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With the New Year just around the corner, 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.
In Part I, I covered the Brisbane International, the Hopman Cup and the Shenzhen Open, and in Part II I covered the Aircel Chennai Open, the Qatar ExxonMobil Open and the Auckland Open.
Here, in Part III, I 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.
Sydney International
January 8-14
Defending champions: Viktor Troicki (SRB) and Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS)
Drawcards: Dominic Thiem (AUT), Viktor Troicki (SRB), Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER), Angelique Kerber (GER), Agnieszka Radwanska (POL), Simona Halep (ROU), Dominika Cibulkova (SVK), Karolina Pliskova (CZE), Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS), Johanna Konta (GBR) and Eugenie Bouchard (CAN)
Once again, the men’s field at the Sydney International is a very weak one, with French Open semi-finalist Dominic Thiem the only player ranked in the top 20 to participate in this all-important event leading up to the Australian Open.
He is, however, joined in the field by defending champion Viktor Troicki, who will be chasing a hat-trick after winning the past two times, as well as German veteran Philipp Kohlscreiber.
In contrast to the weak men’s field, the women’s is very strong, led by world number one Angelique Kerber, as well as defending champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, US Open finalist Karolina Pliskova and regular Sydney visitors Agnieszka Radwanska and Simona Halep.
Kerber, Kuznetsova and Pliskova will arrive in Sydney directly from Brisbane, and there is the chance that one of them may have just won the title in the Queensland capital by the time they hit the Harbour City.
Likewise, there is also the chance that one of Radwanska, Halep or Konta may have just won the title in Shenzhen (the final for that tournament is on the Sunday) by the time they touch down in Australia.
But they’ll all have to adjust quickly to what is likely to be warm conditions in Sydney, with the tournament the final chance for the men’s and women’s contenders to prove their game ahead of the Australian Open the following week.
Hobart International
January 9-15
Defending champion: Alize Cornet (FRA)
Drawcards: Kiki Bertens (NED), Alison Riske (USA), Alize Cornet (FRA) and Kristina Mladenovic (FRA)
With no top twenty players contesting the Hobart International for the third consecutive year, tournament officials will face a huge battle to draw some decent crowds in the week before the Australian Open.
Alize Cornet returns to defend her title; she is joined in the field by French Open semi-finalist Kiki Bertens, American Alison Riske, doubles specialist Kristina Mladenovic and recent US Open quarter-finalist Ana Konjuh.
Highlighting the weakness among the women’s field, only the top two seeds, Kiki Bertens and Anastasija Sevastova, are set to be seeded at Melbourne Park, with every other player next to no hope of being seeded among the elite 32.
Despite the lack of star power, fans can still be entertained to what the lower-ranked female players have to offer, as they continue to ramp up their preparations for the first Grand Slam tournament of the year.
Australian Open
January 18-31
Defending champions: Novak Djokovic (SRB) and Angelique Kerber (GER)
Drawcards: Andy Murray (GBR), Novak Djokovic (SRB), Milos Raonic (CAN), Stan Wawrinka (SUI), Rafael Nadal (ESP), Roger Federer (SUI), Nick Kyrgios (AUS), Angelique Kerber (GER), Serena Williams (USA), Agnieszka Radwanska (POL), Karolina Pliskova (CZE) and Garbine Muguruza (ESP)
Finally, two weeks (or perhaps more) of intense preparation for the new tennis season will culminate in 256 singles players descending onto Melbourne Park for the first Grand Slam tournament of the new year – the Australian Open.
Men’s world number two Novak Djokovic will be out to extend his dominance Down Under with a record seventh title, however it will not come easy given the challenges that are expected to be posed by the likes of Andy Murray, Milos Raonic, Stan Wawrinka and Rafael Nadal.
As documented in Part II, Djokovic endured a poor second half of the 2016 season; having at one point had a lead of over 8,000 rankings points over Murray, the Serb surrendered top spot to his Scottish rival rather meekly last November.
Even if he does salute in Melbourne for the seventh time, as many fans think he should do, he stands next to no chance of overtaking Murray in the rankings unless the Scot bows out early, something that has not happened since 2008.
Murray will be keen to ensure it is sixth time lucky, having finished runner-up five times, once to Federer (2010) and the other four times to Djokovic (2011, 2013, 2015 and 2016).
This could be his best chance yet to finally break through at Melbourne Park, given his impressive finish to the 2016 season in which he won his last 24 matches, scooping five titles including the lucrative ATP World Tour Finals in London.
While many believe Djokovic and Murray will once again duke it out in the decider, there are of course the contenders to look out for, including world number three Milos Raonic as well as past champions Stan Wawrinka and Rafael Nadal.
It will also remain to be seen how Roger Federer fares in what will be his first Grand Slam tournament ranked outside the top ten since the 2002 US Open, the Swiss Maestro having endured a frustrating 2016 season plagued by a knee injury.
On the women’s side of things, all eyes will be on world number one and reigning champion Angelique Kerber, who will enter a Grand Slam tournament as the defending champion and as the top seed for the very first time.
As it stands, Kerber is on 9,080 rankings points, 2,030 ahead of second-ranked Serena Williams (7,050), which means the battle for the world number one ranking post-tournament could intensify depending on how both players fare.
The battle for top spot will be an interesting subplot in the women’s field; it will also remain to be seen whether the likes of Dominika Cibulkova and Karolina Pliskova can pick up from where they left off last year.
Similarly, Agnieszka Radwanska and Simona Halep are also expected to feature towards the back end of the tournament, but whether they are ready to win major titles will also remain to be seen.
Madison Keys (wrist injury), Petra Kvitova (off-court incident) and Victoria Azarenka (maternity leave) are the only major names missing from the women’s field. Juan Martin del Potro (wrist injury) is the only major men’s absentee.
A full preview of the Australian Open, in which the men’s and women’s contenders will be previewed in full detail, will be provided prior to the tournament’s start.
And that’s the full preview of the 2017 Australian summer of tennis, which I hope you will enjoy as much as I will.
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