Breaking new ground

Melbourne, January 15 

Andy Murray sets out tomorrow to end a record run of Australian Open final defeats as his great rival Novak Djokovic vies to become the tournament’s greatest champion of all time.

World No. 1 Murray is looking to avoid becoming the first man in the post-1968 Open era to lose six Grand Slam finals at the same Major. His coach Ivan Lendl lost five finals at the US Open before he broke through in New York in 1985.

Murray, who opens his campaign with a match against Ukraine’s Illya Marchenko on Rod Laver Arena, says he’s in a better position this time to finally break through for his maiden Australian Open.

“I obviously feel pretty confident after the way the last season finished,” Murray said. “I do love it here. I love the conditions. I have played really well here over the years, and I just haven’t managed to get over the final hurdle. But I think I’m in a decent position to do it. I think I have a chance to win here.”

Murray is coming off a magnificent 2016 which included a second Wimbledon crown, a successful Olympics title defence and knocking Djokovic off the top spot to become world No. 1 for the first time.

Murray is drawn to meet Japanese fifth seed Nishikori or Swiss legend Roger Federer in the quarters and 2014 winner Wawrinka in the semis. He has Lendl back in his team and is conscious he has to keep improving to keep his rivals at bay to hold on to the world’s top ranking.

“The reality is, in sport, that things keep moving on, the game will get better. I’ll obviously get older, the young guys will continue to improve, and also Novak and Roger (Federer) and Stan (Wawrinka) and Rafa (Nadal) and all the guys at the top are still going to be wanting to get there,” he said.

“So that’s why having someone like Ivan on my team who has been in that position before and knows what that’s like has been important. I need to continue to improve. I need to keep working hard.”

Murray knows that Djokovic will be gunning for him in the year’s first Grand Slam where he has a fantastic record of six finals and six victories going back to 2008. 

The 12-time Grand Slam champion can take outright ownership of the record for Australian titles if he wins for a seventh time in Melbourne.

The Serb is currently tied with Australia’s Roy Emerson on six Australian titles.

Djokovic faces a potential banana-skin in the first round against experienced Spaniard Fernando Verdasco.

Outside the top two, the main hopes rest with reigning US Open champion Stan Wawrinka, who won in Melbourne in 2014.

Grand Slam warriors Federer and Nadal should also be in the mix, but they lack match time and their rankings have slipped.

Seventeen-time Grand Slam great Federer, who at 17 is out of the top 10 for the first time since late 2002, is easing his way back after six months out with a knee injury, while 14-time Grand Slam winner Nadal is coming off another injury-hit season.

Kerber lurks as Serena chases record Slam

Serena Williams has vowed to make life difficult for top seed Angelique Kerber and a host of dangerous players out to derail her at the Australian Open, warning she is in Melbourne to win.

The American gets her quest for an Open-era record 23rd Grand Slam title underway in a difficult first-round clash against Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic in forecast sweltering heat on Tuesday.

It will be one the few matches she has played after a four-month lay-off.

But the 35-year-old, seeded two, is in fighting mood despite being bundled out in the second round of her only warm-up tournament, the Auckland Classic.

“I didn’t come here to lose in the first round, or the second round, or at all,” she said on Saturday. “If I can play the way I’ve been practising, it will be fine.

“I’ve been spending so much time on the court. It feels really good to be back, just hitting on Rod Laver (Arena), hitting on all the stadiums, it’s a good feeling. I love it here.”

Germany’s Kerber 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.

Kerber stunned the tennis great at Melbourne Park last year, upsetting her in the decider for her first Major title before later replacing her as the world No. 1.

That win sparked a memorable season for Kerber, who followed it up by claiming the US Open, where Williams crashed in the semifinals and has barely played since.

Kerber has not had a good start to 2017, falling to Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina in the Brisbane International quarterfinals, then slumping out in Round 2 of the Sydney International to Russian teenager Darya Kasatkina.

Despite this, she is confident of finding her best form over the next fortnight.

“For me, I’m expecting the same as I was expecting the years before — going out there trying my best, fighting till the last point,” she said.

“This is always how I’m playing, how I am. This will not be changing.”

Aside from Kerber, Polish world No. 3 Agnieszka Radwanska, who lost to Williams in last year’s semifinals, Romanian pocket-rocket Simona Halep and Spain’s Garbine Muguruza all pose a threat. — AFP

ALL ABOUT THE YEAR’S FIRST SLAM

The first Australian Open tournament was held in 1905 

For a few years, the tournament was not the year’s first Slam — from 1982 to 1985, it was played in mid-December. It was then decided to move it to mid-January, from 1987, and thus there was no Australian Open in 1986

It’s not very well-known that the Australian Open has been played in seven different cities in Australia and New Zealand. The Australian cities are Melbourne (55 times), Sydney (17 times), Adelaide (14 times), Brisbane (7 times) and Perth (3 times); the New Zealand cities to host the tournament are Christchurch (1906) and Hastings (1912)

Until 1987, the Australian Open was one of the two grasscourt Grand Slams — the other being Wimbledon, of course. However, from 1988, the Australian Open has been played on hardcourts. Mats Wilander of Sweden is the only player to win the tournament on both grasscourts (1983, 1984) and hardcourts (1988) 

Because it was played close to Christmas, and because of the difficulties involved in travelling to Australia, a lot of top players used to skip this tournament until the early 1980s

Australian Open Numbers

6The number of titles won by Novak Djokovic (in pic), a record he shares with Roy Emerson, who won his six titles in the pre-Open Era 

5The number of finals lost by Andy Murray in the last seven tournaments. He lost four finals to Novak Djokovic and one to Roger Federer

9Of the last 11 finals have been won by either Djokovic or Federer. The other two players to win the title in this duration are Rafael Nadal (2009) and Stan Wawrinka (2014) 

5Different women have won the singles title over the last six years — Kim Clijsters, Victoria Azarenka (twice), Li Na, Serena Williams and Angelique Kerber (in pic) 

16The youngest player to win an Australian Open title, male or female — Martina Hingis won the title at 16 in 1997. The youngest male winner was Ken Rosewall (18) in 1953. Interestingly, Rosewall won his last title here at age 37 in 1972

6Number of times Serena Williams has won the tournament. She won it for the first time in 2003 and last time in 2015. She has also won the women’s doubles title here four times. She is going or her seventh title, which would enable her to edge ahead of Steffi Graf’s Open Era record of 22 Grand Slams

Missing players’ list 

Several notable players are missing, including two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova who was injured by a knife-wielding intruder at her home in the Czech Republic last month. Also out on maternity leave is two-time Australian Open winner Victoria Azarenka. World No. 8 Madison Keys is another absentee after minor wrist surgery.  

Injury clouds Australia’s best hope 

Australian Nick Kyrgios’s health is in question after the 14th seed ended a practice session on Sunday. Clouds have surrounded Kyrgios all summer, struggling with a knee injury, though new issues have come to light. “I cannot move my back or my hamstring. (I’m) serving in the middle of the net,” Kyrgios said to his practice opponent on Sunday.