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Cori Gauff from the USA: at the age of 17 in the top of the world?
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Clive Brunskill/Getty Images
The Australian Open is considered the most popular Grand Slam tournament by players and fans, and it is not for nothing that the two-week event in Melbourne is also called the "Happy Slam".
But this year there is not much to feel of the lightness of days gone by.
The week-long dispute over Novak Djokovic's vaccination status, the legal processing of his entry and an alleged corona infection in December lie like a shadow over the first high point of the tennis season.
The 20-time major winner was only expelled from the country on Sunday.
Added to this is the spread of the highly contagious Omicron variant in the country - and positive test results among players.
Nevertheless, there is every reason not to lose sight of the sporty aspect.
Because before the Australian Open, some talents are hoping for a big breakthrough.
For men, the young guard is benefiting from Roger Federer's career end (injured), which is getting closer and closer, from Rafael Nadal's physical problems (comeback after months of injury and corona infection) and Djoković's exclusion.
In addition to Alexander Zverev, who finally wants to win a Grand Slam title after his great successes last year, four other professionals are top candidates for a breakthrough.
Here we present them:
Who will be the next Emma Raducanu?
The Brit was the shooting star of the previous year, initially surprisingly making it into the round of 16 at Wimbledon, shortly afterwards she sensationally triumphed as a qualifier in New York.
And she's only 19 years old.
In 2022, other top talents are hoping for a similarly steep rise to the top of the world.
The conditions for this are good.
Former top stars are ailing: Naomi Osaka celebrated her comeback after a forced break just two weeks ago, Serena Williams' return is uncertain, Simona Halep and Petra Kvitová recently presented themselves unstable.
Here are four hopeful talents among women: