Roger Federer: 'Djokovic, Nadal, Zverev are the Australian Open favorites'

In an interview to the new AO Show Podcast, commented on the favourites for the Australian Open that takes place from 14 to 27 January 2019. The Swiss player indicated several names who could go far in the first Calendar Grand Slam of the year, although he said that the big names – Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Alexander Zverev – are definitely the favourites. Then he mentioned the younger players: There are guys who can do breakthrough performances like [Stefanos] Tsitsipas or [Denis] Shapovalov or Nick [Kyrgios] but if youre talking about who is going to win, its probably going to be one of the top 10 guys.

The Next Gen is definitely pushing through. Is it a time where they are going to win a Slam? That would be nice, but I hope Im in the mix and will not allow that to happen at this years Australian Open. The former world No.

1 and current Australias Davis Cup team captain Lleyton Hewitt said: We have a new No.1 on the mens side in Alex de Minaur who gets the opportunity to go out there and most likely be seeded for the first time at a major.

To think that he was outside 200 a year ago and now hes going to be pushing top 30 in the world is quite extraordinary. Hes going to come in with a lot of pressure and expectation on his shoulders, but at the age of 19 and as hungry as he ishes going to go out and really deal with that pressure and embrace it as much as possible. ALSO READ: Rafael Nadal: Worse players than David Ferrer won a Grand Slam title