Add Category
The Australian Open is almost upon us as the 2024 grand slam tennis season gets underway.
With some returning stars, some absent legends and a genuine Australian hope in Alex de Minaur, this tournament could be one for the ages.
Here's everything you need to know.
When is the Australian Open?
This year the Australian Open gets underway on a Sunday — a day earlier than usual to become a 15-day event for the first time.
The main reason for this is to bring a halt to the obscenely late finishes that have become something of a thing at Melbourne Park.
Last year, Andy Murray's near-6-hour, five-set marathon against Thanasi Kokkinakis did not finish until after 4am.
It made a mockery of his next match due to the unreasonable amount of fatigue that comes with such a late finish.
Day sessions on Rod Laver and Margaret Court Arenas will feature a minimum of two matches, rather than three as previously, to limit the potential for late finishes.
Night sessions will continue to feature a minimum of two matches.
The tournament will, therefore, start on Sunday, January 14, with gates opening at 10am AEDT for the morning session and 5pm AEDT for the evening session.
When are the Australian Open finals?
The women's final is set for Saturday, January 27.
The men's final will take place on Sunday, January 28.
Prize money has gone up by 13 per cent this year too — just by reaching the first round proper, players will earn $120,000.
The prize money for the singles winners is a record $3.15 million, as part of a record prize pool of $86.5 million.
Who are the top women to watch?
World number one and five-time grand slam winner Iga Świątek comes into the tournament as the top seed, but she's never progressed past the semifinals at Melbourne Park.
In fact, the number one seed at the Australian Open has only won the title twice in the last decade: Ash Barty in 2022 and Serena Williams in 2015.
Last year's champion Aryna Sabalenka (who won as fifth seed, by the way) is ranked second coming into the tournament and looked in great touch during the Brisbane International before being comprehensively rolled 6-0, 6-3 by world number three Elena Rybakina, beaten finalist at last year's Open and at Flushing Meadows.
Defending US Open champion Coco Gauff broke her grand slam duck at Flushing Meadows last year, and the teenager started 2024 off right with a victory at the ASB Classic in Auckland, beating world number 23 Elina Svitolina in a fiercely competitive final.
Gauff's fellow countrywoman Jessica Pegula (world number five) had a mixed United Cup campaign, beating Australian hope Alja Tomljanović and losing to Britain's Katie Boulter.
Four-time grand slam winner Naomi Osaka made a moderately successful return from her recent lay-off by winning her opening match at the Brisbane International, displaying her full range of power hitting before ultimately falling short in the next round against former world number one Karolína Plíšková.
Who are the top men to watch?
This could have been captioned, can anyone stop Novak Djokovic?
Djokovic has 24 grand slam singles titles, 10 of them in Melbourne. What's the betting that he makes it 11 this time around to match Margaret Court's record number of Australian Open titles while overtaking her for the most majors won by an individual?
Despite all his career achievements, this year is a huge one for Djokovic.
On both occasions in which he last competed in all four grand slams in a single year — 2021 and 2023 — he reached the final at all of them, winning six.
This year is an Olympic year, and an Olympic gold medal is the one major title that Djokovic has not won.
He has already suggested that a "golden slam", winning all four majors plus the Olympic gold medal — a feat only achieved once before by Steffi Graf in 1988 — appeals to him.
But before thinking about that, he needs to win in Melbourne, and there is stiff competition this year.
There is no Rafael Nadal, but the Spanish flag will be flown more than ably by rising star and two-time grand slam winner Carlos Alcaraz.
The world number two has never progressed past the third round at the Australian Open. Expect him to better that result over the next two weeks.
Two-time finalist Daniil Medvedev has continued to challenge but, aside from his one US Open crown, has not managed to take the step required to be a regular threat to Djokovic, but Italian Jannik Sinner certainly has.
The world number four has flown up the rankings in recent years and had a brilliant end to the 2023 season, in which he beat the Serb twice.
The other mid- to early-20-something players in the top 10 will all contend, including Andrey Rublev, Holger Rune, United Cup-winner Alexander Zverev, and arguably the form man on the tour at the start of 2024, Alex de Minaur.
What Australians are in the main draw?
Is this Alex de Minaur's year?
Wins over top 10 opponents Taylor Fritz, Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev during the United Cup have catapulted the Australian number one into the world's top 10, a career-high ranking.
De Minaur's Australian Open record is not great, never making it past the fourth round, but with a favourable draw you'd have to hope that a run into the second week is achievable.
Aside from de Minaur though, the options do seem a bit thin on the ground for home supporters.
Australia's number one-ranked woman, Arina Rodionova, failed to qualify, and was controversially denied a wildcard by organisers, leaving Kimberly Birrell (world number 117), Olivia Gadecki (121), Daria Saville (195) and Taylah Preston (203) to fly the flag alongside Tomljanović.
Along with de Minuar, there are nine Australian men inside the ATP top 100 rankings, with Alexei Popyrin (43), Max Purcell (45) and Brisbane International semifinalist Jordan Thompson (47) all inside the top 50.
How can I watch the Australian Open?
Channel 9 is the host broadcaster for the Australian Open this year, with coverage of every court on its streaming service, 9NOW and Stan Sport.
If you're unable to watch it, ABC Grandstand will be calling the action via the Listen app and abc.net.au/sport, while ABC Sport digital will be blogging every minute of the action from Melbourne Park.
Sports content to make you think... or allow you not to. A newsletter delivered each Friday.