The stories and subplots set to dominate the Australian Open

The Australian Open is set to begin on Sunday, with Belarusian player Aryna Sabalenka embarking on her quest for a three-peat. She will begin her title defense in Melbourne, at an event filled with various compelling storylines.

On the opening day, five Australian players will participate in the singles competition, namely Aleksandar Vukic, Adam Walton, Li Tu, Omar Jasika, and Daria Saville. They will take to the court ahead of Sabalenka's first-round match against former US Open champion Sloane Stephens.

If Sabalenka can lift the trophy again, she will join legends such as Margaret Court, Evonne Goolagong Cawley, Monica Seles, Steffi Graf, and Martina Hingis as a three-time consecutive champion in Melbourne. "I know I have the opportunity to join the legends by winning three in a row... I don't want to think too much about it, I just want to do my job," Sabalenka said.

On the men's side, Novak Djokovic is aiming to become the first tennis player to win 25 Grand Slam singles titles. Djokovic is chasing his 11th title in Melbourne, which would further extend his own record. Australian legend Court also won 24 Grand Slams. Now, Djokovic has turned to an unexpected coach for an edge - former rival Andy Murray. "He's always been one of my greatest rivals, and we always hid things from each other," Djokovic said. "Now, all the cards are on the table."

If he wins again, the 37-year-old Djokovic would become only the third male player to win 100 tour-level titles - Jimmy Connors won 109 and Roger Federer won 103. However, the Serbian is entering the competition as the seventh seed, indicating a shift at the top of the tennis world. World No. 1 Jannik Sinner and Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz split the Grand Slam titles last year, each winning two.

The 23-year-old Sinner returns to Melbourne as a defending champion, but also under a cloud of doping suspicion: he tested positive twice last year for trace amounts of anabolic steroids. The Italian player attributed it to contact with banned substances through massages from his trainer and was cleared, but an appeal by the World Anti-Doping Agency will be heard in mid-April. "I didn't do anything wrong. That's why I'm still here," Sinner said before the competition.

World No. 8 Alex de Minaur will enter his "bubble" to block out the hype of potentially becoming the first Australian male player to win the Australian Open since Mark Edmondson in 1976. "Over the years, of course, there's been more talk or hype about me," he said. "There's always going to be a lot of external noise, but I'm lucky I have a great team around me where we can focus on our own little bubble."

Alexei Popyrin is another Australian player with potential for a strong showing, although Nick Kyrgios's comeback on Monday will dominate the headlines. Kyrgios, who is competing in his first Grand Slam since the 2022 US Open, withdrew from a scheduled exhibition match against Djokovic last Thursday night due to an abdominal strain.