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The Australian Open has largely belonged to simply two males since 2004, with Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer successful 14 of 17 titles. With Federer sidelined by an harm, Djokovic is the plain favourite, and there are simply two different clear-cuts: Rafael Nadal, who captured his twentieth Grand Slam singles title final yr in France and will declare his document twenty first in Australia, and Dominic Thiem, who earned his first on the 2020 United States Open. (Thiem also beat Nadal in final yr’s Australian Open and pushed Djokovic to 5 units within the remaining.)
The ladies’s draw is extra open, nevertheless it has just a few gamers within the highlight. As with the boys’s facet, it begins with the highest three within the rankings: Australia’s personal Ash Barty, the world No. 1, who didn’t play in 2020 after the lockdown; Simona Halep, who reached the semifinals of the Australian Open final yr, and had a win streak of 17 matches and three titles; and Naomi Osaka, winner of three Grand Slam occasions, together with the 2019 Australian Open.
Then there’s Serena Williams, whom individuals will watch due to her all-around greatness. If she wins this yr she is going to tie for essentially the most Grand Slam singles titles amongst girls with 24.
However there are less-recognizable gamers who might have deep runs into the second week and may even win. Listed below are six to observe in 2021.
Daniil Medvedev
The lads’s Prime 10 has a number of rising stars like Stefanos Tsitsipas or Alexander Zverev, however Daniil Medvedev is the most effective wager to take residence the title. To win, a participant will seemingly need to take down two of the highest three seeds, and he’s the most effective candidate.
Whereas Medvedev’s 16-19 document versus Prime 10 gamers could sound poor, it’s the best for a participant with no Slam. He’s winless towards Federer, in order that absence improves Medvedev’s odds.
Medvedev, the 6-foot-6 Russian with the large serve and protracted baseline sport, emerged as one of many sport’s prime returners and a Prime 5 participant in 2019. Grinding his approach to two Masters 1000 titles, he additionally reached six straight finals, together with the U.S. Open, the place he took Nadal to 5 units.
Most notable was his triumph in November on the ATP Finals, the place he had 5 straight wins, over Diego Schwartzman, Zverev, Thiem, Nadal and Djokovic. That degree of sustained excellence provides him an edge.
Nick Kyrgios
Kyrgios, of Australia, has an overpowering serve, making him particularly harmful on the Open’s laborious courts. His hard-court successful proportion is among the many highest of gamers competing on the match. However he has to date did not dwell as much as his monumental potential. Temperamental and undisciplined, he has fallen via the years from thirteenth on the planet to forty seventh.
At 25, he’s nonetheless younger, and he’s prodigiously proficient.
His athleticism and flash all the time make him riveting to observe. If he can keep centered for 2 weeks, he’s 5-5 lifetime versus Nadal and Djokovic, which ought to give the front-runners pause.
Taylor Fritz
The youthful gamers who might make a mark in Australia embody Denis Shapovalov, Félix Auger-Aliassime, Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz. The most definitely American could be Thirtieth-ranked Taylor Fritz. Fritz has wins over Thiem, Zverev and prime veterans like Fabio Fognini and Schwartzman. Final yr, Fritz reached the finals in Acapulco, Mexico. A quarterfinal slot is perhaps a stretch, but when he survives till the second week, it should herald a giant step ahead.
Bianca Andreescu
The cancellation of WTA’s year-end match gave the highest gamers a protracted break earlier than the Australian Open. However no prime contender has been off the court docket so long as the eighth-ranked Bianca Andreescu, who has been sidelined with accidents since 2019.
That yr, she received 31 of her first 34 matches, together with the BNP Paribas Open as a wild card due to a big selection of pictures and a fearlessness in going for them. She capped her rise by upsetting Williams within the U.S. Open finals. If her shoulder and knee are wholesome, she has the aggressiveness, the ability and the Grand Slam expertise to tear via the match.
Victoria Azarenka
She could also be ranked solely thirteenth, however she is, as soon as once more, a particular risk. Winner of the Australian Open championship in 2012 and 2013, Azarenka reached No. 1 on the planet. She was the sport’s prime returner, breaking her opponent’s serve greater than half the time. However she fell off the map after having a child after which getting caught in a custody battle. When she did play, she struggled, reaching the fourth spherical of a significant simply as soon as.
However in 2020, Azaernka rediscovered her magic in a five-tournament run, the place she received a title, reached two extra finals, together with the U.S. Open, and beat six gamers within the Prime 20.
Garbiñe Muguruza
She completed 2019 ranked thirty sixth. Then she went to the Australian Open in 2020 and reminded everybody that she was a former No. 1 and a Wimbledon and French Open champion. Muguruza used improved internet play to topple the Prime 10 gamers Elina Svitolina, Kiki Bertens and Halep en path to the finals. She misplaced to Sofia Kenin.
Muguruza’s large serve and potent, albeit high-risk, floor strokes additionally appeared spectacular in Rome in September, and he or she defeated Sloane Stephens, Coco Gauff, Johanna Konta and Azarenka earlier than falling to Halep. With each of these 2020 tournaments, Muguruza, now ranked fifteenth, confirmed she nonetheless had what it takes for a deep Grand Slam run.
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