Only a few days before the first ball is struck, the Australian Open resembles a shredded carcass. So ravaged are both draws, it is a taking a leap of faith to declare across time zones that there will be no more wounded joining the leading women and men who have either fallen or are sinking to their knees before the first grand slam of the season. A year ago, the one-time prodigy Mirjana Lucic-Baroni laughed at the years when she re-entered the top 20 at 35 and enjoyed a dream run to the semi-finals in Melbourne; on Monday, she was forced to quit through illness when trailing Petra Kvitova 1-6 in Sydney. A week ago, Kvitova, who has thrilled the sport since coming back from a knife attack in her home two Christmases ago, had to retire with viral illness from the Brisbane International. There seems no escape from cumulative injury or sporadic ill-health on either the ATP or WTA Tours, as the seasons do not so much rage and subside but overlap from one minor crisis to another. Form and pedigree have been rendered irrelevant to the point where it is difficult to identify a reliable favourite among the…