Djokovic faces Federer in semis on Australia Open draw

In nine career losses at the Australian Open, six of them have come before the quarterfinals.

Unlucky to find himself in the same quarter of the draw as Wawrinka, 14-times grand slam Nadal looms as a dark horse, arriving in Melbourne the fittest he has been in years and stinging from a season without a major trophy. She doesn’t expect injury to be a problem.

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Can anyone defeat Novak Djokovic? “If she gets through those first two or three matches, she’s the favorite to win the tournament”.

Nadal didn’t make it past the quarter-finals at a grand slam previous year as he battled persistent injury. “The way he’s playing, it’s hard to see him losing matches”.

“I don’t have any inflammation anymore”.

Djokovic will play 19-year-old of Hyeon Chung of South Korea in the first round and is in the same half of the draw as No. 3 Federer.

Williams will continue her quest for a 22nd grand slam crown on Monday when she defends her sixth Australian Open title at Melbourne Park.

Williams pulled out of this year’s pre-Open Hopman Cup with a knee injury.

“Her serve and her toss – the things you could count on the most – weren’t always there last summer”, Shriver said. He was placed in a quarter with several heavy hitters, including 2014 Australian Open champ Stan Wawrinka.

“Everything is actually really well”, said the American, who practised at the Margaret Court Arena early yesterday.

And just to rub salt into the wound, were a miracle to occur – Woz only ever seems to beat Williams, a close friend of hers, in exhibition matches – Maria Sharapova, the world number five but in reality the world’s second best women’s player, is likely to be waiting in the quarters.

“I mean, we all know the answer to that, so…no need to even say it”.

“Williams is a great player”.

In last year’s title match, Djokovic appeared to be in trouble against Murray at the start of the third set but recovered to triumph in the fourth.

Eugenie Bouchard of Westmount, Que., Vancouver’s Vasek Pospisil and Milos Raonic of Thornhill, Ont., will represent Canada in the Grand Slam event. A match against Dodig would be one against a talented veteran, but someone who is about five years passed his best tennis.

2016 is just 15 days old but Djokovic is already being tipped for the calendar slam. He also lost at the French Open for only the second time in his career and went 7-11 against top 10 opponents. “Good feelings. Just trying to be ready”. “We have intensified the training both in the length of the sessions and the rhythm”.

“I think you’ve got to get him off the baseline”. Stan Wawrinka or Rafael Nadal are his potential semi-final obstacles and no one would bet against Novak Djokovic waiting for the victor of that match in the final.

Ending one of those exchanges, Verdasco flicked a forehand victor with so much power that Djokovic jokingly told the Spaniard: “When you have biceps like that of course you can hit a forehand like that”. “He’s still pretty much in the fall beating the players he should beat”.

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Fifth seed Maria Sharapova, runner-up to Williams a year ago and champion in 2008, has a first-round tie against 58th-ranked Japanese Nao Hibino.

In some ways, Williams’ condition reflects the state of play in the upper ranks of the women’s game. Eugenie Bouchard plays Aleksandra Krunic.

“But I also said that I think I would be way more disappointed winning the Australian Open and missing the birth of the child”.

“She’d get it when she got mad in the second set”.