Federer made his comeback from an injury-induced spell on the sidelines at last year’s tournament and went on to win his 18th grand slam title by beating his great rival Rafa Nadal in the final.
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“My focus needs to be early because I have my own problems, you know, to get through my section of the draw, my game”, said Federer.
His Dominican opponent gave his best to the delight of the crowd and managed to produce some fearless back-to-the-wall tennis, but ultimately he was unable to make an impression in one of the biggest matches of his career.
Stephens agrees the Australian Open field is still extremely tough, even with Serena Williams, the defending champion and 23-time major victor, skipping the tournament as she continues her recovery from a complicated childbirth in September.
Among men safely through to the next round are 31st seed Pablo Cuevas and Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov.
Dimitrov said he’s a better player than he was when he lost the semifinal here a year ago to Nadal, and Zverev is aiming to go deep into the second week for the first time at a major. But slotted atop the top half, Nadal could take encouragement from a favourable draw as he looks to ease himself into competitive tennis. “There’s no straight sailing to the quarters or semis”. Marin Cilic, Croatia; 7.
Sharapova, who won the 2008 Australian title and reached three other finals at Melbourne Park, missed last year’s tournament during a 15-month suspension after a failed doping test in 2016. It was a great preparation a year ago.
But lucky dress or not, she will need to overcome her poor record at Melbourne Park where she has lost in the first round in both of the past two years when she opens on Tuesday against Australian wildcard Destinee Aiava.
“This year I hope to win the first few rounds and get rolling hopefully, whereas last year I was just hoping to win”, the Swiss star said.
The second, will Djokovic be able to do what Federer and Nadal did and make a deep run into his first comeback major, and maybe even win it? Realistically the only true young gun that I see potentially having his first breakout major is Alexander Zverev. The 20-year-old heads into the year’s first Grand Slam ranked fourth in the world, courtesy of five titles last year.
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The Australian world No 17, on the receiving end of a code violation for swearing at a spectator who he felt was making too much noise, continued his unbeaten start to the season, having won the Brisbane title, and will next meet Viktor Troicki, after the Serbian defeated Australian Alex Bolt 6-7 (2) 4-6 6-2 6-3 6-4. Nick Kyrgios will also play his first round match in the same session. If Federer is off his game just a little, Del Potro could pounce. She said it didn’t leave her enough time to feel confident of winning a major.
