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AUSTRALIAN OPEN '20: Nadal, Djokovic, Federer still on top

Posted January 16, 2020 6:00 am

By HOWARD FENDRICH

FILE - In this Sept. 8, 2019, file photo, Rafael Nadal, of Spain, returns a shot to Daniil Medvedev, of Russia, during the men's singles final of the U.S. Open tennis championships in New York. Nadal will compete in the Australian Open tennis tournament beginning Monday, Jan. 20, 2020. (AP Photo/Sarah Stier, File) The Associated Press

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) - Men to watch at the Australian Open, where play begins Monday:

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RAFAEL NADAL

Seeded: 1

Country: Spain

Age: 33

2019 Match Record: 58-7

2019 Singles Titles: 4

Career Singles Titles: 84

Grand Slam Singles Titles: 19 - 1 at Australian Open (2009), 12 at French Open (2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019), 2 at Wimbledon (2008, 2010), 4 at U.S. Open (2010, 2013, 2017, 2019)

Last 5 Australian Opens: 2019-Runner-up, 2018-Lost in QF, 2017-RU, 2016-1st, 2015-QF

Australian Open Career Record: 61-13

Aces: Oldest man to finish a year ranked No. 1. ... Can become only the third man in tennis history with at least two titles at each Grand Slam tournament (Rod Laver, Roy Emerson).

Topspin: No reason to believe he couldn't win in Australia to equal Roger Federer's record of 20 Grand Slam singles titles.

Matchup to Watch For: Nick Kyrgios in the 4th Round

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NOVAK DJOKOVIC

Seeded: 2

Country: Serbia

Age: 32

2019 Match Record: 57-11

2019 Singles Titles: 5

Career Singles Titles: 77

Grand Slam Singles Titles: 16 - 7 at Australian Open (2008, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2019), 1 at French Open (2016), 5 at Wimbledon (2011, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2019), 3 at U.S. Open (2011, 2015, 2018)

Last 5 Australian Opens: 2019-Won Championship, 2018-4th, 2017-2nd, 2016-W, 2015-W

Australian Open Career Record: 68-8

Aces: First-round win would make him 6th man in Open era with 900 career victories (he is 899-187, a winning percentage of .828 ). ... Has won two majors in four of the past five seasons.

Topspin: His flawless final against Nadal a year ago -- and his seven titles in all at Melbourne Park -- mean he has to be considered the favorite.

Matchup to Watch For: Jan Lennard-Struff in the 1st Round

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ROGER FEDERER

Seeded: 3

Country: Switzerland

Age: 38

2019 Match Record: 53-10

2019 Singles Titles: 4

Career Singles Titles: 103

Grand Slam Singles Titles: 20 - 6 at Australian Open (2004, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2017, 2018), 1 at French Open (2009), 8 at Wimbledon (2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012, 2017), 5 at U.S. Open (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008)

Last 5 Australian Opens: 2019-4th, 2018-W, 2017-W, 2016-SF, 2015-3rd

Australian Open Career Record: 97-14

Aces: 21st Australian Open appearance breaks Lleyton Hewitt's record for most by a man. ... Also holds record for most tournament match wins.

Topspin: Acknowledged in recent interview with AP that he figures both Nadal and Djokovic will overtake his Grand Slam title mark.

Matchup to Watch For: Denis Shapovalov or Grigor Dimitrov in the 4th Round

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DANIIL MEDVEDEV

Seeded: 4

Country: Russia

Age: 23

2019 Match Record: 59-21

2019 Singles Titles: 4

Career Singles Titles: 7

Grand Slam Singles Titles: 0 - Best: RU, U.S. Open (2019)

Last 5 Australian Opens: 2019-4th, 2018-2nd, 2017-1st, 2016-Did Not Play, 2015-DNP

Australian Open Career Record: 4-3

Aces: Fifth consecutive major tournament in which his seeding has risen. ... Led the ATP in match wins and with nine finals reached last season.

Topspin: Has been superb on hard courts lately and appears to be on the verge of a major title.

Matchup to Watch For: Frances Tiafoe in the 1st Round

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DOMINIC THIEM

Seeded: 5

Country: Austria

Age: 26

2019 Match Record: 49-19

2019 Singles Titles: 5

Career Singles Titles: 16

Grand Slam Singles Titles: 0 - Best: RU, French Open (2018, 2019)

Last 5 Australian Opens: 2019-2nd, 2018-4th, 2017-4th, 2016-3rd, 2015-1st

Australian Open Career Record: 10-6

Aces: Only three career titles have come on hard courts; 10 on clay. ... Never reached a quarterfinal at Australian Open or Wimbledon.

Topspin: Might be time for him to assert himself on hard courts with a deep run at Melbourne Park.

Matchup to Watch For: Felix Auger-Aliassime in the 4th Round

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STEFANOS TSISIPAS

Seeded: 6

Country: Greece

Age: 21

2019 Match Record: 54-25

2019 Singles Titles: 3

Career Singles Titles: 4

Grand Slam Singles Titles: 0 - Best: SF, Australian Open (2019)

Last 5 Australian Opens: 2019-SF, 2018-1st, 2017-DNP, 2016-DNP, 2015-DNP

Australian Open Career Record: 5-2

Aces: Best run at a major came a year ago in Australia, where he beat Federer in the 4th Round en route to a semifinal loss to Nadal.

Topspin: If he can stay focused and channel all of his tremendous talent, could become the youngest Australian Open men's champ since Djokovic was 20 in 2008.

Matchup to Watch For: Milos Raonic in the 3rd Round

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MATTEO BERRETTINI

Seeded: 8

Country: Italy

Age: 23

2019 Match Record: 43-25

2019 Singles Titles: 2

Career Singles Titles: 3

Grand Slam Singles Titles: 0 - Best: SF, U.S. Open (2019)

Last 5 Australian Opens: 2019-1st, 2018-1st, 2017-DNP, 2016-DNP, 2015-DNP

Australian Open Career Record: 0-2

Aces: Made quite a career progression at the majors in 2019, going from a first-round exit in Australia, to second round at French Open, fourth round at Wimbledon, semifinal at U.S. Open.

Topspin: With his booming forehand, would be surprising if he doesn't at least pick up his first main-draw singles win at Melbourne Park -- if not much more.

Matchup to Watch For: Borna Coric or Sam Querrey in the 3rd Round

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NICK KYRGIOS

Seeded: 23

Country: Australia

Age: 24

2019 Match Record: 23-15

2019 Singles Titles: 2

Career Singles Titles: 6

Grand Slam Singles Titles: 0 - Best: QF, Australian Open ('15), Wimbledon ('14)

Last 5 Australian Opens: 2019-1st, 2018-4th, 2017-2nd, 2016-3rd, 2015-QF

Australian Open Career Record: 11-6

Aces: No Australian man has won the country's Grand Slam tournament since Mark Edmondson in 1976. ... Hasn't reached a major quarterfinal in five years.

Topspin: There's always something going on with Kyrgios - he is currently on ATP probation - but he's as talented and charismatic a player as there is in the sport.

Matchup to Watch For: Karen Khachanov in the 3rd Round

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Follow Howard Fendrich on Twitter at http://twitter.com/HowardFendrich

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More AP tennis coverage: https://www.apnews.com/apf-Tennis and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Defending men's singles champion Serbia's Novak Djokovic holds the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup during the official draw ceremony on Margaret Court Arena ahead of the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Thursday, Jan. 16, 2020. (AP Photo/Mark Baker) The Associated Press

FILE - In this Aug. 28, 2019, file photo, Roger Federer, of Switzerland, returns a shot to Damir Dzumhur, of Bosnia, during the second round of the US Open tennis championships in New York. Federer will be competing in the Australian Open tennis tournament beginning Monday, Jan. 20, 2020. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez, File) The Associated Press

FILE - In this Nov. 11, 2019, file photo, Daniil Medvedev, of Russia, plays a return to Stefanos Tsitsipas, of Greece, during their ATP World Tour Finals singles tennis match at the O2 Arena in London. Tsitsipas will compete in the Australian Open tennis tournament beginning Monday, Jan. 20, 2022. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) The Associated Press

FILE - In this Oct. 6, 2019, file photo, Dominic Thiem, of Austria, hits a return shot while competing against Stefanos Tsitsipas, of Greece, during the men's final at the China Open tennis tournament in Beijing. Thiem will be competing in the Australian Open tennis tournament beginning Monday, Jan. 20, 2020. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File) The Associated Press

FILE - In this Jan. 3, 2020, file photo, Stefanos Tsitsipas, of Greece, plays a shot during his match against Denis Shapovalov, of Canada, at the ATP Cup tennis tournament in Brisbane, Australia. Tsitsipas will be competing in the Australian Open tennis tournament beginning Monday, Jan. 20, 2020. (AP Photo/Tertius Pickard, File) The Associated Press

FILE - In this Sept. 23, 2019, file photo, Matteo Berrettini, of Italy, yells and pumps his fist after winning a point against Andrey Rublev, of Russia, during the fourth round of the U.S. Open tennis championships in New York. Berrettini will be competing in the Australian Open tennis tournament beginning Monday, Jan. 20, 2020. (AP Photo/Sarah Stier, File) The Associated Press

FILE - In this Aug. 2, 2019, file photo, Nick Kyrgios, of Australia, returns the ball to Norbert Gombos, of Slovakia, during the Citi Open tennis tournament in Washington. Kyrgios will be competing in the Australian Open tennis tournament beginning Monday, Jan. 20, 2020. (AP Photo/Nick Wass, File) The Associated Press

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