Following a six-month absence from the sport to rehabilitate an elbow injury, the former World No.1 in the ATP Rankings and 12-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic makes his return to competitive action at the Australian Open armed with a fresh mindset – and a new serve. Djokovic, whose loaded resume includes six Australian Open titles won on the hard courts of Melbourne Park, has always served notice at the start of the season. This year, he’ll be serving a little differently thanks to hard work done in the pre-season with coaching additions Andre Agassi and the recently retired Radek Stepanek. “The service motion is something that we worked on,” said Djokovic. “It was obviously the part of my game...
Few are expecting much of him, and even fewer are predicting that he'll win yet another Australian Open title. A quarter-final appearance? He'll probably take it. Sound familiar? Roger Federer was that guy last year at the Australian Open. Federer came back after having missed six months away, with his final match in 2017 coming at Wimbledon. “It's a great draw because I'm in the draw. So for me I'm super pleased that I made it here, that I have an opportunity to win matches. How many rests to be seen. I'm cautious myself. So, yeah, clearly an underdog this time around,” Federer said before his first match at the 2017 Australian Open. Djokovic's past six months have followed a...
Former World No. 17 Bernard Tomic battled his way into the final round of Australian Open qualifying in a rain delayed second round with #NextGenATP American Tommy Paul in a tight 6-0, 6-7(5), 7-6(4) encounter, which was finished indoors due to inclement weather at Melbourne Park on Saturday. Although he raced off to an emphatic 6-0, 5-2 lead, Tomic, who finds himself outside of the Top 100 in the Emirates ATP Rankings for the first time since 2014, surrendered the second set following an inspired fightback from the 20-year-old. The third set remained tightly contested, with the pair exchanging breaks before the Australian claimed victory under the roof on Margaret Court Arena. Tomic will be looking to make his 10th straight...
It's the Grand Slam Rafael Nadal has won the least – one title at the Australian Open – but that may very well change during the Aussie fortnight. Here are five reasons why the Spaniard will hoist his second Norman Brookes Challenge Cup trophy on 28 January. 1. He's The No. 1 Player In The ATP Rankings Say what you want about Nadal's knees or how he finished the 2017 season, having to withdraw from the Rolex Paris Masters and the Nitto ATP Finals. But Nadal still finished the season better than any other male player on the planet. And he made history doing so. At the age of 31, the Spaniard became the oldest player to finish year-end No....