| Australian Open |
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| Venue: Melbourne Park Dates: 18-31 January |
| Coverage: Live radio and text commentary on all Andy Murray matches. Listen to Tennis Breakfast on Radio 5 live sports extra from 07:00 GMT every day. |
Greg Rusedski expects Andy Murray to reach a fifth Australian Open final, but believes Novak Djokovic will prove tough to overcome for the Scot.
Murray faces German teenager Alexander Zverev in the first round on Tuesday.
“I think Murray is going to find a way to get into the final again this year,” Rusedski told BBC Scotland.
“I do believe he has a chance to win the Australian Open, but a certain man by the name of Novak Djokovic has been sublime.”
With Murray seeded second for the tournament, he cannot face world number one Djokovic until the final.
But Rusedski warned the Scot will have some difficult hurdles to overcome before reaching that stage.
“It’s a little bit more dangerous than we think, the draw,” he said. “I think the first week Murray will be pretty comfortable. Fourth round is Bernard Tomic and then David Ferrer, who hasn’t played as well as he has in the past.
“Then, after that, it gets very difficult because it’s Stan Wawrinka – they call him ‘Stan the Man’ for a reason.
“He beat Novak Djokovic at the French Open. He has won the Australian Open as well, so from the semis onwards it gets difficult, but I still think Murray is going to find a way to get into the final again this year.”
After being a losing finalist in 2010, 2011, 2013 and 2015, Murray is hoping to finally claim his first Australian Open crown, which would be the third Grand Slam title of his career.
Despite those four final defeats – the first of which was to Roger Federer before three losses to Djokovic – Rusedski rejects the suggestion Murray now has a mental block when it comes to making the final step and winning the tournament.
“I wouldn’t describe it as a block,” he said. “There’s no disrespect losing to Djokovic and Federer in finals.
“If you look at Murray’s past history, it’s taken him five attempts to win his first major, which he won at the US Open. He’s won Wimbledon, he’s won the Davis Cup now.
“After winning the Davis Cup, usually as a player you gain in confidence, so I do believe he has a chance to win the Australian Open.
“But Djokovic has been quite sensational and his start to the year, that final in Qatar against Nadal, was frightening.
“But, in a one-match event, when you’re playing in the final and anything can happen, Murray’s got a chance.”
Rusedski, the former British number one and US Open finalist, does not see Murray encountering any problems getting past his first-round opponent in Melbourne.
“Zverev is probably about two or three years away from his best tennis,” said Rusedski, runner-up in the 1997 US Open.
“Murray for me at the moment is at the peak of his powers.
“He had a fantastic 2015, finishing the highest he’s ever been ranked in his career at number two at the end of the season, and going on to win the Davis Cup – which I thought was one of the greatest feats in British sport – so I’m very positive for Murray’s opening round.”
Serb looking to retain Sydney crown
Third seed Viktor Troicki will attempt to retain his Apia International Sydney crown when he faces fourth seed Grigor Dimitrov in Saturday’s final.
With rain forcing a premature end to Thursday’s proceedings, both Troicki and Dimitrov played twice on Friday, finishing their quarter-final clashes before taking to the court in the semi-finals.
“I really like [Sydney],” said Troicki. “I played the finals in 2011 also; won last year; back in the finals again. Tough opponent tomorrow, but looking forward to it. I like playing here.”
After coming from a set down earlier in the day to edge Nicolas Mahut, Troicki again went the distance in his semi-final, battling from behind to defeat Teymuraz Gabashvili 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 in just over two hours.
“It was a good day, successful day,” said Troicki. “I played good tennis considering the conditions today. Tough mentally going on and off the court all the time.
“It was quite windy also sometimes during the match, and I managed to play well in those conditions. I’m happy and glad that tomorrow I’m playing a bit later so I will have time to rest. But I feel fine. I feel fit. This is what I worked for the last month and a bit more, since getting here, for the preparations in Australia.”
Meanwhile, Dimitrov was a 6-2, 7-6(4) winner over Gilles Muller, withstanding 12 aces and winning 79 per cent of his service points. The Bulgarian had earlier finished off the third set of his quarter-final win over Alexandr Dolgopolov.
“I’m happy to be back in a final,” said Dimitrov, “I’m aiming definitely higher and looking at the big picture right now. Whether it’s Brisbane or Sydney or any other tournament, it’s just as important as any other Grand Slam event or any of the [Masters] 1000s.
“I’m just taking this very seriously, but at the same time trying to enjoy the moment. I think I know when you do that, you feel happier.
“It’s been good day in the office for me, so to speak,” continued the Bulgarian. “I was pretty tired yesterday, I have to be honest. Four times on and off the court and I played against Alex in tough conditions. That took a lot out of me.
“When I came back today I felt good as new. I stretched, went through my routines, a little bit of a hit, and I think after I was very happy to complete the match with Alex. Then coming out for the second match was just like a new day for me. I didn’t think so much of the previous match or how I’m going to finish or what I’m going to do. I was just trying to focus on what was important to me.”
The 29-year-old Troicki lifted his second ATP World Tour trophy in Sydney last year as a qualifier, with victory over Mikhail Kukushkin in the final. The Serbian will look to defeat Dimitrov for the first time in three meetings on Saturday, with Dimitrov having prevailed when the pair met in Basel four years ago and again just last week in Brisbane.
The 24-year-old Dimitrov is chasing his fourth ATP World Tour title and first in 18 months, since triumphing at The Queen’s Club in June 2014.
“Last week I was down a set and a break against him,” said Dimitrov. “He plays good tennis. All-round player. He knows his way around here pretty well. I’ve seen a couple of his matches, so obviously he’s capable of playing incredible tennis.
“I think the match is pretty even. It’s a great way for both of us to come out there and perform. Of course I like the odds on my side. Been playing better each match and feeling confident with each win, so that really helps a lot coming into a final.”
Flu symptoms can’t slow American in upset of top seed/four-time champ Ferrer
Jack Sock will play for his second ATP World Tour title, advancing to the final of the ASB Classic with a 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 upset of top seed and four-time champion David Ferrer.
The 26th-ranked American now awaits the winner of the Jo-Wilfried Tsonga vs. Roberto Bautista Agut semi-final.
“I knew coming in I would have to play some unbelievable tennis,” said Sock, who continued his new tradition of tossing an autographed sock into the stands following the win. “It was a difficult day. I woke up with some flu-like symptoms. I didn’t know if I was going to play. I ended up coming out and playing some of my best tennis of my career. Maybe I can stay sick through Melbourne and play like this.”
Sock, 23, is 10 years Ferrer’s junior, but he played with veteran poise against the Spaniard on Friday in Auckland, rallying from a set down with a high-risk/high-reward forehand attack that has many convinced he will only continue to work his way upward in the Emirates ATP Rankings.
Ferrer, who holds the Open Era record for most ASB Classic titles (2007, 2011-13), was hoping to go for go for a fifth on Saturday.
Sock dug himself a 0-40 hole serving at 2-3 in the opening set, an unenviable position to be in when facing one of the world’s premier return artists. Ferrer would consolidate the break for a 5-2 lead. Two games later he held serve at love for the 28-minute set.
But Sock, the World No. 26, roared back to grab a pair of breaks of his own to force a third set. He opened the third set with yet another break and never trailed thereafter. It marked his 11th win over a Top-20 player since the start of the 2015 season – the most of any player not ranked in the Top 20. However, until Friday, none of those victories had come against Top-10 competition.
“He makes so many balls and is such a good competitor,” said Sock, who registered 13 aces and 10 forehand winners in the winning effort. “I knew that it was going to be a physical match. My serve was really going to have to help me out. I think I served very well today. I was able to dictate points with my forehand. Hopefully, I can keep playing like that.”
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
1st 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.
2nd 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 45th 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
3rd 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.
4th 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 20th — 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.
First Round Matches To Keep An Eye On:
Novak Djokovic vs. Hyeon Chung
Rafael Nadal vs. Fernando Verdasco
Kei Nishikori vs. Philipp Kohlschreiber
Andy Murray vs. Alexander Zverev
Fabio Fognini vs. Gilles Muller
Milos Raonic vs. Lucas Pouille
Lleyton Hewitt vs. James Duckworth
Steve Johnson vs. Aljaz Bedene
John Isner vs. Jerzy Janowicz
Bernard Tomic vs. Denis Istomin
Gilles Simon vs. Vasek Pospisil
Scot discusses his love for animals and working with the WWF
As far back as I can remember, I wanted a pet. Honestly — for the longest time, it’s all I wanted in the entire world. It really didn’t even matter to me what it was. It was more the concept of it that seemed exciting. To have this animal companion, who was your best friend … what could possibly be better than that?
When I was 10, I finally got one: a hamster named Whiskey. At first, Whiskey mostly just lived in his cage. And I’d spend hours with him — watching him, playing with him, talking to him, feeding him. But after a while, in my mind, the cage began to seem too restrictive. I wanted Whiskey to be able to run free and hang out like a human.
(I’m 10, remember.)
We had one of those big, old-fashioned sinks in our bedroom. And so I tried to rig it with a rope holding down the drain, so that Whiskey could play in the sink. I thought it was brilliant, and Whiskey seemed to be having a great time — a real win-win.
(Again, 10.)
Of course, my sound logic did not completely hold up. It probably won’t shock you to learn that a few weeks later, Whiskey ended up solving the rig and managed to scurry all the way down the drain of the sink.
Read Full Article In The Players’ Tribune
Ten-year-old me was just devastated that he was gone. We set up a trap, with cheese — not one that would kill him, but just catch him so we could bring him home to safety — but never had any luck. Every time we tried it, the next morning the cheese would be gone … and there would be no Whiskey. It just wasn’t meant to be, I guess. Looking back, I like to think that if Whiskey was smart enough to beat the trap, then he was smart enough to make it on his own.
If you’re not an animal person, you might laugh at this. But I can still vividly remember how sad I was about it. It really felt like I had lost a friend.
Even at 10 years old, I knew: while animals aren’t human, that doesn’t mean they aren’t alive. There’s just something about them. If you get it, you get it. And I got it early on. I’ve loved animals ever since.
Read The Rest Of Murray’s Article In The Players’ Tribune