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[Tennis] 2016 Australian Open: Preview & Predictions


Here we go! The first major of the year - the Australian Open kicks off on Monday in Melbourne. Let’s take a look at both the men and women singles events of the tournament.

Men’s Singles
It is not a surprise who is heavily favored to win the men's singles title. It would be crazy for any tennis analysts out there to go against Novak Djokovic to win his 11th grand slam title in Melbourne. As Andy Murray quite rightly pointed out, only an off-day from Djokovic will derail his bid for a 6th Australian Open title. Djokovic finished the 2015 calendar year strongly by winning the ATP World Tour Finals in London and started the year by winning in Doha. So, naturally it is hard to go against a guy who made all four grand slam finals last year.

But let’s not get carried away. Djokovic will start as the heavy favorite to win the title, but there are definitely lots of other players to look out for. Andy Murray, who has been a finalist four times in this tournament, has a favorable draw compared to the other top players. The good news for him is that Federer is on the other side of the draw and he will have either David Ferrer or John Isner in the quarter-final. Awaiting him in the semi-final could be either Nadal or Wawrinka. This is a great chance for Murray to finally win his first Australian title after four missed chances.

17-time grand slam champion - Roger Federer might have the toughest draw of all top players. Federer will likely to have “Baby Fed” - Grigor Dimitrov as his third round opponent and Dominic Thiem, the youngest player in the top 30 in the fourth round. But the best first-round match will definitely be the re-match of the 2009 Australian Open semi-final between Rafael Nadal and Fernando Verdasco. A match then went on for more than five hours in five gruelling sets with Nadal being the victor on that occasion.

The hopes of the home fans seeing an Australian making a deep run may rely on the shoulders of Nick Kyrgios. He will face Tomas Berdych in the third round, a player he has never played before, and a possible matchup with Marin Cilic in the fourth round. Bernard Tomic, another seeded Australian player, could make a deep run if he can get past Andy Murray in the fourth round.

Men’s Singles Winner: Novak Djokovic


Women’s Singles
The women singles will be a tough one to predict. Four of the five top ranked players - Serena Williams, Simona Halep, Garbine Muguruza and Maria Sharapova were forced to pull out of their respective warmup tournaments due to injuries. There are no clear indication on how serious these injuries are.

Victoria Azarenka will be the one to watch out this time. The two-time winner of this tournament has been playing well lately. She started her season by winning the Brisbane International by beating Angelique Kerber in the final. This year, she was handed a kind draw. Azarenka is being placed in the bottom half of the draw, avoiding the possibility of facing the best player of 2015 - Serena Williams till the final. (3-17 head to head record)

Last year’s winner - Serena Williams has not played a competitive singles match since the semi-final lost to Roberto Vinci in September. Injuries to her knee and elbow have forced her to withdraw from all the remaining tournaments after the US Open. Being the most consistent player over the past few years, coming into a major without any mach practices could make her task to defend her title harder.

Over the past few years, the tennis world see a few female players making a deep run in the Australian Open. Last year it was America’s Madison Keys. The year before it was Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard. Sloane Stephens did it in 2013. All three players making their first ever semi-final grand slam appearance. Belinda Bencic of Switzerland, the youngest seeded player might have a good chance of making a deep run if she can get past both Sharapova and Williams.

Women Singles Winner: Victoria Azarenka


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