Brazilians Rafael Matos and Luisa Stefani sunk their teeth into the Australian Open mixed doubles trophy on Friday, still yet to taste defeat as a duo. With a 7-6(2), 6-2 final victory against the Indian pair of Rohan Bopanna and Sania Mirza, Matos/Stefani improved to 7-0 as a team and claimed what is a first Grand Slam title for both in any discipline.

The champions began their partnership in 2023, going 2-0 at the United Cup before extending their perfect start in Melbourne.

“Luisa, thank you so much for these two weeks, actually this month,” Matos said during the trophy ceremony. “It was special playing with another Brazilian player… I think we worked really good these two weeks, we were focussed on what we wanted, and we did it!”

Matos became the fifth Brazilian man to win a major title, while Stefani is now the second woman from the nation to secure Grand Slam glory. Stefani, who has won 18 of 20 women’s doubles matches since returning from knee surgery in September, was not able to compete in the Melbourne women’s doubles draw after partner Caty McNally withdrew.

The 25-year-old recalled when Matos first asked her about teaming up for mixed doubles: “It was about Wimbledon time last year. I was doing rehab, closer to coming back but I was still working hard,” she said. “When he asked me when I was coming back so maybe we could play some mixed, that was a big motivation to me to keep working hard, keep getting closer to coming back. And now here we are, winning our first Grand Slam together in Australia, on this beautiful court, amazing day, in front of this amazing crowd with lots of Brazilians here.

“It’s really special and incredible to share this dream with you and our team.”

Both Matos and Stefani paid triubute to Mirza in their trophy speeches, honouring the 36-year-old who was playing her final Grand Slam event. Mirza won six major titles in her career, three in women’s doubles and three in mixed. Her final tournament will be in Dubai in February.

Bopanna, 42, was seeking to become the oldest Grand Slam winner since Martine Navratilova won the 2006 US Open mixed doubles crown at 49.

Last September, all eyes were on Carlos Alcaraz in New York as he hoisted the US Open trophy to the sky. Elsewhere, Karen Khachanov was taking in a moment that could well have belonged to him. In this relentless sport, where everything happens at breakneck speed, achievements are sometimes quickly forgotten or undervalued. But Khachanov was just two sets away from contesting his first major final that fortnight.

That same player now wears a broad grin on his face as he strolls through the corridors of Melbourne Park, where another chance at history has come knocking. The towering, 6-foot-6 player has deployed his furious style of tennis with undeniable confidence under the Australian sun to reach a second straight semi-final at a Grand Slam.

The sweet moment in the career of the World No. 20 has come in the company of Jose Manuel ‘Pepo’ Clavet, one of the most renowned coaches in Spanish tennis. With over 30 years of experience fine-tuning the talent on Tour, names such as Feliciano Lóopez, Alex Corretja and Carlos Moya have all spent time under his watchful eye.

The Madrid native has been in Khachanov’s corner since 2020. His student is on a promising trajectory and is now set to do something big at the Australian Open. Since teaming up, they have made the second week of every Grand Slam at least once — a trait of a truly elite player. They won the silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics and have set themselves one clear goal: to take Khachanov back into the Top 10, where he has not been for more than three years.

“The key to being in the semi-finals of consecutive Grand Slams has been confidence,” explains Clavet from Melbourne. “It’s very important for all players, but in such a temperamental player like Karen, with ups and downs, it’s key. Now, he’s on a high and he’s a very dangerous player. The US Open semi-final gave him a lot of confidence. Now, he’s back to his best in Australia. We’ll see if he continues to play as he has so far on Friday to book a place in the final on Sunday. Why not?”

Since joining forces with Clavet, Khachanov has made psychology a priority. The former World No. 8 has given his thoughts a central place in his preparations, working closely with a sports psychologist. His coach, with whom he started work at 24 years of age, has also attended some of these sessions in order to understand how to break through some of his understudy’s self-imposed barriers to progression.

His performances in Melbourne leave no room for doubt: Khachanov has kept his head in his five outings, demonstrating his increasing mental toughness. The 26-year-old has played his best tennis at key moments in Australia, where he has won all four tie-breaks he’s played. Nobody has managed to take him to five sets; the only other player who can lay claim to that is Novak Djokovic.

“We’re working on the consistency of his game. We want it to be more constant throughout the year,” explains Clavet. “He has played well in certain tournaments for some time, reaching the quarters at Wimbledon, silver medal at the Olympics… but to reach the top of the [Pepperstone ATP Rankings] you need to play very well for many weeks of the year. We’re trying to instill that consistency in him. Also, we’re working a lot on improving his net game. Given the power he has from the baseline, we’d like him to be able to finish more points off at the net.”

While they go about adding extra weapons to Karen’s game, Clavet speaks of Khachanov’s joy in their work, as he attempts to guide this extrovert character to greater success. The Spanish coach’s easy-going nature is one of his biggest selling points and he is confident they have found the balance Khachanov has been searching for throughout his career. With peace of mind, the limit for his hard-working student is very high indeed.

“He has the ability to do anything,” Clavet notes. “He is very aggressive from the baseline, he serves very well. For his height he has great mobility. The net is the part he still has to improve, but it’s not that he’s bad there. What makes me proudest is how complete his game is.

“And of course, he dreams of lifting a Grand Slam. Players are like that, in a way they have the right to hope they’ll do it. Karen has been in the quarters at Wimbledon and Roland Garros, he’s reached the semis at the US Open and now the Australian Open. He is two matches away. Why not? He’s won five and there are two left. You always have to think positive. He is doing that now and I’m sure he dreams of it.”

To break through that wall, he will have to overcome a personal challenge. In the semi-finals on Friday he will meet Stefanos Tsitsipas, a player bidding to become World No. 1 at the end of the tournament. The Greek, who leads their ATP Head2Head 5-0, is the embodiment of the consistency Khachanov aspires to — a perfect mirror on the big stage.

“The match against Tsitsipas will be difficult,” warns Clavet. “In a Grand Slam semi-final, all players are difficult. He’s never beaten him, but he’s been close several times. I believe in Karen, when he has that confidence, he’s a very dangerous player who can beat anyone. I believe in his chances on Friday.”

American men’s tennis is on the rise, and few are climbing higher than Australian Open semi-finalist Tommy Paul.

During his run to his first Grand Slam semi-final, the 25-year-old has soared 16 places up the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings to No. 19, setting himself up to crack the Top 20 for the first time in Monday’s edition of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

Paul just missed out on a seed at the Australian Open as the World No. 35, but has dropped only four sets in his five Melbourne matches thus far. He knocked off 24th seed Roberto Bautista Agut and 30th seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina on his path to the last four, where he will meet nine-time champion Novak Djokovic.

If Paul can pull off the upset, he will further rise to No. 15 by reaching the final and into the Top 10 at No. 9 with a title. Taylor Fritz, at No. 8 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings, will remain the American No. 1 into February, while Frances Tiafoe makes it three men from the United States in the Top 20 at No. 15.

Paul is doubly proud of his success as it comes during such a purple patch for American tennis.

“It’s important to me,” he said in press following his quarter-final victory. “American tennis, since I was young, that’s all we’ve been hearing, since like 14 years old. The coaches have been telling us, ‘We need new Americans, we need new Americans.’ It’s kind of engraved in my head.

“We all want to perform. Obviously Frances was pretty damn close at the US Open to getting past the semis. Who knows what would have happened in the final. I think we all want it pretty bad for ourselves, but we want it for U.S. tennis, too.”

Ten Americans now feature the Top 50 of the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings, including former college stars Ben Shelton and J.J. Wolf. Shelton, in his first trip outside of his home nation, is the biggest mover of the fortnight; he rocketed up 46 places to No. 43 behind his Australian Open quarter-final run. One round prior to his four-set loss to Paul, the 20-year-old Shelton defeated Wolf in five sets. Wolf, with his best major showing, moved up 20 spots to No. 47.

Sebastian Korda is also set for a new career high of World No. 26 after he upset Daniil Medvedev and Hubert Hurkacz to reach the quarter-finals. With Korda, Shelton and Paul all reaching the last eight, it marked the first time since 2000 that three American men have reached that stage in Melbourne — and the first time at any Slam since the 2005 US Open.

The American presence in the Top 50 of the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings also includes No. 38 Jenson Brooksby, No. 41 John Isner, No. 48 Reilly Opelka and No. 49 Brandon Nakashima. After his first-round upset of Rafael Nadal, Mackenzie McDonald is up to No. 62, while Michael Mmoh is set for a new career high inside the Top 85 after his run to the third round.

Elsewhere, Jiri Lehecka’s rise of 32 places is second only to Shelton’s improvement, with the 21-year-old Czech up to No. 39 following his run to the Australian Open quarters.

Even with all those milestones, the drama is far from complete in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings this fortnight. While Karen Khachanov would rise as high as No. 7 with the Melbourne title, Novak Djokovic and Stefanos Tsitsipas are both two wins away from World No. 1. Should the pair meet in a rematch of the 2021 Roland Garros final, the winner-takes-all contest would determine who leaves the Australian Open as the ATP Tour’s leading man.

Andrey Rublev and Grigor Dimitrov were among eight new player members who convened on the eve of the Australian Open for the first meeting of the new ATP Player Advisory Council.

The ATP Player Advisory Council is a group of ATP members elected by their peers to serve and act as the voice of the player body in tour-wide decisions.

The newly elected members are:

• 1-50 Singles: Andrey Rublev & Grigor Dimitrov
• 51-100 Singles: Pedro Martinez & Bernabe Zapata Miralles
• 1-25 Doubles: Wesley Koolhof
• 1-75 Doubles: Harri Heliovaara
• At-Large: Pedro Cachin & Matt Ebden
• Coach Representative: Daniel Vallverdu
• Alumni Representative: Nicolas Pereira

The first ATP Player Advisory Council meeting of the year took place in Melbourne on 12 January.

Bulgaria’s former World No. 3 and 2017 Nitto ATP Finals champion Dimitrov said: “I’ve been asked so many times in the past but I just never felt it was the right time and the right fit for me at the time. I think now I’m in a position where I’ve got a few years behind me, I have the experience on the court, I have experience with the players and I’m looking forward to it.”

Dutchman Wesley Koolhof, who last year finished year-end No. 1 with Neal Skupski in the Pepperstone ATP Doubles Team Rankings, said: “I think it’s important for the players to have a voice and someone to listen and try to make changes where we need to make changes. I personally felt like it would be a good thing to do, to listen to the players and to fight for our position, especially for doubles obviously and to make the sport a better place in general.”

The ATP Player Advisory Council meets several times a year and makes recommendations to ATP Management and the ATP Board of Directors through the Player Board representatives, whom the Council elects.

Council members appointed to a specific rankings category (e.g. 1-50 singles) are elected by player members within the same category. At-large council members are elected by a vote of all Division 1 and 2 ATP player members (up to 500 singles and 250 doubles players). The Council’s coach representative is elected by ATP coach members and the Alumni representative is elected by ATP alumni members.

Learn more about the ATP structure

Meet the ATP Board Of Directors

After losing the second set in Thursday’s Australian Open doubles semi-finals, Hugo Nys and Jan Zielinski drew inspiration from six-time Melbourne champions Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan. The Monegasque/Polish pairing then powered through the deciding set in a 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 win against Frenchmen Jeremy Chardy and Fabrice Martin, advancing to what will be a maiden major final for both men.

“Our energy came a little bit down [in the second set] and I told Jan, the beginning of the third set we have to come back like Bryan/Bryan energy, from the first point,” Nys said in an on-court interview.

“I’m really happy we did it because it actually made the difference. Even though it’s the first semi-final for us, we managed to bring that big energy in the third set. I’m really proud of the team.”

FIRST. GRAND. SLAM. FINAL.

🇲🇨 @HugoNys/@zielaczekk 🇵🇱 hold off Chardy/Martin 6-3 5-7 6-2 for the biggest win of their careers!@wwos • @espn • @eurosport • @wowowtennis • #AusOpen • #AO2023 pic.twitter.com/b7HK2QzdUW

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 26, 2023

The unseeded duo lost serve for the only time in the final game of the second set, but quickly made amends by building a 4-0 lead in the deciding set. They finished the match with 14 aces and an 89 per cent win rate on first serve in Rod Laver Arena.

“It’s really incredible,” Zielinski said of the pair’s run to the title match. “We basically started playing last year in March, just wanted to try it out. The first tournament we played was a Challenger 80, so we came a long way from there. I’m super happy to make it to the final of our first Australian Open together.”

The pair will seek its second tour-level title after winning the Metz trophy last season and reaching the US Open quarter-finals. Their opponents in the final will be Australian wild cards Rinky Hijikata and Jason Kubler, whose chest-bump celebration after match point was also an apparent nod to the Bryan brothers.

The wildcards have sealed the upset 💪 And what a place to do it! 👏

Rod Laver Arena erupts and so do the Australian pairing 💙

Hijikata and Kubler win it 6-4 6-2. They’re off to the final!#AO2023 • #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/BGRvO3bRp0

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 26, 2023

With the backing of the Laver crowd, Hijikata/Kubler upset eighth seeds Horacio Zeballos and Marcel Granollers 6-4, 6-2 as they continued their dream run. It was the second straight match in which they did not drop serve.

The Aussies have knocked off three Top 10 seeds in the tournament, including top seeds Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski in the quarter-finals, as they bid to keep the AO doubles trophy in Australian hands following the 2022 triumph of another pair of wild cards: Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios.

There are few things new to Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open, where he is now two wins away from a record-extending 10th singles title. But he will experience a first in Friday’s semi-finals when he takes on American Tommy Paul.

The opponents will open their ATP Head2Head series in the Rod Laver Arena evening session, with Djokovic playing his sixth straight match under the lights on Melbourne’s main stage. Paul, who was on the field courts for his first three contests, made his Laver debut on Wednesday in the quarter-finals.

While Paul is unseeded, he was the first man to miss the cutoff as the World No. 35. He is now up to No. 19 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings, and Djokovic is expecting an elite-level test.

“I watched him play quite a bit, especially during this tournament. He’s been playing probably the tennis of his life,” said the Serbian. “Very explosive, very dynamic player. Quick, very solid backhand. Likes to step in, dictate the point with the forehand. Great, great service motion. I think he can hit all the spots with the serve. Very complete player.”

While Djokovic feels Paul has nothing to lose as a first-time Grand Slam semi-finalist, the Serbian is playing for history. A title triumph would draw him level with 2022 Melbourne champ Rafael Nadal on a record 22 men’s major singles titles; it would also lift Djokovic back to the top of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings for the first time since last June.

After some uncertainty surrounding his hamstring issue in the early rounds of the tournament, Djokovic has been ruthless in his past two outings, dropping just five games against home favourite Alex de Minaur in the fourth round and seven to fifth seed Andrey Rublev in the quarters.

“The past two matches, playing against two guys that are really good players, in-form players, to beat them dominantly in three sets is definitely something that I want in this moment, something that sends a message to all my opponents remaining in the draw,” Djokovic said.

“With this kind of game, of course the confidence level rises, considering the circumstances. I feel good on the court, better and better as the tournament progresses. I’ve been in this situation so many times in my life, in my career, never lost a semi-final in the Australian Open. Hopefully that will stay the same.”

Indeed, Djokovic has gone on to win the tournament each of the past nine times he has reached the semis. But despite the Serbian’s sterling record Down Under, Paul was hoping for an opportunity to face the undisputed master of Melbourne.

“I’m really excited. It’s really cool,” Paul said of making his first Grand Slam semi-final, before Djokovic defeated Rublev. “I think it’s even cooler if I do play Novak. That’s probably who I want to play. I mean, I probably have a better chance of winning if it’s Rublev, but to play Novak here in Australia would be awesome.”

After a four-set win in an all-American quarter-final against 20-year-old Ben Shelton, Paul continues to fly the flag for U.S. men’s tennis at the tail end of a historic tournament for the nation. With Paul, Shelton and Sebastian Korda all reaching the last eight, it marked the first time since 2000 that three American men have reached that stage in Melbourne — and the first time at any Slam since the 2005 US Open.

Paul is proud to represent the United States, nearly 20 years after Andy Roddick became the last American man to win a major title at the 2003 US Open: “I think we all want it pretty bad for ourselves,” he said, referencing Frances Tiafoe’s semi-final run at the 2022 US Open. “But we want it for U.S. tennis, too.”

The American knocked off two seeded opponents in reaching the semi-finals, both hailing from Spain: 30th seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in five sets (second round) and 24th seed Roberto Bautista Agut in four (fourth round).

Paul holds a 6-12 tour-level record against Top 10 opposition, including a win against Nadal last November at the Rolex Paris Masters. He also earned victories against Carlos Alcaraz (Montreal) and Alexander Zverev (Indian Wells) last season — but facing Djokovic at the Australian Open is a different proposition.