Romania's Halep to play Australia's Cabrera in 2021 Australian Open first round

Romanian tennis player Simona Halep will play Australian Lizette Cabrera in the first round of the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam tournament of the year, which will start on Monday in Melbourne, according to the draw on Friday. 2020 semi-finalist Halep, 29, will meet for the first time wildcard Cabrera, 23, world number 140. Remarkable in the first round will be Romanian Patricia Tig, 26, world number 56 versus compatriot Sorana Cirstea, 30, world number 72, also a first. Romanian Irina Begu, 30, world number 79 will face off Serbian Nina Stojanovic, 24, world number 100 in the opening round, in their first meeting. Romanian Ana Bogdan, 28, world number 93 will have a difficult opponent, American Danielle Collins, 27, world number 46, but whom she defeated in their only meeting in the 2018 quarter-finals of the Monterrey Open, 6 -2 6-4. In the first round, Lucky Loser Mihaela Buzarnescu, 32, world number 138, will play Bianca Andreescu, 20, world number 8, a Canadian player born to Romanian parents. Their head-to-head count is quite balanced, as Buzarnescu defeated Andreescu 6-0 6-2 in the 2015 WTA 50k Toronto tournament first round, while Andreescu defeated Buzarnescu 6-2 7-5 in the 2019 WTA Acapulco round of 16. World number one Ashleigh Barty will meet Danka Kovinic (Montenegro) for the first time, while US veteran Serena Williams will play German Laura Siegemund. AGERPRES (RO - author: Mihai Tenea, editor: Mihai Dragomir; EN - author: Corneliu-Aurelian Colceriu, editor: Cristina Zaharia)