Predictions for the 2016 Australian Open

Tennis is back in swing after the brief hiatus that passes for an offseason, and theScore's esteemed tennis writers, Joe Wolfond and Michael Chandler, are here to help handicap the year's first major tournament.

Here are your predictions for the 2016 Australian Open:

Men's champ

Wolfond: Novak Djokovic

Mostly covered here. Long story short: He's the best player in the world, by far, playing on his best surface, in a tournament he's won four of the past five years. If he loses, I'll be shocked.

Chandler: Novak Djokovic

Few athletes have enjoyed a spell of dominance like the angular Serb, yet outside the tennis world, the five-time Australian Open winner doesn't get near as many headlines as some of his peers. There are few scenarios in which Djokovic doesn't lift his sixth Norman Brookes trophy the last day of January.

Women's champ

Chandler: Victoria Azarenka

Despite sitting in the middle of a challenging bracket, the 14th-seeded Azarenka will use her unduly low ranking as motivation, and, coupled with Serena's shoddy knees, ride to her third Aussie Open.

Wolfond: Victoria Azarenka

Betting against Serena Williams is a reliable way to end up with egg on your face, but Azarenka looks all the way back after two injury-marred seasons, and she seems to be the only top player coming into the tournament with a clean bill of health. She's coming off a title (her first since 2013) in Brisbane in which she dropped no more than three games in any set. She looks loose, she looks hungry, and she's done it in Melbourne twice before. It says here she makes it a trifecta.

Men's runner-up

Wolfond: Andy Murray

Chalk up another near-miss for poor Andy, for whom the Aussie Open has been both a haven (four finals appearances) and a scourge (four finals losses). As ever, Murray's inability to solve Djokovic figures to send him home with a plate instead of a trophy.

At least he has fatherhood to look forward to.

Chandler: Stan Wawrinka

Stan or Murray is essentially what this pick came down to, and I opted for Switzerland's other tennis star based squarely on his incredible performance at the Aussie Open in 2014, when he beat Rafa Nadal in a four-set final.

Women's runner-up

Chandler: Aga Radwanska

Like Vika, Radwanska will benefit from Serena's ailment and ease her way to the final with only an injured duo of Petra Kvitova and Maria Sharapova and a young Belinda Bencic standing in her way to bid for a trophy in a tournament that has treated her well in the past.

Wolfond: Serena Williams

I'm not bullish on Serena at this tournament, less because of her health concerns than the fact that she hasn't played meaningful tennis since her crushing US Open loss in September. Still, I have a hard time picturing her losing to anyone in her half of the draw, especially given that neither Sharapova (forearm) nor Kvitova (illness) has made it through a match in 2016.

Men's dark horse

Wolfond: Milos Raonic

Is this the year Raonic's long-awaited breakthrough finally comes to fruition? Injuries blew him off course last season, but the young Canadian looks to be back on track. He certainly couldn't have asked for a more encouraging start, winning his first tournament of the year by thumping Roger Federer in the Brisbane final. He's also in a pretty cushy quarter of the draw.

Chandler: Benoit Paire

Ranked 17th and handed the unenviable prospect of a quarterfinal bout with Djokovic, the towering, big-hitting Frenchman will likely need to best countryman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and the mercurial Kei Nishikori (who Paire knocked off in the US Open this past September) to reach the final eight at a Slam for the first time.

Women's dark horse

Chandler: Alize Cornet

Faced with a potential second-round matchup with second-ranked Simona Halep - who's hampered by an Achilles injury - Cornet should build on her one-sided Hobart International victory over Eugenie Bouchard. The Nice-born 25-year-old is unranked, but a relatively straightforward bracket could see Cornet progress beyond at least the third-round for the first time in her slam career.

Wolfond: Sloane Stephens

She played better last season than her disappointing results would suggest, and she seemed to put her autumn swoon behind her with a convincing title run last week in Auckland. With power for days, she's got a real chance to make some noise in a wide-open quarter if she can find the consistency and footwork to match. She had her best Slam result (semifinals, after beating Serena in the quarters) in Melbourne in 2013.

Bold prediction

Wolfond: Federer loses before the quarterfinals

A few too many landmines for comfort in his quarter, including rhythm-wrecking unicorn Alexandr Dolgopolov, "Baby Fed" Dimitrov, and explosive youngster Dominic Thiem. Federer flamed out early in the first major last season, and came out flat in the Brisbane final. He may need some time to get into a groove.

Chandler: Kyrgios and Coric play the match of the tourney

Nick Kyrgios and Borna Coric will meet in the fourth round for what will prove to be the tournament's most entertaining match. Never far from controversy, the Canberra native and the teenaged Croat have flashed equal parts promise and swagger in establishing themselves two of tennis' future stars.