in his stronghold of Melbourne, “Djoko” sets out again to hunt Sinner and the Majors

Recovery operation for Novak Djokovic: one year after ceding his Australian crown to world No.1 Jannik Sinner, the ten-time winner of the Australian Open returns to Melbourne to try to win a record 25th Grand Slam title.

To put all the chances on his side during the Australian fortnight (January 12-26), the Serbian ranked 7th in the ATP recruited as coach the former world No. 1 Andy Murray, one of his main rivals of the decade 2010.

“I realized that at this point, the ideal coach for me would be someone who had the same experiences”explained to Sky Sports at the end of November the Olympic champion, who has not won any title in 2024 apart from his gold medal in Paris.

“I still have big plans (…) I am still motivated to win Grand Slams and make even more history”added Djokovic, winner of 24 major titles and holder of the record for longevity at the rank of world No.1 (428 weeks).

A victory in Melbourne would allow him to sit alone in the Olympus of Grand Slam winners, a notch above the Australian Margaret Court (24 titles).

A difficult table

The « Djoker » nevertheless conceded a surprising defeat in the quarter-finals of the ATP 250 in Brisbane at the beginning of January, against the returning American Reilly Opelka, former 17th player in the world.

And the draw gave him a difficult half of the draw on Thursday, which could see him face Carlos Alcaraz (3rd) in the quarter-finals before a possible semi-final against Alexander Zverev (2nd).

The unpredictable Daniil Medvedev (5th), finalist of three of the last four Australian Opens, was moved to the other half of the table, where he could cross swords with Jannik Sinner (1st) in the last four.

However, Zverev has never won a Grand Slam tournament, Alcaraz failed to advance past the quarter-finals in Melbourne and Medvedev, who shattered Djokovic’s calendar Grand Slam dreams in the 2021 US Open final , is likely to unpin in the middle of a match.

There remains Sinner, imperial in 2024 (victories at the US Open, the ATP Finals, in the Davis Cup with Italy) but still under the threat of suspension after the detection of tiny traces of an anabolic in his body in March.

“Coco has moved up a notch”

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), from which the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) requested a ban of one to two years for the Italian, must render its decision on a date currently unknown.

Apart from Zverev who played at the end of December at the start of the United Cup, a mixed national team competition won by the United States, none of Djokovic’s main rivals played a preparation tournament before the Australian Open .

Conversely, the Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka has already reassured herself by winning the WTA 500 in Brisbane and will begin the defense of her title in Melbourne with a tricky duel against the American Sloane Stephens (66th), winner of the US Open in 2017.

A three-way duel for the title is already taking shape with the Polish Iga Swiatek (2nd), stripped of her N.1 throne by Sabalenka at the end of 2024 while she was serving a brief one-month suspension after a positive test for trimetazidine (a banned substance), and the American Coco Gauff (3rd).

Gauff also beat Swiatek in the United Cup final. In November, she had already won the WTA Finals in Riyadh, beating the Pole and Sabalenka along the way.

But the Belarusian is the double title holder in Melbourne and hopes to become the first player since Martina Hingis (1997-1999) to triumph three years in a row in the Australian major.

For the director of the first Grand Slam of the season Craig Tiley, “Coco is playing the best tennis right now. Sabalenka won in Brisbane, she performs very well here (in Melbourne, Editor’s note) but Coco has moved up a notch”he judged on the Australian Open website.