. “The domination thing was fun but stressful,” he said. “The past eight years have been the best because I’m a big family man. My girls say to me Rafa’s No1, so he should beat you.”

Novak Djokovic and Stan Wawrinka, who are returning after six months out, fared reasonably well in the draw. The Serb plays the inconsistent American Donald Young first up, while Wawrinka – who made his slam breakthrough here in 2014 – sits just above Djokovic in that quarter, and has what should be a straightforward workout against the Lithuanian world No138, Ricardas Berankis.