Novak Djokovic: What's next for Grand Slam champion after Australia row?
Novak Djokovic is set to be deported from Australia following the row over a vaccine exemption to play in the Australian Open. What happens next for the Serb?
Novak Djokovic is set to be deported from Australia following the row over a vaccine exemption to play in the Australian Open. What happens next for the Serb?
Andy Murray described Novak Djokovic’s visa saga as “not great for tennis, not great for the Australian Open, not great for Novak”.
British lefty Liam Broady pulled the biggest upset on the final day of Australian Open qualifying Friday when he rallied from a set and a break down to defeat Russia’s ATP Cup star Roman Safiullin to reach the main draw of the year’s first Grand Slam.
Safiullin, dubbed Russia’s new secret weapon by countryman Daniil Medvedev at ATP Cup, served for the match at 5-3 in the second before Broady turned the tide of the match with big serving and heavy ballstriking from the baseline to secure a fighting 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-2 win. He hit 29 winners, including 10 aces, and converted three of his four break point opportunities.
“I feel incredibly overjoyed by the win,” Broady told ATPTour.com after the match. “Having qualified for the French Open the year before last I broke the last-round-of-qualies duck and I didn’t feel too nervous today. The thing I am most pleased with is the guy that I beat.
“Roman is a fantastic player who beat me one and one at French Open qualies last year, so I knew I would have my work cut out. At a set and 5-3 down with Roman serving I was pretty frustrated because I felt I had improved since the last time we’d played and I wanted to show Roman that as much as anybody else. I just hung around and am really pleased to get over the line.”
Broady, who shared an extended embrace lying on his back with longtime coach Dave Sammel after the match, said that his decision to be part of Team Great Britain’s ATP Cup campaign as captain – at the expense of getting match practice for the Aussie Open qualies – had been vindicated.
“We weren’t sure how the preparation would be not playing an event leading in, but I love being part of the team events. After Davis Cup I took away from that really positive energy being around all the British guys and I did that again from ATP Cup and it’s carried through to this event.”
Safiullin advanced through qualifying at Melbourne Park last year to reach the second round, where he extended Cameron Norrie to a fourth-set tie-break.
Ecuador’s Emilio Gomez qualified for his second Grand Slam event (Roland Garros 2020) when he defeated Italian Thomas Fabbiano 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 after saving nine of the 11 break points he faced.
The World No. 155, son of 1990 Roland Garros champion Andres Gomez, won just two of seven tour-level matches last season, spending most of his time at ATP Challenger Tour level.
Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Kukushkin ensured that he would make his seventh consecutive appearance at the majors when he withstood a stern test from American Ernesto Escobedo, winning 6-4, 5-7, 7-5 in two hours and 52 minutes.
Maximilian Marterer won an all-German battle against Tobias Kamke 6-4, 6-1 to take his place in the Australian Open main draw for the first time since 2019.
Moldova’s Radu Albot, who at 32 finds himself at No. 123 in the ATP Rankings, enjoyed a 6-4, 6-4 third-round qualifying win over Joao Sousa. Last year Albot made the third round at Melbourne Park.
Jiri Lehecka, a 20-year-old from the Czech Republic, qualified for his first major with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 win over Kazakh Dmitry Popko.
Another 20-year-old, Kazakh Timofey Skatov, also became a first-time Grand Slam qualifier after defeating Portugal’s Gastao Elias 6-4, 7-5(5).
Harriet Dart and Liam Broady ensure Britain have seven representatives in the Australian Open singles draw after winning their final qualifying matches.
Andy Murray remains on course for his 47th tour-level title after he outgunned World No. 25 Reilly Opelka 6-7(6), 6-4, 6-4 in the Sydney Tennis Classic semi-finals Friday.
“It’s already been a great week for me, big progress from anything I’ve done in the last year or so, to string four matches together like this and against top players in Basilashvili and Opelka,” Murray said. “I’ll go for 47 tomorrow. It’s been a good week, I’ve played better with each match, so hopefully I’ll step it up again tomorrow.”
The former World No. 1 used his trademark returning prowess to effectively nullify the American’s big serve and reach his first ATP Tour final since he won the title in Antwerp in 2019 (d. Wawrinka).
Despite Opelka serving 20 aces, Murray was still able to find the right moments to effectively counter-attack. “You can’t really prepare for it, to be honest, you just have to try and adjust while you’re out there. I chose to block quite a few returns, to get lots in play today, which worked pretty well,” Murray said. “It’s tough but returning has always been one of the strongest parts of my game, and I used it well today.”
Opelka looked to have finally taken control of a tight first set after surging into a 5/1 lead in the tie-break, but the British World No. 135 fought back to 6/6 before the American prevailed 8/6.
Murray bounced back early in the second set, breaking for 2-1 with the help of two double faults from the American. That opening was enough for the Brit to level the match, as he dropped just one point on serve in the set and surprisingly out-aced the American seven to four.
Both players had to dig deep to save break points in the decider. Opelka recovered from 15/40 in the opening game before some trademark Murray defence ensured that he stayed on serve at 3-3. The Brit finally broke for 5-4 before holding his nerve on serve to set up a clash with fellow Brit Daniel Evans or Russian Aslan Karatsev in Saturday’s final.
The decision means the tennis star could miss out on defending his title at the Australian Open.
Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech produced a dominant performance on serve and return against countryman Corentin Moutet to power into the final of the Adelaide International 2 on Friday.
The World No. 58 dropped just three points on his first serve and won more than half of his return points to claim a convincing 6-1, 6-3 win in one hour and 16 minutes.
Already sitting at a career-high ATP Ranking, the 6′ 5″ 26-year-old will face the winner of fourth seed Marin Cilic and in-form Australian wild card Thanasai Kokkinakis in Saturday’s final, his first at ATP Tour level.
Jan-Lennard Struff began his season by representing Germany at the ATP Cup. Now, the 31-year-old is preparing for the Australian Open, where he will play Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp in the first round.
ATPTour.com got to know more about Struff’s life off the court, how he keeps in touch with family and more in this edition of ‘The Nomadic Life’.
What are two essential non-tennis items you always pack for trips?
I always take a lot of caps with me because I like sun caps. A lot of guys have a PlayStation, but I am definitely not a gamer, so I used to take my Borussia Dortmund shirt or a soccer ball for some fun. I used to take a lot with me. I actually don’t have that many things with me. I always take a notebook to write some notes.
Do you enjoy travelling the world or consider it just something that needs to be done to be a pro tennis player? If you do enjoy it, what do you enjoy about travelling?
Everyone knows there are days when it is tough to leave home, especially with my girlfriend and my kid, sometimes it is very tough… In general I enjoy it and I think if Covid gets better again I’ll enjoy travelling much more.
I always try to see a bit of the city, because at the beginning of the career it’s just tennis, tennis, tennis and I didn’t actually see anything. Then I tried to make sure I always visited something. Especially if I am in doubles still or not playing singles, I can do it. Otherwise, the energy which is lost travelling a day outside is too high. It depends a bit on timing. Some weeks I can do it and see some different sites. Doing too much outside and being exhausted the next day, this cannot happen the next time, I think we have all made that mistake.
How do you manage to stay in touch with your girlfriend and child? Have you developed a routine?
With the time difference, some slots we can FaceTime, he is in kindergarten now… FaceTime is not that interesting or exciting for him. He just says ‘Hey daddy’ and shows me an animal and a butterfly and a sticker and a toy, and says ‘Hey daddy, look’ and that was it for today.
Can you talk about a time you decided to play a specific tournament in part because you wanted to travel to that city?
I pick places where I like it more. Schedule-wise I sometimes do something for the family that I am not too far away or I can take them. Sometimes I go where the ocean and sea is with beautiful sights and I like it there more. Sometimes I decide if the draw is so much stronger or the travel is too far, sometimes I do not do it. Some tournaments I love to play and see the city. You will be here and choosing your best spot.
Photo Credit: Peter Staples/ATP Tour
What is your favourite tournament city to visit and why?
There are so many beautiful cities on Tour, it is quite tough. New York is somewhere I also like to see. Not to stay there for so long because it is so flashy and so much is happening, it is really exciting. It is amazing to come back every year. I like Miami a lot, it is beautiful. Monte Carlo is a beautiful place. I like to stay in the German tournaments a lot. Hamburg is a beautiful city, really amazing. Every city where the ocean is is beautiful. There are so many really, really good tournaments.
What is your craziest travel story?
It is tough to remember every story but with my fitness coach, he was taking the train. He called me saying ‘Hey, the trains are late, what are you doing?’ and he woke me up. My alarm was not going. He was already on the train to be early at the airport and I was still sleeping, so there are two kinds of people. You are early or you are late. But I am German, so I might be on time most of the time, but more late.
I flew from Dubai to San Francisco and you fly to Palm Springs in Indian Wells. When I arrived it was a bit bumpy. I arrived there and it was bad weather and they cancelled the [next] flight. It was early afternoon in San Francisco and 1 a.m. in the night in Dubai and they cancelled the flight. The next flight was five hours later, which was really tough. I put my backpack around me and fell asleep for two hours at the gate and then went on the plane and was completely destroyed.
Then my girlfriend came from home and she was there at 7 p.m. I should have been four hours earlier than her. I arrived in the room and told her I was dead and woke up at 4 a.m. Then I went to the gym and had some breakfast. I had the day off, so I went to have some lunch. Then I went to the room, so dead and tired. I felt like I was going to nap, woke up at 7 p.m. and then slept the whole night. I actually don’t sleep much, but that was a messed-up story.
How do you try to overcome jetlag and acclimate to the local time zone?
I try to get a lot of sleep, especially when I am home. It is different each tournament. The jetlag is sometimes not easy. I have to force myself to sleep because I like to do things to get up and practise and sometimes I do too much. Then I get exhausted from travelling.
We are trying to improve ourselves all the time and with the travelling we need to adjust and keep getting better and better. When you are travelling you get used to it, but it is still really exhausting. Relaxing to get the mind off it [is important]. I take my physio with me to get my body ready. That is one big thing for me.
When I go in one direction, I stay up late [for the jetlag]. If you have to do something the next day, you are getting much better into the new time zone. When I am home, I get up at 8 a.m. and spend time with [my family], so I am back in the time zone. In the past years, when I came back and you have three days off and you don’t have to do anything, you can get a bit lazy there.
When I come to the United States, I always practise early. When I come in the other direction, to the east, I practise a bit later and we need to stay up very late because otherwise if you go to sleep too early you will wake up at 4 a.m. and it is messed up.
Got any tips to get comfortable on a flight? And how do you pass the time?
I can only imagine how hard it is [for John Isner and Reilly Opelka]. I am 6’ 5” tall and for me it is always pretty tough. On longer flights I need to use business class otherwise it is not good for my body. I went from Dubai to LA straight in 2019 and business class was fully booked so I had to go economy and there were only two seats left on the plane and the other was next to me, so I was really lucky. But you cannot do that often because it is pretty tough on the body. I like to sleep in business class. Economy no chance because I don’t find a comfortable position for my body. I watch movies and I try to read. Some plane trips are very boring.
Are you someone who gets to the airport with lots of time to spare or do you cut it fine?
More late than early. I prefer going later. Not too late, but when I am home I also take the train. One train that is close and then one train where I barely make it. So, if the train is late, I have a chance to make it. I am at the airport one hour and 30 minutes before the flight. After Covid I will have to adjust that a bit, because one day there was a holiday in Germany and if I had arrived when I had planned and not [when] my fitness trainer [did], I would have never made the flight.
At the start of the year, Thanasi Kokkinakis had only made one ATP Tour semi-final in his injury-riddled career. After advancing to the last four at the Adelaide International 2 on Thursday, the Australian has reached two semi-finals in as many weeks to begin 2022, a positive sign for the 25-year-old.
“Super stoked for the start of the year obviously. Spoke earlier, my goal is to try to stay healthy and give myself a chance. After having a deep run last week, I wasn’t sure how I was going to pull up,” Kokkinakis said. “I was in two minds: Do I play this week or go to Melbourne and freshen up, get ready for [the] AO [Australian Open]?
“My thing was I didn’t want to take these tour events for granted. I know how few and far between they were last year. Mentally I was cooked after last week, but if I can get physically to a point where I’m okay to start next week, hopefully with the home crowd and everything, I’ll find it.”
The Australian is not regretting his decision. From 2019 through 2021, Kokkinakis earned just five tour-level wins. Now he has six in less than two weeks. He has a chance to continue his hot streak against former World No. 3 Marin Cilic on Friday.
Most importantly for a player who has dealt with various injuries and illnesses since breaking onto the circuit eight years ago, Kokkinakis is feeling well physically.
“Honestly considering, [I feel] pretty good. Obviously I’m feeling a few things, but nothing serious. Just some niggles from playing. That’s what happens when you play at a high level day in, day out. Nothing serious,” Kokkinakis said. “My sleep’s horrendous. I have trouble with getting to sleep, especially after late matches. My adrenaline is pumping. That’s a tough bit, trying to recover.
“It’s weird. It kind of feels like I’ve played a Grand Slam because it’s been two weeks in the same hotel, same venue. It is like I’m getting déjà vu every day. I’m not used to playing this many matches in two weeks, especially at this level.”
Photo Credit: Sarah Reed/Getty Images
The No. 145 player in the ATP Rankings knew he had a good opportunity on Thursday against countryman Aleksandar Vukic. That paired with the excitement of the Australian Open draw being released added pressure to the moment.
But after letting slip the first set in the tie-break, Kokkinakis gave himself a wakeup call — literally.
“I did slap myself in the face. I have a bit of a headache because I hit myself in the head with my racquet a few times. Probably harder than I should have. I reckon I’m feeling it, to be honest,” Kokkinakis said. “It’s alright. It got me into it. I was able to refocus, play a bit sharper tennis. It’s tough, it was a mindset shift.
“Yesterday I felt like I was playing with house money. If I lose to Isner serving like that, sometimes he can take at racquet out of your hands. If I get to Melbourne, I’m fine. I woke up this morning, and I felt a little bit of a different pressure.”
Kokkinakis will reach his second ATP Tour final (2017 Los Cabos) if he upsets Cilic. But the Australian, who is charging back towards the world’s Top 100, is keeping things in perspective. Pressing too hard for those accomplishments is not always the answer.
“It’s going to take care of itself hopefully. I’m just trying to win the match ahead of me. That’s all I can do,” Kokkinakis said. “That is how I try to bring myself back to it. I am like, ‘Would I try to play this point any different thinking about ranking or am I just going to try to win the point?’
“You have to set small goals for yourself, otherwise it can kind of cripple you. I think I was a victim of that a little bit last year. Through a lot of matches, I was like, ‘I need this win. I want to get back to the [top] hundred so bad. I need to get to these wins.’ I wasn’t able to play to my level.”
The Australian Open draw was released on Thursday afternoon in Melbourne. ATPTour.com looks at five of the blockbuster first-round showdowns you should watch.
No. 21 Nikoloz Basilashvili vs. Andy Murray
Former World No. 1 Andy Murray just defeated Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-7(4), 7-6(3), 6-3 in three hours and 13 minutes two days ago at the Sydney Tennis Classic. It will not take long for Basilashvili to get a shot at revenge.
The big-hitting Georgian will try to earn his first win against Murray in Melbourne, where the Scot is a five-time finalist. Murray leads their ATP Head2Head 2-0, having also triumphed in four sets against Basilashvili at Wimbledon last year.
“Certainly it’s a tough, tough draw. Last night’s match was brutal, so I would expect another difficult one. Conditions in Melbourne are different to here,” Murray said. “There potentially it’s going to be hotter, a little bit livelier, ball bouncing a little bit higher. So it will be a different match because [it is a] different city, different conditions, different court and stuff.
“Just because I won against him yesterday doesn’t mean I get a free pass into the second round. I need to go out and play another top match to win against him in Melbourne.”
No. 7 Matteo Berrettini vs. Brandon Nakashima
One of the most intriguing first-round clashes in Melbourne is a first-time meeting between two of the purest ball-strikers on Tour. The tennis balls will certainly take a beating when Italian star Matteo Berrettini faces 2021 Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals competitor Brandon Nakashima.
Berrettini had a big year at the majors in 2021, advancing to at least the fourth round at all four and making his first major final at Wimbledon. But Nakashima is a fearless player who if allowed to control points will jump on the opportunity. The American earned wins against Alex de Minaur, John Isner, Milos Raonic and Daniel Evans among others last year, and defeated Fabio Fognini this week in Sydney.
Will Nakashima add Berrettini to his list of conquered opponents Down Under?
Photo Credit: Peter Staples/ATP Tour
No. 12 Cameron Norrie vs. Sebastian Korda
When Cameron Norrie and Sebastian Korda met in the Delray Beach semi-finals at the start of 2021, neither man was in the Top 70 of the ATP Rankings. Now they are both in the Top 40 and set to clash for a spot in the second round of the Australian Open.
Korda won their match in Delray Beach in straight sets to advance to his maiden ATP Tour final, and that was just the beginning of a breakout season that saw him earn a spot in Milan, where he made the championship match (l. to Alcaraz). It was an even better year for Norrie, who claimed his first tour-level title in Los Cabos, his maiden ATP Masters 1000 trophy at Indian Wells and an alternate spot at the Nitto ATP Finals, where he played two matches.
Norrie wears his opponents down with his physicality and speed at the back of the court, while Korda takes it to his opponents. The Brit will give his younger opponent time to get on top of points, but will Korda be able to take advantage?
No. 23 Reilly Opelka vs. Kevin Anderson
The first time Reilly Opelka and Kevin Anderson met was in Atlanta in 2016. Opelka was just 18 at the time, while Anderson was a well-established force on the ATP Tour who would later make two major finals. The teen American triumphed in three sets to reach his first ATP Tour quarter-final.
Six years later, this will be just their second clash. This time, however, the roles are reversed, and Opelka will be the favourite.
Anderson is still working his way back from injury, which has him at No. 101 in the ATP Rankings. The South African has shown flashes of his best tennis, winning his seventh ATP Tour title last year in Newport. But he has lacked the consistency that once helped him to a career-high World No. 5.
Opelka, however, has proven himself one of the most dangerous players on Tour with his devastating serve and ever-improving baseline game. The American is into the semi-finals this week in Sydney, where he will play Murray for a place in the final.
Photo Credit: Elsa/Getty Images
No. 32 Alex de Minaur vs. Lorenzo Musetti
Alex de Minaur loves competing on home soil in Australia, and Lorenzo Musetti enjoys the big stage. That should make for a fun opening-round clash in Melbourne between two of the sport’s rising stars.
De Minaur began his 2022 well with two wins at the ATP Cup against Berrettini and Ugo Humbert, respectively. But he will have to be at his best against Musetti, one of the craftiest young players on Tour.
Although the 19-year-old has struggled for his best form since his hot start to 2021, he has plenty of tools in his arsenal to make for a tricky match. The 2021 Milan competitor has plenty of variety with his one-handed backhand, and he uses many spins and shot speeds to trouble his opponents. Will that be enough to upset the home favourite?
Photo Credit: Peter Staples/ATP Tour
