Jannik Sinner, Daniil Medvedev have reasons for kicking off 2024 bids at the Australian Open

Sometimes it’s worth trying something new.

In the case of world No. 3 Daniil Medvedev and world No. 4 Jannik Sinner, the two are among the high-profile contenders who opted not to play a lead-in tournament to the Australian Open.

For Sinner, his 2023 season was backloaded with a successful, but taxing, final push. The Italian won 500-level titles Beijing and Vienna, finished runner-up at the Nitto ATP Finals and then led his nation to its first Davis Cup title since 1976.

“I had only one week of stop basically, then we started the off-season. We were there quite early. I wanted to start as soon as possible in one way the off-season,” the 22-year-old said in his pre-tournament press conference Friday.

“That for me was really important, for me and my body. We tried also to figure out if this could be an option for the upcoming years, if this helps for me or not.”

Sinner is among the participants this week to pick up friendly match play at the Kooyong Tennis Classic exhibition event.

As for Medvedev, he acknowledges the risk to changing up his preparation for the first major of the season. But for the two-time Australian Open finalist and former US Open champion, it was important for him to try prioritizing life events away from the court after not being where he wanted physically and mentally following a runner-up finish at Flushing Meadows.

“Otherwise I would be 35 years old and I would be like I actually never spent a New Year at home, never do this. So I decided that (this) is a year to try,” he told press. “Had vacation first time at the end of the season maybe in four years. If I would go here for a warm-up tournament, I would have like, as I said, two weeks of pre-season. Then you go nonstop.”

When the draw was released Thursday, Sinner landed in the top half headlined by 10-time event champion Novak Djokovic. Sinner won two of three matches against the 24-time major winner across last November after being eliminated by the Serbian at Wimbledon for the second consecutive year.

“Honestly, I missed being a little bit out of competition in the last one and a half, two months or so,” he said. “It's good to be back here, to have the connection with the crowd and everything. Let's see how it goes.”

With Sinner in the second quarter, that left Medvedev on the flip side of the draw with world No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz. The Spaniard won three of their four 2023 clashes, with Medvedev’s victory notably coming at the other hard-court major in New York.

Reflecting on turning around last year’s disappointing start to a new season Down Under, Medvedev shared, “I think the thing I learned: future is bright no matter what. I remember last year sitting in a press conference room. Was a tough feeling after the loss. I think dropping out of Top 10, stuff like this. Then was probably one of the best parts of my career.”