Federer and world number one Nadal won the first three grand slam titles of the season as they came back to prominence with a bang, and nothing suggests their first-round opponents, American Frances Tiafoe and Serbian Dusan Lajovic, will bother them.
In his pre-tournament news conference in Toronto on Sunday, Nadal said a recurring foot issue he has been dealing with since 2005 returned at the French Open, where he fell to eventual champion Djokovic in the semi-finals.
amiliar names, however, are tipped to take off with the winners' trophies. The following is a list of talking points at the Australian Open:
Rediff.com presents the early surprises at the year's first Grand Slam.
The tension mounted and temperatures soared at the U.S. Open as top seed Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray set up a sensational quarter-final, and Serena Williams made a 2014 grand slam breakthrough.
World No 2 Andy Murray overwhelmed Italy's Andreas Seppi 6-2, 7-5 and second seed Rafael Nadal crushed veteran Italian Paolo Lorenzi 6-1, 6-1 to reach the China Open second round on Tuesday.
Images from Day 6 of the Australian Open in Melbourne on Saturday.
IMAGES from Day 6 of the French Open, at Roland Garros, on Friday.
India's Rohan Bopanna and his Pakistani partner Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi advanced to the men's doubles quarter-finals of the US Open with an upset win over second seeded Canadian-Serbian pair of Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic in New York.
Former champion Janko Tipsarevic has confirmed his participation for the USD 450,000 Aircel Chennai Open to be held here from January 5 to 11.
Fourth seed Canadian Milos Raonic won his first round match of the season beginning Chennai Open with utmost ease, disposing off unseeded Victor Hanescu of Romania 6-1, 6-4 at the centre court on Wednesday night.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Tuesday
The world of golf was left stunned as the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and LIV circuit, who have been involved in a bitter fight, announced a shock agreement!
Canadian youngster Eugenie Bouchard is the latest tennis player to catch the fancy of fans, while regulars on the circuit, like Ana Ivanovic, Caroline Wozniacki and Daniela Hantuchova, still continue to be the top attractions.
World No 1 Novak Djokovic and defending champion Andy Murray produced contrasting performances to secure their berths in the quarter-finals of the Madrid Masters on Thursday.
Milos Raonic demonstrated his claycourt credentials with a 6-4, 7-6 win over Andy Murray in the last eight of the Barcelona Open on Friday before top seed Rafa Nadal crushed Janko Tipsarevic 6-2, 6-2 to claim his semi-final place.
With rain having washed out Wednesday's play, Federer along with champion Rafael Nadal and top seed Novak Djokovic all face playing back-to-back matches on Thursday if they want to reach the quarter-finals.
Maria Sharapova set up an enticing quarter-final showdown with Eugenie Bouchard at the Australian Open following a comfortable 6-3, 6-0 fourth round victory over China's Peng Shuai on Sunday.
Defending champion Sloane Stephens was sent packing from the Miami Open on Sunday after a 6-3, 6-2 loss to Germany's Tatjana Maria in the third round.
Leander Paes and his Canadian partner Daniel Nestor cruised into the third round of the men's doubles at the French Open, beating the German-Austrian pair of Andre Begemann and Julian Knowle in straight sets on Friday. The 10th seeded Indo-Canadian pair won 7-6(7-3), 6-2.
Gen Kenneth S Wilsbach, commander of the US Pacific Air Forces, said the US side held the interaction behind closed doors with most of the air chiefs of the region.
Roger Federer got his delayed hardcourt season off to a positive start with straightforward 6-3, 7-6 (7) win over Germany's Phillip Kohlschreiber to ease into the third round of the Western and Southern Open on Tuesday.
Leander Paes and Canada's Daniel Nestor beat the Spanish combination of Fernando Verdasco and David Marrero 7-6(10-8), 6-3 in 83 minutes, while Sania Mirza and her Zimbabwean partner Cara Black beat Chinese Taipei's Yung-Jan Chan and Jie Zheng.
Petra Kvitova, who missed part of the 2017 season after a home invasion left her with a badly cut left hand, continues her remarkable comeback when she faces American Venus Williams.
The Women's World Cup stopped to take a breath on Wednesday following an opening round of games that produced a little bit of everything.
Gagandeep Singh was assaulted when he was heading home on Friday night.
Medvedev tames claycourt demons to advance in Madrid.
Images from Day 6 of the US Open in New York, on Saturday.
Fresh from her triumphant exploits with senior partner Jwala Gutta in the Canadian Open, shuttler Ashwini Ponnappa said the ace Indian doubles pair was now aiming to break into the top ten while qualifying for next year's Rio Olympic Games.
The new Canadian Consulate General will be fully operational by April 2004. At present, it offers immigration and trade services.
Rohan Bopanna and Mahesh Bhuapthi advanced to the second round of the men's doubles at the Australian Open with their respective partners, in Melbourne, on Wednesday, even as Somdev Devvarman and Sania Mirza bowed out of the men's singles and women's doubles respectively.
Fifth seeds Sania Mirza and Cara Black cantered into the second round, even as the duo of Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi were shown the door in the men's doubles, at the French Open, in Paris, on Thursday.
"Have just got the good news that due to the hard work of our teams and your cooperation, a consensus has been reached on New Delhi G20 Leaders Summit Declaration," Modi said while addressing the second session of the Summit at the Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi.
Defending champion Naomi Osaka of Japan was upset 7-5, 6-4 by Belinda Bencic in the fourth round at the US Open on Monday as the Swiss reached the quarter-finals for the second time.
Leander Paes had a great day at the Australian Open as he reached the final of the men's doubles event pairing Radek Stepanek and also made it to the mixed doubles semifinals with Elena Vesnina in Melbourne on Thursday.
Andy Murray arrived in Canada without a coach and a title this season and left on Sunday as a major contender for the US Open after a stunning defence of his Toronto Masters crown.
Haven't they heard about the 'Tale of Two Brothers'? asks Suveen Sinha.
Roger Federer is keeping a lid on expectations.
Osaka battled on gamely before retiring while trailing Kaia Kanepi 7-6(4), 3-0.
A summary of the action on Day 3 at the US Open.
