Australian Open outlook

The men:

Nishikori is out – wrist injury

Murray is out – hip injury

Wawrinka - will play but is recovering from knee surgery

Djokovic – will play but has an elbow injury that may require surgery

Nadal – questionable due to right knee injury

With this list of maladies, the draw is far more open than usual, as was the case late last year.

Players to watch are:

Roger Federer – the defending champ who has looked pretty fit in warmup season.

Sasha Zverev  Lost to Federer at the Hopman cup, but that is an exhibition.  He looked strong though, with an improved serve.

Grigor Dimitrov.  Lost to Nick Kyrgios in the Brisbane final but played outstanding tennis, a continuation of his strong play late last year.

Nick Kyrgios.  Remained fairly calm on his way to winning in Brisbane, and displayed his awesome talents convincingly.  He is playing at home as well.  His problem: he is prone to aberrant, self-defeating behavior when the pressure is on, and he may feel exceptional pressure deep in a major with home fans watching.

Also keep an eye on:

Dominic Thiem, who plays well in the early months every year.

Juan Martin del Potro.  Lost in the final in Auckland to Bautista Agut, but has top 5 ability and has played very well for several months.

My top 3:  Federer, Dimitrov, Kyrgios

The women:

Serena Williams – out recovering from delivery of her baby.

Victoria Azarenka - out due to custody suit involving her baby.

The remaining draw is quite interesting, with many players having a chance to win.  Simona Halep is number 1 in the world and this could be her breakthrough.  Angie Kerber is playing strong tennis again after a dismal 2017.  She won the Sydney warmup, beating Venus Williams, Cibulkova, Safarova and Giorgi on the way to the title.   Garbine Muguruza has had injury issues early this year, but her compelling talents can’t be overlooked.  Sloane Stephens has proven that she can win a major.  Consistency is her issue.  Wozniaki has steadily improved over the past half year, and is indefatigable, which could be a factor in the Melbourne summer heat.  Karolina Pliskova has the weapons, and Venus Williams continues to play some of the best tennis of her career.  Other powerful players include Madison Keys, Coco Vandeweigh and Jelena Ostapenko, who won the French last year.  In sum, this is an open draw with a lot of intriguing matchups to look forward to.

Also keep an eye on:

Maria Sharapova.  Back from suspension, a bit rusty, but the consummate competitor and multiple grand slam champ.

Petra Kvitova.  Definitely has the game.  Her health will be watched closely despite her apparent recovery from a knife attack that put her off the tour for the first half of 2017.

My top 3:  Halep, Kerber, Wozniaki