The Australian Open basically serves two primary purposes: Entertain us and set the table for the rest of the tennis season.
Following a delightful two-week run that saw Aryna Sabalenka‘s first Slam title, plus some shocking mid-tournament plot twists, early-tournament Andy Murray heroics, strong showings from American males and — oh yeah, Novak Djokovic‘s 22nd Slam title — we can say that the tournament officially accomplished the former.
Now let’s do the latter. It’s time to lay out who looks the best and who’s most likely to make runs at future Slams.
Here’s what to expect, and what to follow, from the tennis months ahead.
The 10 best men’s players in the world at the moment
We know that ATP and WTA rankings — and the tournament seeds that are derived from them — are not necessarily predictive power rankings, and that was never more clear than in Australia, where the top seed on the men’s side went to Rafael Nadal, who entered the tournament having lost six of his past seven matches while battling injury. The second seed went to Casper Ruud, who entered having lost eight of 13. They both exited in the second round, while Djokovic, the No. 4 seed but obvious betting favorite, rolled to the title.
To determine the actual best players in the world at the…
