Australian Open 2023: When is it? Which players are taking part?

The tournament takes place in the Australian city of Melbourne

All eyes will be on the city of Melbourne for the next two weeks as 2023's sporting calendar kicks off with the Australian Open.

It's the first of the four main tennis competitions of the year with some of the biggest names in the sport hoping to serve up Grand Slam success.

But what can we expect and who should we be looking out for?

Here's everything you need to know about this year's tournament!

When is the Australian Open taking place?

Who will lift the men's and women's Australian Open trophies this year?

This year's tournament takes place at Melbourne Park between 16-29 January.

It's the first of the four main tennis tournaments in the world - called Grand Slams - to take place every year.

The three other Grand Slam events are the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open.

For many of the world's best tennis players, the Australian Open is also the first competitive tournament of the year that they'll play in.

The various Grand Slam events take place on different playing surfaces.

While Wimbledon is famously played on grass, the Australian Open is played on blue hard courts.

Which British players are taking part?

Emma Raducanu reached the second round of the Australian Open last year

Emma Raducanu has recently been struggling with an ankle injury but says she will be taking part in this year's tournament.

The 20-year-old, who won the US Open in 2021, faces Germany's Tamara Korpatsch in her first match on Monday.

The women's draw will also feature British number two Harriet Dart, who makes her debut at the tournament.

Cameron Norrie is the top seeded British male player at this year's event.

His first-round match is against French wildcard Luca van Assche on Monday.

Alfie Hewett (on the left) and Gordon Reid have won three Australian Open titles in a row!

Five-time Australian Open runner-up Andy Murray is also competing as is Dan Evans, Jack Draper and Kyle Edmund.

Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid won their third Australian Open title last year in the wheelchair men's doubles event and lead the charge for the Brits in both the singles and doubles events.

Joining them will be 17-year-old Ben Bartram who received a wildcard and will be making his senior debut.

Lucy Shuker will be competing in the women's wheelchair singles draw this year, while Andy Lapthorne will be looking to defend his quad doubles title.

Who else to look out for this year?

Women's world number one Iga Świątek won the French and US Open tournaments last year

There will be a new women's champion in 2023 after last year's winner Ashleigh Barty announced her retirement from professional tennis two months after her victory.

Barty's decision meant that Poland's Iga Świątek took her place as world number one and has stayed at the top of the rankings ever since - could she clinch her first Australian Open title?

Also competing is Ons Jabeur, who made history last year by becoming the first African and Arab woman to ever reach a Grand Slam final, which she did twice.

The 2023 Australian Open will be the first Grand Slam event following the retirements of veteran superstars Serena Williams and Roger Federer

This year's event will also be missing two of the world's greatest tennis players - Serena Williams and Roger Federer - after both players decided to retire in 2022 after long and successful careers.

In the men's competition, Spanish teenager and world number one Carlos Alcaraz is ruled out due to injury.

However, nine-time Australian Open winner Novak Djokovic is back competing again after he wasn't allowed to take part in last year's event because of the country's coronavirus rules at the time.

Could the Serb win his 10th title and match Rafael Nadal's men's record of 22 major wins?

Or could Rafael Nadal, the current reigning champion and number one seed, lift the trophy for the second year in a row?

All will be decided over the next two weeks!