Australian Open 2019: 3 players who can challenge the Big 3 in Melbourne

3. Alexander Zverev

The young German lad Alexander Zverev is considered to be the next big thing in tennis. He is yet to showcase his full potential on the Grand Slam stage, but has already won three ATP Masters 1000 titles.

Zverev produces brilliance in patches and suffers dips in form every now and then. This has affected his consistency, and his immense talent has not been put to proper use yet.

He would like to turn his fortunes around this year. He didn't have the perfect start to 2019, as he went down to Federer in straight sets at the Hopman Cup, and yesterday suffered a hamstring pull that threw his preparations into jeopardy. But he hopes to be fit in time for Melbourne, and would be raring to prove that he is capable of performing well in best of five sets too.

Zverev would love to rediscover his 2018 form, where he won the ATP Finals defeating Federer and Djokovic in the semi-finals and finals respectively. He also won three other titles last year - at Munich, Madrid and Washington.

He would hope to carry aloft the Australian Open trophy

A baseline player who hits consistent groundstrokes, Zverev can generate a lot of power with both his backhand and forehand. His backhand is particularly considered to be his strength, and he also has the capability to generate fast serves.

Just 21 years old, this youngster has age and energy on his side. If he has a fabulous and consistent two weeks at the Australian Open, there is no doubt he can be the man to beat and a potential title contender.