The Serbian star will thus begin his attempt to reach his tenth title in Melbourne and equal the record of 22 Grand Slam held by the Spanish Rafael Nadal. Carballés Baena is number 75 in the world.
In the women’s tournament, top seed and world number one Iga Swiatek, from Poland, will face Germany’s Jule Niemeier in the first round.
Despite being world number five, Djokovic will be seeded fourth in Australia because the number one in the ATP rankings, the Spanish Carlos Alcaraz, will not play the tournament due to injury.
In Alcaraz’s absence, last year’s Melbourne champion Nadal will be the top seed and will face Jack Draper in the opening round.
But an injury hangs over Djokovic after he strained his hamstring en route to winning the Adelaide International, which opened the season last week, and interrupted a practice match on Wednesday for treatment.
The 35-year-old tennis player was deported from Australia before the 2022 tournament for refusing to receive the covid-19 vaccine. He too was left out of the US Open for the same reason.
On Friday he is scheduled to face Australian Nick Kyrgios in a charity match and could meet him again in the quarter-finals if they both make it to that stage.
Second seed Casper Ruud, who lost his opener in the Auckland Classic on Wednesday, will face Czech Tomas Machac in his first match in Melbourne.
Daniil Medvedev, a finalist in the last two Australian tournaments, will open against American Marcos Giron. Third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas will have a tough matchup against Frenchman Quentin Halys.
The British Andy Murray will face the Italian Matteo Berrettini while the Russian Rublev must face the Austrian Dominic Thiem.
In the women’s tournament, second seed Ons Jabeur, from Tunisia, will face Slovenian Tamara Zida, while American Jessica Pegula, third seed, will face Romanian Jaqueline Cristian.
The French Caroline Garcia, seeded fourth, has no defined rival, while the world number five, Aryna Sabalenka, will face the Czech Tereza Martincova. The former champions Victoria Azarenka and Sofia Kenin will also meet in the first round.