Tennis: Confident Djokovic remains the man to beat

World number one hungry for more success as Australian Open kicks off today.

MELBOURNE: Defending champion Novak Djokovic will be bidding for his third consecutive grand slam trophy as the Australian Open gets underway today, with the world number one going into the year’s opening major as the man to beat against chief rivals Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Andy Murray.

Djokovic kicked off his sensational 2011 with victory over Murray in the Australian Open final and then added the Wimbledon and US Open crowns. The Serb believed he was capable of repeating his heroics from last year, which saw him rack up 41 consecutive wins.

“I’m always trying to be optimistic and say, ‘ok, I’ve done it once, why not do it twice’,” he said. “I’m at the peak of my career and feel that physically, mentally, game-wise, I’m right up there. I can perform equally well on any surface, as I have proven in 2011.”

I’ll be fighting every moment: Nadal

Meanwhile, Nadal said he was over the shoulder injury that dogged him late last year and was determined to challenge Djokovic for the top ranking.

“Djokovic is the best because he had a fantastic last year,” said Nadal. “He’s number one and deserves to be there. I’ll be fighting every moment to try to compete against everybody with positive chances of victory. I’m healthy and ready to work hard.”

World number three Federer, on the other hand, is bidding to become only the second man to win five or more Australian Opens. The Swiss great finished last year strongly, winning three tournaments and is confident of carrying on the momentum.

“It’s only helpful that I finished strongly,” he said. “I’ve had many great finishes and often I took this momentum into the following year.
I hope it’s going to be the same again.”

Women’s winner too tough to call

If one thought that betting against one of the ‘big four’ lifting the men’s crown would be foolhardy, one would need a crystal ball to predict the outcome of the women’s draw.

Last year there were four different champions in each of the grand slams, with Kim Clijsters winning the Australian Open, while China’s Li Na won the French Open. Second-seed Petra Kvitova won at Wimbledon and Australia’s Samantha Stosur took the US Open title.

The name missing from this list is top-seed Caroline Wozniacki, yet to win her first grand slam. Wozniacki will be anxious to seal her maiden grand slam and silence criticism over her lack of success at the majors.

Meanwhile, five-time Australian Open winner Serena Williams is unperturbed by the lack of a dominant force in the women’s game.

“Four different grand slam winners just goes to show how much depth there is in women’s tennis,” she said. “Anyone at any point can win because everyone is playing so hard.”

Published in The Express Tribune, January 16^th, 2012.