Tennis heavyweight Roger Federer stunned everyone in 2017 with a fairytale comeback, whilst Serena Williams secured her record seventh title.
But with her and many other stars being absent or in question, Melbourne might see maiden winners this year.
In the Men´s draw, everyone will be chasing last year´s champion Roger Federer and world number one, Rafael Nadal.
The Swiss, who has five Australian Open trophies under his belt, loves coming back Down Under.
“The weather’s great, but the fans are amazing. They’ve been unbelievably supportive of me. Personally, I feel that they’ve always been behind me”, Roger says.
Before arriving in Melbourne, he made headlines in Perth winning the Hopman Cup. But Federer also took the chance to make new friends:
Federer´s long-time rival Rafael Nadal had an equally impressive 2017, winning two Grand Slams, just like “Fed”.
But the Spaniard, who just returned to the court after a knee injury, is not the only player who suffered some problems recently.
Former Melbourne champions Novak Djokovic and Stan Wawrinka had not played any competitive games since Wimbledon last July, due to an elbow (Novak) and knee injury (Stan).
53c25540c8b93ea92856a1883da99358_normal.pngNovak Djokovic ✔@DjokerNole
Two other former Top Five players won´t participate at all: Five-time Melbourne finalist Andy Murray recently underwent hip surgery, while Japanese powerhouse Kei Nishikori shares the fate. He withdrew from the tournament with a wrist injury.
In Nishikori´s absence, the spotlight has turned to South Korean rising star Chung Hyeon, 21, the first Korean to win an ATP tournament in almost 15 years.
With so many top players not being at their best, the next generation have their chance for glory.
Grigor Dimitrov, Alexander Zverev, and Dominic Thiem – ranked three to five in the world – have demonstrated the potential of being able to win a Grand Slam title.
But the Top Ten has other players capable of having a big win: David Goffin (7), Jack Sock (8) and Pablo Carreno Busta (10).
And, of course, let´s not overlook the Aussie contenders. Above all Nick Kyrgios, who in early January, just secured his first ATP title on home soil in Brisbane.
Nick Kyrgios is full of confidence after winning the Brisbane International. (AAP)
In the Women´s draw, it´s a similar story.
Serena Williams, who dominated the field in recent years, has withdrawn from this year´s tournament.
The 23 time Grand Slam champion gave birth to her first child in September.
