Sinner favourite at Australian Open as Djokovic eyes elusive record

MELBOURNE : Jannik Sinner will launch his Australian Open title defence under a stubborn doping cloud but the whiff of scandal may do little to halt the Italian juggernaut.

Sinner remains the man to beat at Melbourne Park even as doping officials seek a two-year ban for the world number one for failing two drugs tests last March.

The saga failed to derail Sinner during a stellar season as he put the distractions aside to win eight titles, including a second Grand Slam crown at the U.S. Open and a maiden ATP Finals trophy.

Sinner may face a cooler reception than usual for a defending champion at Melbourne Park but it will likely take more than heckling to knock him off his game.

"It's a different feeling but we are all happy to start the season again here in Australia, in Melbourne," Sinner, who faces Nicolas Jarry in the first round, said at the tournament's draw at Melbourne Park on Thursday.

"It's called the 'Happy Slam' so we are all very happy to be back here."

Though Sinner was docked ranking points and prize-money, the International Tennis Integrity Agency cleared him to play and accepted that he had been inadvertently contaminated with an anabolic agent through massages by a member of his support team.

The World Anti-Doping Agency has since lodged an appeal over the judgement with the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

CAREER SLAM

Sinner shared 2024's major titles with Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, who at 21 will look to become the youngest man to complete the career Grand Slam by winning in Melbourne.

Victory for either Sinner or Alcaraz, the reigning French Open and Wimbledon champion, would back up predictions of an enduring duopoly in men's tennis.

But Novak Djokovic, the last man standing from the golden era of the "Big