Five things to watch out for in ATP tennis this year

Another fascinating tennis season is on the way with only a week to the start of Australian Open. The return of Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray is sure to make things interesting this season.

Will age finally reflect in Roger Federer's game? Will Nadal break Federer's record? These questions among others are some of the most anticipated issues to be resolved this season.

A lot of records lay there waiting to be broken. Federer will be looking to be crowned at Wimbledon for yet again. That's one record left for him to chase, most titles in a single major event.

Rafael Nadal, who currently holds the record for winning most titles in a single major event by winning 10 French Open will be eyeing the 19 overall grand slam record held by Federer.

Stan Wawrinka is on a mission to complete career Grand Slam. There are so many young talents who will be eager to grow out from the shadow of the big four.

Let's check out what are the most important things to watch out for this season.

#1 The return of Novak Djokovic

Djole will be looking to regain the spotlight after an injury-hit 2017 season

The 12-time Grand Slam champion ended his 2017 after retiring during his Wimbledon quarter-final against Tomas Berdych and he is now gearing up for a return ahead of the Australian Open. In his absence, Nadal and Federer cleaned up the majors last year by splitting the four grand slams between them.

Djokovic will be looking to prove the injuries did not affect his class. He is currently tied fourth on the list of most grand slam wins with 12 titles. He is just 2 short of Pete Sampras to climb up to the third position.

He also holds the record for most Australian Open titles, winning 6 times. He will be looking to add more to that list.

Since reaching the final of the US Open 2007, he has reached at least one Grand Slam final in every year except in 2009 where his best finish was reaching the US Open semi-finals and in 2017.

With last year being the worst in his career, the tennis world is waiting to see how he performs when he returns.

#2 Nadal's quest to become THE all-time greatest player

The king of clay will be looking to become the one true king this season

Rafa currently has 16 grand slam titles to his name, 3 short of Federer who holds the record for most titles. Being 5 years younger than his rival, he has a good chance of breaking the record. Even though he is not expected to achieve the feat this season itself, whether he will be able to reduce the gap is a question the tennis world is curious about.

Until 2014, there was no doubt that Nadal was going to overtake Federer on the list of Grand Slam titles but constant injuries and loss of form made people begin to doubt him.

Nadal, who holds the record for winning at least one Grand Slam title for most consecutive years did not win a single Grand Slam in 2015 and 2016.

He had won at least one Grand Slam title in the years 2005-2014, a span of 10 years but he did not even reach the semi-finals in those two injury-plagued years; 2015 and 2016.

Last year saw his comeback with two titles and a year-end number one finish. These performances have again heated up the discussion of his chase of the Grand Slam record.

#3 Where is Andy Murray?

Doubts are being expressed over Murray's ability to recover from the injury-plagued season last year

Murray's last triumph in a grand slam tournament was at Wimbledon in 2016. With only 3 major titles, his reputation of being one of the big four in tennis looks more like hype especially given the fact that Stanislas Wawrinka has achieved the same feat. Can Murray add more to his major titles? It is another question that will be answered this season.

Murray has always been consistent by frequently finishing in the semi-finals and finals at major tournaments. From 2008 to 2017 he has managed to reach at least one major semi-final every year.

He has played a total of 21 semi-finals at Grand Slam level, managing to reach the final at 11 of those occasions. His win rate in the finals is what lets him down. He has a 3-8 win-loss record in Grand Slam finals and has been referred to as the Juventus of tennis (being that Juventus almost always lose in major European finals).

It is something he will be desperate to change this season. Will he be able to go all the way to win the titles this season? We will see an answer this season.

#4 Can Wawrinka challenge the status quo?

Wawrinka will be hoping to muscle into the top echelon of male tennis this season

While most discussions are related to the big four, Wawrinka is on a quest of his own. He has won 3 major titles so far and lacks only a Wimbledon grand slam to achieve the career grand slam. His name will enter the hall of fame if he manages to do so and this is another story the tennis world will follow this season.

He made his first Grand Slam semi-final appearance in 2013 by reaching the last four of the US Open. He has been playing at a different level since then, winning a Grand Slam in the consecutive years; 2014 (Australian Open), 2015 (French Open) and 2016 (US Open).

Though he did not win a major title last year, it was still been a good one as he reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open and the final of French Open.

He will be looking to achieve the feat of career Grand Slam by adding a Wimbledon crown to his collection. It will not an easy task, but his performance in recent years has shown that he is a player capable of the exceptional.

#5 Who will be the new kid on the Grand Slam podium?

For the last 15 years, it has been all about Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic when it comes to grand slam titles.

Only Murray, Wawrinka and Juan Martin del Potro have been able to come through to win a major title apart from the foremost trio but they all belong to the same generation when you look at their ages.

No new player has stood out from the new generation but with so many young talents in coming up, the tennis world will be watching keenly to see if this will be the season which witnesses the emergence of a new star.

There are many players who can win a Grand Slam this year, some of whom have been knocking on the doors by reaching the semi-finals and quarter-finals regularly.

Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov has already reached semi-finals twice and is the front-runner among the youngsters to achieve the feat.

Dominic Thiem, the 23-year-old Austrian is not far behind either as he has reached the semi-finals at the French Open once.

German sensation Alexander Zverev is another contender who could win a major this year. The tennis world will be waiting to see whether one among them or any other young player could win a major title this season.