‘Most open’ Australian Open in years claims ‘excited’ Alex Corretja ahead of 2024 campaign

Alex Corretja is as “excited as ever” for an Australian Open that will be “the most open” in recent years with Iga Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka and more ready to compete.

After a few warm-up tournaments, the best and brightest in tennis will descend upon Melbourne to contest the first Grand Slam of the new season.

The 2023 season ended in thrilling fashion as 22-year-old Swiatek returned to the top of the world rankings after briefly losing her spot to Belarusian Sabalenka, and the Polish player also claimed the WTA Finals in Cancun, Mexico.

The season ahead will also have added intrigue with the return of some massive players who had time away: Naomi Osaka, Angelique Kerber and Caroline Wozniacki, with each of those players capable of challenging at the top of the sport if they are able to rediscover their best form.

Corretja told Eurosport: “I am as excited as ever. I think it’s going to be the most open in recent years.

“Coming back, Osaka, she won there twice. And it’s so important to see her back on tour healthy and for sure, she’s so fired up. And then also Kerber. And of course, the typical ones that they’ve been playing so well, like Sabalenka when she won there, to see how she handles the situation of defending the championship for the first time. Rybakina and of course, Swiatek. So it’s going to be huge.

“It’s going to be amazing and it’s going to be very interesting to see because it’s the beginning of the year. You never know what can happen.”

With Swiatek top of the pile once more, Corretja believes she is improving once more, and has new talents to add to her game.

“Swiatek she’s learning so much,” he began. “I think she’s going in the right direction. She’s not just thinking about winning in the short term. She’s trying to improve different things, in my opinion. She’s hitting the ball harder, especially on the forehand side. Her surface game also been improving quite a lot.

“She needs to be able to be a contender against players that hit very hard. And she needs to be very aware about that. She’s very low on her legs and that’s why she’s also moving very well, probably the best mover on tour. And I think she knows now that she needs to be also very aggressive because everybody’s trying to dictate, but at the same time she’s trying to be very stable. So I think she’s going to be great in 2024 and I see her even more mature. So I’m sure that she’s going to win a Slam again.”

The Spaniard thinks that with the players on tour for the coming year, competition will be even tougher.

He added: “I think it’s getting tougher and tougher because some other girls, they’ve been winning Slams. Let’s remember about Coco Gauff winning the US Open. For her, it was a big breakthrough and I’m sure in 2024, she’ll be even more experienced, even though she’s very young. But the fact that Sabalenka already won a Slam, Rybakina as well – those players will be thinking that they can do it again.

“Maybe on clay [Swiatek] will still be the main favourite, but on other surfaces she will be just one of the favourites. But still, I think she’s going to be dominating.

“For her, it was so important to finish the year winning the WTA finals because she gained back her confidence.

“You can go work hard with confidence and then you start the new season knowing that you are the one dictating. And this is, in my opinion, very important for her.”

Barbara Schett looked ahead to Swiatek, Sabalenka and Rybakina – and more – coming back to kick off the 2024 season at the Australian Open.

Schett, a former top-10 player spoke to Eurosport about the upcoming Australian Open, and she remarked on the wealth of talent who could be competing.

She said: “You have Iga Swiatek, Sabalenka and Rybakina there. Obviously, we’re talking about the top three, the big three there on the women’s side. But don’t underestimate Jessica Pegula. You have to throw her into the mix. She loves playing on that surface.”

Moving onto the comeback players, she added: “And then the returning mums. I mean, how exciting is that, that we have Naomi Osaka back at the Australian Open, Angie Kerber, two girls who won the title before then?

“Let’s not forget Caroline Wozniacki, Elena Svitolina.”

“The pressure is on everybody else. I mean, nobody wants to draw a Kerber, Wozniacki or Naomi Osaka in the first round. Naomi, we know she can hit you off the court pretty much. Kerber and Wozniacki, we know that they can be out there and grind for hours and hours. The ball will keep coming back. They don’t give you any presents. They don’t give you any free points as well.”

Schett believes that Swiatek’s battle throughout the second half of 2023 to regain the top spot, as well as her-end-of year triumph, may have given her a fresh sense of perspective and motivation.

“I mean, the competition is always hard,” she explained. “But I think it was an important year for Iga because she’s been the absolute number one. She was the one who was chased all the time and the pressure, she talked about it so many times that it was really hard for her to deal with that. And for her, it was actually a relief to lose that number one spot. And then she basically pushed the reset button. And we know that she’s a deep thinker. We know that she works mentally a lot as well.

“And her biggest goal was to get back to that number one spot. And I think that shows you that she finished the year on a high as now winning the WTA championships in Cancun was incredible for her and she’s very motivated to keep that number one spot.”

Schett also sees the most intense competition between Swiatek and Sabalenka, with Coco Gauff the next most talented player after those two.

She said: “I mean, there’s not too much point difference between her and Aryna Sabalenka, but between the two of them and Coco Gauff there’s actually quite a big gap in points. So I see her winning big titles again.

“For her, probably the year was pretty average in terms of Grand slam results. She only won one. And I think that’s the main focus that she brings her best tennis. And with Iga, I always feel like it’s a matter of her mental approach, how much she believes in herself. It shows the way she hits her forehand, sometimes she can get a little bit shaky on that shot when she has doubts. So if she’s fresh mentally, if she believes in herself, she’s going to be hard to beat.”

However, the Eurosport pundit thinks that the speed of play at the Australian Open could put her at an early disadvantage, though her experience at the top might be of help.

“I think she’s totally capable,” she began. “She usually loses those matches when she panics a little bit. And yes, the forehand has been a problem. The speed of the courts is quite fast at the Australian Open and especially with somebody like Sabalenka or [Jelena] Ostapenko, or girls who can hit it flat and deep on her forehand, that’s when she panics.

“She has to believe in her abilities. I think she does that more now. Obviously, the serve is extremely important, especially against big servers like Rybakina and Sabalenka. She has to have a good percentage of first serves, an accuracy as well, where she gets free points. And you can see it when she plays on the court. When she starts panicking, I think her facial expressions change a little bit. And we know on the top up there, so much is mental and it’s actually not the way you’re hitting the ball.

“And let’s not forget Sabalenka and Rybakina. They have pressure as well. They have to come up with another extremely good year, too. So you push the reset button, everything starts from zero. Iga has been up there longer than the other two, so I think that’s an advantage.”

Nevertheless, Schett sees plenty of players on the circuit who can challenge Swiatek this year, with women’s tennis now extremely competitive in the top 10, and perhaps beyond.

Discussing Swiatek’s biggest competition, she said: “Well, I think on the hard courts, it has to be somebody who hits the ball extremely hard, who has a lot of pace, who can put her under pressure and big service. That is a Rybakina. That is a Sabalenka. That has to be Coco Gauff. I would throw Pegula in the mix as, I mean, we’ll see how she’s going to play, but she’s capable of doing that. I think not so much. Maybe somebody like [Ons] Jabeur. I think you have to have somebody with a lot of pace.

“But if I had to choose one, I think it would be Sabalenka.”

Former British tennis start Tim Henman, meanwhile, was looking forward to the return of former US Open champion and English star, Emma Raducanu, with hopes that she could stay injury-free finally.

He told Eurosport: “Yeah, it’s massively exciting to have Raducanu coming back. I think it’s important that everybody around tennis who’s a fan, who’s excited to see Raducanu back on the court, manages their expectations.

“She’s been out for a long, long time and she’s still massively inexperienced. She’s played so few tour level events, she’s played so few matches in her whole professional career. So for me, from, let’s say, the first three, four months of the year.

“I think if she could stay injury free and play a whole series of tournaments without any setbacks, I think that would be fantastic because there is no doubt about her ability. I mean, she’s an incredible tennis player. She’s working hard to build her physical resilience so that she can be out on court, be on tour and compete.

“I think patience is a really important word for Raducanu herself, but also all the people that are excited to see her come back. She’s 21 years of age.

“She’s got the next 10 years in front of her. She just needs to build that foundation so that she can get out on tour and compete and show the undeniable talents that she has.”