Djokovic is the best again, Medvedev’s disaster and Sobolenko’s unexpected victory

Djokovic – King of Melbourne

 

A year after the scandalous deportation, Novak Djokovic returned to Melbourne and again became the champion. The Serbian won the Australian Open for the tenth time, and it is unlikely that anyone will ever be able to repeat this achievement.

Novak’s only serious opponent this time was a hip injury received in one of the matches before the Australian Major. In the first rounds, Nole entered the court with a special tape on his leg, and sometimes there was a feeling that the main favorite of the tournament was about to be removed.

However, starting from the fourth round, it became clear that everything was in order with Djokovic. Novak took out Alex De Minaura, Andrei Rublev and Tommy Paul in turn, and stopped Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final (3:6, 6:7, 6:7).

 

Djokovic won the 22nd Grand Slam tournament and caught up with Rafael Nadal in this indicator. But that is not all. After another triumph, Novak returned to first place in the ATP rankings. True, how long he will be at the top is still difficult to say.

Most likely, due to the lack of a coronavirus vaccine, Djokovic will again be excluded from the American spring tournaments, including the Masters in Miami and Indian Wells. However, no matter where he is, it is still clear to everyone who is now the best in the world.

 

The unexpected triumph of Sobolenko

 

A year ago, Arina Sobolenko shocked everyone with her careless game and the most unrestrained behavior. Her main problem then was the endless double faults – the Belarusian tennis player helped her rivals in almost every set. But at some point, everything changed – the mistakes disappeared, and Arina suddenly stopped wasting energy on absolutely unnecessary emotions.

And the main result of this transformation was the long-awaited triumph at the Grand Slam tournament.

Sobolenko swept through Melbourne like a hurricane. For the entire tournament, she gave only one set. In the final against Elena Rybakina, the Belarusian did not play very well in the first game, but in the end she made a bright comeback. Rybakina understood how to resist her opponent’s crazy forehand.

After winning the Australian Open, Sobolenko returned to second place in the rankings. Only Iga Sventek is ahead. And if recently it seemed that the Polish tennis player settled at the top for a long time, now, after such a bright triumph of Sobolenko, this is no longer one hundred percent sure.

 

Sventek didn’t even make it to the quarter-finals

 

If there was at least some intrigue in the men’s tournament (including due to Djokovic’s injury), then in the case of the women’s tournament, everything was obvious – experts and fans were waiting for another victory for Iga Sventek .

And, perhaps, all these conversations had a negative impact on the mood of the first racket of the world. Already in the fourth round she lost to Elena Rybakina (4:6, 4:6).

“I wanted more not to lose than to win,” is how Schwentek explained her sensational defeat.

 

By the way, the legendary John McEnroe also believes that the reason for the unsuccessful performance of the Polish tennis player lies, first of all, in psychology and self-doubt, although hardly anyone is able to compete with her now in terms of the quality of tennis.

Schwentek did not hide her disappointment, but now she reacts to such failures not as emotionally as before. The defeat in Melbourne will only add motivation to Iga.

By the way, at the Australian Open-2023 for the first time in the history of the Grand Slam tournaments, none of the top 2 seedings in men and women could reach the quarterfinals.

 

Khachanov is the best Russian at the Australian Open-2023

 

Oddly enough, among all the representatives of Russia, Karen Khachanov , who reached the semi-finals, performed best at the Australian Major.

Moreover, he did it at the second Grand Slam in a row. At the US Open, Karen was also in the top four.

Khachanov easily passed the first rounds, after which he stopped Francis Tiafoe, Yoshihito Nishioka and Sebastian Korda. The Russian did not cope with Stefanos Tsitsipas, although in general he also showed a decent game.

Reaching the semi-finals at such a tournament is a serious achievement, but Khachanov, most likely, is also annoyed by one unpleasant fact. In the match against Tsitsipas, he suffered his 23rd consecutive defeat against a top 10 opponent. It is still difficult for Karen to compete with the top ten, but it is clear that in the near future the situation may change. Khachanov is clearly not standing still.

 

Almost disaster Medvedev

 

And for Daniil Medvedev , it seems that the time has come to change something in his game. His tennis has ceased to be a problem for top 30 players for some time now.

This time Medvedev did not even reach the quarterfinals. Already in the third round he was stopped by Sebastian Korda . Moreover, three sets were enough for the American – 6:7, 3:6, 6:7. Despite the fact that the match still turned out to be tense, it became almost immediately clear that Medvedev had nothing to surprise his opponent with.

After reaching the finals at the Australian Open twice in a row, this result can be considered almost a disaster – after the failure in Melbourne, Medvedev fell out of the top 10 and now occupies 12th place.

But the most unpleasant thing for Medvedev is that in this case it is not entirely appropriate to talk about a sensation. In the second half of last season, he had enough of such defeats.

Whether Medvedev will be able to return to the top ten and again fight for titles in major tournaments is one of the main intrigues of the men’s season.

 

Nadal was not ready to defend the title

 

Alas, Rafael Nadal again summed up his own body. Due to another injury, the clay king dropped out after the second round.

In the first round, Rafa famously dealt with Briton Jack Draper, but in the next match he lost to Mackenzie McDonald.

At first, Nadal could not adapt to the American’s style of play, and at the end of the second set, the Spaniard injured his thigh. It is noteworthy that last year’s champion of the Australian Major did not withdraw and played the match to the end, although it was obvious that in such a state it was almost impossible to fight for victory.

 

It was Nadal’s earliest Grand Slam loss since 2016. As a result of the tournament, he fell out of the top 5 and received another signal from his body about the advisability of delaying the decision to retire.

It is possible that Alexander Zverev, who previously suggested that Nadal would leave tennis after Roland Garros, will be right.

 

Quarter-finals – while Rublev’s ceiling on the “Grand Slams”

 

Andrei Rublev has nothing to criticize for sure, but the just-completed major in Australia was another confirmation that he is still not ready to fight for the title at this level.

Rublev made it to the quarter-finals, and considering how the season started for him (with two nasty losses in Adelaide), this is a great result, which, by the way, allowed him to return to the top 5.

Andrey won an epic victory over Holger Rune in the fourth round, having won back two match points. In the fifth set in the decisive tie-break, he lost to the Dane with a score of 0:5, but even here he managed to get out.

In the quarterfinal match against Novak Djokovic, Rublev capitulated, taking only seven games from the Serb. During the game, the Russian was constantly freaking out, shouting, and, as Yevgeny Kafelnikov noted , this was due to impotence and the understanding that he was simply unable to compete with such an opponent.

Rublev played in the Slam quarter-finals for the seventh time and again failed to reach the top four. However, here we can talk about bad luck – no one can beat Djokovic now.

 

The total failure of the Russians

 

Contrary to expectations, one of the best Russians at the Australian Open was … Varvara Gracheva , who managed to get to the third round. In her case, this is indeed a success.

The main disappointment was Daria Kasatkina . The eighth racket of the world lost just in the first round to Gracheva. Terrible defeat with a score of 1:6, 1:6 in 54 minutes.

Veronika Kudermetova , who went to Melbourne in the status of the ninth racket of the world, sensationally lost in the second round to the American Cathy Volynets. Notably, she failed to reach the third round at the Slam for the first time since 2021.