Men's Tennis: Tournaments that the "Big 4" will play first-up in 2019

The 2019 tennis season is just 11 days away. In fact, the season will begin on December 31, with the three ATP 250s in Pune, Doha, and Brisbane set to kick things off. Meanwhile, the Hopman Cup too will begin in Perth at the same time.

The 2018 season was quite a memorable one, with Roger Federer winning the Australian Open, Rafael Nadal winning the French Open, and Novak Djokovic making a stunning comeback to win the Wimbledon and US Open titles. Andy Murray, on the other hand, missed the majority of the year as he was still recovering from surgery.

Fondly known as the "Big 4", Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, and Murray are all set to kick their respective seasons off on December 31.

Here, we take a look at which tournament each of them would be playing before the Australian Open:

#1 Novak Djokovic

The Serb made a stunning return to form during Wimbledon last year after which there was no turning back for him. From being ranked no 22 in June, he fought his way back up to end the year as the world no. 1.

He was close to equalling Roger Federer's record of winning six year-end Finals titles but fell short against Alexander Zverev in the final.

He will begin his 2019 season by playing in the ATP 250 tournament in Doha. He is a two-time champion there, winning the title in 2016 and 2017, defeating Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray respectively. He was supposed to be a part of this year's tournament as well but pulled out due to an elbow injury.

He is seeded no. 1, with Dominic Thiem being seeded no. 2. The other players in the top 8 include Karen Khachanov, Marco Cecchinato, Nikoloz Basilashvili, David Goffin, Roberto Bautista Agut, and Richard Gasquet.

Rafael Nadal

Rafael Nadal

The Spaniard missed the last few tournaments in 2018 due to an ankle injury for which he underwent surgery a couple of months ago.

Due to this, he lost his world no. 1 spot to Novak Djokovic. However, he has recovered and is itching to get back out onto the court on December 31.

He is listed as the no. 1 seed at the Brisbane Open. He will also play the "Fast 4" exhibition tournament in Sydney after the Brisbane Open.

Andy Murray

Andy Murray

The Scot made a return to tennis in 2018 after his hip surgery. However, things did not go according to plan as he was able to play a limited number of matches throughout the season.

However, he is looking forward to the 2019 season and is hoping to get back to his best. He will begin his season alongside Nadal at the Brisbane Open. He is seeded no. 2 thanks to the Protected Ranking system.

Roger Federer

Roger Federer

Roger Federer continued his great run of form at the beginning of 2018, winning the Australian Open. However, he did face a few difficulties throughout the year and was not on top of his game as well. Despite that, he won 4 titles, including the Australian Open.

He ended the year as the world no. 3, behind his arch-rivals Nadal and Djokovic. His season ended with a semi-final loss to eventual winner Alexander Zverev at the Nitto ATP World Tour Finals in London.

Just like the previous couple of years, he will not play in any ATP tournament before the Australian Open and will instead feature in the Hopman Cup in Perth for Switzerland along with his partner Belinda Bencic.

Switzerland are in Group B with USA (Frances Tiafoe and Serena Williams), Greece (Stefanos Tsitsipas and Maria Sakkari), and Great Britain (Cameron Norrie and Katie Boulter).

After that, he will look to defend his crown at the Australian Open and win it for the third time in a row.