India tennis ace Saketh Myneni, 33, is pretty clear about his favourites for the year’s first Grand Slam, the Australian Open, which kicked off in Melbourne today.

“Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams are my favourites to win the Australian Open,” Myneni told mid-day recently, going on to explain the reasons for his choices.
“Serena has always been there, fighting hard. She’s a great champion. She’s also chasing a record of 24 Slam titles [to equal Australian great Margaret Court] and it will be great if she can achieve it in Australia. In the last three-four years, we have seen that whoever has beaten Serena has had to play some unbelievable tennis. So, for me, she’s right up there. And among the men, it has to be Novak, not only because he’s the current World No. 1 but because he has won the Australian Open title eight times. That definitely gives him an edge over the others,” said Myneni a mixed doubles gold medal-winner at the 2014 Incheon Asian Games.