AUSTRALIAN OPEN LATEST
OUT
Kei Nishikori: the former world No.4 and US Open runner-up is the first big name to officially withdraw after succumbing to a wrist injury.
Svetlana Kuznetsova: the dual grand slam champion and world No.12 will miss the women’s event with a wrist injury.
IN DOUBT
Rafael Nadal: the world No.1 continues to battle a knee injury that forced his withdrawal from Brisbane. Still likely to start but no guarantees.
Novak Djokovic: the six-times Open champion hasn’t played since Wimbledon and will make a call after testing his elbow in exhibition events at Kooyong and Melbourne Park.
Andy Murray: the former world No.1 and five-times runner-up is long odds to play as he considers hip surgery after also being sidelined since Wimbledon.
Stan Wawrinka: the 2014 Open champion also hasn’t been sighted in six months as he battles a knee injury that will restrict his build-up to next week’s one-night Tie Break Tens.
Serena Williams: the seven-times winner and defending champion looks a 50-50 prospect of starting in what would be her first competitive tennis since giving birth to her first child in September.
Victoria Azarenka: the two-time champion and former world No.1 remains locked in a custody battle that is preventing her son leaving California.
STRUGGLING
Jack Sock: the in-form world No.8 hurt his hip in an on-court tumble at the Hopman Cup in Perth.
Garbine Muguruza: the reigning Wimbledon women’s champion retired from the Brisbane International with severe cramps but has since been cleared to play in Sydney next week.
Caroline Garcia: the world No.8 retired from her first-round match in Brisbane with a back injury.