Thanasi Kokkinakis faces a stiff challenge to continue his hometown run in Adelaide, with the local sure to draw a sellout crowd against world No.15 Jannik Sinner.
Kokkinakis and Sinner have met just once on the tour, but it proved to be one of the most engrossing matches of the season.
In the first-round of the Cincinnati masters last August, Sinner needed a third-set tie-break to prevail, coming through 6-7(9), 6-4, 7-6(6) in three hours and 15 minutes.
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Popryin & Medvedev through to QF | 01:18
Kokkinakis will be looking to join fellow Australian Alexei Popyrin in the quarterfinals of the event, with Popyrin coming from a set down to defeat American Marcus Giron on Wednesday night.
Also in action on Thursday is Novak Djokovic, with the nine-time Australian Open champion taking on Frenchman Quentin Halys, who knocked out Australian Jordan Thompson to qualify for the main draw.
Djokovic breezed through his first singles match in Australia in nearly two years, defeating Halys’ countryman Constant Lestienne in straight sets on Tuesday.
The United Cup will resume on Friday in Sydney, with the final four teams to do battle in Sydney.
On Friday, Poland will begin its clash against the USA during the day, while the evening session will see Greece and Italy begin their tie.
Both ties will conclude over the course of Saturday, with the winners to face each other in the final.
ADELAIDE INTERNATIONAL: Order of play (all times AEDT)
Centre Court
Matches from 11:30am
Roman Safiullin vs Denis Shapovalov (7)
Novak Djokovic (1) vs Quentin Halys
Not before 3pm
Victoria Azarenka vs Qinwen Zheng
Not before 7pm
Jannik Sinner (6) vs Thanasi Kokkinakis
Not before 9pm
Ons Jabeur vs Sorana Cirstea
Showcourt 1
Matches from 11:30am
Linda Noskova vs Claire Liu
Jelena Ostapenko (7) vs Irina-Camelia Begu
Not before 2:30pm
Sebastian Korda vs Roberto Bautista Agut
