Djokovic Chasing Ninth Australian Open Title, Nadal Pursuing Slam Record
The Australian swing got off to a thrilling start with a jam-packed week, which featured the ATP Cup, the Great Ocean Road Open and the Murray River Open. Now the world’s best players will compete in the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam championship of the year.
ATPTour.com looks at 10 things to watch at Melbourne Park.
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1) Djokovic Going For Ninth Australian Open Title
No player has been more at home inside Rod Laver Arena than World No. 1 Novak Djokovic, who is an eight-time Australian Open champion. The Serbian star captured his first Grand Slam trophy in Melbourne 13 years ago, and he has dominated the tournament since, tallying a 75-8 record. The top seed will face a familiar foe in the first round against Frenchman Jeremy Chardy, against whom he has won all 30 sets he has played (leads ATP Head2Head series 13-0).
But Djokovic has plenty of tricky opponents in his section of the draw, with 2014 champion Stan Wawrinka and former World No. 3 Milos Raonic potentially looming in the fourth round. The highest-ranked player in the Serbian’s quarter is 2018 Nitto ATP Finals champion Alexander Zverev, who challenged him in a tight three-setter at the ATP Cup.
2) Will Rafa Win Record 21st Grand Slam Title?
Rafael Nadal will pursue history at this year’s Australian Open, just four months after winning his 13th Roland Garros title to tie Roger Federer’s record of 20 Grand Slam crowns. If 2009 champion Nadal triumphs at Melbourne Park, he will hold that record alone for the first time. The Spaniard would also become the first player to win the Career Grand Slam twice during the Open Era (since April 1968).
The left-hander has reached at least the quarter-finals of the Australian Open in 12 of his past 13 appearances. Nadal will begin his run with his first ATP Head2Head meeting against Serbian Laslo Djere.
3) Thiem Going For Two In A Row
One year ago, Dominic Thiem reached his first hard-court Grand Slam final at the Australian Open. It took all Djokovic had to rally from two sets to one down and prevent the Austrian from earning his first major crown. But Thiem did not let that close call set him back. He lifted his first Grand Slam trophy at the US Open, and is now the No. 3 player in the FedEx ATP Rankings. Thiem will try to add another major title to his resume Down Under, beginning his run against Mikhail Kukushkin, with Aussie Nick Kyrgios looming in the third round.
4) Medvedev Enters With Momentum
Nobody on the ATP Tour finished 2020 in better form than Daniil Medvedev. The Russian played some of the best tennis of his career to win the Rolex Paris Masters and then the Nitto ATP Finals, where he beat the top three players in the FedEx ATP Rankings. “It’s definitely a much bigger challenge in a Grand Slam because it’s out of five sets. All of them, the top three, they’re machines physically. We all know it. Hopefully I can be one of them soon also, that when people know they have to play me out of five sets, they’re going to be scared because they think, ‘This guy is scary,’” Medvedev said.
The World No. 4, who has won a career-high 14 consecutive matches after leading Russia to the ATP Cup title, is arguably the second favourite behind Djokovic at the Australian Open. He will be fully focussed on his opening test against Canadian Vasek Pospisil, who beat him in Rotterdam last year (Medvedev leads their ATP Head2Head 2-1).
5) Tsitsipas Searching For Slam Breakthrough
One of Stefanos Tsitsipas’ biggest breakthroughs came at the Australian Open in 2019. Just months after capturing the 2018 Next Gen ATP Finals title, the Greek reached the semi-finals in Melbourne to become the youngest male player to reach the last four at a major since 20-year-old Novak Djokovic at the 2007 US Open. But Tsitsipas has not advanced further than that at six Slams since. Will this be the event where he takes the next step? The 22-year-old earned two singles wins at the ATP Cup, and he will try to stay sharp in the first round of the Australian Open against former World No. 6 Gilles Simon.
6) Red-Hot Rublev
How many players are hotter than the big-hitting Andrey Rublev? The Russian star led the ATP Tour with five titles last season and he competed in the Nitto ATP Finals for the first time. Now Rublev, who dominated at No. 2 singles for Russia in the ATP Cup, will try to earn a career-best Grand Slam showing. He is one of three players (also Carreno Busta and Thiem) to reach the quarter-finals at the past two majors. Now the World No. 8 will try to advance past the last four at a major for the first time. Rublev could play countryman Medvedev in the quarter-finals.
7) Shapo-Sinner Highlights First-Round Blockbusters
There are plenty of tantalising first-round matches at this year’s Australian Open, with 11th seed Denis Shapovalov and 2019 Next Gen ATP Finals champion Jannik Sinner leading the way. Matteo Berrettini, who led Italy to the ATP Cup final, will play former World No. 5 and two-time Grand Slam finalist Kevin Anderson, 18th seed Grigor Dimitrov will face Marin Cilic in a battle of former World No. 3s and Australian No. 1 Alex de Minaur will try to battle past two-time Australian Open quarter-finalist Tennys Sandgren.
8) Dangerous Floaters Abound
Anderson, Cilic, Sangdren and Sinner are all unseeded players to watch for that we already mentioned in our first-round blockbusters. But there are even more dark horses who could make an impact at Melbourne Park. #NextGenATP Carlos Alcaraz, a 17-year-old Spaniard, caused a stir last week by upsetting top seed David Goffin, Nick Kyrgios is always a dangerous opponent, especially at home, Reilly Opelka is one of if not the biggest server on the ATP Tour and Jan-Lennard Struff showed what he is capable of by helping Germany reach the semi-finals of the ATP Cup.
9) De Minaur Leads Aussie Hopes
De Minaur will be the top-ranked Australian in the field for the second time (also 2019), and he will try to follow up on his career-best Grand Slam result from last year’s US Open, where he reached the quarter-finals. The 21-year-old, who will turn 22 on 17 February, will need to dig in from the first point, with two-time Australian Open quarter-finalist Sandgren across the net. Their first ATP Head2Head clash promises to be a physical battle, as they are two of the fittest players on Tour.
John Millman, who was Australia’s No. 2 singles player in the ATP Cup, will try for another good showing at home after pushing Roger Federer to a fifth-set tie-break one year ago. Kyrgios will also try to make his mark in just his second tournament since Acapulco last February. The last Australian man to win the Australian Open was Mark Edmondson in 1976.
10) Doubles Down Under
Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury, who just missed out on the year-end No. 1 FedEx ATP Doubles Team Ranking in 2020, are back to defend their Australian Open title against a hungry field of tough teams both new and old. Former champions in the field include Jamie Murray/Bruno Soares (2016) and Pierre-Hugues-Herbert/Nicolas Mahut. Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah, the 2019 year-end No. 1 team, will try to start off the year on a high note, while new duos Nikola Mektic/Mate Pavic and Wesley Koolhof/Lukasz Kubot will seek an impressive Slam debut together.