Australian Open: Will Alexander Zverev win the Unhappy Slam?

Is Zverev ready for his first Grand Slam title?

The sight of his trophy collection becomes more impressive every year.

There's now a gold medal, two titles at the ATP Finals, five at Masters 1000 tournaments and 13 more, and with that, Alexander Zverev has won in a big way in six years.

What is still missing, of course, is a title in a Grand Slam tournament, and if all the signs are not deceptive, then the conditions have never been more favorable than this time in Melbourne.

The momentum, optimism and radiance of the gold medal could show him the way.

He's matured, calmed down under pressure, and he knows there's nobody he can't beat.

When he was asked after the triumph at the ATP Finals in Turin at the end of the 2021 season if he was closer to his first title in one of the big four tournaments than ever before, he said: "Yes, I think so.

Why not?” Nothing can have changed in this assessment.

How much does Causa Djokovic influence the tournament?

It wasn't that long ago that the Australian Open was known by the nickname

. Roger Federer used to name the tournament that way; he found that after everyone hadn't seen each other for a while during the winter break and because of the summer in Australia, the mood at no other Grand Slam tournament was so relaxed. But in the third year in a row there was no sign of relaxed anticipation, quite the opposite. In 2019 the big game began under the clouds of brutal bushfires, last year there was a mess with different quarantine regulations for the actors and a resulting massive imbalance.

And this time the Causa Djokovic pushed like a thick, tough asphalt over every form of anticipation.

For more than a week, nothing was at stake other than the question of whether the defending champion and nine-time winner should be allowed to play or have to leave the country, and even before the federal court's final decision that he had to leave the country, there were quite a few among the colleagues of the Serbs who did not hold back their criticism.

Nobody seemed to be happy.

How can the tournament be held in view of the increasing number of infections?

Check in, check in, check in - there isn't a storefront, tram or supermarket in Melbourne that doesn't require visitors to register electronically via an app. At the Australian Open, too, the code hangs on almost every tree; the omicron variant is spreading rapidly. Last week it hit a new high for the state of Victoria at 37,169 cases, although the true numbers are believed to be significantly higher due to insufficient antigen testing.

It remains to be seen whether the recently announced restrictions at the Australian Open will be sufficient in response.

After that, all tickets purchased so far remain valid, but only 50 percent of the contingent for the Rod Laver Arena and the adjacent Margaret Court Arena are available for further sales.

Tourism and Sport Minister Jaala Pulford said the adjustment ensures fans, players and all staff can look forward to a great sporting event in a Covid-safe environment.

No one can get in without proof of vaccination and a mask, at least not for the spectators.

What can be expected from the German players?

Of course she had imagined things quite differently. In the midst of her preparations for the Australian Open, Angelique Kerber tested positive in Poland and she was extremely happy when, after two weeks of quarantine, she received the green light from doctors to fly to Melbourne. She says she felt quite good again relatively quickly, but one certainly cannot speak of a reasonable preparation for the first Grand Slam tournament of the year.

How do you rate your prospects?

"The goal is actually always the second week, but this time I'm looking from round to round like never before." First you will look at Kaia Kanepi (Estonia), number 71 in the world rankings, an unpredictable opponent.

The other two German players will have an even harder time, Andrea Petković against last year's Czech French Open winner, Barbora Krejčiková (number 4), and Tatjana Maria against Maria Sakkari from Greece (5).

It's a small group, as small as it occasionally was in 2021.