The 2012 Australian Open: who and how to watch

With the New Year comes the beginning of the new tennis season and, with the first grand slam of 2012 underway in Melbourne, the competition is hotter than ever.

Roger Federer still has records in his sights and will be keen to show he isn't finished at the very top level quite yet while Rafael Nadal will be keen to put a year beset with injury problems behind him and start afresh Down Under. The opposite is true of Novak Djokovic, who presumably didn't want 2011 to end and will be looking to continue his blistering form in the new campaign. Then there's the British number 1, Andy Murray.

With new coach Ivan Lendl overseeing his progression, is this the year Murray finally makes good on his potential and delivers a British grand slam win for the first time since Fred Perry in1936?

There is no doubt that Murray is one of many to watch at this year's Australian Open and, with the sport's tendency to provide some of the very best live TV around, it's sure to be a thrilling couple of weeks in the sun. The Scot has been closer to ending one of tennis' longest hoodoos in Melbourne than anywhere else. A beaten finalist in each of the last two years, to say that there is determination in the Murray camp to breach the final frontier is an understatement.

Elsewhere, Roger Federer, arguably the greatest player to ever pick up a racket, will be looking to bounce back from his first barren year, in terms of grand slam titles, since 2002; in each subsequent year the Swiss' statistics read better than the last. With 16 slams to his name and a record 237 consecutive weeks at the top of the rankings, anybody writing Federer off must be doing so prematurely.

Another with a point to prove is the battling Rafael Nadal. The king of clay was again victorious on his favourite surface last year but hamstrung in defeat to David Ferrer in Melbourne.

Instead, Novak Djokovic took the crown and the superb Serb has been almost unstoppable ever since. A semi-final defeat to Federer in the French Open was the only blot on the best copybook the game has ever seen. All three of the other majors went to Djokovic, as did five ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles. At one stage he had won 42 matches out of 43 and ended the year with a whopping 70 victories and only six defeats.

On the women's side of the draw, audible sighs of relief came from a number of competitors with the news that Venus Williams had withdrawn due to illness. Current number one, Caroline Wozniacki, remains under pressure to capture a grand slam to go alongside, and in part justify, her position at the summit, where she has been for over a year.

2008 champion Maria Sharapova underwent a comeback of sorts in 2011 with a place in the final of Wimbledon and the one time golden girl of tennis will be looking to continue her determined march back to the top. Of course, no mention of women's tennis is complete without a nod to Serena Williams, who has won this particular grand slam more times than any other in her unbelievable haul.

With so many stars on show, the only problem is finding the time to see all of the matches. The time difference inevitably means that a number of unmissable matches will be broadcast at the most inconvenient times.

This is where the advent and development of online television is a godsend. Whether at home or in the office, don't miss a shot or, if you simply can't be at a screen, catch up later. Everything points to it being too good to miss.

26 January 2012

This is a sponsored posting.