TENNIS: Australian Open 2025
Jan. 27th, 2025 08:07 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
feather_ghyllThis is all from a distance, following liveblogs, the Quick Served recaps and occasionally listening on Five Live.
For what it’s worth, before it started, I thought that the favourites to win were both the defending champions, Sabalenka and Sinner. As both were the no. 1 players in the world and certainly on hard courts, it didn’t feel like much of a stretch.
There seemed to be more upsets on the men’s side than the women’s in the early days, although Tsitsipas’s loss wasn’t much of a surprise. But Fonesca’s win against Rublev seemed like notice of an emerging talent (he’s 18, had won the Next Gen tournament and qualified here), followed by 19 year old Mensic beating Ruud in four sets.
Last year’s runner-up Qinwen Zhang lost to Sigmund (who is NOT a teenager.) And on the day Fonesca lost, Tien (19) beat Medvedev in a 10-point tiebreaker in the fifth, having nearly won it in three sets. The teenagers were certainly coming! Although Mensic promptly lost. Osaka had to pull out because of injury after two good wins, considering the quality of her opponents. But left-handed Tien won again in three.
The next big story was the Monfils-Svitolina household beating the no. 4 seeds on the same day. Raducanu was the last British woman standing, but got thrashed by Swiatek, and Draper, having come through three five-setters, was only able to play one competitive set against a fresh Alcaraz, and retired after being unable to move much in the second set.
Because I wasn’t following it closely (the time difference is why I didn’t bother getting access to Eurosport for it), I’m not sure whether the top players were affected by changing conditions (you don’t necessarily want to be the second night-time match here), but the top 3 male players and the GOAT, and the top 3 female players/the big 4 female players got through the first week without expending too much energy.
Sonega beat another teenager, while Keys beat Rybakina in three. Monfils’s 38 year old body gave up, but his wife marched on. The surprise quarter-final result was Paula Badosa (on a comeback after back injury) beating Gauff, who’d been doing so well, to get through to her first grand slam semi. Credit to Pavluchenkova for pushing Sabalenka to a third set for the first time here in a while, but she couldn’t maintain her excellence for long enough. I listened to some of the quarter final between Alcaraz and Djokovic, but it isn’t the same as watching it, and although Djokovic got injured, he won that with his second serve, tactics and will to win. (But he surely can’t get through Zverev and Sinner at this point in his career, can he?) For Zverev and Sinner won, and the impressive Ben Shelton did for Sonego.
So, a perhaps unexpected Spaniard (Badosa) was in the semis, but Sabalenka soon dealt with her. The next women’s semis was touted at a potential match of the year, with Swiatek winning a tight first set, Keys demolishing the demolisher (Swiatek was a bulldozer in the Australian Open until this round) in the second, and then the third set going to the 10-point tiebreak, which Keys finally won, meaning that she was in a grand slam final again. Apparently a new racquet has helped her deploy the power that was always there in a way that’s less damaging for her body, she’s in a a good place personally, and also won a tournament before this. It does mean that Sabalenka and Swiatek still haven’t faced each other in a Grand Slam final.
The men’s semis were a bit of a dud. After losing the first set, it turned out that Djokovic’s injury was too much for him and he had to retire. Suddenly his body is reminding him that he is 37, and that raises questions as to whether he can indeed add to his Grand Slam tally (there have been five since he last won.) Shelton was able to keep it close in the first set, but then Sinner, possibly cramping, dominated and won in three. He’s the best right now, he’s got two Slam wins, Zverev has none. Yes, Sinner has Wada’s judgment hanging over him, but he has proved that he can play excellently despite the clouds above for months now. I hope he stays well and wins this, not least because there have been no credible allegations of violence against his partners against him.
I listened to a bit of the women’s final, where Keys started off much better, and won the first set, although Sabalenka got a little more into it, and used some variety to win the second set. The third set was close, but it was Keys who got on the front foot more often and won, overwriting past disappointments or perhaps because of her response to them. Sabalenka was close, but was not able to be the dominant force she’s been so often. Looking back, Keys did it the hard way, beating Rybakina, an in-form Swiatek and Sabalenka on what must have felt like her slam. It will be interesting to see how she reacts to this life-changer. And how will Sabalenka and the rest of the women’s tour react?
The world no. 1 and world no. 2 were playing in the men’s final, but with Sinner winning in three and mostly unflustered, he showed he was in another league to Zverev. It must be satisfying to have defended this, although it won’t go down as a classic. But it does underline why he is the world no. 1, he lost very few sets and won both the semis and finals in three. More disappointment and frustration for Zverev for whom a Grand Slam remains out of reach.
One out of two isn’t bad, especially as Sabalenka was runner-up. And before the tournament started, I would have said the women’s side was most likely to have an upset. It turned out it had the more exciting end too.
I would have liked to see Alcaraz go further, but he didn’t make the adjustments necessary against Djokovic. If Sinner is allowed to play throughout the rest of the year, and stays healthy, it’ll be interesting to see whether he can do more on clay – he and Alcaraz were injured in the run-up to the French last year. It would be good to see those two square up in a grand slam final, but we shouldn’t write Djokovic off, and who knows how Zverev and Medvedev will respond, or all the others, headed by Fritz, who made breakthroughs last year, or those who broke new ground here.
On the women’s side, well, there are more than double the number of Grand Slam champions still playing than there are men, by my reckoning. Keys is one of four Americans in that group. She put it all together here. Can anyone else? How will Sabalenka and Swiatek react? Clay is the latter’s strongest surface. What has Gauff got? What about Badosa? And what about the players with intriguing coaching situations?
For what it’s worth, before it started, I thought that the favourites to win were both the defending champions, Sabalenka and Sinner. As both were the no. 1 players in the world and certainly on hard courts, it didn’t feel like much of a stretch.
There seemed to be more upsets on the men’s side than the women’s in the early days, although Tsitsipas’s loss wasn’t much of a surprise. But Fonesca’s win against Rublev seemed like notice of an emerging talent (he’s 18, had won the Next Gen tournament and qualified here), followed by 19 year old Mensic beating Ruud in four sets.
Last year’s runner-up Qinwen Zhang lost to Sigmund (who is NOT a teenager.) And on the day Fonesca lost, Tien (19) beat Medvedev in a 10-point tiebreaker in the fifth, having nearly won it in three sets. The teenagers were certainly coming! Although Mensic promptly lost. Osaka had to pull out because of injury after two good wins, considering the quality of her opponents. But left-handed Tien won again in three.
The next big story was the Monfils-Svitolina household beating the no. 4 seeds on the same day. Raducanu was the last British woman standing, but got thrashed by Swiatek, and Draper, having come through three five-setters, was only able to play one competitive set against a fresh Alcaraz, and retired after being unable to move much in the second set.
Because I wasn’t following it closely (the time difference is why I didn’t bother getting access to Eurosport for it), I’m not sure whether the top players were affected by changing conditions (you don’t necessarily want to be the second night-time match here), but the top 3 male players and the GOAT, and the top 3 female players/the big 4 female players got through the first week without expending too much energy.
Sonega beat another teenager, while Keys beat Rybakina in three. Monfils’s 38 year old body gave up, but his wife marched on. The surprise quarter-final result was Paula Badosa (on a comeback after back injury) beating Gauff, who’d been doing so well, to get through to her first grand slam semi. Credit to Pavluchenkova for pushing Sabalenka to a third set for the first time here in a while, but she couldn’t maintain her excellence for long enough. I listened to some of the quarter final between Alcaraz and Djokovic, but it isn’t the same as watching it, and although Djokovic got injured, he won that with his second serve, tactics and will to win. (But he surely can’t get through Zverev and Sinner at this point in his career, can he?) For Zverev and Sinner won, and the impressive Ben Shelton did for Sonego.
So, a perhaps unexpected Spaniard (Badosa) was in the semis, but Sabalenka soon dealt with her. The next women’s semis was touted at a potential match of the year, with Swiatek winning a tight first set, Keys demolishing the demolisher (Swiatek was a bulldozer in the Australian Open until this round) in the second, and then the third set going to the 10-point tiebreak, which Keys finally won, meaning that she was in a grand slam final again. Apparently a new racquet has helped her deploy the power that was always there in a way that’s less damaging for her body, she’s in a a good place personally, and also won a tournament before this. It does mean that Sabalenka and Swiatek still haven’t faced each other in a Grand Slam final.
The men’s semis were a bit of a dud. After losing the first set, it turned out that Djokovic’s injury was too much for him and he had to retire. Suddenly his body is reminding him that he is 37, and that raises questions as to whether he can indeed add to his Grand Slam tally (there have been five since he last won.) Shelton was able to keep it close in the first set, but then Sinner, possibly cramping, dominated and won in three. He’s the best right now, he’s got two Slam wins, Zverev has none. Yes, Sinner has Wada’s judgment hanging over him, but he has proved that he can play excellently despite the clouds above for months now. I hope he stays well and wins this, not least because there have been no credible allegations of violence against his partners against him.
I listened to a bit of the women’s final, where Keys started off much better, and won the first set, although Sabalenka got a little more into it, and used some variety to win the second set. The third set was close, but it was Keys who got on the front foot more often and won, overwriting past disappointments or perhaps because of her response to them. Sabalenka was close, but was not able to be the dominant force she’s been so often. Looking back, Keys did it the hard way, beating Rybakina, an in-form Swiatek and Sabalenka on what must have felt like her slam. It will be interesting to see how she reacts to this life-changer. And how will Sabalenka and the rest of the women’s tour react?
The world no. 1 and world no. 2 were playing in the men’s final, but with Sinner winning in three and mostly unflustered, he showed he was in another league to Zverev. It must be satisfying to have defended this, although it won’t go down as a classic. But it does underline why he is the world no. 1, he lost very few sets and won both the semis and finals in three. More disappointment and frustration for Zverev for whom a Grand Slam remains out of reach.
One out of two isn’t bad, especially as Sabalenka was runner-up. And before the tournament started, I would have said the women’s side was most likely to have an upset. It turned out it had the more exciting end too.
I would have liked to see Alcaraz go further, but he didn’t make the adjustments necessary against Djokovic. If Sinner is allowed to play throughout the rest of the year, and stays healthy, it’ll be interesting to see whether he can do more on clay – he and Alcaraz were injured in the run-up to the French last year. It would be good to see those two square up in a grand slam final, but we shouldn’t write Djokovic off, and who knows how Zverev and Medvedev will respond, or all the others, headed by Fritz, who made breakthroughs last year, or those who broke new ground here.
On the women’s side, well, there are more than double the number of Grand Slam champions still playing than there are men, by my reckoning. Keys is one of four Americans in that group. She put it all together here. Can anyone else? How will Sabalenka and Swiatek react? Clay is the latter’s strongest surface. What has Gauff got? What about Badosa? And what about the players with intriguing coaching situations?
