The Australian Open is just hours away from starting and unlike the other Grand Slams, I consider this tournament to be more of an open contest on who can win the first major of the year. Here are the breakdowns and predictions of both the mens and womens draw.
MENS DRAW
Reigning champion Novak Djokovic (2) has not won a grand slam since the last Australian Open and he will be desperate to retain his title. This is Djokovic’s favourite event and he has certainly got to be considered as the favourite for this tournament, especially since his success over Nadal at the ATP World Tour Finals last year. However, one will be watching how Boris Becker’s appointment as Djokovic’s main coach will affect his chances of making it four in a row for the Serb.
The other favourite for the tournament has to be Rafael Nadal (1) who certainly proved last year with his successes at the French and US Open that he is the best in the world today. Nadal has strolled into 2014 with success at the Qatar Open but he will need to be at his best considering he’s in the tougher half of the draw and that he has not won in Melbourne since 2009.
That tough side of the draw has Andy Murray (4), Juan Martin Del Potro (5), Roger Federer (6) and Jo Wilifred-Tsonga (10). Out of these four men, I would say that Del Potro is the biggest threat to Nadal’s chances of making it to the final. Del Potro beat Australian Bernard Tomic (who faces Nadal in the 1st round) yesterday 6-3 6-1 in a final that lasted 53 minutes- the shortest final since 2000. Del Potro is on fine form and after some magnificent performances last year, he could be the man that breaks the monopoly of the big three players once again.
That other “big 3” person is, of course, Andy Murray. Him and Tsonga have both just come back from injury and neither of these previous Australian Open finalists really look like have a chance of winning. However, the Australian Open surface (which has changed slightly this year) is one of Murray’s favourites and he’s been to the final three times in Australia. Roger Federer should always be considered as an outside contender but his recent loss to Lleyton Hewitt at the Brisbane Open final should be a dent to his confidence.
John Isner (13) and Stanislas Wawrinka (8) have also started their 2014’s strongly and may be considered outsiders for the title following their title successes at the Heineken Open and Aircel Chennai Open respectively. And despite David Ferrer (3) shockingly exiting the semi-final stage to Lu at the Heineken Open last week, the Spaniard should be considered a contender as he has a relatively easy route to the semi-final stage.
WOMENS DRAW
Serena Williams (1). Need I say more. Well I kind of have to for the sake of fairness. Serena has had an incredible 2013 winning both the French and the US Open and she has to be considered the favourite to win her sixth Australian Open title if she carries her 2013 form over to 2014. And it appears that she already has done with a victory in Brisbane last Sunday.
The person she defeated in the final was the current Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka (2). Azarenka will be looking to make it three Australian Open championships in a row and she has to be considered the other favourite to win this tournament. She is arguably the closest challenger to the world number one since Williams’ return to the court in 2011 after her long absence.
Unfortunately for Azarenka she is on the same side of the draw as Maria Sharapova (3) and same quarter of the draw as Agniezka Radwanska (5), Caroline Wozniacki (10) and Sloane Stephens (13). Sharapova is probably considered as another big contender for the title, but her straight sets exit to Serena Williams in Brisbane shows that even if she were to reach the final, she might not be good enough to beat the American. She also hasn’t won in Australia since 2008 and she has just come back from injury.
Radwanska has only reached the semi-final stage twice and that was only at Wimbledon. She has only managed to reach the last eight in Australia but she has done it three years in a row and her performance in the Hopman Cup this year showed why she is one of the more tactically sound players today. Wozniacki can only be described as a loose-cannon but she is a former world number one and she can play some great tennis on her day. Twenty-year old Stephens has shot up the rankings over the past couple of years and her semi-final appearance last year in Australia (including victory over fellow American Serena Williams) shows that she can hang with the bigger stars in female tennis.
The top half of the draw also has some decent contenders to Azarenka’s throne too. China’s Na Li (4) has twice been a finalist in Australia and she will be hoping to make it third time lucky. She will have to overcome a former Wimbledon champion in Petra Kvitova (6) who has made a decent start this year by reaching the semi-final of the Medi-Bank Open. And let’s not forget about home-crowd favourite Samantha Stosur (17) as the former US Open Champion will be seeking to get past the Australian Open’s fourth round for the first time in her career. It’s not her favourite surface but she will be looking to make it her year.
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