Every January for Tennis it means only one thing which is
the Australian Open! (Sorry Chennai folks). The first slam of the year has over
the years have seen some real surprise winners and have also seen some comeback
victory from out-of-action stars. It is still early in the season and the
Australian Open has always been one of the most unpredictable grand slams of
all time.
Though the men’s tennis a few years back was a battle
between 2 future legends in Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal but recently Novak
Djokovic has emerged as a potent force while Andy Murray would want to break
his grand slam duck and win his 1st major here at Melbourne. Apart
from these 4 there is Juan Martin Del Potro who is back from a serious injury
and he could be challenging the top 4 towards the end of the year but
Australian Open is still too early for him to pose a threat for the title.
Among the others, the likes of Tomas Berdych, Jo-Wilfried
Tsonga, Mardy Fish & Andy Roddick will all be there during the 2nd
week but apart from providing an odd scare none of them can really break the
top 4. Among the 4 surprisingly Roger Federer looks the strongest and don’t be
too surprised if he wins his 17th slam here as even an out of form
Federer can reach semi-finals of a slam easily.
The women’s field ever since the demise of the Williams sisters
and the retirement of Hingis has not seen one individual dominate the sport for
a long period as it has happened in the men’s tour but the likes of Maria
Sharapova, Kim Clijsters & Justin Henin has showed in the past they can
have small dominating streaks in them. Last year Clijsters managed to pull off
a remarkable win but this time around things should be tough for her.
Petra Kvitova had a remarkable run last year even beating
Sharapova to win Wimbledon last year and she is surely one of the favorites for
the title along with Sharapova as the former World # 1 still has it in her to
win a few more slams and after overcoming a career threatening injury last year
Sharapova showed shaded of her form and this year could be her year if she
stays injury free and maintains consistency.
Caroline Wozniacki maybe the #1 player in the world but she
needs some serious luck if she needs to win a slam as despite success on the
tour, she seems to chock towards the end of a slam while Victoria Azarenka could be a very serious
potential for the title if she reaches the 2nd week. Na Li after her
success last year has not really showed great form while Samantha Stosur, the
home favorite after her US open win will be among the contenders here.
Ofcourse you can’t
discount the likes of Serena Williams, Jelena Jankovic, Francesca Schiavone, Svetlana
Kuznetsova & Daniela Hantuchova who can provide the odd upsets and could
all be very dangerous in the 2nd week of the Australian Open. Ana
Ivanovic, the former top ranked player apart from bringing in the glamour quotient
will also be looking for a revival as the last 2 years has not been good for
her and she will be hoping to resume her on field rivalry with Sharapova.
While predicting the
men’s section seems easy and simple, as usual the women’s draw could throw up
anything and it is bold of me to predict a Sharapova win here but then tennis
has seen stranger things and an all new Sharapova era may begin soon.
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