Australian Open 2024: A Preview
The 2024 Australian Open will be played from January 14 to 28. The first Grand Slam of this season promises to be very interesting, because big names such as Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz will face each other. Among the ladies, we are especially looking forward to Aryna Sabalenka, Elena Rybakina and Coco Gauff. Some Belgians also have a chance at the tournament.
Australian Open 2024
The 2024 edition is already the 112th edition of this prestigious tournament, and the first of this season. The tournament consists of events for professional players in singles, doubles and mixed doubles. Juniors and players in wheelchairs also play singles and doubles. In the entire history of the tournament, this is the first edition to start on a Sunday.
A number of adjustments have also been made compared to last year. For example, the first round matches will be played over a period of three days, instead of two. An extra match day has also been added, increasing the number of matches from 47 to 52. Finally, the sessions on the central grounds, Rod Laver Arena and Margaret Court Arena, will hold a minimum of two matches instead of three. The organizers want to prevent matches from being played very late, such as the match between Andy Murray and Thanasi Kokkinakis in 2023. They then played until 4:05 am.
Favorites
With 3 Grand Slam titles and a record 7th win at the Masters, Novak Djokovic has confirmed his place as the top favorite. He is the defending champion and number one in the world, so he is certainly a contender in Melbourne. Australia has long been favorable to him, apart from the corona problem. He has not lost a single time since January 15, 2019. But that streak ended on Wednesday, January 3, when he bowed out to Alex de Minaur at the United Cup. That defeat was mainly due to an injury to his right wrist, which could also throw a spanner in the works in the Australian Open.
A strong challenger is Carlos Alcaraz. The young Spaniard is in second place in the ATP rankings and wants to dethrone the experienced Djokovic. In an exhibition match in Riyadh on Thursday, December 28, he was able to win against the number 1.
Aryna Sabalenka is the title holder for the women. The Belarusian then played against Elena Rybakina, the number 4 in the world, in an exciting match. On Sunday, January 7, the two faced each other again, but now Rybakina was a size too big for Sabalenka. It is already her sixth WTA title for the Kazakh.
American Coco Gauff opened her year with a win at the Auckland hard court tournament in New Zealand. She also hopes to do better at the Australian Open this year than last year, when she was sent home in the fourth round. The number 3 in the WTA ranking was disappointed, but made things better in 2023 by winning her first Major at the US Open. She also ranks first in the rankings for doubles.
Belgian players
David Goffin has successfully reached the main draw of the Australian Open 2024 after qualifying rounds. His first challenge comes in the form of a match against French player Ugo Humbert.
For the women, Elise Mertens can immediately move on to the main table. She is ranked 29th in the WTA rankings and is number 2 in the world in doubles. After a year of playing tennis with Storm Hunters, she will play the Australian Open this year alongside Su-Wei Hsieh. She is the number 6 in doubles. The two won the doubles in Wimbledon 2 years ago.
Rafael Nadal
They were initially expected to meet Rafael Nadal, but he has to postpone his comeback for a while. The 37-year-old Nadal has not played since his elimination in the 2nd round of the Australian Open last year, because he subsequently underwent hip surgery. He also indicated that 2024 will probably be his last year. Nadal had to withdraw from the Australian Open on January 7 after experiencing too much hip pain in a preparatory tournament in Brisbane.
Bet on the Australian Open 2024
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