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It’s been one of the most unusual build-ups to a Grand Slam tennis tournament in recent memory. As men’s and women’s players converged in Melbourne to compete for the first major of 2021, 72 of them had to endure a hard 14-day quarantine locked in hotel rooms because of positive COVID-19 cases on flights, throwing their training blocks in disarray.

Tennis Australia was forced to adjust schedules, create brand new events, manage a positive test of an on-site hotel employee late in the week with a rampant testing of 600 players and staff, and voila! We are ready for a tournament.

Let’s embrace it then, shall we?

Here are the top storylines to watch at the 2021 Australian Open.

Bianca is Back (For real this time)

It’s been 464 days since Canadian Bianca Andreescu played a professional tennis match. To put that into perspective, it’s been 326 days since lockdowns were announced in Canada due to COVID-19.

The last time tennis fans got to see Andresscu, she was competing in the 2019 WTA Finals from Beijing, where she was forced to pull out mid-match against Karolina Pliskova with a knee injury, later revealed to be a meniscus tear. After months of rehab and training, she had another injury setback to the foot, derailing her planned 2020 return.

Fast forward to Melbourne, Andreescu had another withdrawal, pulling out of the Grampians Trophy lead-up event.

She insists that’s simply a precautionary move ahead of the Australian Open.

“It was mainly because I had two weeks of not training and I didn’t want to take the risk of having just a couple of days preparation,” she said in her pre-tournament press conference.

A reason to be optimistic is Andreescu’s knack for playing great tennis coming off injury.

She won the Rogers Cup in Toronto in 2019 after a two-month absence from the tour, then two weeks later became the first Canadian singles grand champion in the country’s history, capturing the U.S. Open.

Put it simply, Andreescu is a gamer. Enter competition mode and she’s one of the toughest outs in women’s tennis. Her forehand is the most dangerous shot on the tour, her variety and craft can flummox opponents regularly, and her serve is an underrated asset that can deliver in clutch moments.

She also has a navigable draw, which opens Sunday night against veteran Mihaela Buzarnescu.
There’s no need to temper expectations. Bianca won’t be doing so.

Nadal can grab the Grand Slam record

Rafael Nadal almost quietly tied Roger Federer’s Grand Slam mark of 20 last season, bulldozing seven opponents at Roland Garros en route to an insane 13th French Open title.

All Novak Djokovic could do was praise the King of Clay after he succumbed to a 6-0, 6-2, 7-5 battering in the final.

Now the Spaniard is one major title away from eclipsing Roger Federer on the Grand Slam count, with many opportunities in wait.

The Australian Open, however, has been historically his worst slam. He captured his lone title Down Under in 2009 but has since lost in the finals of Melbourne four times (2012, 2014, 2017 and 2019).
The new crop of stars will pose a major challenge for Nadal and his chances. Waiting in the bottom half of his draw is Daniil Medvedev, who finished 2020 capturing the Paris Masters and ATP Finals back-to-back. A matchup with Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece could also loom in the quarters.

Nadal will need to find that perfect, er, game face to be ready for the challenge.

Rafa Nadal doesn't even need to play tennis to be a highlight reel #ATPCup @RafaelNadal pic.twitter.com/glqynjaZHM

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) February 2, 2021

The women’s world No. 1 returns

It may sound odd to many tennis fans that the women’s world No. 1 is Ashleigh Barty. I don’t mean that as a slight to the 24-year-old Australian, it’s simply unusual that a world No. 1 can hold her position after missing competition for 11 months.

Such is our pandemic world.

The 2019 French Open champion hasn’t played since the Qatar Open back in late February 2020, opting to skip the tour’s return from COVID-19 last year for precautionary reasons.

Barty has looked sharp on court, winning three matches at the Yara Valley Classic, and her beautiful feel for the game certainly makes her a contender.

She’ll look to become the first Aussie born woman to capture the major since Christine O’Neil won it back in 1978.

Osaka + hard courts = victories

Naomi Osaka’s stardom has materialized and grown rapidly these past two seasons, as she continues to establish herself as one of the best players in the world.

She’s now captured three Grand Slam titles, with her most recent triumph at the U.S. Open, a seven-match statement as she donned a different mask at each stop that bore the names of victims of individuals killed at the hands of police.

As Osaka has amplified her voice off court to speak out against injustice, she’s remained a dominant force between the lines, particularly when competing on hard-court surfaces.

She’s 14-3 over the last calendar year on hard court, winning 28 of 35 sets she’s played. Through her career, she’s 116-54 on the surface, often using her aggressive power baseline game to dictate play.

She’s seeded third in Melbourne, and lies in the same quarter as Andreescu, Petra Kvitova, Garbine Muguruza and Angelique Kerber.

Round 1 danger looms for Canadians

“Luck of the draw” is an apt expression to describe the life of a tennis player.

To have success in the sport, you can only beat who is in front of you, but one could surmise that it’s rather aggravating to begin a tournament against a formidable opponent.

Such is life here in Melbourne for Canadians Denis Shapovalov, Vasek Pospisil and Leylah Fernandez.
Shapovalov, Canada’s highest ranked player, opens his Australian Open campaign against young Italian phenom Jannik Sinner in a blockbuster of a first-round match.

At age 19, Sinner became the youngest ATP title winner since 2008, capturing the Sofia Open at the tail end of last season. He also reached the French Open quarterfinals last year, won the Next Gen Finals in 2019, and has three career wins against top-10 players.

Shapovalov will have his hands full and is also looking to snap a six-match losing skid. He did have two tight losses to Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev in the ATP Cup lead-up event, so should be prepared.

Vasek Pospisil, who was named ATP Comeback Player of the Year in 2020, has yet to compete in 2021 and lines up against 4th seed Daniil Medvedev.

It’s an extremely tall order for Pospisil, though he does have one career win over Medvedev.
Felix Auger Aliassime, the 20th seed, was spared some reprieve by the draw gods, getting Cedrik-Marcel Stebe of Germany in his first match.

On the women’s side, rising star Leylah Fernandez begins her campaign in Melbourne against 18th seed Elise Mertens.

Fernandez is still just 18 years old but has enjoyed a rapid ascent up the WTA rankings, and is ranked inside the top 90.

Novak looks to feast at his stomping grounds

World No. 1 Djokovic will be gunning for a record ninth major in Australia and enters as defending champion.

If there were any questions surrounding his form, he more than answered the call with two quality singles wins at the ATP Cup.

The passion and fire in his game were on display in a 7-5, 7-5 win over Denis Shapovalov.

An unfeasible return, a brilliant backhand from way deep…

Only @DjokerNole wins sets like this! He takes the first v Shapovalov in STYLE pic.twitter.com/yGbUwDunrk

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) February 2, 2021

A handful of names will do their best to foil the champion over the next two weeks in Melbourne. 2020 U.S. Open champion Dominic Thiem is a possible semifinal encounter, while Canadian veteran Milos Raonic could loom in the round of 16.