As the New Year draws closer, everyone is beginning to focus their attention on 2021. One of the earliest big sporting occasions will be the Australian Tennis Open. Coronavirus permitting, the tournament is due to take place between the 8th and 21st of February and the entries have just been announced.
The Golden Oldies - Roger Federer
Two of the games "golden oldies," Roger Federer, and Serena Williams are among the names, although for Federer, it will be a race against time. The Swiss is still recovering after two operations on his knees. Not only is there doubt about the 6-times winner's fitness to compete for the Australian Open, but there is also speculation that his playing career might already be over.
It hardly seems credible, but the 39-year-old hasn't played since he lost to Rafael Nadal at Melbourne Park at the beginning of 2020. In a recent interview, he confirmed that as at today, he isn't fit enough. But the three-week delay to the start of the Australian Open has thrown him a lifeline - thin though it might be.
Serena Williams
Serena Williams has also been struggling to get back to full fitness. She hasn't played since retiring from the French Open at Roland Garros in September 2020 when she was forced to bow out due to an injury to her Achilles. Like Federer, she too is 39 years old.
The American's first professional match was back in 1995, and four years later, in 1999, at the age of 17, she became the 4th youngest women's player to win the US Open. In an illustrious career spanning 25 years, she has won 23 Grand Slam titles. More than any other woman, or man, in the so-called "open era" which began in 1968.
She is hoping to make the 2021 Aussie Open title her eighth. She first won this competition in 2003, then again in 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2015, and her last win title came in 2017. However, there is a certain young Australian who might have something to say about that.
Ashleigh Barty
At the age of 24, Australian born and bred Ashleigh Bart won her first junior Grand Slam at Wimbledon in 2011, when she was 15 years old. In 2012, she then made her singles and doubles debuts on the WTA circuit before establishing herself as a major competitor on the world double's stage where she won several titles with partner, Dellacqua.
But in 2014, after the US Open, Barty announced that she had decided to take an indefinite break from tennis. She signed for Brisbane Heat, an Australian Cricket Club, and with an impressive inning in the inaugural match of the Women's Big Bash League, took to the sport like a duck to water. Many people predicted she would one day play for the Australian National Women's Cricket team.
Luckily for the tennis world, Barty decided to return in 2016. The break had made a significant difference, and in 2017, she won her first WTA title at the Malaysian Open, rising to No 17 in the world rankings. It was the start of a journey that would see her become the ATP top-ranked women's tennis player in the world, and by some margin too.
So far, she has won two Grand Slams: the American Open in 2018, The French Open in 2019, and was a semi-finalist in the Australian Open in 2020. She has high hopes of winning it in 2021. Out to stop her will be Simona Halep, Naomi Osaka, Iga Swiatek, the latest Grand Slan winner (Roland Garros 2020) and a certain Selena Williams. It's going to be some competition.
