Novak Djokovic’s highly anticipated singles return to The Drive, the sight of his third tour title 16 years ago, headlines a stacked schedule of Grand Slam champions on Day 3 of the Adelaide International.
Prior to his 21 major trophy haul, the then 19-year-old Serbian denied Chris Guccione in the 2007 Adelaide final before his breakthrough triumph over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at the Australian Open a year later.
On Tuesday, in his first singles outing on Australian soil since lifting his ninth Norman Brookes Challenge Cup at Melbourne Park in 2021, he opens against Tsonga’s fellow Frenchman, Constant Lestienne.
Djokovic drew huge crowds to the smaller confines of Court 1 on Monday in a doubles loss alongside Vasek Pospisil.
Despite the defeat, it was a handy lead-up for the 35-year-old ahead of a showdown with Lestienne, a 65th-ranked journeyman more accustomed to the Challenger tour, having scooped four titles at that level last year.
Despite missing the two hard-court majors in 2022, top seed Djokovic landed the trophy in four of his past five tour-level events with a seventh Wimbledon crown the highlight.
He was in no doubt he still had what it took against the likes of the next brigade, including new world No.1 Carlos Alcaraz.
“I always have faith in myself and belief that I can win every tournament that I play on. I think with the career that I’ve had, I feel like I deserve to have that kind of I guess mental approach,” he said.
“Things are obviously different. Lots of young guys on the tour, kind of shift of generations. But (Rafael) Nadal and myself, still going strong from the older guys… I think we have some great athletes, some great players that are going to carry this game on both men and women’s side in best possible way.
“I know what I need to do in order to compete with them, in order to be one of the contenders for the title here and in Melbourne.”
A decade since defending her Australian Open crown, Victoria Azarenka opens her 2023 season against Ukrainian qualifier Anhelina Kalinina on Tuesday.
Azarenka took a set from now world No.1 Iga Swiatek in the quarter-finals in Adelaide last January, but will be wary of her 25-year-old opponent.
The 33-year-old former No.1 has never faced the world No.39.
While Azarenka ended her season with a run to the Guadalajara WTA 1000 semifinals in October, Kalinina in the time since has claimed 12 of her past 15 matches at all levels, including two rounds of qualifying.
Fellow former major champion, Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko, closes the night session on Day 3 in a heavy first-strike clash against former No.1 Karolina Pliskova.
Ostapenko, the 2017 Roland Garros winner, ended the season back inside the top 20 last year, but has not beaten the Czech in 2.5 years.
Pliskova leads the pair’s head-to-head ledger 5-3 and has twice triumphed on Australian soil in Brisbane.
The last player Djokovic defeated Down Under, Daniil Medvedev, makes his Adelaide International singles debut on Tuesday when he squares off against Italian world No.45 Lorenzo Sonego for the first time.
The former No.1 who avenged his five-set Australian Open final defeat to the Serbian in the US Open final later in 2021, arrives having lost his final four matches of 2022.
A harrowing five-set loss from two sets up against Rafael Nadal in the final at Melbourne Park last February only fuelled the 26-year-old.
“The thing about life and tennis is that you have to get over it, try to learn from it because you cannot change the past,” Medvedev said.
“I had some tough moments in my career. When I say tough moments, tough losses. I know a lot of losses in a row, and I always managed to find a way back, so I’m sure I’m going to find the way back to even higher level than I was playing maybe last year.”
Three-time major champion Andy Murray faces a tough ask in his tournament opener against American Sebastian Korda.
Both players reached two finals last season but were unable to grasp the silverware. The 33rd-ranked Korda claimed the honours in their only meeting en route to a runner-up showing at the Gijon Open.