Djokovic’s defense, Nadal’s pursuit of Federer and Medvedev’s chance: the intrigues of the Australian Open men's tournament

The first racket for two people

For the first time in a long time, the title of the first racket of the world for men will be played at the Grand Slam tournament. At the Australian Open, both finalists of last year's tournament, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, will compete for the top line of the ATP rating. Last season, thanks to his numerous victories, the Serb was constantly out of reach, but now he takes only the second place.

The Spaniards have high chances to maintain leadership. He currently has more points, and must defend much less than his opponent. It’s enough for Nadal to reach the semifinals to remain the first racket of the world after leaving Melbourne. If he flies earlier, Djokovic can only improve his own record for victories at the Australian Open to eight. The Serb has no other way to top the ATP rating.

Djokovic will also have to think about keeping the second line, because two tennis players theoretically claim it at once. Last year Roger Federer and Daniil Medvedev reached the fourth round and will not defend as many points as the current champion. But still, such an option is unlikely - the Swiss at least have to reach the semifinals, and the Russians win the title in order to oust Djokovic, who himself still has to fly out after the first lap.

Nadal's dreams of a record

The current Australian Open allows Nadal to repeat Federer’s record for the number of titles in the Grand Slam tournaments. The victory at the last US Open brought the Spaniard the 19th trophy for his career, and the Swiss has only one more - he settled on the number “20” in January 2018.

However, Nadal’s chances of winning in Australia are traditionally considered the lowest compared to other majors. Throughout his career, he only won once in Melbourne 11 years ago. Since then, he reached the finals four times and always lost. The last defeat was especially difficult for Nadal - he won only eight games, showing the worst result in 16 years for the finals of the Australian Open.

Federer himself will try to catch up with Djokovic by the number of titles in Australia. Last year, the Serb broke away from the Swiss tennis player, becoming the sole champion of the tournament. Now Federer has a chance to return to the first line, at the same time overtaking the speaker before the Open Era Roy Emerson. If this does not work out for him, then the consolation for the Swiss will be another record - by the number of participation in the Australian Open. For Federer, the current tournament will be the 21st.

Djokovic needs another title in Australia in order to enter the exclusive club of players who won eight trophies at one of the Grand Slam tournaments. Now it includes only Nadal with 12 wins at Roland Garros and Federer with eight titles at Wimbledon.

Favorite - Djokovic

It is the second racket of the world that can be assigned the title of the main favorite of the Australian Open. Usually at the start of the season it’s quite difficult to judge the shape of the athletes, but Djokovic managed to prove himself at the ATP Cup tournament, where he could be considered the most valuable player if such a title were played.

Djokovic won all six singles in nine days, with Nadal, Medvedev, the tenth racket of the world Gael Monfils, and the 15th Denis Shapovalov in the list of the best tennis players. In addition, the Serb, together with Viktor Troitsky, won two doubles matches and thereby brought his team victory in the new tournament. So great no one spent the first week of the new season.

Djokovic himself, after success at the ATP Cup, did not recognize himself as the favorite of the Australian Open, insisting that many other players could win the first major of the season, among whom he named Nadal, Federer, Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Dominic Tim. And this could be similar to the truth if the Australian Open was not held on hard, but on a different cover. Then the main rivals of Djokovic would really have a high chance of winning when meeting with him.

Chances of Russians

For the first time since Wimbledon 2003 in the first twenty seeded players at the Grand Slam tournament there will be three Russians at once. Following the results of the ATP Cup, Daniil Medvedev climbed to fourth in the ranking, beating Dominic Tim. Karen Khachanov secured himself the 16th seeding number. Andrei Rublev the week before the Australian Open climbed to 18th in the world ranking and due to the failure of Kei Nishikori got the sowing at 17th number.

The highest chances to advance on the tournament grid further than compatriots are Medvedev. The status of the fourth racket of the world and the good performance at the ATP Cup, when he beat three opponents from the top twenty of the rating, are obliging to this. In addition, Medvedev won one set against Djokovic, which apart from him, only Shapovalov succeeded. Immediately before the Australian Open, the Russian did not participate in any tournaments, which usually helps him in preparation.

Compared to Khachanov and Rublev, the latter now looks preferable. Rublev shockly spent the first two weeks of the season, winning titles in Doha and Adelaide. His winning streak has eight matches, and thanks to her, he beat the compatriot in the ATP ranking at the last moment. Khachanov didn’t start the season so smoothly - at the ATP Cup he lost to Dusan Lajovic and flew early from the tournament in Auckland, losing to John Millman.

In addition to nationality, Russians at the Australian Open will have something else to unite - all of them, according to the results of the draw, fell into one half of the net with Nadal. For Medvedev, this is the best option to hope for the finals. He will start the tournament with a match with last year's quarter-finalist Francis Tiafo, after which he should not have problems until the fourth round until he meets with the 15th seeded Stan Wavrinka.

Rublev will have time to roll into the tournament after the final in Adelaide. Until the third round, he will have no rivals from the top 50 of the world ranking, after which David Goffen can play with the Russian, and most importantly, so far the disappointment of the season Alexander Zverev. In the event of victories over them, a quarterfinal with the participation of Rublev and Medvedev is quite possible.

Khachanov was not so lucky with the draw - he was the closest to Nadal and could face him in the fourth round. But up to the third, he will not be bothered by rivals from the first fifty ratings. And then the unpredictable Nick Kirios can meet with the Russian, who managed to beat Stefanos Tsitsipas on home courts this season.

Doping scandals

Tennis tournaments are rarely clouded by doping scandals, and it is very rare that two players are immediately suspected of breaking the rules before the start. But before the current Australian Open, this happened. Colombian Robert Farah and Chilean Nicholas Harry were supposed to perform in Melbourne, but instead will try to prove their innocence.

The affairs of the first racket of the world among couples and the 78th among singles are quite similar. Both passed one positive doping test for steroids, but at the same time they passed the rest of the tests without any complaints. Both Farah and Harry hastened to declare that the prohibited substances entered their bodies by accident. The Colombian complained about the meat, which in his homeland often contains anabolic steroids, and the Chilean complained about low-quality vitamins from Brazil, where several athletes also found themselves in a similar situation. Although both athletes have a high chance of justification, they are forced to miss the Australian Open.