MELBOURNE: Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer begin their quest for five Australian Open titles while Serena Williams is chasing her 19th Grand Slam crown in the year’s first Grand Slam starting from Monday.

World number one Djokovic looms as the player to beat in the men’s draw having won four of the last seven Australian editions. The 27-year-old who became a new father in October arrived in Australia feeling ill and cancelled a practice session on Saturday, raising concerns about his fitness.

But on Sunday he was back on the court for a training session, hitting hard and moving well around the court, and said he was feeling better.

Patchy Serena still favourite in women’s draw

“I had a tough couple of days. But it’s all behind me now. I’m ready for the Open,” he said, adding he’d picked up a virus in the Middle East where he played matches recently in Abu Dhabi and Doha, Qatar.

“[It was] a little bit of flu and stomach,” Djokovic, who is scheduled to play his first-round match on Tuesday against Slovenian qualifier Aljaz Bedene, said. “But now it’s good, it’s passed.”

Adding to Djokovic’s chances are a kind draw and fitness doubts over his biggest threats. With Federer, Andy Murray and Rafa Nadal bunched on the other side of the draw, only one could meet the Wimbledon champion in the final.

While Djokovic has never lost a final in Melbourne, Federer will be again be the sentimental favourite at 33 years old, pursuing his 18th major title having not won one since Wimbledon 2012.

“I would hope that over the years I’ve always improved. I think I’m serving more consistent and stronger than I ever have,” Federer said.

Barring his record ninth French Open trophy, Nadal had a tough 2014. Having lost to Stan Wawrinka in the Melbourne Park final when battling a back injury, the second half of his year was wiped out by a wrist problem and appendicitis.

The Spaniard’s new campaign got off to a miserable start at the Qatar Open last week where he was dumped from the first round by German journeyman Michael Berrer.

Murray has lost three finals in Melbourne and will have to get past Federer and Nadal to make his fourth.

As the tennis season gets underway, the big topic of conversation is whether the ‘Old Guard’ of champions will continue to dominate — Federer, Nadal and Djokovic — who have shared most of the Grand Slam trophies of the past decade or if the new generation of occasional winners will make more headway.

Wawrinka, who for years was known as “the other Swiss star,” won the Australian Open last year but doesn’t want to dwell on that.

“I have a lot of memories. They’re incredible memories,” Wawrinka said on Sunday. “But it’s 2015, we’re all starting from zero. Everyone wants to win.”

Although the 29-year-old failed to reach his Australian heights at the other three Grand Slams, the fourth seed is peaking at the right time.

Sharing in a morale-boosting Davis Cup win with Federer at the end of the year, Wawrinka also won at Chennai in the lead-up and is on collision course for a mouth-watering semi-final against Djokovic.

To get there he may need to overcome Japanese trailblazer Kei Nishikori, who became the first man from an Asian country to contest a Grand Slam singles final at the US Open.

Like 10th seed Grigor Dimitrov and eighth seed Milos Raonic, the clean-hitting Nishikori, who stunned Djokovic in the Flushing Meadows semi-finals, is considered among the brightest hopes to rock the establishment.

World number one Serena is tied with Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova with 18 Grand Slams behind all-time leader Margaret Court (24) but hasn’t won in Australia since 2010.

Serena’s Australian Open preparations included smashing a racquet in frustration, complaining of fatigue and losing to players she had never lost to before, yet she is still the favourite to claim her sixth title at Melbourne Park.

The 33-year-old had a terrible build-up while playing in the Hopman Cup in Perth, losing to Eugenie Bouchard and Agnieszka Radwanska for the first time.

“I’m never really happy about my practice or preparation,” the top-seeded Serena said on Saturday. “So maybe that’s a good sign. I definitely feel better now than I did a couple weeks ago. But every day I can see something coming through.”

Adding spice to the women’s side of the draw is that the top four seeds — Serena, Maria Sharapova, Simona Halep and Petra Kvitova — all have the chance to end the tournament as world number one.

Sharapova won the Brisbane International in her preparations for the Australian Open, Czech Kvitova won the final of the Sydney International on Friday while world number three Halep and Canada’s Bouchard are keen to make the step up after reaching Grand Slam finals last year.

China’s Li Na won the women’s crown last year, battling past surprise package Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia, but has since retired.

Published in Dawn, January 19th, 2015

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