Let the Happy Slam begin...
The Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of the year, has started today, January 16, 2023 in Melbourne, Australia. This famous tennis tournament will take 2 weeks from January 16-29 where 128 men players and 128 women players compete for the trophy and a huge high prize pool of $76.5 million which is around 3.38% increase from last year. The Australian Open is one of the popular tournaments in the tennis major calendar although Melbourne is about 16 hours ahead of the U.S., following the matches coverage all night can be quite pleasant.
Last year, Rafael Nadal won the title and claimed his 21st Grand Slam singles title by battling past Daniil Medvedev in five sets. On the women’s side, Ashleigh Barty won the trophy and became the first Australian woman to win this title in 44 years. She defeated Danielle Collin of the US 6:3, 7:6 to claim the women’s singles title.
This year many big names miss the tournament due to injuries and personal issues. Carlos Alcaraz, the number one, cannot play because of the injury. As everyone knows, Roger Federer officially retired at the end of last year. On the women’s side, Ashleigh Barty, the champion last year, surprisingly retired 3 months after winning the title. Then Serena Williams, the 23 times grand slam champion announced retirement during the US Open tournament in August of last year. Naomi Osaka just announced her pregnancy and withdrew from the tournament while Angelique Kerber is on maternity leave and Simona Halep, a two times grand slam champion was unfortunately suspended due to doping as she tested positive for a certain prohibited substance.
After the draw came out on Thursday, you should keep your eyes on the eight familiar faces who could possibly be battling for the title for the men's side are the defending champion , Rafael Nadal, Djokovic, Medvedev, Tsitsipas, Ruud, Fritz, Auger-Aliassime and Rublev.
For the women's side, the potential players who could match up the number one and so dominant , Iga Swiatek and race through the last eight are Jabeur, Pegula, Garcia, Gauff, Sakkari, and Sabalenka But don’t count out some of the veteran who had some grand slam titles under their names like Victoria Azarenka ( 2 timers Aus Open), Petra Kvitova (2 timers Wimbledon), Sofia Kenin (1 timer Aus Open), Barbora Krejcikova (1 timer French Open1) and Elena Rybakina the latest Wimbledon Champion last year.
There is a chance for these men players to grab the new World number one if they win the champion of this tournament : Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Casper Rudd and Stefanos Tsitsipas
So stay tuned AND always enjoy tennis everyone.
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