WHEN THE draw was made for the first round of the Australian Open one match stood out above all others.

Emerging talent Coco Gauff will face veteran Venus Williams in the stand-out tie of the opening round of the Australian Open which starts on Monday.

The draw pitted the youngest player against the oldest in the women’s draw for the second time in three grand slams. The 15-year-old American beat seven-times major champion Venus on her main draw Grand Slam debut at Wimbledon last summer to launch her career, before losing in the fourth round to eventual winner Simona Halep.

Gauff has built on her breakthrough brilliantly, winning her first WTA tournament recently to break into the top 100 and earn direct entry to the draw in Melbourne.

Serena Williams, takes on Russian 18-year-old Anastasia Potapova first as she aims for a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam singles title, and could face Gauff or her older sister in the quarter-finals.