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 wanted someone who won several Grand Slams, the list was not that long” after years of overwhelming domination of the +Big 3+ (Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic), explained Friday at the conference of presses the Olympic champion, who has not won any title in 2024 apart from his gold medal in Paris.
Winner of 24 major tournaments and holder of the longevity record 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).
At the start of the tournament, Djokovic will challenge the young American Nishesh Basavareddy (133rd), recent semi-finalist in Auckland.
“He is going to play his first match in the final draw of a Grand Slam, he does not have much to lose,” Djokovic was wary at a press conference.
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.
After a mixed year in 2024, marked by his pinnings in the middle of a match, the Russian wants to “become a spoilsport again” for the big names on the circuit, he warned to the press.
As for Alexander Zverev, still in search of a first Grand Slam title, he wants to “win the tournament”, he said bluntly on Friday.
-And Sinner? Imperial in 2024 (victories at the US Open, the ATP Finals, the Davis Cup with Italy), the champion with red curls remains under threat of suspension after the detection of tiny traces of a anabolic in his body in March.
– Three-way duel –
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 .
“The season starts too early,” Daniil Medvedev regretted Friday. Having recently become a father for the second time, the Russian preferred to spend time with family rather than competing.
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 (84th), winner of the US Open in 2017.
If crowned, she would become the first player since 1999 and Martina Hingis to win three Australian Opens in a row, a prospect about which she assures that she does not “think too much”.
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).
The latter, winner of the US Open in 2023, certified on Friday that she was “relaxed” before entering the competition. “I know I’ve been playing well recently,” continued the winner of the WTA Finals in November and the United Cup in January.
“But you can’t play well all the time, there will be difficult moments during this tournament. I hope I can overcome them,” she cautiously said.
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