Australian Open Preview
The build-up to this year’s Australian Open has been marred by the bush fires that have decimated a lot Australia’s forestation. Despite this, the tennis community has united to help the fight against the fires, with stars such as Nick Kyrgios donating two-hundred dollars per ace; with the total money raised in aid of bushfire relief reaching $5,182,447.
Despite the fires and the quality of air, which saw Dalila Jakupovic retire from her match, being the main talking points in the build-up to this tournament the tournament director Craig Tiley says, ‘The tournament will happen.’
On January Monday 20th will see the attention turn to tennis and to stars who will be looking to secure the first major of the season. Who will come out on top?
The Men’s Draw
The biggest question for this major tournament will be the same question at the start of major: will the next generation finally topple the established top three?
The Big Three
Rafa Nadal
The Spaniard enters the tournament ranked as the top seed and will face Hugo Dellien in the first round of the tournament. The 33-year-old Mallorca native is seeking his second Grand Slam title in Melbourne after reaching the final in last year’s event.
Nadal understands that just because he enters as the top seed, it does not mean that he is guaranteed an easy ride to the final. Nadal who has suffered with multiple injuries understands that nothing will be given to him. “It is true that I went through some tough situations during all my career. But I was able to always, with probably the positive attitude and with the right people around … I was able to find a way to keep going.”
Nadal regained the World number one spot last at the end of last year and could very much be on a collision course for home country favourite Nick Kyrgios should they both reach the fourth round.
Novak Djockovic
World Number two Novak Djockovic will start his campaign against World Number 35 Jan-Lennard Struff. Djockovic who lost the World Number One position to Nadal, will face tough competition if he is to win the first major of the season.
Due to his seeding, Djockovic has been placed in the same side of the draw as World Number three Roger Federer.
Djockovic will defend his title this year and will look to win his eight Australian Open. He will have to go through the tougher side of the draw to extend his record number of titles at the Australian Open.
Roger Federer
The number three seed will face the toughest competition out of the ‘big three’ if he is to reach the final.
Federer could potentially face tough competition from Stefano Tsitsipas, Raonic, Clilic as well as World Number two Novak Djockovic.
Federer, who’s stance on the clear air situation has been criticised, believed that he could not have done anymore in this situation. He believed that it was not right for him to criticise and to tell people not to play during the qualifying stages.
The six time champion stated that this stance was not out of a lack of compassion for his fellow players. “We all care for one another. I told them communication is key for all of us, for everybody.
"We just need to do more because I feel like I hadn't got enough information."
The Next Generation
The question has always been when that this new will take over and start to dominate the Tennis world. This has not happened as of yet; multiple young players have played and put in impressive performances in which the future looks bright. Dominic Thiem, Stefano Tsitsipas, Nick Kyrgios and Daniil Medevedev will look to take the next step in their careers.
Daniil Medvedev
The 23-year-old Russian is the fifth ranked player in this year’s draw; he will look to improve upon from last year in which he was knocked out in the fourth round which was also consequently his best finish in the competition.
His outstanding year last year saw him emerge as one of the best young players in tennis. He reached the final of the US Open last year and went on to win 14 of his last 16 matches all within a 20-day span.
This form saw tennis legend John McEnroe tip the young Russian most likely to break the reign of the big three.
“Every time somebody says something like this, especially John, who was an amazing tennis player, a legend, it makes you kind of happy,” Medvedev said.
“It means that what you've achieved last year got noticed.”
Dominic Thiem
The Belgian who lost to Rafa Nadal in the semi-final of Roland Garros has once again been drawn in the same side of the competition. The 26-year-old Belgian is the fifth ranked player in this year competition.
This means that he will have to beat both Medvedev and Nadal amongst other if he is too win his maiden Grand Slam title.
The promising young star will look to take his game to another level and make the jump from a player with potential to one of the world’s best.
Stefano Tsitsipas
Ranked sixth in this year’s Australian Open will look to go one better than last year and achieve reach his first Grand Slam final.
The tall, powerful and big serving Greek will have a tough path if he is to reach the final. If the results go the way they are expected to then Tsitsipas will have to beat Federer, Djockovic and other such as Benoit Paire if he is too reach this milestone.
Nick Kyrgios
The hometown favourite will seek to emerge on the world stage and move from a charismatic young star with an abundance of talent to a player who realised his potential.
The Australian born Kyrgios has been at the forefront of world tennis’ bush fire relief effort. He promised to donate $200 dollars for every ace that he serves.
Kyrgios will have to play his best tennis if he is to realise his dream and win a Grand Slam title in Australia. He is in the same side of the draw as Nadal and will be pitted against other young stars such as Thiem and Medvedev as well as the athletic Gael Monfils.
The Women’s Draw
Ashleigh Barty
The World Number One and number one seed in the Australian Open will look to continue her rise to the top of women’s tennis. If the Australian native is successful in Melbourne she will claim her maiden Australian Open title.
Barty will look to carry her fantastic form from 2019 into 2020. 2019 saw Barty win Rolland Garros, as well as reach the quarter-final in last year’s Australian Open.
She has entered the first major of the year on great form as won the Adelaide Open a week before the tournament.
Karolina Pliskova
The number two seed will look to achieve her best performance in a Grand Slam by going three better than last year and winning her maiden Grand Slam.
If all goes well, the 27-year-old will look to set up a final against the hometown heroine Ashleigh Barty.
Naomi Osaka
The number three seed burst onto the scene two years ago when she successfully beat Serena Williams to claim her maiden Grand Slam title.
Since then Osaka has continued her rise to the top of the tennis world; including winning the Australian Open in 2019.
Osaka achieved the ultimate goal of becoming World number one; but after a shaky time at the top fell short in multiple tournaments and Grand Slams she fell a couple of spots down the rankings. A rejuvenated and healthy Osaka will look to achieve her previous heights and sit atop of the World rankings once more.
Serena Williams
Serena Williams is still a major force in women’s tennis. Despite previously stating that she wouldn’t be playing at the age of 38, she is looking to win a record 24th Grand Slam title.
This is a record that Williams has been chasing for a while and will be looking to achieve this historic landmark despite being the number eight seed in the tournament.
Last year saw a dip from Williams’ usual standards. She managed to reach finals at both Wimbledon and the US Open but could not win her 24th Grand Slam.
Despite this very slight dip in form, if Williams is fit and healthy she is a very powerful server with strong groundstrokes and should be very difficult to beat in this year’s Australian Open.
Johanna Konta
Konta will be the major British hope in this year’s Open. She will look to continue the great form that she had in Grand Slams last year and will hope to win her maiden Grand Slam.
Konta, the twelfth seed in the tournament will look to become the first British women to win a Grand Slam since Sue Barker in 1986.
The 28-year-old will be the major British hope in the Australian Open with Andy Murray out with injury.
“I think (my results in 2019) shows my resilience, it does show my ability to be able to overcome difficultly and still come through”
Konta will be hoping to have the same impact on the hard court in Australia as she did during the clay season last year.
