"I think she'll do the job" - Australian Open CEO believes Coco Gauff will triumph at this year's event

With the Australian Open only a few days away, tournament CEO Craig Tiley has given his predictions on whom could possibly win both the men's and women's events.

The first Grand Slam of the season, often referred to as "The Happy Slam" will see defending champions Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka return in an attempt to repeat their historic feats from last year. However, there might be a few roadblocks standing in their respective paths.

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Gauff's level of tennis is unreal, says Tiley

Although defending champion Sabalenka won the Brisbane title last week, Tiley is of the opinion that American tennis prodigy Coco Gauff is the woman to beat heading into Melbourne. Gauff led Team USA to it's second United Cup trophy, defeating former World No.1 Iga Swiatek in the final.

“Coco Gauff, I think she’ll do the job,” said Tiley. “She’s playing the best tennis right now. Fortunately, her and Aryna Sabalenka are on course to play the same event. Sabalenka won in Brisbane, she does really well here, but Coco’s gone up a notch."

On the men's side, Tiley believes Sinner will be difficult to dethrone. However, the tournament CEO has backed hometown hero Alex De Minaur to have a strong showing.

"We’ve now got a young group of men, 10, 11 in the top 100 that are doing extremely well," added Tiley. "Alex de Minaur is playing the best tennis I’ve seen him play, he’s top 10. He could jump in the finals before you know. It'll depend on the draw a lot, and that will happen in the next few days."

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