When does Ash Barty play at the Australian Open and how can I watch it

And now with the front-facing portion of the Novak Djokovic drama behind us, it's now tennis time.

And while the men's World No.1 jetted out of Melbourne overnight after his legal bid to stay in the country after his visa was cancelled, World No.1 Barty steps onto centre court on Monday night.

Her match against Ukrainian qualifier Lesia Tsurenko on Rod Laver Arena puts the Aussie star in the prime time limelight.

In a case of deja vu, Barty also faced Tsurenko in the first round two years ago when the qualifier was languishing at the same ranking of No.120 in the world.

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Despite the gulf in standings, Tsurenko hushed the RLA crowd by taking the opening set before Barty fought back to secure a 5-7 6-1 6-1 victoryon her way to the semi-finals.

"Yeah, it's a tough one. Always a tough one against a qualifier, particularly someone who has been so successful in the past," Barty said of the one-time world No.23.

Barty is the first match on Centre Court with the match scheduled at 7pm local time in Melbourne. After introductions and warm-ups, play is likely to start about 7:10pm.

The match will be on free-to-air television - on Channel 9's main channel or 9GEM depending where you are.

You also can live stream the match - the free 9Now service or the paid subscription service Stan Sport which is ad-free. Stan offers a seven-day free trial with Stan Sport before you are charged. The Australian Open goes for a fortnight.

- with Australian Associated Press