Australia Calling

WE have yet to hit 2024, but the world’s best players are already Down Under preparing for the first Grand Slam of the new year.

ATP World No. 9 Hubert Hurkacz and WTA No. 1 Iga Swiatek will spearhead Poland’s charge for the second straight year at United Cup and have already sampled Perth’s glorious beach lifestyle, surfing at Scarborough on Thursday.

Swiatek isn’t the only World No. 1 competing as Novak Djokovic is also in Perth representing Serbia.

The 36-year-old will kick off his 2024 season today against China’s Zhang Zhizhen.

In Brisbane Rafa Nadal has been wowing the crowds, appearing in the CBD ahead of the Brisbane International, where Andy Murray, Holger Rune, Ben Shelton and Grigor Dimitrov also appear.

“(I’m) happy to be back on the tour and happy to be here in Brisbane after a few years,” Nadal told event organisers.

Australia meanwhile, will be aiming to win the United Cup in the next fortnight and will be spearheaded by Alex de Minaur and Ajla Tomljanovic on home soil.

But before the action, the team visited the iconic Rottnest Island during the week, taking a short helicopter ride from the mainland for photos with Quokkas, small wallabies who populate the island.

Hong Kong hosts ATP Tour action for the first time since 2002 as Andrey Rublev and Karen Khachanov lead the field at the Bank of China Hong Kong Tennis Open.

NADAL touched down in Australia during the week, being greeted by fans at Brisbane Airport before heading off to catch up on sleep.

The Brisbane International starts today and runs to January 7.

The 22-time Grand Slam champion looked happy as as he walked out of the airport, sporting his trademark Nike ensemble adorned with his ‘Raging Bull’ logo.

“It’s been a long year in which I’ve gone through many phases, from trying to get back to compete at the clay season week after week,” he said.

Here’s the video of his arrival in Brisbane:

THE 2024 Australian Open will be the longest tournament in its 118-year history after organisers changed it to a 15-day event in an effort to minimise the late night finishes.

Ridiculous late night sessions have become infamous in Melbourne. But no more, organisers hope.

The record for the latest finishing Grand Slam match there was set in 2008 when Lleyton Hewitt beat Marcos Baghdatis at 4:33am.

And last year Andy Murray beat Thanasi Kokkinakis at 4:05 am after an almost six-hour-long second-round match.

ONE player who may not be arriving in Australia any time soon is Matteo Berrettini.

The Italian, who had a tortuous 2023 with injuries, has pulled out of the Brisbane International.

The 27-year-old played just 26 matches in 2023 and was last in action at the US Open at the end of August.

Karolina Muchova is another to miss out, the world, No.8 pulling out with a wrist injury.

NOVAK Djokovic has been named European Sportsperson of the Year for a fifth time, equalling the record of rival Roger Federer.

Djokovic won the Australian Open, Roland Garros and the US Open, as well as two Masters 1000 titles and the year-end ATP Finals in 2023.

The European Sportsperson of the Year Award was voted for by 27 different international news agencies, with Djokovic beating Max Verstappen (Formula One) and Armand Duplantis (Athletics) to the top award.

AUSTRALIAN Open prize money has been increased by 13 per cent to A$86.5m ($59.04m, £46.3m) for the 2024 edition.

“We’ve upped prize money for every round at the Australian Open with the major increases in qualifying and the early rounds of singles and doubles,” tournament director Craig Tiley said.

With a more evenly distributed system, the two singles champions will each get A$3.15m, which is more than a million dollars less than Novak Djokovic and Sofia Kenin received for winning the titles at the last pre-Covid tournament in 2020.

First-round losers will earn A$120,000, A$30,000 more than they would have received in 2020.

The US Open was the richest of the Grand Slams in 2023 with a prize fund of $65m, while Wimbledon offered a total of £44.7 ($56.92m) and the French Open €49.6m ($54.89m).

FORGET Snakes on a plan, how about snakes on the court!

Dominic Thiem had to bring his comeback to a temporary halt on Saturday as a deadly eastern brown snake made an unscheduled entry during his match against James McCabe in Brisbane.

The snake, the second most venomous in the world, was safely removed by a professional snake catcher.

For the record Thiem, who was a set down at the time, came back to win the match, adding the indecent was something he would “definitely never forget.”

AND finally… Forget the Christmas jumpers and the festive cheer, it was a battle in Perth on Friday as Alex DeMinaur’s Australia went up against girlfriend Katie Boulter’s Great Britain.

The tennis power couple did not cross paths as the pair only played singles.  

But Boulter helped GB to a 2-0 lead, beating Aussie Ajla Tomljanovic in straight sets.

Earlier in the week, Boulter posted a series of loved-up photos on Instagram, including these Grinch jumpers!