The year's first Grand Slam tennis tournament is upon us, and many of the stars of the ATP Champions Tour will be at the Australian Open on commentary duty. Ahead of the event in Melbourne, three of our biggest names and a special guest have given us their predictions about who will be the men's champion in 2011.

As they prepare for the ATP Champions Tour events in Delray Beach (18-22 February) and Zurich (8-12 March), former World No.1 John McEnroe and former Australian Open winners Mats Wilander and Stefan Edberg have all had their say, as has the charismatic Yannick Noah.

So, who do they think will win the Australian Open and why? Read on.

Stefan Edberg
Winner - Rafael Nadal.
“The Australian Open is outdoors, it’s in the heat and I believe Rafa has to be the favourite and probably will be the winner. It is incredible what he has done over the past year and he does have a chance now to catch Federer (for the Grand Slam title record). It's not going to be easy, but he definitely has a chance. Federer is not finished yet, but Nadal is the favourite in Melbourne.”

Mats Wilander
Winner - Rafael Nadal.
“Nadal has improved more at Number One than Federer did when he was there. He has improved and he has changed his game, not drastically, but you can see the changes and improvements.
Federer has always played brilliant tennis but you never really saw Federer change, whereas Nadal has actually changed his game after getting beaten a couple of times last year.
I would definitely pick Nadal for the Australian Open.”

John McEnroe
Winner - Rafael Nadal.
“I would pick Nadal at the Australian because I think he’s much tougher to beat in longer matches. If he remains healthy then he’s the guy I would pick for every Major right now until proven otherwise. I would love to see a guy like Del Potro or one of the other guys like Djokovic or Murray step up and really make an impact and win some Majors.
I think that would be important for tennis, but Nadal is the favourite, just ahead of Federer.”

Yannick Noah
Winner - Rafael Nadal.
“Nadal is in great shape. When Nadal is healthy he is unbeatable because mentally he is also so strong. It’s amazing to watch how strong mentally this kid is. So if he’s healthy I think he’s the favourite for the Australian Open and I would say the same forever, anywhere.”