TENNIS

Djokovic has been recovering from an elbow injury that saw him miss the better part of 2017 and rendered him a doubt for 2018.

According to Pat Cash, Andy Murray is experiencing problems in both hips rather than just his right hip. The former world number one may now require a double hip surgery.

Roger Federer skipped the entire clay scene in 2017 after winning the Australian Open and reaped the dividends as he went on to win his eighth Wimbledon title.

19-time Grand Slam winner Roger Federer is ready to defend his Australian Open title following his first triumph of 2018 at the Hopman Cup in Perth.

Roger Federer managed four wins in four meetings against Rafael Nadal in 2017, three of which came during the Australian Open, Miami Open and Shanghai Masters finals.

In the current year, Nadal has designs of replicating his 2017 form that saw him win six titles, including two Grand Slams – the French and the US Open.

Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal will make way for new age stars in the next two years.

Andy Murray will not play at the 2018 Australian Open after failing to recover from his long-standing hip injury. Nadal is on his way to Melbourne for first Grand Slam.

Federer was watched by 13,943 fans as he beat Karen Khachanov 6-3, 7-6 at the Perth Arena, the highest ever attendance at the Hopman Cup.

Federer and Nadal claimed two Slams each to end the year as the two top-ranked players of the season.

Andy Murray has pulled out of the Brisbane International after suffering a setback on his long standing hip problem.

Rafael Nadal pulled out of the Brisbane International with a knee problem while Novak Djokovic named himself out of the Qatar Open with a setback on his elbow.

Roger Federer took six months off in 2016 to recover from his injury before coming back in 2017 and winning seven titles.

Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Andy Murray have won 28 of the 32 Grand Slams since 2010.

Raonic had to pull the curtains down on his year after suffering a calf ailment in Tokyo in early October.

Novak Djokovic has not played competitive tennis since his loss in the 2017 Wimbledon quarter-finals and was expected to return to action at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship.

Djokovic is making a similar comeback from injury like Federer did at the start of the 2017 season. The Serb ended his 2017 season after his loss at Wimbledon in July.

Both Nadal and Federer had a brilliant 2017 campaign, matching each other with two Grand Slams a piece.

Federer beat Nadal on four occasions in 2017 with three of them coming in the finals – the Australian Open, the Shanghai Masters and the Miami Masters.

Roger Federer has arrived in Australia to participate in the Hopman Cup and resume his preparation ahead of his Australian Open defence which begins next month.

Djokovic will make his return from injury in Abu Dhabi this week at the Mubadala World Tennis Championships

Djokovic has not played since his quarter-final loss at the 2017 Wimbledon. He later took a break to recover from an elbow injury.

Nadal is likely to be back in action for the Australian Open as he recovers from a setback on his knee, which kept him out of the ATP World Tour Finals.

Andy Murray is preparing to make his comeback from injury at the Brisbane International in the first week of January. He has not played competitively for five months.

Roger Federer won seven titles in 2017 and ended the year as the world number two after struggling with injury in 2016.

Nadal won two Grand Slams in 2017 to take his tally to 16 but was matched by the Federer to extend the gap to three.

Nadal turned out to be the greatest ever competitor on clay the world has ever seen, winning 10 French Open titles, with the latest coming in 2017.

Rafael Nadal stated that if he ever loses the satisfaction of playing tennis, that would be the day he would take up a different career.

Rafael and Toni have won everything there is to win – 16 Grand Slams, 30 Masters Series titles and two Olympic gold medals in the singles and doubles events.