Australian Open: The favourites, the record prize money and the schedule of the first Grand Slam

The time has come for the first Grand Slam of the year. From January 16th to 29th of the same month, all eyes will be on the Australian Open.

Of course, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Maria Sakkari are also there. The Greek duo will try to go as far as possible with enough chances in the tournament.

Of course, it is difficult to predict this in a Grand Slam and we will try to present you with the available data.

The data for Sakkari and Tsitsipas

Of course, we couldn’t help but start with the Greek duo. Sakkari and Tsitsipas enter the tournament and show that they are in good form.

The draw is theoretically more difficult for Maria Sakkari as it puts challenges in her way early on. Of course, to go far in a Grand Slam you have to win big.

Much will be judged by the condition of their serve. If it is stable and avoids slight errors, data can go far.

Her first goal will be to reach the quarterfinals, something she never did in the first Grand Slam of the year as her best runs were through the fourth round, where she stopped last year.

Let’s also go to Stefanos Tsitsipas. In the United Cup he showed that he is in excellent shape. He’s one of the favorites for many and he has yet to prove it on the pitch.

Allis and Hijikata are expected to be low hurdles for him and the first major test will come in the third round against Van de Zandschulp. From then on, he will logically face one of Sinner and Musetti in the fourth round, Aliasim in the quarterfinals and Nadal in the semifinals.

A demanding path that requires attention for Tsitsipas to defend his excellent last year’s course, which finished in the top four.

Of course, the Greek duo will not be alone in the battles they will fight, as Greek audiences will once again have a dynamic presence on the platform. Something that helped both Sakkaris and Tsitsipas.

Favorites among women and men

Let’s see what we expect in general at the Australian Open. We start with the women, where last year’s winner Ash Barty is no longer on the courts. Iga Sfiodek competes in another Grand Slam and is called upon to defend the title of favourite.

Her best course, of course, was last year when she reached the semifinals. So in the first phase he has to qualify for the finals from a challenging board.

From there, there’s a whole list of athletes who can make a big run in the first Grand Slam of the year, and we expect them to show that on court.

We will keep a group of five athletes that we believe can go far consisting of Sambalenka, Pegula, Zambe, Goff and Rybakina.

Now let’s get to the men. Regardless of the situation they find themselves in, if one board has the names of Djokovic and Nadal at the same time, the title of favorite goes to them.

Nole in particular, as he gets through the injury issue that seems to be plaguing him, looks in great shape and is capable of going the distance.

At the same time, Alkarath’s absence deprives the new generation of tennis of one of their best representatives, but there are many who can stand in the way of the two tennis legends.

Besides Tsitsipas, who we mentioned above, there are others like Taylor Fritz, Cameron Norrie, Casper Rude, Felix Ozer – Aliasim and of course the Rublev and Medvedev duo.

The prize money record and the points

Aside from the grand trophy, all athletes taking part in the Australian Open battle claim the cash prizes offered by the organizers and of course the points.

Let’s start with the prize money. In total, the organizers distributed around 49 million euros to the athletes who will compete in the first Grand Slam of the year.

This is also the largest amount they’ve ever given, with a year-over-year increase of just over 3%. Of course, the two winners in the men’s and women’s singles get the most money, bringing around 1.8 million euros to their account.

In the back of the participants’ minds will of course also be the points that they can get. Especially for the men whose world No. 1 ranking is open.

Winners will each receive 2,000 points and it’s widely expected that we’ll have major reshuffles in the top 10 for both men and women.

The Australian Open schedule

Somehow all tennis fans’ eyes will be on Australia for the next two weeks. The beginning of the main table takes place in the early morning hours of Monday (01/16) and lasts until Sunday morning (01/29).

In the special part of Sportish you can see the entire television program with Eurosport transmissions every day, while Matchcenter broadcasts all games live.