Scouting Report: Hewitt's Last Stand In Melbourne
Scouting Report: Hewitt's Last Stand In Melbourne
AUSSIES IN THE DRAW
There are nine local players in the draw (four direct entries and five wild cards). Lleyton Hewitt is playing this tournament a record 20th consecutive year (31-19 record). There are two Aussies seeded (No. 16 Bernard Tomic, No. 29 Nick Kyrgios) at the Australian Open for the first time since 2004 (No. 10 Mark Philippoussis, No. 15 Hewitt). Tomic finished 2015 as the top-ranked Australian player at No. 18, followed by Kyrgios, who reached the QF last year, at No. 30.
MAIN COACHING UPDATES
Borna Coric coached by Miles Maclagan
Alex Dolgopolov coached by Felix Mantilla
Roger Federer added coach Ivan Ljubicic to his team
Illya Marchenko coached by Tibor Toth
Andy Murray rejoined forces with Amelie Mauresmo
Milos Raonic added coach Carlos Moya to his team
Jiri Vesely coached by Tomas Krupa
Elias Ymer coached by Fredrik Rosengren
COUNTRY COUNT
There are 41 countries represented in the main draw with Spain (15) leading the way followed by the U.S. (14), France (13) and Australia (nine).
For the second straight season, there were a record 39 countries represented in the Top 100 of the year-end Emirates ATP Rankings (Spain led with 15 players followed by France with 10 and the United States with seven)
WILD CARDS
Four of the eight wild cards were awarded to James Duckworth (winner of the Australian Wild Card Play-off), Quentin Halys (FFT discretionary wild card), Yoshihito Nishioka (winner of the Asia Pacific Wild Card Play-off), Noah Rubin (winner of the USTA Pro Circuit Australian Open Wild Card Challenge). The other four wild cards were awarded by Tennis Australia to Australians Matthew Ebden, Lleyton Hewitt, Omar Jasika and Jordan Thompson.
EMIRATES ATP RANKINGS
Novak Djokovic has been No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Rankings for a total of 182 weeks (as of Jan. 18) and every week since his Wimbledon title in 2014 (81 straight weeks). His reign at No. 1 is fifth-most in the history of the Emirates ATP Rankings (since Aug. 23, 1973). Roger Federer has been ranked No. 1 a record 302 weeks during his career.
WITHDRAWALS
Players on the main draw entry list who have withdrawn from the Australian Open are:
Richard Gasquet (back)
Tommy Haas (shoulder)
Andreas Haider-Maurer (leg)
Thanasi Kokkinakis (shoulder)
Yen-Hsun Lu (elbow)
Juan Monaco (wrist)
Janko Tipsarevic (knee)
A LOOK AT THE TOP EIGHT SEEDS IN 2016
The Big Four have won 39 of the past 43 Grand Slam tournaments (beginning with 2005 Roland Garros) and 42 of the past 45 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events (beginning with 2011 Indian Wells)…
Federer (five times), Djokovic (four) and Nadal (three) have been the ATP year-end No. 1 players in the last 12 years (2004-15)…
First time in history three players are in a Grand Slam event with at least 10 major titles: Federer (17), Nadal (14), Djokovic (10)…
Murray is the only Top eight seed who did not play an ATP World Tour event leading into Australian Open
PLAYER 2016 RESULTS
(1) Novak Djokovic Doha Champion
Won 60th career title (T9 w/Agassi) in Doha (d. Nadal) and has reached final in 16 consecutive events, third-most in Open Era behind Lendl (18) and Federer (17)…Over past 52 weeks, has compiled an 85-5 match record…Five-time Australian Open champion is seeded No. 1 for four time in last five years. (except 2013)…Trying to tie Roy Emerson’s all-time record by winning his sixth Australian Open title
(2) Andy Murray
Practiced in Dubai with Kyle Edmund… Played in Hopman Cup (d. De Schepper, l. to Kyrgios, d. A. Zverev)…Four-time Australian Open finalist is seeded No. 2 for 3rd time in a major (2009 US Open 4R, 2013 Wimbledon Champion)…He and wife, Kim Sears, are expected to become parents in next month…Voted BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year for 2015
(3) Roger Federer Brisbane Runner-Up
Practiced with Robin Haase and Lucas Pouille in Dubai…Fell short of defending Brisbane title (l. to Raonic)…Playing in a record 65th consecutive Grand Slam main draw (streak started at 2000 Australian Open)…Lost to Seppi in 3R last year, ending streak of 11 consecutive Australian Open semi-finals…Seeded in Top 3 in 12 of last 13 years (except 2013 – No. 6)…Three wins shy of 300 career victories in Grand Slam play
(4) Stan Wawrinka Chennai Champion
Won Chennai Open (d. Coric) for third straight year and fourth time in his career…Named Swiss Sportsman of the Year in 2015…2014 Australian Open champion seeded in Top 5 for 7th time in last eight Grand Slam events…Won both majors as eighth seed (also 2015 Roland Garros)…Played exhibition in Abu Dhabi and took fourth place (Bye, l. to Raonic and Ferrer)
(5) Rafael Nadal Doha Runner-Up
Played exhibition in Abu Dhabi and won title (Bye, d. Ferrer and Raonic) …Opened season with runner-up in Doha (l. to Djokovic)…Trying to win first hard court title since 2014 Doha (d. Monfils)…Finished 2015 with a 17-5 record post-US Open and two finals (Beijing and Basel)…Looking to become only the 3rd player to win each Grand Slam event twice (after Roy Emerson and Rod Laver)
(6) Tomas Berdych Doha Semi-finalist
Opened with SF in Doha (l. to Djokovic)…New clothing sponsor is adidas…Playing in 50th consecutive Grand Slam event…Reached Australian Open SFs in 2014-15 after advancing to QFs in 2011-13
(7) Kei Nishikori Brisbane Quarter-finalist
Reached Brisbane QF, losing to Tomic in three sets… Played 1 match in Kooyong Classic (d. Jasika 61 67 10-4)…Eighth straight major seeded in Top 10…Reached Australian Open QFs in 2012 and 2015
(8) David Ferrer Doha 1st Round, Auckland Semi-finalist
Opened season with 1R in Doha (l. to Marchenko in 3 sets) and took WC into Auckland, reaching SF (l. to Sock in 3 sets)…Now 0-2 in decisive sets this season after going 15-2 in 2015…Played exhibition in Abu Dhabi and earned 3rd place (d. Tsonga, l. to Nadal, d. Wawrinka)
QUALIFIERS
The youngest and oldest players in the singles draw are two of the 16 qualifiers. Taylor Fritz (18) is the youngest and Radek Stepanek (37) is the oldest in the field
Five of the six players making their Grand Slam debuts at the Australian Open are qualifiers: Fritz, Jozef Kovalik, Mirza Basic and Argentines Marco Trungelliti and Renzo Olivo. The other is local wild card Omar Jasika
Here are the countries with the most qualifiers: U.S. (3), Argentina, France and Japan (2 each).
Biggest comebacks: Fritz rallied from 0-4 in third set to defeat Mischa Zverev 63 67 64 and Ryan Harrison saved 4 MPs in 2nd set to beat Aleksandr Nedovyesov 67 76 63.
YOUNG ONES TO WATCH
Four teenagers finished in the Top 100 last year (Borna Coric at No. 44, Hyeon Chung at No. 51, Thanasi Kokkinakis at No. 80, Alexander Zverev at No. 83), which is the most since 2007 (Marin Cilic, Juan Martin del Potro, Ernests Gulbis, Evgeny Korolev, Donald Young). There were also 10 teenagers in the Top 200.
Coric, who is the youngest player in the Top 50, opened the season by reaching his first ATP World Tour final in Chennai (l. to Wawrinka). He was the first teenager in an ATP World Tour final since his countryman Cilic won New Haven in 2008.
There are seven teenagers in the main draw (most since 7 in 2008): Chung (19), Coric (19), Fritz (18), Halys (19), Jasika (18), Rubin (19), Zverev (18).
DOUBLES
The top seeds for the first time in a Grand Slam event are last year’s No. 1 team Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau. The Wimbledon champs capped their season by winning the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals.
The Bryans are not seeded No. 1 in Melbourne for the first time since 2009. They finished No. 2 last year in the Emirates ATP Doubles Team Rankings. They have finished No. 1 in 10 of the last 13 years. They have won this event 6 times and hold the all-time team record of 16 Grand Slam titles.
Daniel Nestor is making his 22nd appearance in the last 23 years (except 2000). He became the first player in the Open Era to win 1,000 doubles matches this past week in Sydney.
Among the new teams in 2016 are J. Murray/Soares (Sydney), Lopez/Lopez (Doha), Kontinen/Peers (Brisbane) and Kubot/Matkowski. The first 3 teams already have won titles in the first 2 weeks of the season.
In Case You Missed It
Viktor Troicki edged Grigor Dimitrov in a third-set tie-break in Sydney. Read
Roberto Bautista Agut prevailed in Auckland over Jack Sock. Read
Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares started their year with a doubles title in Sydney. Read
Hometown hero Michael Venus and partner Mate Pavic triumphed in Auckland. Read
Birthdays
January 20 – Malek Jaziri (32)
January 21 – Nicolas Mahut (34)
January 23 – Pablo Andujar (30)