FILE PHOTO: Tennis - Davis Cup Finals - Final - Italy v Netherlands - Palacio de Deportes Jose Maria Martin Carpena Arena, Malaga, Spain - November 24, 2024 Italy's Jannik Sinner in action during his singles match against Netherlands' Tallon Griekspoor REUTERS/Jon Nazca/File Photo
MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Jannik Sinner will launch his Australian Open title defence under a stubborn doping cloud but the whiff of scandal may do little to halt the Italian juggernaut.
Sinner remains the man to beat at Melbourne Park even as doping officials seek a two-year ban for the world number one for failing two drugs tests last March.
The saga failed to derail Sinner during a stellar season as he put the distractions aside to win eight titles, including a second Grand Slam crown at the U.S. Open and a maiden ATP Finals trophy.
Sinner may face a cooler reception than usual for a defending champion at Melbourne Park but it will likely take more than heckling to knock him off his game.
"It's a different feeling but we are all happy to start the season again here in Australia, in Melbourne," Sinner, who faces Nicolas Jarry in the first round, said at the tournament's draw at Melbourne Park on Thursday.
"It's called the 'Happy Slam' so we are all very happy to be back here."
Though Sinner was docked ranking points and prize-money, the International Tennis Integrity Agency cleared him to play and accepted that he had been inadvertently contaminated with an anabolic agent through massages by a member of his support team.
The World Anti-Doping Agency has since lodged an appeal over the judgement with the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
CAREER SLAM
Sinner shared 2024's major titles with Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, who at 21 will look to become the youngest man to complete the career Grand Slam by winning in Melbourne.
Victory for either Sinner or Alcaraz, the reigning French Open and Wimbledon champion, would back up predictions of an enduring duopoly in men's tennis.
But Novak Djokovic, the last man standing from the golden era of the "Big Three", will hope to rekindle the Melbourne magic and finally clinch the record 25th Grand Slam title he has long coveted.
The 10-times Australian Open champion was beaten by Sinner in last year's semi-finals and lost the Wimbledon final to Alcaraz to finish the year without a Grand Slam trophy for the first time since 2017.
Even at 37, however, Djokovic remains among the very best on tour and turned the tables on Alcaraz to win the Olympic singles gold at Paris.
Motivation has rarely been an issue for Djokovic but Rafa Nadal's retirement last year was another reminder of his tennis mortality following Roger Federer's exit in 2022.
"I still enjoy competing but part of me left with them, a big part of me," Djokovic said last year of his "Big Three" rivals.
He landed in Melbourne after a flat defeat by American Reilly Opelka in the Brisbane International quarter-finals.
Facing U.S. wildcard Nishesh Basavareddy in the first round, Djokovic will hope new coach Andy Murray can spur him on to a record-extending 11th Norman Brookes Challenge Cup in Melbourne.
That would see him finally break free of his tie with Margaret Court's 24 Grand Slam singles titles and settle, for many fans, the GOAT (greatest of all-time) debate for good.
While Djokovic can expect thunderous support from Melbourne's strong Serbian community, local fans will hope home favourite Nick Kyrgios can shrug off injury to return to the Grand Slam stage for the first time in more than two years.
The tennis showman's comeback from wrist surgery lasted only one match at the Brisbane International, a three-set defeat to Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, before an abdominal strain cast further doubt on his Australian Open return.
(Reporting by Ian Ransom in Melbourne; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
