The 2022 Australian Open will be held from January 17 to 30, but this Australian Open may be "lost" a lot, ATP and WTA have four former Grand Slam champions and a world top ten player who have withdrawn from the Australian Open, in addition to Federer, the other two of the three kings of tennis Djokovic and Nadal can travel to Australia is still unknown.
Here are the five top players who have been determined not to play in the 2022 Australian Open:
Wawrinka (ATP: 82): Wawrinka is one of three former Australian Open singles champions who have retired from this year's first Grand Slam tournament. The former world number three player won the title by beating Nadal in Melbourne in 2014, the first of his three Grand Slam titles.
The Swiss is currently ranked 82nd in the ATP rankings after only four races in 2021, with the last to play at the Qatar Open in March. Wawrinka has since undergone two foot surgeries, and Swiss media recently reported that the 36-year-old won't return to the tour until March 2022 at the earliest.
Andrescu (WTA ranking: 46): Earlier this month, Andrescu announced on Twitter that she had decided not to compete in the 2022 Australian Open. The 21-year-old explained that after two tough years, she wanted to give herself more time to "reset, recover and grow" before starting to act again.
After winning the U.S. Open and reaching a career-highest world No. 4 in 2019, the Canadian missed the entire 2020 season with injury. Andreescu also played just 14 games this year, dropping to 46th in the WTA rankings.
Williams (WTA ranking: 41): Seven-time Australian Open champion Serena Williams recently confirmed she will not be present in Melbourne.
The American has not competed since a hamstring injury, which forced her to retire from the wimbledon first round in June. Williams has competed in only six events this year and is currently ranked 41st in the world by WTA.
Federer (ATP ranking: 16): Six-time Australian Open champion Federer revealed last month that he would miss the Australian Open in January. Federer also admitted he may not even be able to play at Wimbledon 2022.
After two surgeries in 2020, the Swiss superstar returned at the Qatar Open in March. Federer exacerbated his knee problems during his grass season and has not played since he lost to Kurtkatch in the quarter-final at Wimbledon.
The 40-year-old has played just five games after losing to Djokovic in the 2020 Australian Open semi-finals and is currently ranked 16th in the ATP rankings.
Karolina Pliskova (WTA ranking: 4): Karolina Pliskova, ranked No. 4 in the world, is currently the only player to withdraw from the top 10 of the 2022 Australian Open. The Czech announced last week that she had retired from next month's Australian Open with a hand injury in practice.
In addition to these five top players, it is also unknown whether Djokovic and Nadal will be able to participate in the Australian Open. As the Australian Open requires players to get two shots of the vaccine to play, Djokovic has not yet disclosed his vaccination status. Nadal, on the other hand, tested positive for COVID-19 recently, making it uncertain whether Nadal will be able to travel to Australia.