Doping and a match made in heaven: Australian Open storylines

MELBOURNE, Australia — The Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of the year, begins in Melbourne on Sunday and promises to be jam-packed with plotlines.

AFP Sport picks out five themes to watch for:

The Australian Open will get under way with the specter of doping hanging over tennis.

It emerged in August that Jannik Sinner, the defending champion in Melbourne, had failed two doping tests five months earlier. He was subsequently cleared by tennis authorities to continue playing.

The Italian World No. 1 denies wrongdoing, saying the steroid in question had entered his body following a massage by a therapist who had applied a cream to a cut on his own hand and then treated the player.

WADA has appealed against the decision to exonerate him and is seeking a ban of up to two years.

Then five-time major champion Iga Swiatek accepted a one-month ban after also testing positive for a banned substance.

She also denied knowingly doping, saying it came from contaminated non-prescription medication, with tennis authorities accepting her explanation.

Novak Djokovic is the last of the "Big Three" still playing, following the retirements of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

The 37-year-old Serb is the undoubted king of Melbourne Park, having won a leading 10 titles there.

Another triumph would be his 25th Grand Slam crown overall, a record.

In 2024 Djokovic failed to lift a major title in a year for the first time since 2017, calling it "one of the worst-performing seasons" of his career.

Djokovic did, however, win gold in Paris for his first Olympic singles title.

Following that poor season by his sky-high standards, Djokovic made a surprise call to one of his old rivals to come and coach him. Enter Andy Murray.

"We were going through names and I realized that the perfect coach for me at this point would be someone who has been through the experiences I am going through, possibly a multiple Grand Slam winner, a former number one," said Djokovic.

Sitting in the coaching box will be a whole new experience for the three-time major champion Murray, who retired last year after persistent injury and is just a week older than Djokovic.

It promises to be a fascinating dynamic to