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In the early hours of Sunday morning, Europeans were waking up to some huge news. Djokovic had lost his appeal against the Australian Government. The saga is now officially over, and he has been deported from the country. Obviously, this is a great shame for the 2022 Australian Open. But as they say, life goes on, and so does the tournament. So with Djokovic now out, what does this mean for the tournament favourite? It’s actually rather intriguing, and I’d like to share my thoughts on this right now.
Potential Australian Open Winner 2022
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With the world number one no longer competing, the tournament is now up for grabs. And for the purposes of this piece, I shall be focusing on the top three contenders. So, let’s take a look and see what their realistic chances are of winning the event.
Daniil Medvedev
Medvedev is currently the number two player in the ATP rankings. Of course, he is also the guy that ended Djokovic’s dream of a calendar slam last year. In my opinion, Medvedev is one of the best hard court players right now. He is so clever on the court that people find him very hard to play against. He is also a great ball striker, with a dangerous forehand and a solid backhand. Medvedev also has a massive serve, which always helps in tennis!
Adding to this, he made the final of the tournament last year. So he obviously knows that he can replicate this success, or go a step further in 2022.
Alexander Zverev
Besides Medvedev, Alexander Zverev has caused Novak Djokovic some of the most problems in recent times. The only reason I would put him behind Medvedev is that he hasn’t taken Djokovic down in a slam. But putting that aside, Zverev is definitely a threat at the Australian Open, no doubt about it. His serve is huge, and his groundstrokes can blow anybody off the court rather quickly. He is also ranked number 3 in the world right now, with amazing confidence going into the event.
The only thing with Zverev is that he likes to make things hard for himself in the early rounds. But if he can move through the early rounds without tiring himself out, he has a great shot at winning the event.
Rafael Nadal
Finally, we come to Rafael Nadal. Everybody knows that this man has won 20 Grand Slam titles in his time, so he needs no introduction in all honesty. Sadly, Nadal missed most of the 2021 season with an injury, but he is officially back for Australia. He also won the one and only tournament that he played in the build-up to the event. So it’s fair to say that he is in reasonable form going into the Australian Open.
But historically, this has been his least successful slam. However, with Djokovic and Federer both out, could this be Nadal’s year once again? We will all have to wait and see, but I’m sure excited to see if he can do it or not!
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