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With Christmas done and dusted for another year, this can only mean one thing – the 2018 Australian summer of tennis is 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.
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 Maharashtra Open, the Qatar ExxonMobil Open and the ASB Classic, 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
December 31, 2017 – 7 January, 2018
Defending champions: Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) and Karolina Pliskova (CZE)
Drawcards: Rafael Nadal (ESP), Grigor Dimitrov (BUL), Andy Murray (GBR), Nick Kyrgios (AUS), Milos Raonic (CAN), Garbine Muguruza (ESP), Karolina Pliskova (CZE), Johanna Konta (GBR) and Ashleigh Barty (AUS)
2018 marks the tenth year of the Brisbane International, with this edition set to be the biggest one yet.
In the men’s field, world number one Rafael Nadal will be the headline act in the Queensland capital, as will ATP World Tour Finals champion Grigor Dimitrov and three-times major champion Andy Murray.
They are joined by Australia’s Nick Kyrgios and 2016 champion Milos Raonic, both of whom slid down the rankings in 2017 after varying indifferent seasons.
Nadal returns Down Under after a phenomenal season which saw him strike La Decima at Roland Garros, claim a third US Open crown and finish the year ranked world number one at 31 years of age.
His return to the top of men’s tennis dispelled fears that his best was beyond him after an injury-riddled couple of seasons which saw him fail to reach a single major final in 2015 and 2016.
Andy Murray will be hoping that Nadal’s renaissance this year will be the inspiration he needs to bounce back in 2018 after his own injury-riddled season saw him finish the year ranked 16th – his lowest year-end ranking since 2006.
The Scot has not played at any level since being bothered by a hip injury in his quarter-final defeat by Sam Querrey at Wimbledon, at which point he was the world number one and the defending champion.
The women’s field is led by reigning Wimbledon champion Garbine Muguruza, who created history by becoming the first player to defeat both Williams sisters in a major final by virtue of her victory over Venus Williams in the final at the All England Club in July.
(AP Photo/David Vincent)
Defending champion Karolina Pliskova also returns to Brisbane, as will Ashleigh Barty who last year won her first career title and finished the year ranked 17th after a phenomenal comeback season following a brief stint in women’s cricket.
Great Britain’s Johanna Konta will make her debut at the Brisbane International, and will be one of the players to watch as she continues her build-up to the Australian Open, where she was a semi-finalist in 2016.
The tournament will be without US Open champion Sloane Stephens, however, after the 24-year-old withdrew due to injury, thus leaving her participation at the Australian Open in doubt.
Hopman Cup
December 30, 2017-January 6, 2018
Defending champions: France
Teams: Germany (Angelique Kerber/Alexander Zverev), United States (Coco Vandeweghe/Jack Sock), Belgium (Elise Mertens/David Goffin), Russia (Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova/Karen Khachanov), Japan (Naomi Osaka/Tuichi Sugita), Canada (Eugenie Bouchard/Vasek Pospisil), Switzerland (Belinda Bencic/Roger Federer), Australia (Daria Gavrilova/Thanasi Kokkinakis)
Once again, Roger Federer will be the biggest drawcard to Perth as he seeks to win his second Hopman Cup title after previously winning the tournament with Martina Hingis in 2001.
He will once again be paired with Belinda Bencic, who spiralled down the rankings in 2017 due to a raft of injuries having been ranked in the top ten as recently as the first half of the 2016 season.
They will face the United States, Russia and Japan in their pool matches, meaning Federer will face Sock, Khachanov and Sugita in his singles matches while Bencic will be up against Vandeweghe, Pavlyuchenkova and Osaka in her matches.
The Swiss will be eager to reach the final this time after they were edged out by France, which will not be represented in 2018, in their final tie.
Australia will be led by Daria Gavrilova and Thanasi Kokkinakis, and as the lowest-ranked seeds will have their work cut out against top-seeded Germany, as well as Belgium and Canada.
Gavrilova will face quality opposition in her singles matches, up against former world number one Angelique Kerber, former Wimbledon finalist Eugenie Bouchard and rising star Elise Mertens.
Kokkinakis, whose world ranking of 212 dragged down the nation’s seeding, will face Alexander Zverev, Vasek Pospisil and David Goffin in his singles matches.
Kerber’s debut appearance at the Hopman Cup will guarantee her at least three singles matches, and that is the match practice she will need as she attempts to arrest an alarming regression which saw her drop out of the world’s top 20 in 2017 after having started the year as the world number one.
Likewise, three singles matches will be enough practice for Bouchard as she also looks to rediscover the form that saw her reach a career-high ranking of world number five, and reach the Wimbledon final, in 2014.
Shenzhen Open
January 1-7
Defending champion: Katerina Siniakova (CZE)
Drawcards: Simona Halep (ROU), Jelena Ostapenko (LAT), Zhang Shuai (CHN)
With only two top-ten players (let alone two players who will be seeded at the Australian Open) on the entry list in Shenzhen, organisers will face a rather difficult task in attempting to attract spectators to this tournament.
The two players in question are world number one Simona Halep and her conqueror in last year’s French Open final, Jelena Ostapenko.
(Carine06 / Flickr)
A season of consistency saw Halep claim the year-end world number one ranking at the end of a season in which the top spot changed hands numerous times, while Ostapenko’s stunning victory at Roland Garros last year set the precedence for a career-best season at just 20 years of age.
They are joined by defending champion Katerina Siniakova, who stormed the field to win her maiden WTA title at this tournament last year, as well as former Australian Open quarter-finalist Zhang Shuai.
If seedings hold, then a rematch of last June’s epic French Open final, in which Ostapenko came from a set and a break down twice to win her maiden career title, could decide the whole tournament.
That’s Part 1 of your guide to the 2018 Australian summer of tennis. Part 2 will cover the Maharashtra Open, the Qatar ExxonMobil Open and the ASB Classic.
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