Can anybody stop Novak Djokovic winning 11th Australian Open and 25th Grand Slam title? Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, Ben Shelton and Alex de Minaur in the mix ahead of first Grand Slam of 2024; follow action from Melbourne across Sky Sports' digital platforms
Friday 12 January 2024 18:23, UK
If Novak Djokovic chalks up a 25th Grand Slam title by winning an 11th Australian Open, he will, statistically at least, have no equal.
The Serb is already the most decorated player in men's Grand Slams with his tally of 24 victories two clear of the injured Rafael Nadal and four ahead of the retired Roger Federer.
He is currently alongside Margaret Court across both men's and women's tennis, with the latter winning 24 Slams between 1960 and 1973, including 11 Australian Open crowns.
So, as Djokovic looks to eclipse Court's Slams record and match her haul of trophies in Oz, who can stop him?
We look at some of the main contenders…
When Alcaraz edged Djokovic in a five-set final at Wimbledon last July to win his second Grand Slam title, it may have suggested a changing of the guard. Djokovic, though, has won the pair's last two meetings - the final of the Masters 1000 event in Cincinnati and then a semi-final clash at the season-ending ATP Tour Finals in Turin, regaining the world No 1 spot from Alcaraz in the process.
Still, Alcaraz showed on Centre Court - and on the Madrid clay in 2022 - that he knows how to beat Djokovic and he knows how win Slams on hard courts, doing so in New York in the autumn of 2022 to secure his maiden Grand Slam, beating Casper Ruud in the final.
Alcaraz is yet to go beyond the third round at Melbourne Park, although missed last year's tournament with a leg injury, and his form at the backend of 2023 was patchy as he suffered defeats in early rounds of tournaments to Romain Safiullin and Grigor Dimitrov - but he should be fresh having not played since the ATP Finals.
While Alcaraz was not at his blistering best in the final knockings of 2023, the same cannot be said of Italian Sinner, whose success included two wins over Djokovic, one in the group stage of the ATP Finals before Djokovic exacted revenge in the final and another in the Davis Cup semi-finals.
The 22-year-old picked up three titles in the second half of last year, with the highlight a maiden Masters 1000 success in Canada. He also won 500 series events in China and Austria in October, beating Daniil Medvedev in the final on both occasions as he ended the season with 13 wins over top-10 players and was named Most Improved Player of the Year by his peers.
Sinner's best run at a Slam to date came at Wimbledon last year where he made the semi-finals before losing to Djokovic but he seems ready to make the next step. Like Alcaraz, he has not played any tune-up events so will that leave him fresh or undercooked?
Medvedev was the most recent man to face Djokovic in a Grand Slam final, beaten in straight sets at Flushing Meadows in September, but like Alcaraz he has defeated Djokovic in a Slam final, doing so in New York in 2021, winning in straight sets that time.
The Russian also likes Australia - well, to a degree! Twice he has made the final in Melbourne and twice he has left without the big prize, outgunned by Djokovic 7-5 6-2 6-2 in 2021 and then outlasted by Nadal in 2022 as the Spaniard fought back from two sets down to win an absolute thriller.
Medvedev reached nine ATP Tour finals in 2023, winning five of them including 1000 series tournaments in Miami and Italy but did lose his last three as he went down to Sinner twice and Djokovic once. That many finals shows consistency, however.
The chasing pack includes Germany's Alexander Zverev, who fought back from two championship points down against Poland's Hubert Hurkacz to win his nation the United Cup, and Russia's Andrey Rublev, who began his campaign with victory in Hong Kong.
Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas has slipped to seventh in the rankings after an injury-hit 2023 in which he reached only three finals but made the final in Australia last year before he ran into Djokovic.
Dimitrov and Holger Rune contested last week's Brisbane International final with the former triumphing for his first title since 2017, the year in which he also reached the semi-finals at the Australian Open. A similarly deep run is not out of the question.
Ben Shelton perhaps represents the best American hope as he looks to build on making the quarter-finals in Melbourne last year and the semi-finals of his home Slam in September.
The Australian focus will be on world No 10 Alex de Minaur with Nick Kyrgios absent.
The last Australian man to win the Australian Open was Mark Edmondson way back in 1976 so victory for De Minaur would be a long time coming for the host nation, who have seen the likes of Pat Cash and Lleyton Hewitt reach the final and fall short.
De Minaur defeated Djokovic at the United Cup last week, handing the Serb his first defeat on an Australian court since 2018, as well as Zverev, Taylor Fritz and Cameron Norrie as he became the first Australian to enter the world's top 10 since Lleyton Hewitt in 2006.
Cameron Norrie endured a horrid end to 2023, losing nine of his last 11 matches - a run that began with a third-round exit at the hands of Meteo Arnaldi at the US Open. He recently sparked fears ahead of the Australian Open by pulling out of his quarter-final at the ASB Classic with a wrist injury. The British No 1 will drop outside the top 20 for the first time since October 2021 on Monday.
Dan Evans will be unseeded at a Grand Slam for the first time since 2019 after an inconsistent 2023 campaign ended prematurely by a calf injury. He is fit again and will be keen to try to climb back into the top 30. Now 33, Evans won the biggest title of his career in Washington last summer and also starred for Britain in the Davis Cup.
It is 12 months since Andy Murray's extraordinary 4am victory over Thanasi Kokkinakis at Melbourne Park. His performances at the beginning of 2023 fuelled hope that he could push back towards the top of the game but it was largely a season of more frustration. There have been flashes of the old Murray but, at 36, time is very much running out.
Could this be the year where Jack Draper really makes a name for himself? The 22-year-old has been held back so far by injuries and missed a lot of last season but finished strongly and has all the tools to reach the very top of the game. A run to the fourth round of the US Open last summer is his best Grand Slam showing so far.
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