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 In a sport where players analyze every tiny detail in the hope of
finding an edge and rigidly stick to tried and tested routes to the
other three grand slams, the world's best cannot agree on the right
road to winning the Australian Open.
Even past champions are not sure which way to go, spreading
themselves as far apart as the Middle East to the Indian
subcontinent, China, Australia and New Zealand.
Some have opted to play only singles, some have added doubles. Some
are playing mixed team events, some are playing exhibitions. Some
are playing multiple warm-up events, others none at all.
Novak Djokovic has won four of the last seven Australian Opens but
even the Serbian cannot decide on the best place to play.
For three of his wins, he warmed up at the Hopman Cup in Perth and
for the other he did not play at all. This year he is playing the
Qatar Open, along with Rafa Nadal.
 For Nadal, the Qatar Open could be a good omen as he used that as
his warm-up event before he won his only Australian Open title in
2009.
Roger Federer also played at the Qatar Open before he won the
Australian Open in 2006 and 2010. But in 2007 he won the Australian
Open without playing any warm-up and when he won the Qatar Open in
2005 and 2011, he did not win the Australian Open later that month.
This year Federer is playing the Brisbane International in
subtropical Queensland, along with Maria Sharapova and Victoria
Azarenka.
The Brisbane International is a relatively new event, having started
in 2009, and attracts strong fields, but none of the winners so far
has gone on and won the Australian Open the same year.
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Stanislas Wawrinka, last year's surprise men's champion, warned up
by winning the Chennai Open, and the Swiss is back defending his
title in India this week, hoping that if it worked once it might
work again.
Li Na won last year's women's singles title after warming up in
Shenzhen, adding more uncertainty to the best route to take.
Li has since retired but Petra Kvitova, Caroline Wozniacki and
Simona Halep are all heading to China hoping for similar luck as
they chase their first Australian Open titles.
The Sydney International has been the most reliable formguide for
the women's title at Melbourne, with four of the last 10 Australian
Open winners playing it.
Serena Williams used Sydney as her final preparation for two of the
five Australian Opens she won. But she also won it twice without
playing any warmups, and another time when she went to Hobart and
lost early.
This year, she's playing the Hopman Cup, along with Andy Murray, who
is hoping the mixed team event could be the tonic for him to win his
first Australian Open.
(Editing by Sudipto Ganguly)
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