Following an exciting begin to the 2023 season, which noticed Crew United States win the inaugural United Cup, the world’s finest gamers will now descend on Melbourne for the Australian Open.
ATPTour.com seems at 10 issues to look at forward of the primary Grand Slam of the 12 months.
1) Reigning Champion Nadal: One 12 months in the past, Rafael Nadal captured his second Australian Open title when he rallied from two-sets-to-love all the way down to defeat Daniil Medvedev in an epic closing. The highest-seeded Spaniard returns to Melbourne this week aiming to clinch a record-extending twenty third Grand Slam crown.
Having began the season with defeats towards Nice Britain’s Cameron Norrie and Australian Alex de Minaur on the United Cup, the World No. 2 can be aiming to earn his first victory of the season when he performs #NextGenATP Briton Jack Draper in a troublesome opening encounter.
2) Djokovic Imperious In Australia: Novak Djokovic has not misplaced on Australian soil since 2018, when he fell towards Hyeon Chung within the fourth spherical on the first main of the 12 months. The Serbian is chasing a record-extending tenth Australian Open title and record-equalling twenty second Grand Slam and arrives on the occasion in robust kind, having lifted his 92nd tour-level title at an ATP 250 in Adelaide final week. The fourth seed, who’s within the reverse half of the draw to Nadal, opens towards Spaniard Roberto Carballes Baena.
3) Battle For World No. 1: Djokovic, Casper Ruud and Stefanos Tsitsipas all begin their campaigns realizing they are going to change into the brand new No. 1 within the Pepperstone ATP Rankings by lifting the trophy in Melbourne. World No. 3 Ruud may also declare high spot by reaching the ultimate, so long as neither Djokovic nor Tsitsipas wins the title. If none of these eventualities play out, the reign of present World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz, not taking part in in Melbourne on account of damage, will stay.
Ruud, who reached Grand Slam finals at Roland Garros and the US Open final 12 months, reached the fourth spherical in Melbourne in 2021. Tsitsipas is a three-time semi-finalist on the main, holding a 15-5 document.
4) Can Medvedev Go One Step Additional? Daniil Medvedev can be hoping it’s third time fortunate when he takes to court docket in Melbourne. The 26-year-old has produced his finest on the main in recent times, falling within the closing towards Djokovic in 2021 and Nadal in 2022. Having reached the semi-finals in Adelaide final week, Medvedev can be aiming to construct on that run on the Australian Open and clinch his second Grand Slam crown. The 2021 US Open titlist performs American Marcos Giron within the first spherical.
5) Fritz & Norrie In Kind: Taylor Fritz and Cameron Norrie arrive in Melbourne in red-hot kind. The eighth seed Fritz holds a 4-1 document on the season, having guided Crew United States to the United Cup title in Sydney. The eleventh seed Norrie, who defeated Fritz on the United Cup, is 6-1 in 2023, having reached the ultimate in Auckland.
Though neither has superior previous the fourth spherical in Melbourne, confidence can be excessive that they will get pleasure from deep runs over the subsequent fortnight. Fritz performs Nikoloz Basilashvili within the first spherical and Norrie takes on #NextGenATP Frenchman Luca Van Assche.
6) Kyrgios Leads Dwelling Hopes: The nineteenth seed Nick Kyrgios loved a formidable 2022, reaching his first Grand Slam closing at Wimbledon and successful a tour-level crown in Washington. The 27-year-old’s finest lead to 9 earlier foremost draw appearances on the Australian Open” title=”https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/australian-open/580/overview” href=”https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/australian-open/580/overview” rel=”noopener noreferrer” goal=”_blank” tabindex=”-1″ class=”fui-Hyperlink ___m14voj0 f3rmtva f1ern45e f1deefiw f1n71otn f1q5o8ev f1h8hb77 f1vxd6vx f1ewtqcl fyind8e f1k6fduh f1w7gpdv fk6fouc fjoy568 figsok6 f1hu3pq6 f11qmguv f19f4twv f1tyq0we f1g0x7ka fhxju0i f1qch9an f1cnd47f fqv5qza f1vmzxwi f1o700av f13mvf36 f9n3di6 f1ids18y fygtlnl f1deo86v f12x56k7 f1iescvh ftqa4ok f50u1b5 fs3pq8b f1hghxdh f1tymzes f1x7u7e9 f1cmlufx f10aw75t fsle3fq” type=”shade: #4f52b2; background-color: #ffffff; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-bottom-color: clear; border-style: none;”>Australian Open got here in 2015, when he reached the quarter-finals. He can be aiming to higher that run this 12 months, beginning towards Roman Safiullin. There are 11 Australian males within the draw, with Alex de Minaur, the twenty second seed, in the identical half as Kyrgios.
7) High 10 Threats: Andrey Rublev, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Hubert Hurkacz will all intention to win their maiden Grand Slam titles on the Australian Open this week. The fifth seed Rublev reached the quarter-finals in 2021 however has a troublesome opening task towards 2020 finalist Dominic Thiem. The sixth seed Auger-Aliassime loved a career-best season final 12 months, successful 4 tour-level trophies. He’ll intention to make a quick begin in 2023 when he performs countryman Vasek Pospisil.
The tenth seed Hurkacz, who earned two wins on the United Cup for Crew Poland, has by no means been past the second spherical in 4 earlier appearances in Melbourne. The 25-year-old begins towards Pedro Martinez.
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8) First-Spherical Popcorn Clashes: Followers can be handled to a bunch of blockbuster first-round matches at Melbourne Park, with Matteo Berrettini’s conflict towards former World No. 1 Andy Murray a spotlight. The five-time finalist Murray can be aiming to earn Grand Slam revenge towards the Thirteenth-seeded Italian, having misplaced towards Berrettini on the US Open in September.
Rublev will take a 4-2 ATP Heaed2Head sequence lead into his first-round conflict towards Thiem, whereas Nadal will must be at his finest if he’s to beat British lefty Draper on Rod Laver Area. Dwelling favorite Thanasi Kokkinakis will attempt to lengthen his excellent 2-0 document in his matchup towards Fabio Fognini.
The 2022 Next Gen ATP Finals runner-up Jiri Lehecka will look to construct on his victory towards the returning Alexander Zverev on the United Cup when he takes on twenty first seed Borna Coric.
9) #NextGenATP Stars In Motion: Holger Rune is likely one of the brightest rising abilities within the recreation, evidenced by his title run on the Rolex Paris Masters in November. The 19-year-old is the ninth seed and performs Filip Krajinovic in his opening match.
The Seventeenth-seeded Italian Lorenzo Musetti, who gained two tour-level titles final season, performs Lloyd Harris, whereas 17-year-old Chinese language qualifier Juncheng Shang will meet German Oscar Otte. American Ben Shelton burst onto Tour when he reached the third spherical in Cincinnati final season. The 20-year-old meets Zhizhen Zhang in his opening match.
10) Koolhof/Skupski Lead Doubles Subject: Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski gained seven tour-level titles as a crew in 2022 and can look so as to add to their trophy haul once they lead the doubles subject as the highest seeds.
The Dutch-British tandem will face stiff competitors from 2020 champions Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury, third seeds Marcelo Arevalo and Jean-Julien Rojer and fourth seeds Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic.
Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios soared to the title in 2022, having fun with a fairytale run on residence soil. The Australians will crew once more this 12 months in Melbourne.
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