Five Australian Open storylines to watch out for

The Grand Slam, which will take place in the first season, has already produced some intriguing plots for the star players.

The Australian Open begins on Sunday, culminating with the finals weekend on 25-26 January.

How do you continue to have your career’s best and most successful years? Sinner faces that challenge in 2025.

The 23-year-old is the men’s world number one after losing just six of his 79 matches in 2024, making his first major victory in Melbourne Park, which he won last year.

Sinner’s dominance also brought the US Open trophy, the season-ending ATP Finals and five other tour titles. He won the Davis Cup for Italy to cap off the year.

However, Sinner is facing a period of great uncertainty as he defends his Australian Open crown.

The World Anti-Doping Agency is contesting the decision, but the Italian was found not guilty of wrongdoing after twice failing a doping test in March 2024.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport will hear the case between 16 and 17 April and request a ban lasting between one and two years.

Novak Djokovic’s ability to do the unexpected never ceases to amaze.

Should we have been surprised when the 37-year-old revealed Andy Murray as his new coach for the 2019-20 season?

The tennis world was stunned when the closely-guarded secret was revealed in November.

For both men, anything less than Djokovic claiming a record-extending 11th title would be disappointing.

Regaining control of the trophy would result in a 25th major for the Serb, leaving him as the only player to win all-time Grand Slam singles titles.

Djokovic is seeded seventh, but it is impossible to exclude him from becoming the oldest Grand Slam men’s champion in the Open era.

Emma Raducanu has required a lot of patience since her “fairytale of New York.”

Both her intense scrutiny and the physicality of joining the WTA Tour full-time made it difficult to adjust to the intense scrutiny that followed her stunning 2021 US Open victory.

She recovered from wrist and ankle surgeries in 2023, and there were indications of progress last year.

With a back injury, Raducanu pulled out of the WTA event in Auckland after signing up as a full-time fitness instructor, which has already been a known blow for her.

The 22-year-old has been training in Melbourne but has not competed since the Billie Jean King Cup in November. He will enter the major.

Raducanu has received criticism for her unconventional career, including changing coaches, cutting and changing coaches, and concluding lucrative sponsorship deals.

Consistency at all four majors has been a hallmark of Sabalenka’s career, but it is the hard courts where she is particularly dangerous.

The 26-year Belarusian has claimed back-to-back Australian Open titles and, having won the US Open in September, finished as the year-end world number one for the first time.

She will now have the chance to win a third straight women’s singles title in Melbourne, making it only the seventh player this century and the first since Martina Hingis (1997-99).

The fast courts in Australia suit Sabalenka’s powerful, aggressive game.

Nick Kyrgios is back, a force that frequently polarizes but is also challenging to ignore.

The charismatic Australian has struggled to play since moving to Australia, most recently with a crippling wrist injury that made him worried he would never play at the highest level.

The 2022 Wimbledon runner-up made his comeback in Brisbane alongside his one-time nemesis Djokovic in the doubles, before pushing France’s Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard – a souped-up version of the Kyrgios serving machine – in his first singles match in 18 months.

However, Kyrgios was unsure whether he could physically withstand the demands of a five-set Grand Slam match after being informed that his wrist was “throbbing.”