Kyrgios? Dimitrov? Which young player will win their first Grand Slam at Australian Open?

The run-up to the first Grand Slam of 2018 has not been a pleasant one on the ATP tour. Injuries, withdrawals, late starts to the seasons, have clouded the first two weeks of the season even as the wounded warriors from last season return to the circuit after months away.

Novak Djokovic has been side-lined since Wimbledon in July, and although he looked good in his comeback against Dominic Thiem at the Kooyong Classic, his match fitness in an ATP match remains to be seen. Also coming back from injuries are 2014 champion Stan Wawrinka (knee), big-serving Canadian Milos Raonic (calf and wrist), and world number one Rafael Nadal (knee).

At least they remain in contention, unlike Andy Murray (hip) and Japanese star Kei Nishikori (wrist) who both pulled out last week.

While defending champion Roger Federer has looked in peerless form, lifting the Hopman Cup in the start to his season, Alexander Zverev, Juan Martin del Potro and David Goffin in the second half of the 2017 season showed that he is not actually unbeatable.

The Australian Open is thus a chance for the younger generation to get ahead and grab the proverbial bull by the horns. The ATP Tour doesn’t have a dearth of talent among the mid-20s lot, it has usually been a case of superior and more expedience competition. But the first Major starts on a somewhat equal footing for the younger lot.

Here are five young contenders who could take advantage by winning their first Grand Slam title at Melbourne Park.

Grigor Dimitrov

In mid-2016, Dimitrov was ranked as low as 40. At the start of 2017, he was 2017 ranked No. 17 but stormed his way through his best season to start 2018 at a career-high No. 3 behind only Nadal and Federer.

Last year, the 26-year-old came of age with four trophies including his first Masters crown in Cincinnati and the biggest trophy of his career at the ATP World Tour Finals. Although the talented Bulgarian didn’t have a commanding season, he showed that he can turn the corner on his performance at the decisive moments.

His best result at a Grand Slam so far has been reaching the last four at Wimbledon in 2014 and repeating the feat in Australia last year, when he went down to Nadal in an intense five-setter.

Heading into the season, he has had a stumbling start, losing the semi-final in Brisbane, where he was the top seed and defending champion. But if he can put that behind and prepare for another deep run in Melbourne, he can very well claim the biggest win of his career.

Alexander Zverev

That a 20-year-old is in this list, is hope for tennis’s widely touted ‘NextGen’ right? The German has shown his talent in the last year, with five titles including two Masters. Zverev is also one of just four men to beat Federer in 2017, in the Montreal final. He heads into the year’s first Grand Slam ranked fourth and has a good chance of making deep inroads in a Major for the first time.

However, he has to improve on his consistency at the highest level and the Australian Open would be a good chance. He has never gone past the fourth round of a Grand Slam, and he’s reached that stage only once, at Wimbledon in 2017 where Milos Raonic bread-sticked him the decider after four tough Tests.

The 6’6 power-hitter has all the tools at his disposal and once he gains more experience in five-set matches, success at all tournaments, including Grand Slams, should follow.

Nick Kyrgios

The temperamental Nick Kyrgios was at his brilliant best in the first week of the season as he stunned Dimitrov from a set down and then beat Ryan Harrison to claim the Brisbane International title. It was fourth title on the ATP tour and his first on home soil, after ending 2017 early with injury.

Talent he has in plenty, but the volatile Australian’s potential has often been betrayed by his temperament. Kyrgios is aiming for a fresh assault on his home Grand Slam, where he threw away a two-sets lead to lose to Andreas Seppi in the second round last year.

The 22-year-old crowd-puller, ranked 17, has the exceptional talent to beat the best but so often undermines his brilliance with petulance directed at the umpire or fans. Has two career wins over Rafael Nadal. He will be a danger man if his hip and attention span hold up.

Dominic Thiem

The 23-year-old Austrian finished the 2017 season with a title on clay in Rio de Janeiro and a year-end fifth ranking. But he has already had a rough start to the season – pulling out of the Qatar Open semi-final with flu, losing to Novak Djokovic at Kooyong before pulling out as with the same virus, disrupting the world number five’s build-up to the Australian Open.

While clay is his best surface, the consistency he has usually shown indicates that he can have a chance to go deep at a Major if fully fit and raring to go.

Andrey Rublev

The 20-year-old Russian captured his first ATP World Tour title as a lucky loser at Umag before becoming the youngest US Open quarter-finalist last year since Andy Roddick, beating the higher-ranked Dimitrov and Goffin. He eventually went down to Nadal but showed enough spunk to be noticed. Now ranked a career-high 32, the run in New York solidified Rublev’s status as one of the top ‘NextGen’ ATP players in the world and can give some of the best a run for their money in Melbourne.

With inputs from AFP