Australian Open: Why Emma Raducanu needs time and patience
As Emma Raducanu starts the Australian Open as tennis’ newest Grand Slam women’s singles champion, BBC Sport looks at why expectations must be tempered.
As Emma Raducanu starts the Australian Open as tennis’ newest Grand Slam women’s singles champion, BBC Sport looks at why expectations must be tempered.
World number one Ashleigh Barty thrashes Lesia Tsurenko 6-0 6-1 in just 54 minutes to reach the second round of the Australian Open.
The 17th seed Gael Monfils maintained his strong start to the year Monday, cruising past Argentine Federico Coria 6-1, 6-1, 6-3 in one hour and 37 minutes to advance to the second round at the Australian Open.
The Frenchman captured his 11th tour-level title in the first week of the season at the Adelaide International 1 and played with confidence against Coria, hitting 36 winners and saving all six break points he faced to improve to 2-0 in their ATPHead2Head series.
“I feel great. [It was a] great match,” Monfils said in his post-match press conference. “I think I played very solid tennis. You can’t complain when you start a slam like that. You’re happy.”
You know you’re loved on tour when you still get a hug after winning in straight sets ? @Gael_Monfils • #AusOpen • #AO2022 pic.twitter.com/mTNMgD6U7r
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 17, 2022
The 35-year-old has now reached the second round in Melbourne 15 times and will next meet Alexander Bublik after the World No. 37 defeated American lucky loser Ernesto Escobedo 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-3, 6-3 in two hours and 38 minutes.
Monfils’ best run at the Australian Open came in 2016 when he reached the quarter-finals.
Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta booked his spot in the second round with a 6-1, 6-2, 7-6(2), two-hour, eight-minute victory against Argentine qualifier Tomas Martin Etcheverry, while 28th seed Karen Khachanov defeated American Denis Kudla 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 7-6(2).
The 19th seed Carreno Busta will next play Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands after the 25-year-old downed Fabio Fognini 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 in one hour and 49 minutes.
Griekspoor enjoyed a standout 2021 season, becoming the first player to capture a record-breaking eight ATP Challenger Tour titles in a single season. His impressive results saw him rise from No. 155 in the ATP Rankings at the start of 2021 to a current career-high No. 62.
It may not come as a shock that Sebastian Korda upset 12th seed Cameron Norrie in the first round of the Australian Open. But few could have predicted the dominance with which the 21-year-old American dispatched his British opponent on Monday on his debut in Melbourne.
The World No. 43 cruised past Norrie 6-3, 6-0, 6-4, in the sort of never-in-doubt route normally reserved for the game’s elite. A former boys’ singles champion Down Under, Korda had the World No. 12 under his thumb from the first ball of the match.
“It wasn’t easy. I didn’t get a lot of preparation, didn’t get any matches under my belt,” Korda said in his post-match press conference after he was forced to withdraw from the Adelaide International 1 in the first week of the season due to testing positive for Covid-19. “But I am just super happy with the way I came out. I stuck with my tactics. They worked really well and [I am] really comfortable on these courts.”
Thanks to an immediate break in each set, Korda never trailed in Kia Arena. He did save three break points in the match—one in each set—in addition to converting on five of his 10 break point chances.
“We played one year ago in Delray Beach in the semi-finals, and I also practised with him here, so I learned a couple of things during the practice and just used the tactics that I did with my team really well today,” Korda added. “I think even in the tight situations I still stayed with it. I kept being aggressive, using my powerful strokes on these fast courts.”
The American was competing for the first time this season and celebrated his one-hour, 42-minute win in style, punctuating the victory with a scissor kick in honour of his father and coach, 1998 Australian Open champion Petr Korda.
Next up for Korda, who captured his maiden tour-level title in Parma last year, is the winner of the all-French clash between World No. 100 Corentin Moutet and wild card Lucas Pouille.
Norrie won tour-level titles in Los Cabos and Indian Wells in 2021 and made his debut at the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin as an alternate. However, the 26-year-old has yet to find his top form this season.
Cameron Norrie is outclassed by American rising star Sebastian Korda as Britain’s bid in the Australian Open singles makes an inauspicious start.
Carlos Alcaraz lived up to his status as a first-time Grand Slam seed with a dominant 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 win over Chilean qualifier Alejando Tabilo on Day 1 of the Australian Open Monday.
Strikingly dressed in a sleeveless shirt and all-red kit, the 18-year-old Spaniard’s first-strike tennis proved too much for Tabilo, who was making his second Grand Slam main-draw appearance. In his competitive debut for 2022, Alcaraz put his game and his physique on full display after an offseason of apparent improvement on both fronts.
It was a matchup between two players sitting at career-highs in the ATP Rankings, with Alcaraz at No. 31—matching his seed—and Tabilo at No. 135. And the match bore out that gap in the rankings, as Alcaraz comfortably advanced.
On Court 7 at Melbourne Park, the pair traded early breaks before the youngster went on a six-game tear to wrestle away control. The Spaniard’s ascent was built on his typically intense aggression from the baseline, but he masterfully mixed in touch and some well-placed returns in building the lead.
Alcaraz faced just one break point in the opening two sets, while breaking five times on the way to a two-set lead.
With his last match coming in his title run at the Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan in November, Alcaraz made the perfect start to what could be a big 2022 season. He enters the new campaign on the heels of a breakout year that also saw him reach the US Open quarter-finals, win his first ATP title (Umag) and break into the ATP’s Top 40 for the first time. Alcaraz started the 2021 season just inside the Top 150.
In the top quarter of the Australian Open draw—a section ripe with opportunity due to the absence of Novak Djokovic—Alcaraz will take on either Marton Fucsovics or Dusan Lajovic in Round 2. Looking one step further, No. 7 seed Matteo Berrettini looms as a potential third-round opponent.
‘Pack up your bag.’
I was a nine-year-old walking out of school in Dubai when my dad told me that. He had spoken to my teacher and said I would be missing the next two weeks to compete in a tournament in Croatia. That was the beginning of it all.
Born in Australia, I started playing tennis when I was quite young. We moved to Dubai when I was eight due to my father’s work. But until that point, I had only played after school. Sometimes I would miss a Friday to compete in a tournament in the United Arab Emirates, but this was different. I had never been to Europe. I had never played on clay. I was happy with missing two weeks of school, but traveling so far for tennis? That was unbelievable!
I was still playing soccer at school and was pretty good at it. I was the striker and the coach, former Premier League player Carlton Palmer, was trying to convince my mom that I should quit tennis. He thought I could make it in soccer, but said I couldn’t do both. My mom told him to come watch me on the tennis court and when he did he was like, ‘Yep, stick to tennis!’
I didn’t know it at the time, but that trip to Croatia would serve as a test from my to see how my level compared to kids from around the world, including Alex de Minaur and Nicola Kuhn. We packed our bags and me, my mom, dad, my brother, my little sister and my grandma all went to Croatia. Family is everything to me, so as much as I remember some of my matches, I have plenty of stories of car rides like that one with them.
From 10 to 17 we moved to Spain and throughout those years we would travel for three months at a time going from tournament to tournament, from Italy to Slovakia to Slovenia and so on. My brother Anthony, who is a year younger than me, would also be playing the tournaments and my little sister Sonia, who was in kindergarten, would go too. Anthony and I would be in the back of the car being pains in the a**** and my dad, who was driving, would be screaming at us. My mom was there and so was my grandma, who was always solving her Sudoku puzzles during the ride.
We had TVs in the car and at that time we didn’t know how to download movies on the computer. There was no Netflix back then, so we would just watch a couple movies we had and travel across Europe in the car with the whole family.
A lot of the time we would rent a house for a week or two at a tournament. My mom tried to find the cheapest possible option, which was tough because we needed a huge space. There were six of us, and we would have needed three rooms at a hotel. My parents did not want my brother and I to stay in the same room because we would never fall asleep. We would be up until 3 or 4 a.m. and need to be up at 7 a.m. the next morning. We would act crazy! We would stay up all hours just talking, watching sports, YouTube, all that stuff.
We’re the sort of family that likes to stick together and I still enjoy living at home with my parents and my little sister. Looking back at those moments, it was so awesome having the whole family there. I didn’t fully realise this at the time, but my family sacrificed everything to enable my brother and I to chase our dreams.
About a year after that first tournament in Croatia, my parents sold our house in Sydney, where we lived until I was eight. I didn’t see it as a big deal at the time because we didn’t live there, and hadn’t for three years. But that’s a bloody big deal!
That’s the place in Australia where we called home, where we would have returned if things went wrong. If I suffered an injury or wanted to go back to school, what would have happened? Our safe haven was gone. My family was fully invested in our tennis. Parents are the ones who believe in you the most, and mine showed it in my brother and me.
I always said my brother had more talent and hit the ball better than I did. Unfortunately at 14 he suffered an unlucky injury in the bone on his toe. It took him a year and a half to recover and that set him back. If it wasn’t for his injuries, he would have been where I am too. He’s still my best friend and I’m his best friend. We text every single day and we know that we’re there for each other all the time.
Another thing you should know about me is that I’m super competitive. I’ve never wanted to lose anything, whether it was a game of football, a board game or PlayStation. If I didn’t want to lose in those, you could imagine how competitive I am on the tennis court. I think that competitive spirit shows in my game.
I’ve always had the belief that I was going to become a professional. I never doubted myself for one second. The older I got, the more I understood what goes with being a professional. We’re trying to get to the top, and I adjusted to that. My family adjusted to that, too. They made more sacrifices and I worked harder and focussed more.
When I was 17, I started to break through on the ATP Tour and that is when the pressure came. I had finished juniors, wasn’t making the money to support myself and that is when it hit me. ‘S***, if I don’t make it, then all of this is for nothing.’ You’re on a one-way street from there on out. My dream was to become a professional tennis player and if that didn’t happen, I would have considered it a failure. That was the pressure that I felt the most.
Photo Credit: Singapore Tennis Open
Last year was the best of my career, winning my first ATP Tour title in Singapore and reaching a career-high No. 59 in the world. I’m working hard every day so that the best is still to come.
The Australian Open is particularly important to me. Not only do I love competing at my home Slam, but that’s where I grew up as a young kid. I still remember sitting in the stands when Lleyton Hewitt beat Marcos Baghdatis in a match that ended at 4:33 a.m. I dreamt of being part of those moments myself one day.
I’ve always loved playing on the big stage. I’ve always believed that when I got there to compete in front of thousands of people, I would feel at home. Now, I truly feel I belong in those moments.
The fact that my parents always believed in me really helped with that. They were always encouraging me and were there whenever I needed them. My mom was travelling with me everywhere and my dad was a phone call away. Without them, I wouldn’t have made it. Yet here I am, and I hope I will continue to make them proud.
– As told to Andrew Eichenholz
Read More ‘My Point’ First-Person Essays
Top seeds Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic could face a tricky draw at this year’s Australian Open.
If the Croatians, who won nine tour-level titles together last year, defeat Argentines Facundo Bagnis and Federico Delbonis in the first round, they could face Australians Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios in the second round. Longtime friends Kokkinakis and Kyrgios open against countrymen Alex Bolt and James McCabe,
View Doubles Draw
“Playing with him is always an experience. I don’t think we’re the most traditional doubles pairing you’ll see. We have fun out there. We like to get the crowd going,” Kokkinakis said. “Singles is so intense and so serious. The media hypes it. It’s massive for us as well, we want to do well. Being on court with each other, we can kind of relax a little bit, kind of feed off each other. It gives us a good sort of bond.”
This will be Kokkinakis and Kyrgios’ fourth time competing in the Australian Open as a team. Kokkinakis lifted his first ATP Tour trophy on Saturday in Adelaide.
Photo Credit: Morgan Hancock/Getty Images
One of the leading tournament favourites will be second seeds Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury (above). The 2020 champions also reached the final Down Under last year. Ivan Dodig and Filip Polasek defeated them in the championship match.
Polasek and Australian John Peers became a full-time team in the middle of last year. They developed into one of the world’s best pairs by the end of the season, winning the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells. They are the fifth seeds in Melbourne.
“To kick off in Australia with an Aussie guy, it’s almost like a dream come true to have the Aussie fans on our side. I really hope for and am looking forward to a great run there,” Polasek said. “Usually all the best teams in the offseason work hard and they always come up with something new. It’s going to be really interesting and I think the field is very strong.”
Other teams to watch include third seeds Marcel Granollers/Horacio Zeballos, fourth seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal/Robert Farah and 2016 champions Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares. One new pair to keep your eyes on is Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski. The Dutch-Briton duo got off to a perfect start in 2022 by claiming titles in Melbourne and Adelaide. The 10th seeds will begin their Australian Open against Monaco’s Romain Arneodo and Frenchman Benoit Paire.
Following an exhilarating start to the new season, which saw Canada win the ATP Cup title in Sydney and Rafael Nadal capture his 89th tour-level trophy in Melbourne, the world’s best players will now compete at the Australian Open.
ATPTour.com looks at 10 things to watch at the first major of the year.
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1) Rafa Returns: Nadal made a winning return to the Tour earlier this month when he captured his 89th tour-level crown at the Melbourne Summer Set, not dropping a set en route to the trophy. Now the Spaniard will compete at a major for the first time since he reached the semi-finals at Roland Garros (l. to Djokovic) last June. This will be his 17th appearance at the season’s first major..
The World No. 6, who won the Australian Open title in 2011, advanced to the quarter-finals in 2020 and 2021, but will look to go further this year as he chases a record-breaking 21st major title, starting against American Marcos Giron in the first round. The legendary lefty is currently tied with Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer on 20 Slam triumphs.
2) Medvedev’s Mission: Second seed Daniil Medvedev cracked the Grand Slam code in September when he defeated Djokovic to clinch his first major at the US Open. With the taste of Slam success in the Russian’s mouth, the 25-year-old will be hungry for more in Melbourne, where he reached the final in 2021.
The World No. 2, who won ATP Cup matches against Alex de Minaur, Matteo Berrettini and Felix Auger-Aliassime at the start of the season, will play Swiss qualifier Henri Laaksonen in the first round.
3) Can Zverev Capture Maiden Major? Alexander Zverev enjoyed a strong second half to the 2021 season, earning a 32-4 record since Wimbledon. He captured the singles gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics, his fifth ATP Masters 1000 title in Cincinnati, the crown in Vienna and the trophy at the Nitto ATP Finals.
Despite winning 19 tour-level titles, the German has yet to triumph at a major, with his best run in Australia coming in 2020 when he reached the semi-finals. The third seed will be aiming to change that record over the next fortnight, starting against countryman Daniel Altmaier in the first round.
4) Tsitsipas’ Time? Like Zverev, Tsitsipas is also chasing a maiden major title at the Australian Open. The fourth seed has twice reached the semi-finals in Melbourne, with the first coming in 2019 when he upset Roger Federer en route to the last four aged just 20. The Greek then advanced to the same stage last year, falling to Medvedev.
The 23-year-old, who earned tour-level titles in Monte-Carlo and Lyon in 2021, will hope to set the wheels in motion for another deep run in Melbourne, starting against Swede Mikael Ymer in his opening match.
5) Italian Charge: Italian pair Berrettini and Jannik Sinner both enjoyed impressive 2021 seasons, winning six tour-level titles between them, with their strong form earning them spots at the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin (Sinner competed an alternate, replacing Berrettini due to injury). The last Italian man to win a major was Adriano Panatta at Roland Garros in 1976, but with confidence high, Berrettini and Sinner will be aiming to change that over the coming fortnight.
Seventh seed Berrettini reached the fourth round in Australia last year, but faces a tricky opening test against #NextGenATP Brandon Nakashima, who reached two tour-level finals last year. Sinner is seeded 11th and plays lucky loser Joao Sousa.
6) Murray Back On Australian Soil: Former World No. 1 Andy Murray is a five-time finalist at the Australian Open, last reaching the championship match in 2016. The Scot has not competed at the first major of the season since 2019, when he lost to Roberto Bautista Agut in five sets in an emotional performance on Melbourne Arena.
Murray arrives in Melbourne in form, having advanced to the championship match at the Sydney Tennis Classic last week. It was the first time the 34-year-old had reached a tour-level final since October 2019 (Antwerp, d. Wawrinka). Murray will begin against 21st seed Nikoloz Basilashvili, whom he defeated in three sets in Sydney last week.
7) Home Hopes: There is a feel-good factor around Australian tennis. Adelaide-native Thanasi Kokkinakis soared to his maiden tour-level title at the Adelaide International on Saturday. The wild card had reached a career-high ATP Ranking of No. 69 as a 19-year-old in 2015, before injuries derailed his career. However, the Australian is now fully fit, in good form and will start his campaign against German qualifier Yannick Hanfmann.
Australia’s seeded player at the Australian Open is 32nd seed De Minaur. The 22-year-old, who advanced to the third round in 2021, earned impressive victories against Matteo Berrettini and Ugo Humbert at the ATP Cup earlier this month. The World No. 34 plays #NextGenATP Italian Lorenzo Musetti in the first round.
Former World No. 13 Nick Kyrgios will look to entertain the crowd again as he competes for the first time since September against British qualifier Liam Broady. The 26-year-old enjoyed a run to the last eight in Melbourne in 2015 and advanced to the fourth round in 2018 and 2020.
There are 10 Australians in the draw, with Alex Bolt, James Duckworth, John Millman, Christopher O’Connell, Alexei Popyrin, Jordan Thompson and Aleksandar Vukic also playing.
8) #NextGenATP Stars In Action: Carlos Alcaraz is one of the brightest talents emerging in the game right now, as evidenced by his victory at the Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals in November. The Spaniard is seeded at a Slam for the first time (31st) and plays Chile qualifier Alejandro Tabilo in his opening match.
Eighteen-year-old Holger Rune, who made his main draw debut at a major at the US Open in September, will take on Nur-Sultan titlist Soonwoo Kwon, while Argentine Sebastian Baez, who won six ATP Challenger Tour titles last year, plays Albert Ramos-Vinolas.
Read More: The Fire Within Holger Rune
9) More Players To Watch: Russia’s Andrey Rublev is at a career-high No. 5 in the ATP Rankings and is a former quarter-finalist (2021) in Melbourne. The 24-year-old will begin his bid for a first major title against Italian Gianluca Mager. Casper Ruud had a standout 2021 campaign, winning five tour-level titles before he reached the semi-finals at the Nitto ATP Finals. The eighth seed plays Alex Molcan in the first round.
Auger-Aliassime and Hubert Hurkacz will also provide a threat in Melbourne. Auger-Aliassime helped guide Canada to ATP Cup glory earlier this month and will look to use his momentum at the first Grand Slam of the season, starting against Emil Ruusuvuori. Tenth seed Hurkacz faces Egor Gerasimov.
10) Mektic/Pavic Lead Doubles Field: Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic won nine tour-level titles as a team in 2021 and will look to add to their trophy haul in Melbourne as they headline the doubles field as the top seeds. The Croatians will face stiff competition from teams including last year’s finalists Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury, third seeds Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos and 2016 champions Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares.
Teams consisting of singles stars in the field include Kokkinakis and Kyrgios, Alcaraz and Pablo Carreno Busta and Lloyd Harris and Popyrin.
Poland’s Iga Swiatek, who won the 2020 French Open title as a 19-year-old, discusses being such a young major champion in her BBC Sport column.
