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Some of the world’s biggest tennis names have started ramping up their preparations ahead of the first Grand Slam tournament of the year, the Australian Open.
As always, this preview will be divided into three parts: here, I will cover the Brisbane International, the Hopman Cup and the Shenzhen Open.
Part 2 will cover the Aircel Chennai Open, the Qatar ExxonMobil Open and the Auckland Open, and Part 3 will cover the Sydney International, the Hobart International and, of course, the Australian Open.
Let’s take a look at some of the events that tennis fans will be treated to as the countdown begins to the start of the Australian Open on January 16.
Brisbane International
January 1-8
Defending champions: Milos Raonic (CAN) and Victoria Azarenka (BLR)
Drawcards: Milos Raonic (CAN), Stan Wawrinka (SUI), Kei Nishikori (JPN), Rafael Nadal (ESP), Angelique Kerber (GER), Dominika Cibulkova (SVK), Karolina Pliskova (CZE), Garbine Muguruza (ESP) and Eugenie Bouchard (CAN)
In its short history, the Brisbane International has lured some of the world’s biggest names to the Queensland capital and this year’s line-up is another strong one, led by 14-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal, women’s world number one Angelique Kerber and reigning French Open champion Garbine Muguruza.
2017 will mark the debut of Nadal in Brisbane, where he will be hoping to get his career back on track after being hampered by injury since winning the most recent of his major titles at the French Open in 2014.
The Spaniard will be hoping to follow in the footsteps of Andy Murray (2012 and 2013) and Roger Federer (2015) in saluting in the first tournament of the tennis calendar. Other past champions include Andy Roddick (2010), Robin Soderling (2011), Lleyton Hewitt (2014) and Milos Raonic, who returns to defend his title.
The pair are joined by reigning US Open champion Stan Wawrinka, who will also play in Brisbane for the first time, as well as former US Open finalist Kei Nishikori, Grigor Dimitrov and David Ferrer.
Kerber, who dethroned Serena Williams as world number one last September, heads a strong women’s field as she tries to go one better than last time, when she lost to Victoria Azarenka (who last week gave birth to a baby boy) in the final.
Joining the German in Brisbane is WTA Finals champion Dominika Cibulkova, US Open finalist Karolina Pliskova, reigning French Open champion Muguruza and, for the first time, two-time Grand Slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova.
Cibulkova, who was ranked as low as 66th last February, arrives Down Under two months after winning the biggest title of her career at the WTA Finals in Singapore, while Pliskova will look to pick up where she left off last year, reaching the US Open final after upsetting both Williams sisters en route.
Spain’s Muguruza will also attempt to arrest a slow regression which saw her finish seventh in the rankings, having been as high as second following her stunning French Open victory over Serena Williams in June.
Eugenie Bouchard will also make her Brisbane debut as she seeks to rediscover her 2014 form, which saw her reach the Wimbledon final and reach a career-high ranking of number five in the world.
Hopman Cup
January 1-7
Defending champions: Australia
Teams: Australia (Daria Gavrilova and Nick Kyrgios), Czech Republic (Lucie Hradecka and Adam Pavlasek), France (Kristina Mladenovic and Richard Gasquet), Germany (Andrea Petkovic and Alex Zverev), Great Britain (Heather Watson and Daniel Evans), Spain (Lara Arruabarrena and Feliciano Lopez), Switzerland (Belinda Bencic and Roger Federer) and United States (Coco Vandeweghe and Jack Sock).
Having become the first local pair since 1999 to win the Hopman Cup, Nick Kyrgios and Daria Gavrilova return.
They won last year’s tournament playing under the name Australia Green, one of two teams entered last year (Australia Gold, led by Lleyton Hewitt and Jarmila Wolfe, was the other), however this time they will be the only Australian team entered.
The pair have been drawn to face the Czech Republic, Spain and the United States, with Jack Sock (ranked 23rd) the highest-ranked player either Gavrilova or Kyrgios will have to face.
Petra Kvitova (ranked 11th) was to have been the Czechs’ original female representative, however a foot injury, followed by an unfortunate knife attack which has sidelined her for six months, has ruled her out of the Hopman Cup.
The other group consists of France, Germany, Great Britain and Switzerland, for whom Roger Federer will make his first appearance since 2002 as he launches his comeback from an injury-plagued 2016 season, which ended without a title for the first time since 2000.
His partner is Belinda Bencic, who broke into the top ten early last year only for injuries to send her plunging down to 43rd in the world.
Given Australia will provide both the highest-ranked man (Nick Kyrgios, 13th) and woman (Daria Gavrilova, 25th) of all the entrants, there is every chance they should defend their title.
Success would be a first double for the Australians, whose only other Hopman Cup title came in 1999, while it would also be the first successful title defence by any country since the United States in 2003-4.
Shenzhen Open
January 2-8
Defending champion: Agnieszka Radwanska (POL)
Drawcards: Agnieszka Radwanska (POL), Simona Halep (ROU) and Johanna Konta (GBR)
While the Shenzhen Open is traditionally one of the weakest tournaments as far as drawing big players are concerned, it won’t be any short of star power this year, with defending champion Agnieszka Radwanska, world number four Simona Halep and last year’s rankings bolter Johanna Konta among the entrants.
Radwanska is coming off another solid season in which she claimed three titles, including here last year, as well as reach the semi-finals of the Australian Open for the second time, and the fourth round at the other three majors.
She is joined in Shenzhen by Halep and Konta, the former having been spotted training in Adelaide with her coach Darren Cahill, as she launches a serious assault on a maiden Grand Slam title in 2017.
Konta, meantime, is coming off a breakthrough season which saw her reach the semi-finals of the Australian Open and win her first career title in Stanford, defeating Venus Williams in the first round and the final respectively to do so.
Former French Open finalist Timea Bacsinszky and recent US Open quarter-finalist Anastasija Sevastova are also entered.
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