Tennis News

The unexpected 2014 champion Stan Wawrinka, who took the tour by storm over the past year, will begin his title defense in Melbourne with the hopes of a successful fortnight at the Happy Slam. The Swiss No. 2 and fourth seed at the event is scheduled to open his campaign against Marsel Ilhan, whom he has never previously faced on the professional tour.

In accordance with his 2014 trajectory to the season-opening Grand Slam, Stan Wawrinka began his season with a title defense at the Chennai Open, where he is now a three-time champion. He defeated Aljaz Bedene 6-3, 6-4 in a contest that lasted 69 minutes on Sunday afternoon. The Swiss star faced no break points and needed just one match point to close out the contest and give himself the necessary momentum heading into the Australian Open.

“I feel really happy,” said Wawrinka. “It’s tough to win tournaments on the ATP Tour. I feel good, with more confidence [and] feeling well with my game. I’m happy with my game in general, but it’s just the beginning of the season and I hope I can play well all [of] the season.”

World No. 99 Marsel Ilhan of Uzbekistan will look to play spoiler in the opening round in Melbourne when he faces the defending champion. He began his year in Brisbane, but failed to reach the maind raw of the event, falling in the third round of the qualifiers against Marius Copil.

This is set to be the first time that Wawrinka and Ilhan will cross paths on the tour, and is not a particularly challenging contest for Wawrinka. While anyone is capable of surprising a targeted champion, this is unlikely to be the case here. Wawrinka looked to be in-form and was playing with relative ease in India, and will have likely focused on intense preparation over the past couple of weeks.

Prediction: Stan Wawrinka in Straight Sets

Following a less-than-stellar start to his 2015 season, it appears that a flu may hamper world No. 1 Novak Djokovic’s start at the Australian Open. Djokovic is scheduled to face qualifier Aljaz Bedene, whom he has never faced previously on the professional tour.

This issue with the flu caused Djokovic to cancel a training session on the eve of the Aussie Open, which only served to worry pundits and adoring fans. The Serbian had withdrawn from the final of the Mubadala World Tennis Championships with an illness but claims to be better now and prepared for the task at hand.

“I had a tough couple of days, it’s all behind me now,” Djokovic said on Sunday. “It was a little bit of a cold, and flu, stomach … maybe carried that from the Middle East, but now it’s passed.”

World No. 116 Aljaz Bedene earned three wins last week to qualify for the Australian Open where he will now face the former champion and top seed at the event in his opening main draw match-up.

“I don’t know much,” Djokovic said of his upcoming opponent. “Honestly I know he’s from Slovenia. I watched him play a little bit in Chennai, I think semifinals. I’ve seen he’s a baseline player. Good, solid, two-handed backhand. Obviously he’s going to be very motivated to perform well. If we get to play on center court, I’m sure it’s going to be a unique experience for him. He’s got nothing to lose.”

This marks the first time that these two competitors will cross paths on the professional tour and will certainly be a relatively straightforward affair for Djokovic.

Prediction: Novak Djokovic in Straight Sets

For the first time in nearly two years, Kei Nishikori and Nicolas Almagro will cross paths on the professional tour, this time to determine who will advance to the second round of the tournament. The pair split their two previous meetings on the ATP World Tour and will now play the rubber match on a much grander stage. Check out the Nishikori v Almagro Head to Head.

Watch the match live here: Nishikori v Almagro

The Japanese No. 1 began his season with high hopes and looked promising during the opening week of the year. At the Brisbane International, Nishikori defeated Steve Johnson and Bernard Tomic to reach the semi-final round of the tournament. However, he would soon fall to Canada’s Milos Raonic in a razor-thin match that ended 7-6(4), 6-7(4), 6-7(4).

Unlike his upcoming opponent, Spain’s Nicolas Almagro lost his only professional match of the year so far. In Sydney, the recently injury-prone Almagro lost in straight sets to Uruguay’s Pablo Cuevas 6-7(5), 4-6. He looked lethargic and rusty from his lengthy spell on the sidelines.

This marks the third time these two competitors will meet on the professional tour, with the series tied at 1-1. Their first meeting took place in the quarter-final stage of Kuala Lumpar in 2011, which Nishikori emerged victorious in. Their second meeting took place in the in the Tokyo Open, which Almagro won in three sets. While the series may appear close, they are currently on completely different career trajectories. With that in mind, there is little doubt that Nishikori will emerge victorious in this third encounter.

Prediction: Kei Nishikori in Straight Sets

For the first time in quite a while, former world No. 1 Venus Williams will go into a Grand Slam event riding some significant momentum. Following her title victory in Auckland, Williams will look to follow up with a successful fortnight in Melbourne, starting with her second ever meeting against Maria Teresa Torro-Flor. Their first meeting took place in the opening round of last year’s Wimbledon Championships, which Williams won to take a 1-0 lead in the head-to-head series.

Watch the match live here: Williams v Torro-Flor

Following her impressive return to form in 2014, Venus Williams picked up where she left off and captured her first title of the season at the ASB Classic in Auckland. She defeated Nara, Vesnina, Davis, and capped it off with a three-set thriller against Caroline Wozniacki to lift her 46th career title. Given her undefeated run this season, Williams will be keen to keep that streak alive and perform at the Happy Slam.

World No. 88 Maria Teresa Torro-Flor has only played one professional match this season, as she lost to Bojana Jovanovski 6-2 6-7 (4) 6-3 in the opening round of the Shenzhen Open. The Spaniard will now be dealt the difficult task of toppling the former Grand Slam champion and future Hall of Famer.

The one-time Australian Open finalist will look to reach the second week of the event for the first time in four years, but will first have to deal with the obstacles in front of her, starting with Torro-Flor. She leads the series 1-0 and is more than capable of doubling that lead.

Prediction: Venus Williams in Three Sets

Crowned champion in Doha, David Ferrer will be primed to impress at this year’s Australian Open. The Spaniard, who is a two-time semi-finalist in Melbourne, will begin his run against Brazil’s Thomaz Bellucci, whom he faced on six previous occasions. Ferrer leads the head-to-head series 5-1 and will look to maintain that stranglehold over their rivalry this week.

Watch the match live here: Ferrer v Bellucci

Following an 11-month dry spell, David Ferrer kicked off his 2-15 season in sublime fashion with a title win at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open. The Spaniard, who had not won a title since Buenos Aires last February, defeated Tomas Berdych 6-4, 7-5 in 1 hour and 29 minutes. Now, his 22nd ATP World Tour title, he will prepare to make a deep run at the Happy Slam.

“I’m very happy,” said Ferrer. “I put in hard work this preseason. It’s special winning this tournament. I was ready to play tonight’s match against Berdych – a Top 10 player.”

World No. 62 Thomaz Bellucci has only played one professional match this season. His lone outing took place against eventual tournament champion Jiri Vesely in Auckland. The left-hander will now look to overcome that loss with a staggering upset win over Ferrer.

This marks the seventh time these two competitors meet on the professional tour, with Ferrer leading the head-to-head series 5-1. The Spaniard has also won the last three consecutive meetings dating back to 2012, with the only loss coming on clay in Monte Carlo. Ferrer also happens to be 2-0 against Bellucci on hard courts and has never lost a set to the Brazilian on that surface. Given those lopsided stats, there is little doubt that Ferrer will excel in his opening match at the Australian Open.

Prediction: David Ferrer in Straight Sets

After breaking through and reaching the final of the Australian Open last season, Dominika Cibulkova has been unable to match that intensity at any other stage of the season. After a disappointing year, the runner-up will return to Melbourne with the hope of being able to replicate that run through the draw this time around as well. She will begin her campaign against a tough Kirsten Flipkens, whom she has encountered on four previous occasions and has split the head to head series 2-2.

Watch the match live here: Cibulkova v Flipkens

Having dropped out of the Top 10, Dominika Cibulkova began her year in Sydney, where she defeated Kristina Mladenovic 6-2 6-2 before facing local upstart Jarmila Gajdosova, who rallied from a set down to defeat her 1-6 6-3 6-4. It was a surprising end to Cibulkova’s attempt to garner pre-Aussie Open momentum, and she was forced to focus her efforts on training instead of match experience.

While Flipkens was at a different tournament that week, she also had a similar trajectory to Cibulkova, as she won her opening match against Johanna Larsson 7-6(1) 1-6 7-6(3) but then suffered a defeat at the hands of CoCo Vandeweghe 6-1 6-7(5) 7-5. It was a short stay in Auckland for Kirsten, but still gave her time to complete her preparation for season-opening Grand Slam event.

This marks the fifth time that these two competitors will meet on the professional tour. Having split their previous four meetings, this will also serve as a rubber match of sorts – both to determine who takes the lead in the series, as well as who advances to the second round of the tournament. Cibulkova won their only previous Grand Slam meeting back in 2009, and their most recent meeting in Tokyo last season with relative ease. Given that, and her motivation to succeed in Melbourne and defend her points, expect Cibulkova to produce a better match than any of hers in recent memory.

Prediction: Dominika Cibulkova in Straight Sets