Australian Open 2014: Interesting storylines ahead of this year's edition

Nadal & Djokovic: Favourites again for the Australian Open.

With just over a week to go for the Australian Open to start, tennis fans across the world are fastening their seatbelts for what promises to be yet another intriguing and exhilarating year of tennis action. The warm-up tournaments across Qatar, Chennai and Brisbane are coming to a close and players would now be completely focusing their energies on the first Grand Slam of the year AKA ‘The Happy Slam’. Here are some interesting storylines to look at as we approach the tournament:

Djokovic and the chance to create more history

Novak Djokovic created history last year by becoming the first man to win three consecutive Australian Open titles in the modern era and will be looking to create more history at the event by becoming the first five-time champion of the tournament. Djokovic has grown from strength to strength at the event and it is widely believed that he is beginning to make the tournament his own, much in the same way as Nadal has done at Roland Garros and Federer did at Wimbledon. Be it Nadal in the 2012 final, or Wawrinka in the fourth round last year, the Serb always manages to find that extra gear and will to win from adverse situations and will seek to find more of the same in his quest this time around. Djokovic had a mediocre 2013 by his lofty standards, losing his No.1 ranking in the process, but roared back into form towards the end of the year, winning four consecutive titles and showing the world that he is far from done. He is primed and ready to go and it would take a brave man to bet against him winning yet again at Melbourne Park.

Nadal, a man on a mission

Rafa Nadal staged arguably one of the greatest comebacks the sport has ever seen last year, silencing his critics yet again, producing a near-perfect season, capturing two Grand Slam titles and the No.1 ranking in the process. The Spaniard has been victorious in Australia only once, and will be looking to add to his collection here, which would also make him the first man in the Open Era to win every Grand Slam atleast twice. Nadal’s knees were predicted to give him trouble on the hard courts last year, however, he proved everyone and perhaps even himself wrong by winning a dream treble at Montreal, Cincinnati and the US Open, firmly cementing his hard court credentials.

Nadal also finds himself just four Grand Slam wins behind Roger Federer’s record of 17 titles and that will undoubtedly be another motivation for him. With Federer unlikely to win another Slam at this stage of his career, Nadal knows he has a legitimate shot at the record, but for that to happen, he would have to start winning more Slams outside Roland Garros, and what better way to do that than to win the Australian Open, a tournament at which he has reached the final twice, and as mentioned before, won in 2009.

Murray’s return from injury(and dreamland)

Andy Murray achieved his, and his country’s biggest dream last July when he finally won the Wimbledon crown, finally getting the monkey off his back as the nation celebrated their first champion at the tournament since Fred Perry in 1936. A combination of possible fatigue, relief and injury though left Murray struggling for the rest of the year as he failed to find his form, crashing out in the quarterfinals of the US Open against Stanislas Wawrinka and missing the rest of the year. Murray is now back and ready to go, but will find it hard against the top players so soon after his return, as we saw in his early exit in Doha this week. He is, however, a three-time runner-up at the Australian Open and is possibly the tournament which he plays best, therefore discount him at your own peril, even though the man himself may say it is ‘unrealistic’ to expect him to win the tournament. He is not the kind to make big and bold statements and if he gets a good draw, expect him to definitely be there or thereabouts as the tournament gets down to its business end.

Can Federer mount a serious challenge?

Roger Federer enters 2014, knowing that this could possibly be his last year on tour, especially if he has another year like he did in 2013. The Swiss legend had his worst year on tour in a decade, as he won just one title throughout the year, and failed to make the quarterfinals at two of the four Grand Slams, including a shock second-round exit at his beloved Wimbledon. Federer, it seems, recognized that change was necessary and parted with coach Paul Annacone, hiring former Swedish great Stefan Edberg in his place. The Australian Open was one of his best tournaments last year, losing a five set thriller to Murray in the semifinals and being a four-time champion here, knows what it takes to win, as he does on most courts in the world. The main priority for him though, will be to get some much-needed confidence back and as he progresses further into the tournament, expect the likes of Djokovic and Nadal to get more and more uneasy with his presence.

Will the rest finally step up?

Wawrinka. Del Potro. Raonic. Dimitrov. Or maybe even Hewitt? Tennis desperately needs someone to step up to the mantle and win a title after years of dominance by a select few players. Stan Wawrinka had a career best year last year, while Del Potro and Raonic impressed in phases. Dimitrov and Gulbis are temperamental, and still lack what is needed to get to the latter stages of major tournaments. Local stars Lleyton Hewitt and Bernard Tomic will begin yet another tournament with the hopes of a nation pinned on their shoulders. But can any of these players finally break through and cause an upset? The best bet among these would be Wawrinka, who played so very well at the hardcourt slams last year, falling to Djokovic in two five-set epics. If the draw is kind to him, and he manages to avoid Djokovic, with the latter getting knocked out early, we could have a Swiss winner at the tournament, and not the one we’ve been accustomed to all these years.