From Roger Federer to Rudolf Molleker - Experience vs Youth in Melbourne
The 51st edition of the Australian Open (in the Open era) will kick off in two hours, with some of the world's finest players stepping on the courts around Melbourne Park and hoping to make the best possible start at the first Major of the season. Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic are the top favorites, ten years after they were seeded one, two and three here for the first time, all of them chasing some unique record or milestone in already brilliant careers. The five-time runner-up Andy Murray plays his last Australian Open while many experienced players like Stan Wawrinka, Tomas Berdych and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga seek good result after being sidelined with injuries, all three capable of playing well in Melbourne.
On the other hand, there are 20 Australian Open debutants in the draw and 42 competitors who are yet to taste the smell of win in Melbourne, preparing to change that and make the best possible start of the year on the most significant scene in the world of tennis. The six-time champion Roger Federer is by far the most successful active player regarding the matches won at the Australian Open with 94, leaving Novak Djokovic (61), Rafael Nadal (55), Andy Murray (48) and Tomas Berdych (44) far behind.
Nine players in the draw have at least 25 Australian Open wins (Tomas Berdych, Marin Cilic, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Gael Monfils, Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Stan Wawrinka) while almost 100 others have failed to reach the magical number of 10 wins at Melbourne Park so far in a career. Roger will write history tomorrow when he steps on the court against Denis Istomin for the opening round match, entering his 20th consecutive Australian Open main draw to join Lleyton Hewitt on that feat and becoming only the second player after Jimmy Connors who has played at two different Majors at least 20 times.
The Spanish veteran Feliciano Lopez starts his 17th Australian Open while Tomas Berdych stands on 16 appearances, together with Ivo Karlovic and Fernando Verdasco. The six-time winner Novak Djokovic and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez are in the main draw in Melbourne for the 15th time and they are the most experienced player in the draw ahead of a few players with 14 main draws at the Australian Open.
Player Appearances Score Radu Albot (MDA) 3 0-2 Kevin Anderson (RSA) 11 11-10 Guido Andreozzi (ARG) Debut / Pablo Andujar (ESP) 8 2-7 Mirza Basic (BIH) 2 1-1 Nikoloz Basilashvili (GEO) 4 2-3 Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP) 8 11-7 Aljaz Bedene (SLO) 7 0-6 Tomas Berdych (CZE) 16 44-15 Matteo Berrettini (ITA) 2 0-1 Alex Bolt (AUS) 3 0-2 Roberto Carballes Baena (ESP) Debut / Pablo Carreno Busta (ESP) 6 5-5 Marco Cecchinato (ITA) 2 0-1 Jeremy Chardy (FRA) 11 10-10 Hyeon Chung (KOR) 4 6-3 Marin Cilic (CRO) 11 26-10 Marius Copil (ROU) 3 1-2 Borna Coric (CRO) 5 0-4 Pablo Cuevas (URU) 7 2-6 Taro Daniel (JPN) 3 0-2 Steve Darcis (BEL) 7 2-6 Alex de Minaur (AUS) 3 1-2 Federico Delbonis (ARG) 6 2-5 Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) 9 20-8 Laslo Djere (SRB) 2 0-1 Novak Djokovic (SRB) 15 61-8 Evgeny Donskoy (RUS) 4 4-3 James Duckworth (AUS) 7 3-6 Damir Dzumhur (BIH) 5 5-4 Matthew Ebden (AUS) 8 3-7 Kyle Edmund (GBR) 5 6-4 Christopher Eubanks (USA) Debut / Daniel Evans (GBR) 3 3-2 Thomas Fabbiano (ITA) 3 0-2 Roger Federer (SUI) 20 94-13 Fabio Fognini (ITA) 12 8-11 Bjorn Fratangelo (USA) 3 0-2 Taylor Fritz (USA) 2 0-2 Marton Fucsovics (HUN) 2 3-1 Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP) 15 15-14 Christian Garin (CHI) Debut / David Goffin (BEL) 6 9-5 Peter Gojowczyk (GER) 6 1-5 Marcel Granollers (ESP) 11 6-10 Ernests Gulbis (LAT) 9 2-8 Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND) Debut / Robin Haase (NED) 11 3-10 Lloyd Harris (RSA) Debut / Ryan Harrison (USA) 9 4-8 Pierre-Hugues Herbert (FRA) 4 2-3 Ugo Humbert (FRA) Debut / Hubert Hurkacz (POL) Debut / John Isner (USA) 11 13-10 Denis Istomin (UZB) 13 11-12 Tatsuma Ito (JPN) 5 2-4 Ilya Ivashka (BLR) Debut / Nicolas Jarry (CHI) 2 0-1 Malek Jaziri (TUN) 5 5-4 Steve Johnson (USA) 7 5-6 Ivo Karlovic (CRO) 16 14-15 Miomir Kecmanovic (SRB) Debut / Karen Khachanov (RUS) 3 2-2 Bradley Klahn (USA) 2 0-1 Martin Klizan (SVK) 6 3-5 Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) 14 20-13 Thanasi Kokkinakis (AUS) 4 2-3 Filip Krajinovic (SRB) 3 0-2 Mitchell Krueger (USA) Debut / Jason Kubler (AUS) 3 0-2 Denis Kudla (USA) 6 2-5 Mikhail Kukushkin (KAZ) 9 3-8 Nick Kyrgios (AUS) 6 11-5 Henri Laaksonen (SUI) Deubt / Dusan Lajovic (SRB) 6 3-5 Zhe Li (CHN) Debut / Feliciano Lopez (ESP) 17 22-16 Kamil Majchrzak (POL) Debut / Adrian Mannarino (FRA) 10 5-9 Maximilian Marterer (GER) 2 2-1 Leonardo Mayer (ARG) 9 3-8 Mackenzie McDonald (USA) 2 1-1 Daniil Medvedev (RUS) 3 1-2 John Millman (AUS) 5 3-4 Michael Mmoh (USA) 2 0-1 Rudolf Molleker (GER) Debut / Gael Monfils (FRA) 14 25-13 Jaume Munar (ESP) 2 0-1 Andy Murray (GBR) 13 48-12 Rafael Nadal (ESP) 14 55-12 Kei Nishikori (JPN) 9 23-8 Yoshihito Nishioka (JPN) 4 2-3 Cameron Norrie (GBR) Debut / Reilly Opelka (USA) 2 0-1 Benoit Paire (FRA) 8 5-7 Guido Pella (ARG) 5 1-4 Marc Polmans (AUS) Debut / Alexei Popyrin (AUS) 2 0-1 Lucas Pouille (FRA) 6 0-5 Sam Querrey (USA) 13 12-12 Albert Ramos-Vinolas (ESP) 8 3-7 Milos Raonic (CAN) 9 23-8 Andrey Rublev (CAN) 3 3-2 Gleb Sakharov (FRA) Debut / Tennys Sandgren (USA) 2 4-1 Diego Schwartzman (ARG) 5 4-4 Andreas Seppi (ITA) 14 18-13 Denis Shapovalov (CAN) 2 1-1 Gilles Simon (FRA) 13 23-12 Jack Sock (USA) 5 4-4 Jaoo Sousa (POR) 7 6-6 Pedro Sousa (POR) Debut / Jan-Lennard Struff (GER) 5 1-4 Dominic Thiem (AUT) 6 9-5 Jordan Thompson (AUS) 6 1-5 Frances Tiafoe (USA) 3 1-2 Janko Tipsarevic (SRB) 10 12-9 Bernard Tomic (AUS) 10 17-9 Stefano Travaglia (ITA) Debut / Viktor Troicki (SRB) 11 12-10 Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) 2 0-1 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) 12 36-11 Lucas Vanni (ITA) 2 0-1 Fernando Verdasco (ESP) 16 22-15 Jiri Vesely (CZE) 6 1-5 Stan Wawrinka (SUI) 14 37-12 Alexander Zverev (GER) 4 4-3 Mischa Zverev (GER) 8 5-7
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2CkiYdL
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