Four time tournament champion Novak Djokovic opens his bid for a fifth Australian Open Monday night against Lukas Lacko in the first round.

The Serb comes in as the hottest men’s player having won 24 straight matches. And he’s dominated at the Australian Open winning the last three years.

And this week marks his official debut with new coach Boris Becker. However with temps well into the 90s and even the 100s, …

Rafael Nadal has already taken a shot at the Australian Open management for what he feels is the unnecessary quickening of the courts. While Roger Federer found the courts to be paced “medium, if that”, and Novak Djokovic said Laver was the “same (speed) as last year”, Nadal says they are playing “faster conditions that I ever played here in Australia.”

The World No. 1 is coming off one …

Ahead of the start of his 2014 Grand Slam campaign, Roger Federer met the press at the Australian Open over the weekend.

Federer, who lost in the final to Lleyton Hewitt on the faster courts of Brisbane last week, remains upbeat and guarded on the slower courts in Melbourne.

The 32-year-old who won the tournament four times will be joined by new coach Stefan Edberg in the first round on Tuesday afternoon …

Big men captured the final two ATP events prior to the kick-off of the Australian as giants Juan Martin del Potro and John Isner swept to titles over the weekend.

Del Potro gave Bernard Tomic a likely preview of what it will be like facing world No. 1 Rafael Nadal next week in Melbourne, thumping the unseeded Australian 6-3, 6-1.

“I think Bernard was a little frustrated after seeing me very focused …

The oldest player to ever rank No. 1 is also the clear favorite starting Monday in Melbourne.

Thirty-two year old Serena Williams will start her 2014 Australian Open campaign against Aussie wildcard Ashleigh Barty in a top section of the draw that sees, if not some challenge, then certainly some colorful names.

Serena’s exit out of the top quarter into the semis would likely also go through No. 31 seed Daniela Hantuchova, …

The season’s first Grand Slam is upon us and the just-announced draw is a good one, if not unbelievably top heavy.

On the first page are no less than Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Andy Murray, JW Tsonga and Juan Martin Del Potro. Add in Australian heroes Lleyton Hewitt and Bernard Tomic plus rising stars Milos Raonic and Grigor Dimitrov and you have quite a powder keg — did I mention Tomic …

The Australian Open draw is still about 30 hours away from being released (Thursday night 8pm ET), but it’s never too early to start thinking about who might be left standing on the men’s side in Melbourne at the end of the month.

My pre-draw favorites haven’t changed much after the first week. Here they are:

1. Novak Djokovic: Winner of his last 24 matches and the 3-time defending champion is my …

“Ladies and gentlemen. Would you please welcome, to his own arena, Mr. Rod Laver.”

And so began a fun-filled light-hearted night of charity featuring Rod Laver, Roger Federer, Lleyton Hewitt, Patrick Rafter and Jo-Wilfied Tsonga.

The event in total raised over $1 million toward the Roger Federer Foundation.

“What a pleasure to play any match here, in particular a match for a good cause,” said Federer. “I played some of the biggest matches …

One week into the new season and not much has changed from last year when we saw Rafael Nadal rebound from crippling knee injury to paint one of his best seasons while his fellow GOAT running mate Roger Federer was left reeling from a string a poor losses and an ailing back.

This past week as we officially opened 2014, that trend continued. Nadal, not at his dominant best, still toughed …

Caroline Wozniacki talked to Darren Walton of the Age about getting engaged to longtime boyfriend Rory McIlroy.

“He had asked my parents for permission, like traditional, which was great,” Wozniacki said Monday after a first round win over Julia Goerges in Sydney.

“Yeah, I was very happy. They were very happy for me, and his parents as well and everyone around us.

“So it’s a special moment, a special time in …

As we start another tennis season, one man still missing from the circuit is Robin Soderling. The Swede who is still the only player to beat Rafael Nadal at the French Open, remains sidelined battling mono.

The 29-year-old hasn’t played since his Bastad title in 2011, but he seems to be keeping busy away from the tennis courts. Over the weekend he tweeted out a photo hinting that …

After winning his first title in Doha Saturday, Rafael Nadal turned his focus to the upcoming Australian Open revealing what he likes about playing the Grand Slam tournament in Melbourne.

“I personally like if it’s hot,” Nadal said following a three set win over Gael Monfils. “Well, if it’s crazy hot, you know, for everybody is tough. Normally when the conditions are warm, the bounces on the ball are higher. The …

Despite a tough loss to Lleyton Hewitt over the weekend in the Brisbane final, Roger Federer remains upbeat heading into the Australian Open.

“I’m very hungry and eager to attack,” Federer said.

“I think I can play very well. Depends on how I play more than anything right now. Just need to make sure I‑‑ I think I was able to sort of serve better overall, more consistent this week than …

Lleyton Hewitt and Stan Wawrinka started their 2014 seasons on the right foot with wins respectively at Brisbane and Chennai on Sunday during the first week of play on the ATP World Tour.

The unseeded Hewitt toppled long-time rival and friend Roger Federer in the Brisbane International final, outlasting the top-seeded Swiss 6-1, 4-6, 6-3.

“I played great obviously at the start, really well,” Hewitt said. “It took Roger a little bit …

APIA INTERNATIONAL SYDNEY
Sydney, Australia
Surface: hard

Men’s Seeds: Juan Martin Del Potro, Jerzy Janowicz, Andreas Seppi, Dmitry Tursunov, Vasek “Popsicle” Pospisil, Julien Benneteau, Marin Cilic, Marcel Granollers

Men’s Floaters: Nicolas Mahut, Radek Stepanek, Sam Querrey, Bernard Tomic

Men’s Notes: Tomic, who beat Kevin Anderson in last year’s final, is not seeded…Seeds Janowicz, Popsicle and Cilic make their debuts in Sydney…Pospisil strained his back last week in Chennai…(1) Del Potro starts after a bye against …