Only two days to go to the first Slam of the season! Who do you think will win? Check out her Australian Open 2017 preview:

Men’s draw:

Contenders:

Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic are once again the big favorites for the title.
5-time Australian Open finalist Andy Murray, who begins his campaign on Monday against 93-ranked Ilya Marchenko, has a quite easy route to the quarterfinals where he could meet Kei Nishikori or Roger Federer.
Novak Djokovic will launch his bid for a record seventh Australian Open title with a challenging first round match against Fernando Verdasco, who missed 5 match points against the Serb in Doha last week. Grigor Dimitrov could wait in the fourth round, before a clash against Dominic Thiem in the quarters.
The only two other players who could, in my opinion, capture the title this year are Stan Wawrinka and Milos Raonic. Unpredictable on the ATP tour, Wawrinka is always consistent come Grand Slam time; while Raonic has improved a lot in the last year and is not a one-weapon only player anymore.

Players to watch:

Rafael Nadal struggled to get back to form since his injury, but had a decent start of the season with a win at the Abu Dhabi exhibition and a quarterfinal in Brisbane. He could face Alexander Zverev in the third round, Gaël Monfils in the fourth round and Milos Raonic in the quarterfinals.

Roger Federer will play for the first time since last year’s Wimbledon. Seeded 17, he has not won a Slam title since Wimbledon 2012. He could face Tomas Berdych in the third round, and then Kei Nishikori and Andy Murray.

Projected quarterfinals:

Andy Murray [1] – Kei Nishikori [5]
Stan Wawrinka [4] – Marin Cilic [7]
Gaël Monfils [6] – Milos Raonic [3]
Dominic Thiem [8] – Novak Djokovic [2]

First round matches to watch:

Nicolas Almagro – Jérémy Chardy
Jerzy Janowicz – Marin Cilic [7]
Dustin Brown – Milos Raonic [3]
Tommy Haas – Benoît Paire
Fabio Fognini – Feliciano Lopez [28]
Fernando Verdasco – Novak Djokovic [2]

Click here for the full men’s draw

Women’s draw:

Contenders:

Unlike the men’s draw, there is no clear favorite in the women’s draw, and it seems anything could happen.
Angelique Kerber had a dream season last year, with two Grand Slam titles and the world number one spot. She opens up her title defence with a match-up against Lesia Tsurenko and could play reigning Roland Garros champion Garbine Muguruza in the quarterfinals.
Serena Williams, who suffered a shock defeat to Madison Brengle in Auckland last week, will be chasing Grand Slam title number 23. Like Novak Djokovic, she will face a tough test in the first round: former world number 7 Belinda Becic.
The ever consitent Agnieszka Radwanska could finally win her maiden Slam title, while Karolina Pliskova and Garbine Muguruza will be looking to confirm their stand-out 2016 season.

Players to watch:

Finalist here in 2014, Dominika Cibulkova claimed her biggest title last October: the WTA Finals. She will look to pick up where she left off last year.

A surprising semifinalist last year, Johanna Konta reached the top ten since then, and won Sydney title, dismantling Radwanska in the final. She could do some damage in the draw.

Like Cibulkova, Svetlana Kuznetsova finished 2016 in great form. On a good day, she can beat anyone.

First round matches to watch:

Louisa Chiricio – Eugenie Bouchard
Mona Barthel – Destanee Aiava
Laura Siegemund [26] – Jelena Jankovic
Ana Konjuh – Kristina Mladenovic
Heather Watson – Sam Stosur [18]
Tsvetana Pironkova – Agnieszka Radwanska [3]
Kirsten Flipkens – Johanna Konta [9]
Yanina Wickmayer – Lucie Safarova
Belinda Bencic – Serena Williams [2]

Projected quarterfinals:

Angelique Kerber [1] – Garbine Muguruza [7]
Simona Halep [4] – Svetlana Kuznetsova [8]
Karolina Pliskova [5] – Agnieszka Radwanska [3]
Dominika Cibulkova [6] – Serena Williams [2]

Click here for the full women’s draw

Photo credit: Australian Open instagram

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A trip down memory lane:

Australian Open trivia
The tragedy of Daphne Akhurst
The Norman Brookes Challenge Cup
1960 Australian Open: Neale Feaser, a costly volley
1960: first Grand Slam title for Rod Laver
1960-63 Australian Open: Jan Lehane four time runner-up
1974 Australian Open: Jimmy Connors first Grand Slam title
1975: John Newcombe defeats Jimmy Connors
1981: First Australian Open title for Martina Navratilova
1983: Mats Wilander defeats Ivan Lendl
1984: Mats Wilander defeats Kevin Curren
1985: Edberg wins in Australia and Sweden changes look
1987-1988 Swedes spoil the party
1987: Stefan Edberg defeats Pat Cash
January 11, 1988: first day of play at Flinders Park
1988: Mats Wilander defeats Pat Cash
1990: John McEnroe disqualified!
1990: Ivan Lendl’s last Grand Slam title
1991: Monica Seles first Australian Open title
1994: First Australian Open title for Pete Sampras
1995: Mary Pierce defeats Arantxa Sanchez Vicario
1995 QF: Pete Sampras emotional comeback win over Jim Courier
Centre Court floods at the 1995 Australian Open
1995: Andre Agassi defeats Pete Sampras, wins first Australian Open title
1996 Australian Open: Mark Philippoussis defeats Pete Sampras in the 3rd round
Impressions from the 1996 Australian Open: Monica Seles and Boris Becker last Grand Slam titles, Stefan Edberg last appearance in Australia
1997 Australian Open: Pete Sampras defeats Carlos Moya
2001 Australian Open: Pat’s last chance
2001 Australian Open final: Andre Agassi defeats Arnaud Clément
2002: Capriati scripts a stunning sequel in Australia
2003 Australian Open: last Grand Slam title for Agassi
2009 Australian Open: Rafael Nadal defeats Roger Federer

Recap and preview:

Fashion and gear:

Polls:

An upset and a new queen.

Karolina Pliskova played brilliantly to defeat 22-times Grand Slam champion Serena Williams in straight sets 6-2 7-6. That means Angelique Kerber (who defeated Caroline Wozniacki in the second semifinal) will replace Serena as the new number 1 in the WTA rankings on Monday. She will be the first German to top the rankings since Steffi Graf back in 1997.

Relive the semifinals through Brian’s tweets:

Photo credit: Porsche AG

Follow our 2016 US Open coverage.

First test for Serena Williams in this US Open and she had to fight hard and survived Simona Halep‘s comeback to qualify for the semifinals 6-2 4-6 6-3. She will face big server Karolina Pliskova.

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With her 6-2 6-1 third-round win over Johanna Larsson on Saturday, Serena Williams registered her 307th victory in Grand Slams, surpassing Martina Navratilova. Serena will face Yaroslava Shvedova today (third match on Arthur Ashe Stadium).

A few pictures from the match:

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