Australian Open 2014: Experts' picks for the men's draw
The tennis experts of Sportskeeda look ahead at the 2014 Australian Open by making picks for the men’s draw in four categories: dark horse, early exit, dangerous floater, and champion.
1. Dark horse
Stanislas Wawrinka
Abhishek Desikan: Juan Martin del Potro had a strong and consistent season last year, and is fully recovered from his wrist injury. The Argentine certainly has what it takes to challenge the best at their best, so I’d watch out for him.
Adnan Akhtar: After a career-best 2013 and a title in Chennai last week, Stanislas Wawrinka would be my pick as the dark horse at the Australian Open. A rematch with Djokovic is on the cards if the draw pans out as expected. But two-time lucky Djokovic may not have a third-time escape against the already growing-in-confidence Swiss player.
Avantika Tikmany: The 8th-seeded Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka had a terrific season in 2013 and is in red-hot form. If he manages to put up a splendid show against Djokovic yet again this year, a spot in the final isn’t out of his reach.
BallnRacquet: Stanislas Wawrinka, fresh from winning a title at Chennai and a career best season, is surely a dark horse at this year’s Australian Open. He almost upset Djokovic in a midnight thriller last year. He is drawn to face the Serb once again this year – at the quarterfinals stage, a round better than last year’s. Though not a certainty, he could stretch the Serb like he did last year, or he could also do better.
Musab Abid: Last year at the Australian Open, Jerzy Janowicz produced a meltdown for the ages in his match against Somdev Devvarman. I’m guessing he’ll be eager to replace that memory with a more positive, winning one. And he’s in David Ferrer‘s quarter, so watch out.
Roh: After having hired a new coach – in a surprising move – and having changed his racquet to a bigger frame, Roger Federer made it to the Brisbane finals. Though he has a difficult draw, Federer still remains a dark horse to possibly win his fifth Australian Open singles title.
Varun Jog: There’s a big question on everyone’s mind: will Stanislas Wawrinka build on his career year last year, or will he find it too difficult to produce the same kind of consistency this year? I’m leaning towards the former, especially if his Chennai Open performance is anything to go by. Wawrinka has a decent draw till the quarters, where he will probably face Djokovic. We all know what happened last year, and if Wawrinka can produce the same level of play and perhaps be a bit tougher mentally, who knows what could happen.