Grand Slamming Into the Australian Open
Image courtesy of Bleacher Report
By GEORGE ROSE '21
For a tennis fan, a new year means great excitement for what the new tennis season will bring. The season starts down under with a number of smaller tournaments which build up to the first Grand Slam of the year, the Australian Open. The Australian Open, which sets the stage for the year to come and sometimes features breakout runs for players who have been working especially hard during the off-season, is often referred to as the “happy” slam. But this year’s edition did not get off to a good start—Australia’s devastating wildfires, due in part to climate change’s elevated temperatures, resulted in dangerous air quality in the host city of Melbourne. In fact, one player, Dalila Jakupovic, had to retire from a qualifying match because of an air quality-induced coughing fit. Other players had to use inhalers during matches.
However, the tennis world did not shy away from addressing the fires. Thanks in large part to the efforts of player Nick Kyrgios, the Australian Open raised $6,000,000 through a money-per-ace-hit donation system and an exhibition featuring many top players. Luckily, by the time the main draw of the tournament started, the air quality had improved.
After twelve days of fierce competition on the women’s side, only two players remained in the game: 26-year-old Spaniard Garbine Muguruza and 21-year-old American Sofia Kenin.
Muguruza, champion of the French Open in 2016 and Wimbledon in 2017, was born in Venezuela but represents Spain, having moved to Barcelona at age six. 2019 proved to be a rough year for Muguruza, who came into this year’s open unseeded. Muguruza went on to a deciding set in both her first and second rounds, but in the third and fourth rounds, she dominated two top ten players: Elina Svitolina and Kiki Bertens. She continued her run of straight set victories by beating Russian Anastasia Pavlychenkuva in the quarterfinals (victor over second-seeded Karolina Pliskova) and Simona Halep in an extremely tight semifinal.
Kenin, who was born in Moscow but represents the United States, reached the fourth round at the French Open in 2019, where she shocked the tennis world by beating Serena Williams. When Kenin plays, it feels almost as though winning or losing becomes a life-or-death affair; when Kenin was just five years old, coach Rick Macci said she was “the scariest little creature [he’d] ever seen.” Kenin came from a setdown to beat fifteen-year-old Coco Gauff, who was coming off an amazing straight sets victory over defending champ Naomi Osake, in the round of sixteen. She continued on to beat Tunisian Ons Jabeur (who had become the first Arab woman to make the quarterfinals) and Ash Barty, home hope and #1 in the world, in a tight semifinal affair.
The final featured scintillating baseline rallies and fights from both sides of the court. Muguruza took the first set 6-4. Kenin rallied to take the second set 6-2. In the third set, serving at 2-2 0-40, Kenin rattled off five consecutive points with five winners which she later called “the five best shots of my life.” Like a true champion, Kenin elevated her game when it mattered most. She did not look back from that point, taking advantage of Muguruza’s fatigue and closing out the match 4-6; 6-2; 6-2.
In the men’s draw, #1 Rafael Nadal, #2 Novak Djokovic, and #3 Roger Federer, all made the quarterfinals. But Austrian Dominic Thiem upset Nadal in four extremely tight sets, and Thiem went on to beat the surging Alexander Zverev in the semifinals. In the other semifinal, Djokovic dispatched the immortal Roger Federer, who was fatigued from having made two of the best Houdini escapes of his career; the final was set up between Thiem and Djokovic. Djokovic carried a 6-4 head-to-head advantage into the match, but Thiem had won four out of the last five.
Djokovic took the first set (6-4) and seemed to be in firm control of the match. At 4-3 in the second set, Djokovic earned a break point, but he lost the point and went on to lose seven games in a row after disputing a time violation with the chair umpire. Suddenly, Djokovic went from almost being a set away from the locker room to calling the trainer down 4-1 in the third set. Thiem stayed strong and pulled out the third 6-2.
But Djokovic was able to hang around long enough to regain his energy, and he took the fourth set 6-3. At 1-1 in the fifth set, he broke Thiem and never looked back. Thiem’s effort never flagged; rather, the long hours he had spent on court caught up with him as Djokovic’s energy gels kicked in. Djokovic closed out the match with two beautiful serves, winning 6-4; 4-6; 2-6; 6-3; 6-4.
While Djokovic won a record eighth Australian Open and his 17th major overall, in their speeches both Thiem and Djokovic shied away from talking exclusively about tennis. Thiem acknowledged the wildfires and expressed his hope that communities and wildlife would recover quickly. Djokovic, wearing a green pullover marked with “KB 24,” used his speech to urge the crowd to “stick together,” especially in the face of the wildfires, the death of Kobe Bryant, and the spectre of international conflict. These speeches highlighted the expanding role of sports in society: to incite unity, to emit positive energy, and to inspire others by demonstrating the best of humanity, the fighting spirit.