Photos courtesy of USTA
As it does every year, the new year of tennis will get underway at the Australian Open. On the men’s side, Novak Djokovic will be seeking his fourth consecutive Australian Open title, while Naomi Osaka is in pursuit of her third title in the last four years. One of the primary storylines heading into this year’s Aussie Open will be whether or not we see new champions announce themselves, or if Djokovic and Osaka will continue their dominance there. Unfortunately, a storyline that remains intact is the COVID-19 pandemic that still exists, especially with the new variants spreading across the world. The Australian Open brass has already announced that players in the event will have to be vaccinated, and with new lockdowns starting in Australian this past November, it will be interesting to see what is required of players when they enter Australia in January. However, for the purpose of this article, we will stick to tennis, and examine some of the Contenders, Pretenders and Sleepers for the 2022 Australian Open.
pursuit of both the Golden Slam, and the Grand Slam, before failing to medal at the Tokyo Olympics, and then losing in the U.S. Open finals to Daniil Medvedev. Djokovic would also lose to Alexander Zverev at the end-of-the-year ATP Finals, finishing his year on a losing note. While he still won three Slam titles in 2021, I’m sure to Djokovic it feels like something was missing. Look for a motivated and determined Djokovic to make up for that as he opens up his 2022 Slam campaign in Melbourne. Matteo Berrettini
Contenders – Men’s Singles Novak Djokovic It would be impossible to have any sort of preview of this year’s Australian Open without beginning with the world’s greatest player: Novak Djokovic. The top-ranked Serb has won the last three Aussie Open titles, and is the owner of nine titles Down Under in his illustrious career. He also may enter 2022 more motivated than ever. Djokovic was in 48
New York Tennis Magazine • January/February 2022 • NYTennisMag.com
One of the keys to succeeding on the fast hard-courts at the Australian Open is having a consistent serve, and that is where Italy’s Matteo Berrettini stands at the top of the ATP Tour. According to an Infosys ATP Beyond the Numbers analysis, the seventh-ranked Berrettini led the tour in service games won in three of the six different score categories (0/40, 15/30 and
