Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], January 17 (ANI): Former Indian tennis player Vedika Anand spoke on world number one Carlos Alcaraz's chances of breaking the Australian Open duck, saying that it all depends on the young Spanish star's 'emotional, mental capacity' heading into the tournament following a split with his coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero.

Alcaraz is a six-time Grand Slam champion, having won two titles each at Wimbledon, the French Open, and the US Open, but the Australian Open has eluded him so far, with two quarterfinal finishes. Vedika is a former Indian tennis player having played at the US College level. She is a part of 'Sony Sports Network (official tournament broadcasters) expert panel and spoke to ANI about Alcaraz, his arch-rival Jannik Sinner, among several other topics, leading into the tournament starting from Sunday.

Speaking about Alcaraz's run in the starting Grand Slam of the year, Vedika said, 'I think there has been a lot of conversation around Jannik and Carlos (world number two, defending champion and the world number one), being the differentiating people among the crowd of the top 10. You know, the one and two have risen to an extent that there's such a big gap between them and the rest of the squad.

'That being said, you know, with the recent coaching changes and Juan Carlos Ferrero no longer being part of his squad, it is gonna be interesting how his, um, emotional and mental capacity is coming into the Australian Open,' she added.

The split between Alcaraz and Juan came last month, after a massively successful seven-year run that brought Alcaraz six Grand Slams, 24 ATP Tour-level titles, and an Olympic silver medal.

Vedika said it would not be easy for Alcaraz without his longtime coach beside him and picked Sinner, whom she called a 'disciplined, steady and stable player,' to win the tournament over a 'flashy' Alcaraz and complete a hat-trick of wins at the Australian Open.

'Of course, these are world-class players, so we expect them to, to be above all of this, but it is not easy after a seven-year split from your coach. So that will be interesting to see how he responds to not having Juan Carlos there in his box.'

'He (Jannik) is a very steady and stable player. He is a very disciplined player, as you call it. Carlos is always known to be extremely flashy.'

'So if you are asking me who I think is gonna take the trophy, or which one will have a better chance of winning, I would say my money is still on Jannik,' she concluded.

Vedika also spoke about Serbian legend Novak Djokovic, a 24-time Grand Slam champion who failed to reach the finals of any Grand Slam last year and has struggled against rising stars Sinner and Alcaraz. While he holds a slender 5-4 lead over Alcaraz, he has lost two Wimbledon finals to him. On the other hand, he has a 4-6 win-loss record against Sinner.

Djokovic heads into the tournament having not won a Grand Slam since 2023, making it to just one final (Wimbledon 2024) in last eight attempts.

Vedika admitted that age would be a factor in Djokovic's performance, but with a record-breaking 10 AO wins, he has the expertise like no other.

'Novak will tell you himself that he's not at the same physical capacity as a Jannik or an Alcaraz. That being said, bet against the greats at your own peril. With his recent comments around, 'Hey, I want to continue playing and potentially playing until LA 2028 Olympics, I would not be surprised if Novak comes in and at least makes a deep run in the tournament,' she added.

She also said that the biggest challenge for the veteran would be to sustain his fitness for seven matches.

Vedika also said that Sinner making it a hat-trick of title wins in Australia is a 'near impossible task'.

'The task for him is to sustain through these four-five hour long matches because he has mostly lost in such games. The extreme heat in Melbourne and the players coming from the off-season would also make things difficult,' she added.

She also pointed out a few names to watch out for at the tournament to have a fine run, such as US Open 2021 champion Daniil Medvedev, who did not make past the first/second rounds in any Grand Slams last year, Canada's Felix-Auger Aliassime, local star Alex de Minaur, the 2025 AO finalist Alexander Zverev and world number nine Taylor Fritz.

Coming to the women's competition, Vedika said, unlike the men's, where Alcaraz and Sinner are in a class of their own, it is not the case in women's singles, and the path for defending champion Madison Keys would not be easy.

'Madison winning 2025 AO was her ability to, one, regulate emotions, and two, how well she served. So if she can continue that, I think there is a chance she could make a deep run or win again. But, you know, on the women's side, (Elena) Rybakina (the world number five), (Aryna) Sabalenka (the world number one, four-time Grand Slam champion) and the US's Coco Gauff (world number three, two-time Grand Slam winner are among contenders that are going to be very difficult to compete against,' she concluded. (ANI)