Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Nick Kyrgios lead charge to beat Novak Djokovic at Australian Open 2023

This year’s Australian Open looks from the outset to be clear cut. Novak Djokovic and Iga Swiatek start as heavy favourites to claim the singles titles and it’s tough to make solid cases against either.

World No. 1 Swiatek has shown over the last year that she is the dominant force on the WTA Tour and Djokovic has looked almost unbeatable after returning to action in September.

For Swiatek, there could be a myriad of potential challengers, including world No. 2 Ons Jabeur and world No. 3 Jessica Pegula, who beat Swiatek in straight sets at the United Cup this month.

For Djokovic, the list of rivals appears more narrowed.

Four stand out.

Daniil Medvedev has lost in the Australian Open final for the past two years in a row. He said he felt “absolutely terrible” after last year’s final, when he was up two sets to love and 0-40 on Rafael Nadal’s serve midway through the third set and lost 2-6 6-7(5) 6-4 6-4 7-5 in one of the most remarkable Grand Slam finals in recent years.

For Nadal, it was his “most unexpected” victory. For Medvedev, it was surely the most crushing loss of his career so far – and one that stayed with him for a while.

“I don’t know how it affected me, and if it still does, I have no idea,” he revealed in December. “I feel like I left it far behind a long time ago, but you never know, maybe it sits somewhere there really deep inside.”

Defeat to Djokovic in the 2021 final was far more routine, a straight-sets defeat that never looked to be going in Medvedev's favour. In between the two Australian Open final losses, Medvedev won his first Grand Slam title at the US Open, but he then had a somewhat below-par 2022 season that only featured two titles and saw him slip from No. 1 in the world rankings down to No. 7.

His hard-court aura, which he has built up over the last few years, appears slightly diminished, but Melbourne could be a perfect spot for a rebound.

“I want to do better than last year. That’s the goal,” said Medvedev last week about his Australian Open ambitions.

If Medvedev has been the nearly man at the Australian Open over the last few years, Stefanos Tsitsipas has been the nearly-nearly man. Tsitsipas has only played the Grand Slam five times and has made three semi-finals, including the previous two years in a row. Both times he was beaten by Medvedev.

His game is a delight to watch with flowing groundstrokes and power to beat most opponents. At the United Cup, he looked excellent as he won all four of his singles matches. Still, though, a maiden Grand Slam title hangs over him, and it was interesting to hear Tsitsipas assess his standing in the game during the off-season.

“I’m not 18 anymore, I’m 24 years old and that’s a different phase in my career now, a different step and a different approach that I need to take,” he told Arab News. “I see it as a colour index, before I was in the blue index where I’m really young and getting to know the tour, and now I’m more like in the yellow index. And the next index, which will probably come at the age of 27 or 28, it will be the red index, where more experience kicks in, you’ve been around and you’ve seen a lot of things. So I’m still somewhere in-between the middle I would say.”

At what stage of the index is it most likely that Tsitsipas wins his first Grand Slam? So far he has found his path blocked by those around him (Medvedev), those younger than him (Carlos Alcaraz and Holger Rune) and those older than him (Djokovic and Nadal). Tsitsipas needs to get out of the zone he’s in if he is to level up at a major.

While Tsitsipas has the form heading into the Australian Open, Nadal’s chances are very tricky to assess.

This time last year, he went into the Grand Slam having hardly played for five months and managed to win. He’s approaching his defence with back-to-back defeats to start the year at the United Cup after four losses from his last five singles matches of 2022. Nadal has spoken about needing to build form and confidence but he still looks to be in the early stages of a comeback.

Could he really contend again? The only thing to probably say with certainty is that it’s impossible to write him off. As the top seed after Alcaraz’s withdrawal, he should have a few matches to ease himself into the tournament. If he gets going and rediscovers his best level then he will be there towards the end.

Can the same be said for Nick Kyrgios?

Kyrgios had a career year in 2022 and looks to have his best shot so far at going deep at the Australian Open. His preparation has seemingly not been ideal, though, as he withdrew from the United Cup and the Adelaide International due to injury. If he’s fully healthy he will be an intriguing name to track - and if ticket sales for his 'Arena Showdown' against Djokovic are anything to go by then he will be very well supported.

In the past, Kyrgios has been something of a berserker, capable of playing spectacular tennis to beat top players and blow up draws, or blow up himself and crash out. In 2022, he played on a more consistent level, serving beautifully and hitting the ball with power and precision. He also didn’t seem to get derailed as often by outbursts, although that side of him was still there.

Can any of the above upset Djokovic, though, in his bid for a 10th Australian Open title? Or perhaps Felix Auger-Aliassime, Taylor Fritz or Jannik Sinner will make a deep run?

Djokovic has said he is not “invincible” but he clearly starts as the man to beat in Melbourne.

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Stream the 2023 Australian Open live on discovery+ and eurosport.co.uk