Tennis Update • Brisbane, Doha, Pune ATP Draws Are Out • Djokovic, Nadal, Murray All In Action

By Ricky Dimon
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Updated: December 29, 2018

He might be beginning 2019 at No. 256 in the #ATP Rankings due to his 2018 hip surgery, but take a look into @andy_murray’s mindset as he begins the new season. – Photo by @ATP_Tour via Twitter.

By Ricky Dimon

It will be an action-packed first week on the 2019 ATP Tour, with Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, and Stan Wawrinka among a whole host of marquee attractions taking the court as the buildup to the Australian Open begins.

Nadal (the top seed) and Murray (unseeded) headline the field at the Brisbane International. The world No. 2’s season opener on the heels of a first-round bye could come against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who is back from various injuries and used a protected ranking to enter the event. Murray will kick off his 2019 campaign against Australia’s own James Duckworth. One marquee first-rounder is a rematch of the 2018 title tilt, featuring Nick Kyrgios and Ryan Harrison.

Although Nadal withdrew from his third-place match at this week’s six-man Abu Dhabi exhibition, he is expected to be good to go for Brisbane. The move was reportedly a precautionary measure following a three-set semifinal loss to Kevin Anderson.

“Tough match, three-set match; I didn’t play sets before here,” the Spaniard said of his offseason. “At the same time, I get pains after a long time without playing…. I will take a couple of days off. The season just started for me; it was a goal to be [in Abu Dhabi].”

Djokovic beat Kevin Anderson 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 in the Abu Dhabi final on Saturday. The Serb is joined in a traditionally difficult Qatar ExxonMobil Open by Wawrinka, Dominic Thiem, David Goffin, Karen Khachanov, and Tomas Berdych. Wawrinka and Khachanov have to go head-to-head right away, while Berdych has finally returned to tennis and will get started against Philipp Kohlschreiber.

The Tata Open in Pune will once again be overshadowed by Brisbane and Doha, but it at least boasts Anderson–the 2018 Wimbledon runner-up who also finished runner-up at the most recent Pune event. Gilles Simon, who upset Anderson in the 2018 Pune final, will begin his title defense against either Hubert Hurkacz or Ilya Ivashka and the veteran Frenchman could run into Anderson in the semifinals.