By Rohith Nair
Jan 13 (Reuters) - The Australian Open may crown Jannik Sinner champion for a third straight year or hand Carlos Alcaraz a career Grand Slam, but lurking in the shadows are a handful of players grappling with harsh truths about their title chances at Melbourne Park.
Novak Djokovic's quest for a record-extending 11th Australian Open title appears a long shot, with the Serb still searching for one more major title that would establish him as the most successful Grand Slam champion of all
time.
At 38, Djokovic is in the twilight of his career and has had to watch Sinner and Alcaraz gobble up the Grand Slam titles between them for the last two years.
While Djokovic's glory days may be behind him, they never quite arrived for Alexander Zverev.
Third in the ATP rankings, the German was long touted as the one to interrupt the domination of the 'Big Three' but at 28 he has yet to get his hands on a Grand Slam trophy.
Zverev said he was proud to finish 2025 as world number three but in terms of points he sits closer to 100th in the rankings than to Alcaraz or Sinner.
The chasm between the top two and the rest of the field makes third place seem more like a consolation prize than a launch pad.
The German reached last year's Melbourne final only to be humbled by Sinner in straight sets, and the only trophy to come his way last year was on home soil at the Bavarian Championships.
Rather than soul-searching to find the answers to his problems, however, Zverev has pointed the finger elsewhere, blaming ball quality, defensive opponents and even suggesting courts are tailor-made for Alcaraz and Sinner.
PLAYED HORRIBLE
Daniil Medvedev, on the other hand, has chosen a different path, one of brutal self-reflection.
The Russian managed just two finals last year and finds himself outside the top 10 heading into Melbourne -- a far cry from his former world number one status.
After changing coaches last year, he ended an 882-day wait for a title by winning the Almaty Open in Kazakhstan last year.
Medvedev, who has lost three finals at Melbourne Park including a five-set heartbreaker against Sinner in 2024, has shown some early season promise by winning the Brisbane International.
"I will be honest, when I was top three, top four, I was for sure thinking a lot (about) what to do with Carlos and Jannik, where I can improve," Medvedev said.
"Then I never played them last year because I played horrible. I never got to the rounds to play them. So this pre-season, I didn't think at all about them.
"I was, like, 'Okay, how do I get back to the level I can play to first of all beating the other guys and then maybe if I get to play them'. I will talk to my new team and we see what we can do."
Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime showed improvement on hard courts towards the end of 2025, reaching the Masters final in Paris as well as the semis at the season-ending ATP Finals, and could be in the reckoning at Melbourne Park.
Another possible contender is Hubert Hurkacz, who returned from a seven-month injury layoff to win a trophy in his first event, helping Poland beat Switzerland in the United Cup final.
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
