Week in Preview: Nadal, Osaka and Barty return in Melbourne and Adelaide

WATCH: Tennis Channel Live discusses their new 2022 new year’s resolutions.

The 2022 tennis season technically began with a team event, the all-male ATP Cup, on Saturday in Australia. But Monday and Tuesday may feel more like the official, collective Opening Day of 2022. That’s when the old-fashioned knockout tournaments, of both genders, get underway in Melbourne and Adelaide. 

A tennis season isn’t a tennis season until there’s too much going on, right? To help keep the Australian summer straight—and give us something other than Novak Djokovic’s vaccine status to talk about—here’s a look ahead at the five events that will ring in the new year Down Under.

Melbourne Summer Set (ATP)

• Melbourne, Australia
• $521,000; ATP 250
• Hard court
• Draw is here

Rather than a restful off-season, it has been something of a whirlwind for Rafael Nadal. After missing the second half of 2021 with a foot injury, he tested the waters at an exhibition in Abu Dhabi, and promptly contracted COVID-19. Then, seemingly overnight, he was on court in Australia, ready to go. Nadal’s presence in Melbourne will lift a potentially sleepy 250 to must-see status. For now, he’s the only member of the Big 3 who has made the trip.

Nadal’s injury and illness obviously makes it hard to expect much from him in his opening week. Even in Abu Dhabi, his foot seemed less than fully healed. But we know Rafa will give the new season a jolt of energy when he takes the court for his first match, against either Marcos Giron or a qualifier. Other players in Nadal’s half include David Goffin, Nick Kyrgios, Ilya Ivashka and Dominik Koepfer. The bottom half features No. 2 seed Reilly Opelka, No. 3 Grigor Dimitrov, No. 8 Mackenzie McDonald and Andy Murray, who will start against Facundo Bagnis.

Dimitrov, Murray, Opelka and McDonald all played well in the second half of 2021: Which of them, if any, will keep that momentum going in 2022?

Adelaide International 1 (WTA)

• Adelaide, Australia
• $703,580; WTA 500
• Hard court
• Draw is here

Adelaide has the most money and rankings points to offer this week; not surprisingly, it also has the strongest field. Half of the WTA’s current Top 10—Ashleigh Barty, Aryna Sabalenka, Maria Sakkari, Paula Badosa and Iga Swiatek—will look to get their seasons off to fast starts, and get as much match play in as they can. Also in the draw is 2020 Australian Open champ Sofia Kenin, 2021 US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez, perennial Top Tenner Elina Svitolina, and two Americans who have had success in Australia in recent years, Coco Gauff and Shelby Rogers.

Barty has started her last two seasons with titles in Aussie Open warm-up events. If she's to make it three in a row, she will be properly tested. Her road to the title could take her through Gauff, Kenin, Badosa or Swiatek in the semis, and Sabalenka or Sakkari in the final.

First-round match to watch: Badosa vs. Victoria Azarenka. Three months ago, they played the second-best women’s match of 2021 in the Indian Wells final.

Melbourne Summer Set 1 (WTA)

• Melbourne, Australia
• $521,000; WTA 250
• Hard court
• Draw is here

Multiple tournaments happening in the same week is nothing new; but how about multiple tournaments at the same location, at the same time, with the same name? The tours pioneered that pleasantly confusing concept at Melbourne Park during the COVID-19 bubble of 2021, and with Omicron raging around the world, they’ll try it again.

The WTA will hold two separate tournaments—Summer Set 1 and Summer Set 2—on the grounds this week. No. 1, perhaps befitting its name, has the stronger draw. That starts at the top, with Naomi Osaka. Like Nadal on the men’s side, it’s hard to know what to expect from the defending Australian Open champion. She hasn’t played since September, and hasn’t made it to a quarterfinal since Miami last April. But she traditionally puts her troubles behind her in Melbourne. Osaka will try to do it again when she faces Alize Cornet in her opener this week.

Also here: Simona Halep. The No. 2 seed is ranked an unthinkable No. 20 to start the season. Can she rally and find her old Slam-winning form again at age 30?

Adelaide International 1 (ATP)

• Adelaide, Australia
• $521,000; ATP 250
• Hard court
• Draw is here

Gael Monfils will begin his 18th pro season as the top seed in Adelaide; not a bad milestone for a 35-year-old who has survived an uncountable number of injuries in his career. The Frenchman is followed by Karen Khachanov, Marin Cilic, Frances Tiafoe, Marton Fucsovics and Tommy Paul in the seedings. For U.S. fans, Tiafoe and Paul will be two to watch in the early going in 2022. Each is coming off his best year, and each would seem to be entering the prime of his career.

Melbourne Summer Set 2 (WTA)

• Melbourne, Australia
• $521,000; WTA 250
• Hard court
• Draw is here

As with the Adelaide men’s event, there’s a lot for a U.S. fan to see in the WTA’s second tournament in Melbourne. Jessica Pegula, quarterfinalist at the Australian Open 12 months ago, is the top seed. Amanda Anisimova, Madison Keys and Ann Li, who have all had success Down Under over the years, are also in the draw.

Getting ready to say good-bye: Sam Stosur. The 37-year-old Brisbane native will play her final singles event at the Australian Open later this month. She’ll start her farewell lap here.