BARBARA SCHETT PREVIEWS THE 2023 AUSTRALIAN OPEN

What are you expecting from this year’s Australian Open?
A Grand Slam tournament is always something very special. I think the excitement goes up with the fans with the players, they want to show their best tennis, especially at the Australian Open as it is the first Grand Slam of the year - it's the “happy Slam” and everybody is excited. I'm expecting some big matches. I'm expecting potentially a 22nd Grand Slam title from Novak Djokovic because I think he's very keen. And I’m really, really looking forward to it.

How do you think Novak Djokovic will be received by the public in Melbourne?
Well, that's the question because in Adelaide where he won the title, he was received extremely well, there were standing ovations, there was a lot of applauding so he had a really good time. The people in the crowd in Melbourne had a really tough time during COVID but I think people are looking at it completely differently. There's been lots of interviews here with Novak Djokovic, that he still insists that these two have the right had documentation. That's what he was asked to bring. And then he was deported but he doesn't hold any grudge for him. It was not easy to digest. But he is very excited when he stepped out on the court for his first practice on Rod Laver Arena. He kissed the ground. He was so happy to be back. He won the title here, I think nine times correct. And, and I think that it's gonna be a little bit mixed. I mean, he will have a lot of fans there. There might be a few which are not as happy to see him. But I think more people are happy that he's back in Australia and be able to compete because it was a very rough year for him last year.

And your favourites for the men’s tournament?
Well it has to be Novak Djokovic because he's had so much success at the Australian Open. He is very excited to be playing here again. We have to see how his quad feels because he said he's had a bit of a twitch in there so hopefully he's going to be okay but I think he's extremely hungry for more. He wants to go down in the history books as a player who has won the most Grand Slam titles.

The other favourite has to be Rafa Nadal as well. What an amazing year he had last year – we all wondered how he was feeling physically. It been a bit of a different start for him this year at the United Cup and then seeing Novak win the tournament in Adelaide but you can never write off Rafa Nadal.

Novak had an unbelievable year last year considering that he was not able to play to two out of the four Grand Slam events - and then Wimbledon he wins and he doesn't get any points - and look at where his ranking is. So, it's phenomenal and I think this year he wants to show everyone what he's capable of and still wants to put the young ones into the corner where they belong.

And on the women’s side?
Iga Swiatek goes in as the favourite on the women’s side if you look back at what kind of season she had. She has to be the favourite. She has double the amount of points ahead of the number two in the world. She looks ready. She looks fit. She moves extremely well. She's very focused.

The only setback was probably losing that match against Jessica Pegula when she was in tears afterwards, she was shocked she didn't have a plan B against her. That cannot happen at the Grand Slam that's for sure but she's handled all the occasions, all the pressure so well last year, so I have no doubt she will handle all these occasions well this year. And Pegula played one of her best ever matches I think. I would like to see her doing that again because if Pegula can play tennis like that then she probably should be number one in the world.

What are you expecting from Emma Raducanu, both at the Australian Open and the season as a whole? What would be a good season for her?
We still have to give her time. I'm a big believer in Emma and that she will get back into the top 10. Let's not forget that it happened so quickly. Her life totally changed. She has a lot of issues with injuries, not major injuries, but just little ones and I think she still has to get fitter in a way where those injuries don't pop up all the time. She just had another one in Auckland with her ankle, which I believe is not as bad. But she will go down her own path. I think she's a fantastic tennis player – you saw the way she played at the US Open.

I just hope that one day Emma will find the coach whom she can work with for a long time and not only for a few months. I think that will be really important for her, she hasn't found that match yet. We'll see how she goes now with the one she has now.

She could potentially play against Coco Gauff in the second round, which is a big clash. And I'm sure Coco is not looking forward to facing Emma. We will have to keep an eye on that one. But first, obviously she has to win her first round match, but she will come back. If it's not this year, then it's it's next year, the year after she's still young. We have to give her time.

Are you looking forward to working with the Eurosport team again this year?
Laura Robson, this is the newest addition and for the Australian Open and also Carla Suarez Navarro, I think it's the first time for her, everybody else in the team has been around for a while. We all get along extremely well, we don't necessarily see each other because we're so spread out in different countries. Laura and I are the only ones who are going to be in Melbourne. And then obviously, we have the Cube in London, and we have our team in Germany, in Italy, in Spain, but we're all connected and we all respect each other extremely well.

I think there's a lot of tennis knowledge on different levels as well which is important and that's always been like that in your sport team. There's also different generations in that team and it's a lot of fun. It's hard work because we have very long days, especially the people who are in Europe, they literally have to be in front of the camera at 3am in the morning and that's not easy. It's exciting to have such a team.

Barbara Schett is an expert for Warner Bros. Discovery Sport's coverage of the Australian Open in Europe. Coverage starts on discovery+, Eurosport and Eurosport App from Monday 16 January.