Australian Open 2017: Bold Predictions for the Year's 1st Grand Slam

There are always big upsets at Grand Slam venues, and the 2017 Australian Open sets up for several bold possibilities.

Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams are the favorite legendary players looking to add to their legacies, while Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal need aligned constellations to make surprising runs to the championship. We will discuss three of these players in this column.

Will No. 1 players Andy Murray and Angelique Kerber prove that they are truly the best, or will strong stars like Stan Wawrinka, Agnieszka Radwanska and Karolina Pliskova be party crashers for the greatest title in the southern hemisphere.

Our "Bold Predictions" preview looks at the opening three rounds and projects some of the upset possibilities. Nobody wins the title the first week, but many will lose it. After all, who would have thought Simona Halep would win only four games in a disastrous loss before the lights were warming up the first round?

Buckle up for tennis in Melbourne. There will be summer thrills on the blazing blue courts and history in the making.

Angelique Kerber Will Be Better in the 1st Week Than in 2016

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Is it possible that defending champion Angelique Kerber could be ousted in the first week? The German southpaw was running on fumes by the WTA finals at Singapore, and the 2016 accumulation of hard, grinding matches has made her appear more vulnerable.

She opened 2017 as the No. 1 player but barely survived a tough three-setter at Brisbane against wild-card Ashleigh Barty before losing to Elina Svitolina. Then she was defeated in her first match at Sydney to Daria Kasatkina.

This first week will be critical for Kerber to play her way into form and remove the malaise and possible doubts. She has an easy path in the first few matches even if the name "Pliskova" shows up as a third-round possibility. Fortunately for the holder, that's Kristyna Pliskova and not her feared twin sister, No. 5 Karolina.

"I think Grand Slams are always completely different," Kerber said, per BBC Sport, following her Brisbane loss. "It doesn't matter how you play before."

Tennis fans might also recall that Kerber survived a match point in the first round at the 2016 Australian Open, yet she went on to shock Serena Williams in the final to take her first career major.

It's not a really a big, bold prediction to start things off, but Kerber will survive to the second week with rusty play and enough grit and creativity to win six straight sets.

Bernard Tomic Will Not Tank out in the 1st Week

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While the majority of the attention on Australian tennis is focused on rising contender Nick Kyrgios, his polarizing Davis Cup teammate is hoping to make it to the second week for the fourth time since 2012.

Last year, Bernard Tomic was the No. 16 seed with an easy path to the fourth round, where he was promptly smashed by eventual finalist Andy Murray.

This year, Tomic is more under the radar, coming in as the No. 27 seed with fewer expectations and less controversy.

A year ago, he quit his match at Sydney claiming food poisoning. However, that didn't stop him from talking excitedly about the newly released Australian Open draw with the chair umpire. His motivation to finish the match vanished faster than dew drops on a scorching summer day at Rod Laver Arena.

Tomic seems ripe to go out early this year as he snaps at reporters' questions about gaining weight and faces a draw that includes tough opponents in Thomaz Bellucci, and possibly Aljaz Bedene and Marin Cilic in the succeeding rounds.

So, how about a big surprise for Tomic? He will win those three matches and defy the odds by making it to the second round. The key will be his accuracy. He needs to serve strong, and he must slice and dice his opponents with the flat pace and patience that can give fits to rhythm players.

Besides, Australian fans will be there in droves to cheer him on despite all the baggage.

Johanna Konta Will Not Survive the 1st Week

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There's a lot of depth in the bottom of the women's bracket. For instance, 25-year-old Johanna Konta, a breakout semifinalist in the 2016 Australian Open, will find it difficult to get out of the first week this time around.

Konta will receive plenty of attention from supporters in her native Australia, as well as from the United Kingdom press, who enjoy her recent citizenship transfer to their column. She's a top-10 player and the best in British women's tennis in about three decades.

She has a tough first-round match against veteran Kirsten Flipkens, who was knocking on the top 10 just a few years ago. The Belgian has enough match savvy to make things difficult for Konta if not take away the hot momentum the 25-year-old has conjured up in recent weeks.

Then she may have to face a talented newcomer in Naomi Osaka, a teenager who has already posted third-round results in three of the four Grand Slam events in 2016.

The third round could see Konta matched up with former No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki, who had a resurgent run to the U.S. Open semifinals last September. The defensive-minded Dane has the experience and tools to win this match straight up.

It might not be so easy for Konta to follow up the high of winning Sydney against Agnieszka Radwanska and being dubbed a potential Grand Slam winner by Kevin Mitchell of the Guardian.

So the Konta hype will not make it to the second week. Some of it will be due to the pressure and expectations, but she also needs to play on the edge of extra aggressiveness without self destructing. She's got three challenges ahead.

It might not be as abrupt as the Simona Halep shocker, but one of her inspired opponents will knock her out before the fourth round.

Will Roger Federer Go Further at Australia Than Rafael Nadal?

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Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal, who ya got?

It used to be the prime question years ago, but these days the two legends are just trying to find their way back into the second week of a major. They hope to be physically fit, mentally tough and able to reach back into the years when they were kings.

"I feel myself ready for the competition, yes," Nadal said, per Tom Allnutt of Press Association Sport (h/t the Daily Mail). "Then if that happens during the next couple of days and I am able to compete well from the beginning, you never know what can happen."

Federer was a bit more cautious coming into his first tournament since Wimbledon, per AFP (h/t Firstpost): "As long as I'm healthy and I feel like I can go four, five sets, I can go many matches in a row, then I think it's going to be fun."

Nadal was a first-round casualty at Melbourne a year ago, and his left-wrist injury forced him to withdraw after a second-round win at the French Open. He missed Wimbledon and was knocked out in his draining summer comeback by Lucas Pouille in the fourth round at the U.S. Open.

Can the Spanish superstar get through the first week against veterans Florian Mayer, Mikhail Youzhny or Marcos Baghdatis and a possible baton-passing match against rising star Alexander Zverev?

Will Federer find it just as difficult to battle through lefty junkballer Jurgen Melzer, play another match against a couple of scrappy American possibilities and then a possible third-round test against No. 10 Tomas Berdych?

It's likely that one of the two legends will get dumped in the first week, but at this point, it's more of a wait-and-see for who will have more rust and heavier legs.

Prediction? Nadal might have the tougher route to get out of the third week, but his path opens a little more by the fourth round. Take the Spaniard to go further in the tournament than Federer, and even a shot at the semifinals if things go well.

Serena Williams Will Lose Early at Australia

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There's nothing to question about Serena Williams' legacy—perhaps the best singles career in history.

The 35-year-old has just returned to WTA tour competition for the first time since September's U.S. Open semifinal loss to Karolina Pliskova, and she lost to unheralded Madison Brengle in a sloppy match at the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand. She's hoping for a more rejuvenated approach this week.

Williams could very well win her seventh championship at Melbourne, and she will if she's able to play her best tennis with fresh legs and powerful precision.

But if she is going to go down, it could be the first week when she has not been able to play her way back to competitive form. She gets a tricky, talented opponent in young Swiss Belinda Bencic, who despite her problems in 2016, defeated Williams on her way to winning the 2015 Rogers Cup.

A second-round veteran like Lucie Safarova could also ride an Australian wave behind her preference for this Plexicushion court that produces a higher bouncing ball with her lefty topspin.

So we're going bold and big on this one; Serena Williams will lose by the weekend. She will not look like her usual dominant self and will need more match play in the spring to get back to contending for majors.

Goodbye to No. 3 Seed Milos Raonic?

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Andy Murray is going to be just fine this week, and there's no sense in jumping to a Novak Djokovic clash against Grigor Dimitrov, not for another week.

But No. 3 Milos Raonic will have his troubles, and he's our biggest men's pick to get ousted this week. The big-serving Canadian was a semifinalist a year ago and seems ready to win a major at a faster venue like Wimbledon or the U.S. Open, but it's going to be a big challenge to survive this week at Melbourne.

Maybe first-round opponent Dustin Brown hits some of his crazy shots and reels in another highlight victory. Perhaps Gilles Muller, fresh off his first ATP title at Sydney, keeps his enthusiasm and heady play for a second-round upset. Or maybe U.S. youngster Taylor Fritz turns into Andy Roddick version No. 2 and gets his big-match breakthrough in that second round.

Raonic is also without former coach Carlos Moya, who helped him develop his groundstrokes and movement.

While Moya is off tutoring his legendary friend Nadal, Raonic is turning to more of a mirror image in 1996 Wimbledon champion Richard Krajicek, who was also a powerful server. How will this tandem prepare and perform at their first major together?

Another factor that has troubled Raonic is his persistent bouts with nagging injuries. Last year, he suffered an adductor injury in his five-set loss to Murray in the Australian Open semifinals. Most recently, he had to withdraw from the Paris Masters because of a torn right quad. It's just that the Canadian can be slowed down by injuries, and a pusher like Gilles Simon might outlast him in the third round.

Raonic will probably have a strong 2017, but this week at Melbourne feels like he's going to need a great escape. He's not going to make it.