She added a second major at the U.S. Open and ascended to the No 1 ranking.
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The first Grand Slam of the year starts off on Monday in Melbourne, with Novak Djokovic and Angelique Kerber returning as defending champions. The point is to win as many Grand Slams as possible. Yanina Wickmayer is the other player near Serena in the women’s draw, a player that has twice made the fourth round at the Australian Open and once made the US Open semifinals.
With top-10 player Madison Keys out with a wrist injury, the Williams sisters are the only seeded American women.
And then there’s Germany’s Kerber, who is scheduled to meet her in the final as the newly-engaged Williams looks to better Steffi Graf’s 22 Grand Slam singles titles by winning her seventh Australian crown.
She has not started thinking about dresses or invitations or flowers yet, she said.
But never before has Murray been the top seed at a Grand Slam, rising to the top of the rankings with an exceptional run of form towards the end of 2016.
Former Wimbledon finalist Eugenie Bouchard, who rediscovered some form at the Sydney International in reaching the semi-finals, is another potentially in Kerber’s way. Djokovic must face Fernando Verdasco, who beat Rafael Nadal in the first round a year ago, while Murray faces world number 93 Ilya Marchenko on Monday. And if we ignore Sam Stosur altogether, maybe she’ll actually play well at home. She faced a match point in the first round against Misaki Doi, and the whole of her 2016 season could have continued to follow a less-than-satisfying trajectory.
Then come the follow-up questions: If Federer and Nadal get through their first few tests, where will they be – mentally and physically – when facing top-three seeds in the quarters?
Readers of my preview of the season as a whole will know I’m keen on her to go well again this year and having thrown off the shackles of an terrible Grand Slam record in NY, I would not be surprised to see her contend again here. I for sure need to keep working hard.
Williams is never satisfied with No. 2, so that will surely motivate her in the coming weeks.
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Serena Williams still holds that favourite position but the 35-year-old is clearly someone the layers are prepared to take on to a certain extent.
“I was, “well, I’m not going to think about it”. If not for Novak Djokovic, Murray might have four Australian Open titles in his possession. I’m really focused training, cardio, all kinds of stuff.
Despite a slip the second half of last season, Djokovic told reporters he feels “phenomenal” heading into the Australian Open, where he has dominated for so long. “Going out there and playing match by match, enjoying the feeling and being where I am right now”. The 19 year old Swiss tennis star suffered some setbacks during 2016, but she is by no means your typical teenager on tour.
Kerber’s been a Fed Cup stalwart for Germany, having played at least one round every year since 2007.
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The form players are British ninth seed Konta and Brisbane International victor Karolina Pliskova, ranked five.
