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Novak 10/111.91 chasing Grand Slam title No 25
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World No 1 has reached final in 10 of last 11 Slams
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Sinner 13/27.50 ready to challenge for maiden Slam success
New Year, new season, familiar favourite!
With the first Grand Slam of 2024 just a few days away, the favourite for the men's singles title will once again be Novak Djokovic 10/111.91.
Not only is he the world No 1, the Serbian heads to Melbourne chasing an 11th Australian Open win of his career.
Another title later this month would make it five Aussie successes in a row for Djokovic, who was unable to participate two years ago because of his stance regarding the Covid vaccination.
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In 2023, he reached all four Grand Slam finals, winning three and losing a thrilling five-setter at Wimbledon.
He turns 37 in May but his dominance of the men's game remains intact having reached the final in 10 of the last 11 Grand Slams in which he competed.
Of the 24 Slams he has won, 14 were achieved on hard court, which is a daunting statistic for all the other 127 men's singles entrants.
Djokovic last failed to reach the second week of a Slam seven years ago, and there are very few players who can travel to Melbourne Park believing they have a genuine chance to dethrone the current King of Tennis.
Who are Djokovic's challengers Down Under?
The three standouts are Carlos Alcaraz 16/54.20, Daniil Medvedev 10/111.00 and Jannik Sinner 13/27.50.
Alcaraz was the player who denied Djokovic a clean sweep of Slam titles in 2023.
The 20-year-old Spaniard battled back from the loss of the opening set to win the Wimbledon final in five, since when he has lost twice to Djokovic.
Alcaraz's other Slam success came on the hard courts of New York in September 2022 and he missed last year's Australian Open through injury.
As for Medvedev, all of his five Slam finals to date have been on hard court - including two losses in Melbourne.
He's lost twice to Nadal in finals and twice to Djokovic. However, he did beat the Serb in straight sets when winning the US Open in 2021.
Arriving quickly on the outside is Sinner, the 22-year-old Italian who ended 2023 as the world No 4.
Although Sinner is yet to reach a Grand Slam final he should be full of confidence following a strong run during autumn.
He beat Medvedev in the finals of Beijing and Vienna, lost in the final of the ATP Tour Championship in Turin, and led Italy to Davis Cup glory in Spain.
In Turin he beat Djokovic during the round-robin fixtures only to lose to the same player in the final. And, in Beijing, he accounted for Alcaraz at the semi-final stage.
But will any of these three aforementioned names be a match for Djokovic these next two weeks?
Last 10 Australian Open Performances (2014-23)
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