No Novak yet but rest of tennis prepares for Australian Open

By DENNIS PASSA
AP Sports Writer

While the “will he or won’t he?” question remains for No. 1 Novak Djokovic and his participation in the Australian Open the rest of the tennis world returns to work this week to prepare for the season’s first major. That starts Jan. 17 at Melbourne Park. The men’s ATP Cup team event has been on since the weekend in Sydney, and there are three tune-up events being played this week in Melbourne as part of Tennis Australia’s “Summer Set” of tournaments — two WTA tournaments and one ATP. In Adelaide there is a joint ATP and WTA tournament this week. Ash Barty, Naomi Osaka, Simona Halep and Rafael Nadal are among those in action this week.