Blow!
Two weeks into the season, tennis kicks off one of its mega events, the Australian Open.
Roger Federer called it the “Happy Slam. ” Somehow, the maximum of tennis players manage to eat and rejuvenate in their off-season in the blink of an eye and arrive in Melbourne full of hopes and dreams for the new campaign.
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For a few more days, the slate is clean. Soon, however, the tension returns and rises, along with local temperatures, which can become bestial when the wind blows from Australia’s arid plains rather than the nearby seas.
The story of the sport often picks up where its Grand Slam narratives left off, with special attention paid to the last one that was played, the U.S. Open.
The Grand Slams are the place where the main themes of the game play out and where tennis is different. Different crowds. Another exam. Different opportunities. Different risks. And incredibly, other issues.
On the men’s side, he is the best of five of the three and no one knows more than ten-time Australian champion Novak Djokovic, for whom a two-set deficit at a Grand Slam is so insignificant. That Djokovic, world No. 1, winner of 3 Grand Slams last year and runner-up of the other, can continue to dominate is just one of the grand narratives that will be spread in the tennis pavilion along the Yarra River.
Any Australian Open breakthrough has to start with Djokovic, who won his 24th Grand Slam at the U. S. Open in New York, which is also played on hard courts.
Djokovic suffered a sore wrist at the United Cup, the festival of the team he played before coming to Melbourne, and lost 6-4, 6-4 to Australia’s Alex de Minaur, a player he destroyed in the “A. O. last year, when the locals are asking for it. He has won 28 consecutive matches at this event, 10 Australian Open men’s singles titles, and the last 4 he has competed in (he was deported in 2022 for his stance against Covid-19 vaccination).
Djokovic has a history of managing injuries here. He won last year with a balky hamstring and in 2021 with a small tear in an abdominal muscle. There’s always a certain amount of drama surrounding the Serb, whether it’s a niggling injury or an off-court controversy (vaccinations, Balkan politics, etc.) Last year, his father posed with a fan holding a Russian flag, which was banned from the ground. Given his performance, there is nothing to indicate that he doesn’t thrive under these conditions.
Everywhere one looks in the picture, especially on the female side, it turns out that there is a call to the ambitious pursuit of something.
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The biggest caller in this crowd is Naomi Osaka, who is playing for her first Grand Slam since the 2022 U. S. Open. He had his first child in July, a daughter named Shai, and said he needs to play professionally for a long time, long enough. for your daughter to see what she’s been like in her life.
“The time is really precious,” she said Friday.
If Osaka gets on a roll, she immediately becomes a player no one wants to play. She has an enticing first-round matchup with Caroline Garcia, who struggled late last year, but in form poses a significant challenge.
Germany’s Angelique Kerber, who also gave birth to her first child, is also returning for her first Grand Slam as a mother. Caroline Wozniacki came out of retirement to play the US Open last summer and continues her return to that of her only Grand Slam victory. Amanda Anisimova is returning from a long break due to intellectual health issues.
In the men’s category, Rafael Nadal intended to return to a Grand Slam here, but suffered a muscle tear. Denis Shapovalov is back after missing the second half of last year with a knee injury. Gaël Monfils, who played his first Grand Slam in history at The US Open, is also back in Australia.
Locals desperately hoped Nick Kyrgios would be coming back here, too, but he is still recovering from wrist surgery and will be holding a microphone instead of a tennis racket for a few more months.
The generation that was supposed to overtake Djokovic and Nadal – Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Alexander Zverev – has largely failed. Can the next crew to come along do any better?
Carlos Alcaraz beat him in the Wimbledon final. Jannik Sinner had a poor form and eliminated him in the Davis Cup. Holger Rune has some wins in front of him.
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And yet, looking ahead to the new year, Djokovic, the No. 1, he returns and remains the king of the mountain, waiting to see if someone can knock him out. He has beaten Alcaraz in any of his matches since Wimbledon and beat Sinner in the ATP Tour Final just before their Davis Cup match.
Djokovic, who is 36, has repeatedly said he will step aside when he starts not challenging for the biggest events. For that to happen, youth is going to have to stop feeling honored just to share a court with the greatest player the sport has known and serve itself by standing toe-to-toe with him on the biggest stage.
It’s detrimental to look too far ahead, but assuming either can pull it off, there will be a delightful fourth-round clash between Djokovic and Ben Shelton, the fearless 21-year-old American on a 150mph serve.
Djokovic beat Shelton in the US Open semifinals and then showed it by hugging his birthday party by hanging up the phone at the end. There was a cold look in his handshake.
Speaking of Americans, there are currently six in the top 40, more than any other country.
Good things happened to them last year. Some so good. And everyone is looking forward to kicking off 2024 with solid functionality in Australia.
Tommy Paul, semifinalist here in 2023, Shelton and Chris Eubanks are coming off breakthrough seasons. Taylor Fritz, Frances Tiafoe and Sebastian Korda, who were the group’s most promising stars a year ago, have not lived up to their expectations in 2023. .
As everyone was reminded several times last year, it’s been two decades since an American won a Grand Slam title. U. S. tennis leaders boast of their depth, but they know what’s missing, for now, is the unicorn. The player who breaks and ends this two-decade drought.
For the first time, Coco Gauff is competing in a Grand Slam as a Grand Slam champion.
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It’s a huge weight on the shoulders of a 19-year-old prodigy who wonders when her big moment will come since winning matches at Wimbledon at the age of 15.
However, being a Grand Slam champion can be tricky, especially in a tournament played on hard courts, such as the championship she won at the US Open. There are new expectations to contend with and the players feel the urgency to prove that the first name wasn’t unique.
Gauff has long since become accustomed to being tracked through the cameras and adapting her adventure to the one the outdoor world had designed for her. This could position her better than anyone else to face the next round of challenges.
A Grand Slam in Australia presents all sorts of visually demanding situations for tennis enthusiasts in Europe and America. It takes commitment, sleepless nights, and the ability to take a nap.
ESPN’s collection of channels and broadcast facilities will broadcast every game in the United States. There is a broadcast team on site for the first time since before Covid. On the East Coast, nighttime politics begins with the next day’s afternoon games, the prime time of day. -Scheduled play does not continue until after 3 a. m. or 7 p. m. in Melbourne.
In the UK, you can watch the Australian Open live on Discovery and Eurosport. The time difference is 11 hours, which means standout games throughout breakfast, after school, and morning meetings, unless Andy Murray plays a late-night marathon, like last time. A year that ended with the start of the night trip.
Don’t leave your predictions in the comments.
2003: The last time a non-European won the Australian Open. It’s Andre Agassi.
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2007: The last time a non-European man made the final. Fernando Gonzalez of Chile.
1976: The last time an Australian won his grand slam on home soil. Mark Edmonson did. The Aussies swept through the 1960s and won five of the first seven titles in the 1970s. Then the rest of the global will appear.
Round of 16: This is the furthest Gauff has gone in this tournament. Also this circular that sounded the death knell for Novak Djokovic the last time he lost a seizure at Melbourne Park, in 2018. South Korea’s Chung Hyeon had the week of his career, taunting Alexander Zverev and then Djokovic in back-to-back attacks.
Feb 9, 2021: Alcaraz got his first Grand Slam win at 17 over Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp. Two days later, Alcaraz somehow lost to Mikael Ymer of Sweden in a match the now-retired Ymer will surely tell his grandchildren all about.
0: The number of women finalists in the Australian, South American or African Open, the open era that began in Australia in 1969. This would justify a final of Ons Jabeur (Tunisia) against Beatriz Haddad Maia (Brazil).
30-7: Djokovic sets record in 10 Australian Open finals. He has won 3-0 times.
5: The number of matches Alcaraz played at the Australian Open, the smallest of any Grand Slam. He played 18 at the French and U. S. Opens and thirteen at Wimbledon. He is yet to make it past the third round in Melbourne.
(Top image: Getty Images)