Djokovic, Murray To Face Young Stars

Jan142016

With the Jan. 18-31 Australian Open draw fresh off the press, ATPWordTour.com breaks down the brackets as we gear up for the first Grand Slam of 2016

Call it Youth vs. Experience. The Australian Open’s top two seeds — No. 1 Novak Djokovic and No. 2 Andy Murray — will open against some of the ATP World Tour’s hottest young stars, Djokovic facing hard-hitting Korean Hyeong Chung (19) and Murray challenging German wunderkind and ATP Stars of Tomorrow Presented By Emirates award winner Alexander Zverev (18). Potential third-round clashes include Roger Federer vs. Grigor Dimitrov and Tomas Berdych vs. Nick Kyrgios. Croatia’s Marin Cilic could face countryman Borna Coric in the second round.

TOP HALF

1^st Quarter

Defending champ Djokovic, winner of four of the past five Aussie Opens, comes into the 2016 edition playing the best tennis of his career. A historic 82-6 season behind him, he’s already won Doha and will be a strong favorite in Melbourne from the start. But the Serb’s section of the draw is chock-full of talent. Beyond his opener with Chung, should he get through the match, awaits Andreas Seppi, who shocked Federer in reaching the fourth round in Melbourne last year, Gilles Simon, 2008 finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Comeback Player of the Year Benoit Paire, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and potential quarter-final foe Kei Nishikori, who’ll have his hands full against German veteran Philipp Kohlschreiber in the opening round.

2^nd Quarter

Could a Federer vs. Djokovic semi-final be in the works? The No. 3-seeded Swiss has landed in the same half of the draw as his longtime rival, against whom he’s an even 22-22 in FedEx ATP Head2Head encounters. But much has to go the 17-time Slam champ’s way if a 45^th meeting with Nole is to come to pass. Federer could face Dimitrov in the third round. Beyond the Bulgarian could lie rising Austrian Dominic Thiem, Belgian Davis Cup hero David Goffin, Cilic, Coric, Roberto Bautista Agut, the mercurial Kyrgios or 2015 quarter-finalist Berdych.

BOTTOM HALF

3^rd Quarter

No. 4 seed Stan Wawrinka, the 2014 champion, would love to add to his trophy case in Melbourne. The Chennai champion will open against Dmitry Tursunov, who’ll play his first Grand Slam since the 2014 US Open, with possible meetings with rising American Jack Sock, Viktor Troicki, Milos Raonic (who appears to be coming into his own after downing Federer for the Brisbane title), dangerous floater Kevin Anderson, Gael Monfils or Jeremy Chardy. If the seeds hold up he would face No. 5 seed Rafael Nadal in the quarter-finals. That is if Rafa survives his opener against fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco. It was in 2009 that the countrymen battled for more than five hours in one of the most memorable Australian Open semi-finals of all time, Nadal winning in five dramatic sets 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-6(2), 6-7(1), 6-4 before going on to win the title.

4^th Quarter

Murray has come oh-so-close to raising the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup on no less than four occasions, finishing as runner-up in 2010-11, 2013 and 2015. Yes, fatherhood is looming and the World No. 2 insists he’ll hop a plane if he has to if his expectant wife, Kim, goes into labour. But the Brit baseliner appears as fit and focused as can be expected. He could face No. 8-seeded Spaniard David Ferrer in the quarter-finals, though Zverev, Joao Sousa, Fabio Fognini, Bernard Tomic (a Top 20 seeding for first time at a major), John Isner (a top-10 seed in Richard Gasquet’s absence), Feliciano Lopez or Steve Johnson might have other plans for this ultra-competitive quadrant. Of course, all eyes will be on Lleyton Hewitt. His No. 306 ranking aside, as he heads into his 20^th — and last — Australian Open, the 34-year-old will surely be itching to make one last run. He’ll open against fellow Aussie James Duckworth. The oft-injured Brian Baker will make his much anticipated return to tour-level competition in this quarter of the draw after a three-year absence, facing Italy’s Simone Bolelli in the first round.