Melbourne (AFP)

In addition to Novak Djokovic, favorite to win a ninth title in Melbourne, and Rafael Nadal, still a logical contender but affected in the back, several players legitimately covet the Australian Open which begins on Monday.

Here are five:

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Daniil Medvedev (RUS / 4th worldwide, 24 years old)

An unexpected finalist of the US Open 2019, Medvedev has since moved to the top of the ATP ranking and ended 2020 by winning the last two major tournaments of the season, the Masters 1000 in Paris and the Masters in London.

Pandemic, quarantine, health bubble, forced break, nothing seems to have sapped his appetite: Medvedev has lined up four victories in four matches in the ATP Cup against Diego Schwartzman (9th), Kei Nishikori (41st), Alexander Zverev (7th) and Matteo Berretini (10th).

All while giving up only one set, in the semi-finals.

"This momentum can help me," he said Sunday after Russia's victory in the final against Italy. It helped me last year, where I won two tournaments in a row. J 'hope to play the Australian Open at the same level as these last matches, so I will have a chance to win some games ... "

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Andrey Rublev (RUS / 8th, 23 years old)

"He is monstrous. He strikes super hard, he has a good vision of the game, he puts intensity, he is difficult to overflow", describes, in L'Equipe, the former French player Paul-Henri Mathieu.

If he does not yet have the record of his compatriot Medvedev, Rublev imposes his presence in the Top 10 as he imposes his game. He also finished 2020 on the hats of the wheel with two consecutive titles in Saint Petersburg and Vienna which allowed him to play his first Masters at the end of the year.

Eliminated in the group stage, he nevertheless ended with a victory against Dominic Thiem (3rd).

He started 2021 on his momentum with four victories in four ATP Cup matches against Guido Pella (44th), Yoshihito Nishioka (57th), Jan-Lennard Struff (37th) and Fabio Fognini (17th), losing only one single set, in the semi-finals against Germany.

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Dominic Thiem (AUT / 3rd, 27 years old)

The Austrian, beaten in the final last year by Djokovic, entered a few months later in the circle - very small among active players outside the Big 3 (Djokovic-Nadal-Federer) - of Grand Slam winners, by offering the US Open in September.

From there, to do it again on Djokovic's favorite court, which he should find in the semi-finals?

“Last year in Melbourne I might have played the best tournament of my career, with six incredible matches especially the quarter against Rafa and the half against Sasha (Zverev). The final against Novak was also a good one. match ... but I did not win so it was painful, "he recalled on Saturday, explaining that he brooded over this defeat in five sets for many months.

"But the title at the US Open has erased everything," he warned.

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Naomi Osaka (JPN / 3rd, 23 years old)

Victorious of her third Major, in September at the US Open where she also expressed her support for the Black Lives Matter movement, the Japanese-Haitian mestizo has returned to the top of her art.

She rediscovered the tennis which allowed her to win her first Major in New York in 2018 and to follow up with the Australian Open 2019 to become in the wake of the world No. 1.

Falling back to 10th place in the world at the start of 2020, it rose to 3rd place in September after its victory at Flushing Meadows.

"I want to play every game with as much intensity as possible. If it allows me to become N.1 again, I would be delighted. But I don't make it a goal anymore," she said on Saturday, just after having withdrawn from a pain in a shoulder before his semi-final of the Gippsland Trophy.

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Sofia Kenin (USA / 4th, 22)

Unexpected winner last year, the American confirmed her presence in the women's elite during the season, notably reaching the 8th at the US Open, then the final at Roland Garros.

"Obviously I would love to defend my title. Psychologically I will need to control my emotions and know that whoever the opponent is she will play without pressure. My opponents will probably play better against me, so I will have to control my nerves and stick to my game plan, "she analyzed, well aware of her new status.

© 2021 AFP