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Within the regular world, the 2021 Australian Open would’ve been run and executed, and our champions would’ve been toasted with a media shoot by the Yarra River.
Nonetheless, the continuing coronavirus pandemic and Australia’s strict quarantine protocols, which have confirmed efficient in preventing off COVID-19, pressured this yr’s event to be pushed again by three weeks, with the primary ball to be served in anger subsequent Monday, February 8.
Most of the world’s finest gamers have been launched from resort quarantine previously few days, and are at present ramping up their preparations by taking part in quite a few ongoing tournaments at Melbourne Park in what has been dubbed the “Melbourne Summer season Sequence”.
Moreover, among the world’s top-ranked male gamers are collaborating within the second version of the ATP Cup, which can be being performed solely in Melbourne.
Final week, we noticed Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Dominic Thiem, Serena Williams, Naomi Osaka, Ashleigh Barty and Simona Halep happen within the Day on the Drive on the Adelaide Memorial Drive, with Barty taking part in her first match for eleven months.
One other Australian participant, Nick Kyrgios, can even decide up a racquet for the primary time in over twelve months, the Canberra native having not performed since his hard-fought 4 set loss to Rafael Nadal ultimately yr’s Australian Open.
Within the intervention, he has spent nearly all of the Australian lockdown in Canberra, whereas additionally lashing a number of gamers over their selfishness in the course of the pandemic, particularly Djokovic over his staging of the controversial Adria Tour occasion in June final yr.
On the lads’s facet, all eyes can be on the Serb to see if he can proceed breaking data at Melbourne Park, his eight titles right here a event document.
We begin our preview with the undisputed title favorite, Novak Djokovic.
[1] Novak Djokovic (SRB)
Australian Open historical past
Greatest consequence: Received eight occasions (2008, 2011-13, 15-16, 19-20)
Final yr’s consequence: Champion (defeated Dominic Thiem within the closing)
Different Grand Slam leads to 2020
US Open: Fourth spherical (defaulted vs Pablo Carreno Busta)
French Open: Runner-up (misplaced to Rafael Nadal)
Titles received in 2020
ATP Cup, Australian Open, Dubai, Cincinnati, Rome.
If there may be one man who has dominated at Melbourne Park this century, it’s world primary Novak Djokovic.
Since debuting right here in 2005, the Djoker has made the event his personal, claiming a document eight titles, of which two had been received within the hardest trend doable, requiring 5 units to beat Rafael Nadal and Dominic Thiem in 2012 and final yr, respectively.
Twelve months in the past, the 33-year-old appeared down and out, trailing Thiem by two units to at least one and staring down the barrel of a primary defeat in an Australian Open closing, earlier than digging himself out of the canvas to say the Norman Brookes Problem Cup for an eighth time.
He then claimed one other title in Dubai earlier than the season was shut down when the coronavirus pandemic was declared as such, throughout which he staged the Adria Tour which concluded with himself and a number of other different gamers testing optimistic to COVID-19.
Novak Djokovic (Photograph by Scott Barbour/Getty Photographs)
When the season resumed, the Serb claimed Masters titles in Cincinnati and Rome on both facet of being defaulted from his fourth spherical match towards Pablo Carreno Busta, through which he unintentionally struck a line choose within the first set.
On the French Open, he reached the ultimate for the primary time since profitable the title in 2016, solely to be on the improper finish of a humiliating defeat by the hands of Rafael Nadal.
Then, after qualifying for the ATP Finals as soon as once more, the Djoker reached the semi-finals, shedding to Thiem, ending one other profitable season that was in any other case suffering from controversy.
After rising from resort quarantine in Adelaide, the Serb pulled out earlier than his exhibition match towards Jannik Sinner, solely to emerge to play the second set after his countryman Filip Krajinovic received the opening set, this dividing his giant legion of followers.
And whereas Djokovic will begin because the favorite to say a document ninth Australian Open title, he won’t be with out his opposition, with the likes of Rafael Nadal, Dominic Thiem, Alexander Zverev, Daniil Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas anticipated to offer almighty challenges.
Prediction: Champion
[2] Rafael Nadal (ESP)
Australian Open historical past
Greatest consequence: Received (2009)
Final yr’s consequence: Quarter-finals (misplaced to Dominic Thiem)
Different Grand Slam leads to 2020
US Open: Didn’t play
French Open: Champion (defeated Novak Djokovic within the closing)
Titles received in 2020: Acapulco, French Open
The participant most anticipated to problem Djokovic for the title at Melbourne Park is Rafael Nadal.
The Spaniard loved a powerful begin to final season, serving to his nation to achieve the ultimate of the ATP Cup the place he misplaced to his long-time Serbian rival, earlier than reaching the quarter-finals on the Australian Open the place he misplaced a decent four-setter towards Dominic Thiem.
He then claimed his first title of the yr in Acapulco, earlier than the season went into hibernation because of the coronavirus.
After Wimbledon was cancelled, the Mallorcan native then opted to bypass the US exhausting courtroom swing, thus forgoing the defence of a US Open title for the second time in seven years (after additionally selecting to not defend his 2013 title in 2014).
He returned to motion in Rome, solely to undergo an upset defeat by the hands of Diego Schwartzman within the quarter-finals earlier than reversing that defeat with a straight-sets victory within the semi-finals of the French Open.
At Roland Garros, Nadal claimed his record-extending thirteenth title, thrashing Novak Djokovic within the closing and within the intervention additionally equaled Roger Federer on 20 Main males’s singles titles and introduced up his one centesimal match victory on the event.
The Spaniard created extra historical past in his subsequent match, defeating compatriot Feliciano Lopez within the second spherical on the Paris Masters to rack up his 1,000th profession match victory and be part of Federer, Ivan Lendl and Jimmy Connors in profitable at the very least as many matches.
He completed his season on a disappointing notice, shedding within the semi-finals to the eventual champion Daniil Medvedev on the ATP Finals, guaranteeing that his look forward to a maiden title on the annual season-ending occasion could be prolonged for one more twelve months.
We noticed Nadal carry out for the primary time in 2021 final week, downing Dominic Thiem in straight units within the Day on the Drive exhibition event in Adelaide.
As second seed, he’ll keep away from his nice rival Novak Djokovic till the ultimate, and given the Serb’s dominance at Melbourne Park, it can take greater than his very best for Nadal if he’s to win his second Australian Open title, twelve months after his solely win right here in 2009.
As is at all times the case, I anticipate Nadal to get so far as the semi-finals.
Prediction: Semi-finals
(Photograph by Kelly Defina/Getty Photographs)
[3] Dominic Thiem (AUT)
Australian Open historical past
Greatest consequence: Runner-up (2020)
Final yr’s consequence: Runner-up (misplaced to Novak Djokovic within the closing)
Different Grand Slam leads to 2020
US Open: Champion (defeated Alexander Zverev within the closing)
French Open: Quarter-finals (misplaced to Diego Schwartzman)
Titles received in 2020: US Open
For years, males’s tennis had been crying out for a brand new Grand Slam champion to usher in a brand new period for the game, and final yr Dominic Thiem was in a position to ship.
By profitable the US Open final yr, 27-year-old Thiem ended a streak of 13 straight Majors received by both Djokovic, Nadal or Roger Federer, and a streak of 14 received by anybody over the age of 30 (additionally taking in Stan Wawrinka’s win on the 2016 US Open).
He thus grew to become the primary man born within the Nineties, and the latest-born man, to win a Main title, becoming a member of the likes of Juan Martin del Potro, Andy Murray and Marin Cilic in profitable his first such title at Flushing Meadows.
However he needed to do it the robust manner – coming from two units to like right down to defeat Alexander Zverev within the closing, additionally changing into the primary man since Gaston Gaudio on the 2004 French Open to win a Main title after dealing with such a deficit.
It wound up being his solely title for the yr, together with his different outcomes on the Majors being reaching the ultimate on the Australian Open, the place he had Djokovic on the ropes when he led two-sets-to-one solely to lose in 5, and a quarter-final exhibiting on the French Open.
He additionally reached the championship match on the ATP Finals for the second consecutive yr, solely to be overwhelmed by Daniil Medvedev, twelve months after shedding to Stefanos Tsitsipas within the closing match of the season.
The Austrian can be eager so as to add to the breakthrough title he received at Flushing Meadows final yr, and I believe he’ll give the Australian Open title one other crack, after coming so shut final yr.
Prediction: Last
Others to observe: Alexander Zverev, Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas.
We now swing to the ladies’s facet of issues, the place Ashleigh Barty stands as our largest and finest hope of manufacturing a primary native champion since Chris O’Neil received the title in December of 1977.
Not like almost all of her rivals who had been pressured into obligatory resort quarantine upon their arrival into Australia, Barty has had a comparatively interruption-free lead-up to the Australian Open, with the ability to practice outside as a lot as she favored.
Final Friday evening, she performed her first aggressive match for eleven months, exhibiting indicators of her finest but in addition some rustiness as she misplaced to world quantity two Simona Halep in a decent three-setter on the Day on the Drive exhibition event in Adelaide.
This week, she’s going to contest the Yarra Valley Basic, which is able to give her some useful match observe as she bids to go one higher than her semi-final exhibiting final yr, the place she wasted set factors in every set as she misplaced to Sofia Kenin in straight units.
Barty, who will flip 25 in April, is the primary feminine participant we are going to preview.
[1] Ashleigh Barty (AUS)
Australian Open historical past
Greatest consequence: Semi-finals (2020)
Final yr’s consequence: Semi-finals (misplaced to Sofia Kenin)
Different Grand Slam leads to 2020
US Open: Didn’t play
French Open: Didn’t play
Titles received in 2020: Adelaide
As was the case when Australia pinned our Open hopes on Lleyton Hewitt on the flip of this century, it’s Ashleigh Barty who can be within the highlight as she seeks to turn into our first homegrown champion for over 4 a long time.
Final yr, the Queenslander achieved her finest consequence at Melbourne Park, reaching the semi-finals the place she fell to the eventual champion, Sofia Kenin, after turning the tables on Petra Kvitova within the previous quarter-final match.
Little did she and all of us know {that a} international pandemic would drastically change the best way we reside for the foreseeable future.
After shedding to Kvitova in three units within the semi-finals in Doha, Barty would unknowingly not serve one other ball in anger for the remainder of the yr, dashing house to Australia after the World Well being Organisation declared the COVID-19 pandemic as such in March.
Ashleigh Barty sends down a serve. (Photograph by Chaz Niell/Getty Photographs)
Citing considerations for her security, Barty would forgo the rest of the season, which meant skipping the US Open and likewise opting to not defend the French Open title she received in 2019.
Nonetheless, after Simona Halep failed to achieve the quarter-finals at Roland Garros, the Ipswich native secured the year-end world primary rating, all whereas cheering on her beloved Richmond Tigers as they claimed their third premiership in 4 years.
Barty was even available to current the AFL premiership cup to Damien Hardwick and Trent Cotchin in final yr’s historic grand closing, which for the primary (and probably solely) time was performed on the Gabba, with the MCG dominated out attributable to Melbourne’s stage-four restrictions.
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ICYMI: World No.1 @ashbarty presents the Premiership Cup to @tcotchin9 and Damien Hardwick ????#AFLGF pic.twitter.com/XXQm52SVNO
— AFL (@AFL) October 25, 2020
Again on matter now, and earlier than the Australian Open will get underway, the 24-year-old is contesting the Yarra Valley Basic this week, the place she is the highest seed, forward of her nemesis Sofia Kenin, who’s seeded second.
It’s an enormous name, however I believe Barty can attain the ultimate, which if she does would be the first by an Australian at Melbourne Park since Lleyton Hewitt misplaced to Marat Safin within the 2005 males’s closing.
Prediction: Last
[2] Simona Halep (ROU)
Australian Open historical past
Greatest consequence: Runner-up (2018)
Final yr’s consequence: Semi-finals (misplaced to Garbine Muguruza)
Different Grand Slam leads to 2020
US Open: Didn’t play
French Open: Fourth spherical (misplaced to Iga Swiatek)
Titles received in 2020: Dubai, Prague, Rome
Certainly one of a number of gamers anticipated to pose an enormous risk to Ashleigh Barty for the title is ladies’s world quantity two Simona Halep.
Final week, the Romanian racked up six consecutive years within the high ten, with no different ladies’s participant in a position to spend that lengthy ranked on this bracket since January 2014.
It’s a testomony to her consistency which has seen her win 20 WTA titles, three of them final yr – in Dubai, Prague and Rome.
The 29-year-old began her season by reaching the semi-finals on the Australian Open, the place she misplaced to Garbine Muguruza, after which received her first of three titles for season 2020 in Dubai earlier than the season was shut down because of the COVID-19 disaster.
With Wimbledon being cancelled for the primary time since World Struggle II, Halep’s standing as defending champion will carry into this yr, which means she’s going to open play on Centre Court docket on the primary Tuesday at this yr’s Championships, ought to they go forward.
Upon the season resumption, Halep claimed titles in Prague and Rome, on both facet of lacking the US Open citing considerations across the pandemic.
On the French Open, which was ravaged by the absences of many star gamers, Halep was a transparent favorite for the title, solely to undergo humiliation by the hands of the eventual champion, Iga Swiatek, within the fourth spherical the place she may solely muster three video games.
This ensured Halep wouldn’t reclaim the world primary rating from Ash Barty, as an alternative settling for second. Nonetheless, she can be one of many essential contenders for the title, and I believe she will be able to go so far as going all the best way, even when it’s on the expense of the native favorite.
Prediction: Champion
(Photograph by Ian MacNicol/Getty Photographs)
[3] Naomi Osaka (JPN)
Australian Open historical past
Greatest consequence: Champion (2019)
Final yr’s consequence: Third spherical (misplaced to Coco Gauff)
Different Grand Slam leads to 2020
US Open: Champion (defeated Victoria Azarenka within the closing)
French Open: Didn’t play
Titles received in 2020: US Open
Regardless of taking part in solely 4 tournaments in season 2020, Naomi Osaka confirmed indicators of her finest within the second half of final season, as evidenced by reaching the ultimate in Cincinnati and profitable the US Open for a second time.
Beforehand, the Japanese star failed at defending a title for the second time; after having her 2018 US Open title defence ended by Belinda Bencic twelve months later, the 23-year-old suffered an early exit on the Australian Open, shedding to Coco Gauff within the third spherical.
That adopted a heartbreaking loss to Karolina Pliskova on the Brisbane Worldwide, the place she had the prospect to serve for the match solely to drop the match in three units.
On the Western andamp; Southern Open in her first event again after the season shutdown, she suffered a hamstring harm which noticed Victoria Azarenka declare the title with out the championship match being contested.
When the 2 lastly met within the closing of the US Open, Osaka got here from a set right down to deny the Belarusian the title, having misplaced the primary set by 6-1 and being down a break within the second.
The hamstring harm she suffered on the relocated Cincinnati occasion noticed her pull out of the French Open, and whereas she would’ve certified for the season-ending WTA Finals in regular circumstances, the occasion was canned because of the coronavirus pandemic.
She is now contesting the continuing Gippsland Trophy this week, because the second seed (behind solely Simona Halep). She is going to face Alize Cornet in her first match earlier than dealing with a possible rematch towards Coco Gauff within the third spherical.
On the subject of Melbourne Park, I anticipate her to deliver her finest kind and once more attain the latter phases of the event.
Prediction: Semi-finals
[4] Sofia Kenin (USA)
Australian Open historical past
Greatest consequence: Received (2020)
Final yr’s consequence: Champion (defeated Garbine Muguruza within the closing)
Different Grand Slam leads to 2020
US Open: Fourth spherical (misplaced to Elise Mertens)
French Open: Runner-up (misplaced to Iga Swiatek within the closing)
Titles received in 2020: Australian Open, Lyon
The ultimate participant we are going to preview intimately is the reigning Australian Open champion, Sofia Kenin.
Final yr, the American took benefit of an upset-ravaged quarter of the draw, which noticed the earlier three champions, Naomi Osaka (final yr), Caroline Wozniacki (2018) and Serena Williams (2017) all fail to achieve the quarter-finals.
Kenin in the end defeated Osaka’s conqueror, Coco Gauff, in three units to achieve the quarter-finals of a serious for the primary time, then proceeded to interrupt Australian hearts by beating Ashleigh Barty in straight units within the semi-finals, saving a set level in every set.
She then got here from a set right down to defeat Garbine Muguruza to say her first main title, thus changing into the primary American not named Serena or Venus Williams to win a serious ladies’s singles title since Sloane Stephens claimed the 2017 US Open, and at Melbourne Park since Jennifer Capriati in 2002.
Kenin proceeded to win her second title for the yr in Lyon earlier than the season was shut down as COVID-19 took maintain.
The 22-year-old then managed to achieve the fourth spherical of the US Open, attaining her finest consequence on the event so far earlier than bowing out to Belgian Elise Mertens.
After the season turned to the rescheduled European clay courtroom season, Kenin suffered a humiliating double bagel defeat by the hands of Victoria Azarenka, however was in a position to flip issues round at Roland Garros, reaching the ultimate the place she was overwhelmed by unheralded Pole Iga Swiatek.
The American now returns to Melbourne Park – the scene of her best triumph – with the added stress of being the defending champion, and it’ll stay to be seen how she handles this standing at Grand Slam degree for the primary time.
I’ve her once more going into the latter rounds, probably so far as the semi-finals.
Prediction: Semi-finals
Others to observe: Iga Swiatek, Serena Williams, Elina Svitolina, Angelique Kerber, Victoria Azarenka, Bianca Andreescu.
The delayed Australian Open commences on Monday 8 February.
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