The Australian Open saw some hits, some misses and a lot of surprises early on in the tournament.
The women’s draw in particular saw some significant upsets, with a majority of the seeded players crashing out in the earliest stages of the tournament.
Among them were former World No. 2 Simona Halep, 10th-ranked Venus Williams – who made her return to the top 10 after a resurgence in late 2015, Kristina Mladenovic and Ana Ivanovic, all of whom crashed out by the end of the third round of the tournament.
In a shock upset, Halep’s loss – in the first round, no less, came at the hands of a qualifier – 133rd-ranked Shuhai Zhang of China, to whom the Romanian lost in straight sets.
The men’s draw, on the other hand, saw perhaps the upset of the Open, with former World No. 1 and 14-time Grand Slam winner Rafael Nadal exiting the tournament, losing to Davis Cup teammate and longtime rival Fernando Verdasco in a five-set nail-biter.
Although Verdasco would himself exit the tournament in the very next round, he had shown the fallibility of a now-enervated Rafael Nadal.
For those who have missed out on any of the action from the tournament need not worry. You can easily relive all the matches of the tournament on the SonyLIV website and App. You can watch highlights, winning shots, key moments, interviews and many more things.
Here’s a report card for the top players at the tournament:
Novak Djokovic
He’s not World No. 1 without a reason. Novak Djokovic has dominated the sport for over three years now, and he has not so far shown any signs of slowing down.
The Serb has had his most significant Grand Slam successes here in Melbourne, with 5 Australian Open titles prior to 2016 – and in perhaps a combination of a change in diet, a renewed energy Djokovic attributes to his family and the birth of his son, and just practice, he remains firmly on the top, digging his heels in and looking even less likely to give up his reign.
He faltered somewhat in the earlier stages of the tournament; although he only dropped two sets in his entire Australian Open run, he found his mettle tested by some unexpected challengers.
French teenager Quentin Halys, ranked 171st, was routed by Djokovic in the first two sets – by a Djokovic who has undoubtedly been in the form of his life. Despite this, the youngster picked up an early break of serve and tenaciously progressed through the match with some strong serves, taking the Serb to a close tiebreak in the final set.
Following that, Djokovic played what was undisputedly his worst match of the tournament when he took on French 14th seed Gilles Simon. That was both down to Simon’s tenacity and an unforced error count so uncharacteristic of Djokovic that it has since gone down in the history books despite having happened only a week ago.
100. A hundred unforced errors committed during the course of that match.
Still, it is perhaps down to the Serb’s immense skill that he managed to win that match despite the number of errors he committed, and while he loses points for making them, he held on to make up for it and progress nevertheless.
Andy Murray
If there were a tennis equivalent to ‘always a bridesmaid, never a bride,’ that would be Andy Murray at the Australian Open. The Scot has reached the finals here on 5 occasions – and not once has he won it. Of those, he lost to Novak Djokovic on three occasions, and to Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal the other two times.
He’s the only player to have reached the finals of a Slam 5 times and never won.
This time, perhaps, Murray could be given some leeway.
The Scot, who has been consistent all year, has been under significant duress in his personal life, with his first child due to be born imminently. In addition, his father-in-law Nigel Sears, the coach of former World No. 1 Ana Ivanovic, took ill while his pupil was playing American seed Madison Keys on court in the earlier stages of the tournament – whilst Murray’s own quarterfinal was underway.
Rafael Nadal
This was the shocker of the tournament. Nadal may have only won one Australian Open – but that is one more than Murray, who has reached the finals 5 times and been unable to build on it.
On this occasion, Nadal did not add to his 14 Slams – but he did get the wooden spoon, dumped unceremoniously from the tournament by compatriot Fernando Verdasco in a five-setter.
It was the first time Nadal had not made it past the first round of the Australian Open. His game was significantly freer of errors than his rival’s, but his serve, once feared by every opponent in Nadal’s path, faltered and let him down in the end.
It’s unsure what malaise is plaguing Nadal, or perhaps it is a combination of a number of things. Last year, the Spaniard, dubbed the King of Clay, said 2016 would be his ‘comeback year’ – but that does not seem to have come together for him just yet.
Is it age? Nadal has not looked low on energy, it is more an errant serve and inconsistent play that has let him down.
It is also perhaps time for Nadal to dispense of the services of his coach and uncle, Toni Nadal.
Uncle Toni, as he is known, is one of the most successful coaches in tennis history, with 14 Grand Slams coming from his former No. 1 nephew.
Nadal has not won a Grand Slam since 2014, which is not that long ago – but for a player of his calibre, his results, especially in the past year, have been very disappointing.
It appears that he has been stuck in a rut with his uncle, who has himself since perhaps warmed to the fact that Nadal should in fact hire another coach to try and tap into different skills.
It’s a suggestion John McEnroe himself made to Nadal in 2015.
Dynamism is something Roger Federer has long relied on, and Nadal would do well to learn from this.
Which brings us to…
Roger Federer
Much has been said about the Swiss over the course of his enduring career, and it is not without reason that he is considered the greatest of all time.
12 years after he was first World No. 1, Federer is World No. 3 – a testament to his enduring skill.
Federer is known for his dynamism and constantly changing his game – and last year, bringing on Ivan Ljubicic in place of Swedish icon Stefan Edberg, Federer did exactly that.
Known for being a proponent of the serve-and-volley style of play, as was his coach Edberg, Federer quickly focused his game more on the baseline – and it has stood him in good stead.
Still at peak fitness with no signs of slowing down, Federer dropped only a single set going into the semis, and although he was thoroughly routed by Djokovic barring the set he scalped off the Serb, Federer has competed with those younger than him, many of whom are moving quite quickly up the ranks – and defeating them with relative ease.
It is more a sign of Djokovic’s utter dominance than any suggestion of Federer’s waning skill that he did not progress to the finals - but for asserting himself and changing his style of play, especially at an age most tennis professionals are wrapping up their careers, Federer gets top marks.
And when he says he has ‘another Slam still in me,’ it is still very believable.
Serena Williams
World No. 1 Serena Williams. 21 Grand Slam-winning Serena Williams.
At the Australian Open this year, she was widely expected to take her 22nd – and in the processs, equal Steffi Graf’s Open Era record.
If you judged her prior performances in the Open, you would not be remiss to think she would win, and win resoundingly to win her 22nd slam.
She has won 6 titles in Australia in the past – and did not drop a single set during the course of the tournament – until the final.
Only ever really tested at the tournament in her first round match, Williams either bageled or breadsticked each of the opponents she played at the tournament this year.
Her serves were on point. Her attacking stance more aggressive than ever. She came to the net with the same power she had always had, with her opponents standing no chance. Serena, like Djokovic, has dominated the sport entirely, with nobody able to really come close.
But suddenly, the armour, nay, the Kevlar that Serena Williams appeared to be made of suddenly became penetrable.
Williams has never been at her most comfortable against left-handed players, but has taken them on nevertheless. With barely any of her opponents able to break Serena at the Open, Kerber took a march and broke her in the very first set.
Flummoxed by Kerber’s shots all across court, Williams played an error-filled game – one she managed to rein in the very next set.
But it is perhaps her aggression at the game that is also her downfall. Evidently passionate, Williams is also prone to anger and repeatedly berates herself when she misses points.
Yet again, Williams has missed out on a Calendar Slam, denied last year at the US Open as she crashed out in the semi-finals.
But given her form, it likely will not be very long before she equals and sets new records herself.
It would be unfair to call her game inconsistent - despite not having played any tennis on the circuit last year following the US Open, Williams still retained her top ranking.
But it is within games that she lets anger and a temporary blip get to her far more than it should, and it is perhaps this that was her downfall in the final.
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