The 2022 Australian Open started this last Monday so we are a little late with our preview here. But for those of you that don’t know, the Australian Open is the first Grand Slam of the calendar year.
And although it takes place in January, let’s not forget it’s located in Melbourne, Australia. Which means the temperatures are sweltering hot.
Last Year’s Open
Top seed Novak Djokovic walked away with the AO win last year in 2021, defending his title for the third time against Daniil Medvedev. But it wasn’t without trial. He had a muscle tear in his obliques in the third round and had considered dropping out.
But his win put him two Grand Slam wins away from Roger Federer’s and Rafael Nadal’s records. We didn’t have an appearance from Federer last year but Nadal lost in the quarterfinals to Stefanos Tsitsipas.
On the women’s side, Naomi Osaka took the championship with a straight set win over Jennifer Brady, earning her second AO Grand Slam title.
Top 10 Men’s Seeds
1. Novak Djokovic (Serbia)
2. Daniil Medvedev (Russia)
3. Alexander Zverev (Germany)
4. Stefanos Tsitsipas (Greece)
5. Andrey Rublev (Russia)
6. Rafael Nadal (Spain)
7. Matteo Berrettini (Italy)
8. Casper Ruud (Norway)
9. Felix Auger-Aliassime (Canada)
10. Hubert Hurkacz (Poland)
Top 10 Women’s Seeds
1. Ashleigh Barty (AUS)
2. Aryna Sabalenka (BLR)
3. Garbiñe Muguruza (ESP)
4. Barbora Krejcikova (CZE)
5. Maria Sakkari (GRE)
6. Anett Kontaveit (EST)
7. Iga Swiatek (POL)
8. Paula Badosa (ESP)
9. Ons Jabeur (TUN)
10. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS)
Preview
On the men’s side, Djokovic obviously. Federer is still out recovering from knee surgery, and Djokovic is our three-time defending champion.
Nadal is still in the draw so he is definitely one to watch out for, for he did have a brush with COVID. We know Nadal has historically always been a very physical player. If he’s not feeling his best, there could be a chance he exits after the easier first three rounds. Plus, there’s the fact that he hasn’t played a professional match since last August.
On the women’s side, we obviously need to consider defending champ Naomi Osaka. But No. 1 seed and home-court favorite is also Ashleigh Barty. She is the top pick for most, although she has yet to make it to the final in the AO.
