Harsh lot: Medvedev can play with Nadal, and Rublev with Djokovic already in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open

On Monday, January 16, the first Grand Slam tournament of the year starts in Melbourne.

This time there were no loud scandals: everyone was admitted to it, including Novak Djokovic, who has not changed his attitude towards vaccination against COVID-19 for a year.

Now all participants are not subject to testing requirements.

However, it was not without losses on the eve of one of the main starts of the season.

The first racket of the world, Carlos Alcaraz, never recovered from his injury and did not fly to Australia.

But even in his absence, fans are waiting for an interesting two weeks.

Daniil Medvedev, although he dropped to eighth place in the ranking, allowing Andrei Rublev to become the country's first racket, remains one of the favorites of the tournament.

In the last two years, he has consistently reached other finals, in which he lost in turn, first to Djokovic, and then to Rafael Nadal.

This time, the lot sent the tennis player to one half of the grid with the Spaniard, and thus their meeting can take place already in the quarterfinals.

But getting there won't be easy. 

If in the first two rounds the Russian should have no problems - American Marcos Giron, Australian John Millman and Swiss Marc-Andrea Huesler are unlikely to be able to compete with him - then in the third round 22-year-old Sebastian Korda is already able to impose a fight.

The 1998 Australian Open winner's son hasn't made much progress since last May and hasn't won a final, but last week he fought Djokovic well in the decider and received rave reviews from him.

In particular, the Serb noted that the American has "the purest technique of impact."

The paths of Medvedev and Korda had crossed only once before - in 2021 at the Masters in Paris, and then the more experienced Daniil took over in three sets (4:6, 6:1, 6:3).

In the fourth round, Daniil can face one of the most uncomfortable opponents for himself - Hubert Hurkach.

Last year, the Pole beat the Russian twice, thanks to which he took the lead in personal meetings - 3: 2.

Following him, if successful, the ex-first racket of the world is very likely to face Nadal, Stefanos Tsitsipas or Felix Auger-Aliassime in turn.

Andrei Rublev, at first glance, was even less fortunate than Medvedev.

Already in the first round, he will go on court against Dominic Thiem, who until recently occupied the third line of the world ranking, but due to a wrist injury, he disappeared from the radar for a long time.

After the injury, he was never able to return to his former level, and he did not impress at the first competitions of the season.

However, the 29-year-old Austrian who won the 2020 US Open should not be discounted.

In the third round, Rublev, most likely, will be waiting for the uncomfortable Dan Evans, who creates a lot of problems for his opponents on hard.

And then one name is more beautiful than the other: Nick Kyrgios, if Roman Safiullin or Holger Rune does not stop him, the same Djokovic, Taylor Fritz, Matteo Berrettini, Alexander Zverev or Kasper Ruud.

At the same time, according to the President of the Russian Tennis Federation Shamil Tarpischev, an additional difficulty for Andrei will be the fact that in the new year he spent little time on the court and did not win a single match.

At tournaments in Adelaide, he stumbled in the first rounds, in both cases in three sets.

As for the main favorite, experts and bookmakers this time have more faith in Djokovic.

Especially mindful of the fact that in the event of a triumph, he will overtake Nadal in terms of the number of majors won.

A hip injury sustained in Australia during a friendly sparring with Medvedev could prevent the Serb from winning the title.

It is not yet completely clear how serious it is, but the rivals will probably take Novak's problems into account and try to take advantage of their chances.

As for Rafael, many are already sending him into retirement.

So, Alexander Zverev told reporters that the Spaniard would end his career at Roland Garros.

But the tennis player was already seen off in France last year, and instead he continues to perform and will surely surprise everyone in Australia.

Moreover, for him and Djokovic, the real fight in Melbourne, in theory, will begin only from the quarter-final stage.

Tsitsipas was also lucky with the net, but you should not relax - on the last three TBSH he never lived to see the second week.

In the women's part of the tournament, everything is much more complicated.

Of the previous winners of the tournament, only two tennis players continue to play - Victoria Azarenka and Sofia Kenin.

And already in the first round they will play with each other.

Last year's champion Ashleigh Barty retired, while Angelique Kerber and Naomi Osaka are in position.

The two first rackets of the country Daria Kasatkina and Veronika Kudermetova got into one part of the grid and can meet already in the fourth round.

Moreover, the path of the first to a face-to-face meeting looks more complicated.

Already in the second round, she will probably face the semi-finalist of Wimbledon Tatyana Maria, and in the third - the powerful Karolina Pliskova.

However, Daria got in good shape before the “major”, reaching the final in Adelaide.

It remains to be hoped that this will not affect her negatively, as happened more than once last year.

Alas, while the eighth number of the world ranking is not stable.

It is difficult to talk about Kudermetova's readiness for the Australian Open.

The athlete withdrew from the semi-finals of the tournament in Adelaide due to a hip injury.

As in the case of Djokovic, it is not yet clear whether she will have time to recover and, most importantly, not to lose her current form.

It is hardly worth waiting for sensations from Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

The tennis player missed a lot due to knee problems and after a long pause she needs to catch the playing tone.

Well, most experts are concerned about only one question: will Iga Sviontek be able to win the second title in a row and the fourth in his career.

Judging by the fact that the Pole recently lost to Jessica Pegula at the United Cup with a devastating score, surprises are possible.

In addition, on the way to the final, she may have to play with the uncompromising Bianca Andreescu and Elena Rybakina.

Looks good at the start of the season and Arina Sobolenko.

She has already won the title, as did Belinda Bencic.