Australian Open talking points: All eyes on Roger Federer and his pursuit of 18 grand slams

World No 1 Novak Djokovic has a kind draw in Melbourne while pressure mounts for Serena Williams on the women's side, writes Ahmed Rizvi.

Roger Federer of Switzerland chases down the ball during a training session at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 18, 2015. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

Last year, for the first time since 2003, the men’s grand slam winners’ club inducted two new members.

Stan Wawrinka’s triumph in Australia and Marin Cilic’s win at the US Open led to 2014 being described as the year of change, as the past dominance of the Big Four appeared to be on the wane.

However, do not expect a repeat. Cilic is not in Australia because of injury and Wawrinka does not fancy his chances of a repeat.

Instead, the talk is about Roger Federer’s chances of taking his grand-slam tally to 18.

The draw looks tough for the Swiss, 33, who last won the title in 2010. Andy Murray, a three-time losing finalist, is a possible opponent in the quarter-finals, with Rafael Nadal, the 2009 champion, potentially waiting in the semi-finals.

But Federer is playing some of his best tennis of recent times, as highlighted by his triumph in Brisbane earlier this month. It is hard to think he will not be a major contender.

Djokovic the man to beat

Novak Djokovic is the man to beat in Melbourne. Four of his seven grand slam titles have come in Australia, three of them in succession before Wawrinka brought his winning streak to an end last year.

His preparations are not ideal, with illness forcing him out of the Mubadala World Tennis Championship final in January and Ivo Karlovic ousting him in the quarter-finals in Doha.

The draw, however, has been kind to him. Federer, Nadal and Murray are in the other half of the draw, and the Serbian will expect to be in the final on February 1.

Williams losing her grip?

That is the dominant question in women’s tennis. A disappointing 2014 did seem to suggest age is catching up with Serena Williams, but then the American, 33, was ranked No 1 from the beginning of the year to the end. Steffi Graf, in 1996, was the last woman to achieve that. Williams also clinched her third successive US Open title.

She has not gone beyond the last eight on her past three visits to Melbourne, but how she goes about changing that statistic will tell us much about how her 2015 is likely to go.

Next step for Bouchard

Australia last year was where Eugenie Bouchard began to make a statement of intent in the women’s game with her run to the semi-finals.

The Canadian went on to reach the last-four stage in the French Open and then made the final at Wimbledon, where she was dismantled by Petra Kvitova.

However, she tailed off badly in the second half of the season, reaching the fourth round of the US Open and not winning a set in three one-sided losses at the WTA Finals.

Bouchard, 20, now needs to prove that she can build on the first half of last year. Judging by her convincing 6-2, 6-1 win over world No 1 Williams at the Hopman Cup, she is capable of doing that, starting over the next two weeks.

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