Djokovic and Serena top seeds

The prize for the victor was a Sunday night championship showdown against Roger Federer, who defeated Andy Roddick in the first semi-final on the Thursday night.

In 2015, there were two standout players on the tennis tour – Serena Williams and Novak Djokovic.

Scarred by four fruitless trips to the final, two-time grand slam champion Murray will hope for “fifth time lucky” if he reaches the final.

To win, they must navigate the path plotted for them.

Williams was asked about her troublesome knee at the Australian Open draw on Friday and said: “It’s actually very well”.

It was only when told they had to hand back the trophies that Djokovic replied, half-jokingly, “What do you mean they’re not ours?”

In some ways, Williams’ condition reflects the state of play in the upper ranks of the women’s game. She was the only player to take the first set off Williams at Wimbledon.

If that wasn’t rough opening draw news for the defending women’s champion, having the likes of close friend Caroline Wozniacki, Belinda Bencic and whipping tool Maria Sharapova in her quarter will make her road to a 2016 title be as hard as her 2015 one. Williams is the 3/1 favourite, Sharapova 10/1 and Errani 250/1.

The American tennis star was two matches away from completing a calendar-year Grand Slam when she lost to the slicing and the craft of veteran Roberta Vinci.

“It’s a little bit more unsafe than we think, the draw”, he said.

“Everything is really well, I’m feeling really good”.

Serena gets Camila Giorgi, and Venus drew former Aussie citizen Johanna Konta, who reached the fourth round at the 2015 U.S. Open. The most obvious quarterfinal opponent is Petra Kvitova, and Serena Williams is a likely semifinal foe.

Of course Federer has to get that far first, not a given after his third-round loss previous year. He is the last man to have beaten the Serb in Grand Slam competition, at Roland Garros last summer.

(4) Agnieszka Radwanska has to be considered a serious contender this year after winning the WTA Finals last October.

The early rounds seem straightforward for No. 5 seed Maria Sharapova, who first faces Nao Hibino and could then meet Yanina Wickmayer or Magdalena Rybarikova.

“You can’t now hope to win a slam by hoping those guys lose”.

Djokovic is chasing his sixth title after beating Andy Murray in last year’s final, while Serena, battling a knee injury, is after her seventh Australian crown.

Boasting a unique design with special textured “tone-ontone” matte and gloss blue paint finish, racing wheels and tires along with red and yellow bodywork highlights, the Kia X-Car and Rafael Nadal combine powers in an online video released ahead of this year’s Australian Open.

“I will wait for my moment”, Nadal said. At the age of 34, he is already re-writing the record books when it comes to how long one can play world-class tennis but there will come a stage when he is unable to defy the ageing process any longer. Since I know this sport, I never saw somebody playing at this level.

The British No 1, seeded second, was also drawn in the same half as Stan Wawrinka and Rafael Nadal. Should Nishikori withstand Kohlschreiber in the opener, he could encounter Tsonga or the stylish, ersatile Benoit Paire, who knocked Nishikori out of the US Open first round last summer, in the fourth round.

“Yeah, it was a surprise”.