The buildup to the 2022 Australian Open was dominated by the madcap antivax antics of the men’s world number one tennis player Novak Djokovic, aided and abetted by the sly contraptions of Tennis Australia and the state of Victoria while the federal government, having seemingly abnegated all responsibility for player eligibility, then scrambled in a cack-handed bid to play catchup.
An early vaccine sceptic, Djokovic had declined to confirm his vaccine status in the months and weeks leading up to the tournament, only to boast as he embarked on a flight from Spain to Australia that he had received an exemption to defend the title which he won for a record ninth time in 2021. According to the Tennis Australia executive Craig Tiley, a total of 26 people had applied for such an exemption out of the hundreds of players plus support staff who were planning to attend the tournament.
Tennis Australia with cooperation from the state of Victoria had set up two expert panels in order to review such requests. But as the inner workings of these panels remained obscure, the decision to award an exemption to Djokovic raised more than a few eyebrows especially among hardy Australians who have endured some of the longest coronavirus pandemic lockdowns in the world.
Armed with a visa, a more recent travel declaration, and the medical exemption approved by Tennis Australia and the state of Victoria, when Djokovic touched down in Melbourne he was swiftly whisked away for questioning by the federal border force. It turned out that his exemption had been granted owing to a recent bout of coronavirus, which despite the swirling antibodies was a standard the federal government were not inclined to approve.
After winning a short-term reprieve on procedural grounds, one of the greatest tennis players in the history of the sport was released from a humbling weekend staycation inside a Melbourne immigration detention facility, only in the inimitable words of Jeffrey Lebowski for new shit to come to light. The world number one had been rather lax with his travel declaration, which had failed to mention trips between Serbia and Spain in the two weeks prior to his flight to Australia, while his coronavirus infection also faced further scrutiny, as in the days following a positive test taken on 16 December the player had engaged in a variety of public meet-and-greets.
A swell of sympathy for the tennis star soon waned, even among government figures in his native Serbia, while his hopes of playing in the Australian Open were dashed for a second time when the immigration minister Alex Hawke again cancelled his visa citing ‘health and good order’ grounds. Djokovic and his legal team launched a further appeal, but when a federal court dismissed his application the very day before the start of the tournament, the reigning champion wave goodbye to his Grand Slam prospects as he was bundled onto the next available flight out of Melbourne.
Capturing world headlines for all of the wrong reasons, views inevitably differed regarding the extent of Djokovic’s crimes and the precise nature of the mixup between local and federal authorities, as political expediency vied with the commercial interests of the sport. Despite losing to Daniil Medvedev at the US Open in September, his dominance at Melbourne Park over the past decade would have rendered Djokovic the favourite heading into the tournament, with his hopes of securing a record 21st Grand Slam title at least provisionally put on hold.
Beyond Djokovic the tennis tour itself seemed to have endured an extended layover, as the traditional break between seasons was elided by the Davis Cup Finals in late November and a brisk start for the relatively newfangled ATP Cup. After weeks of speculation regarding Djokovic and the well-being of the Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai, as the Australian Open prepared to get underway there were still plenty of captivating stories which gladly hewed a little bit closer to the tennis court.
Ash Barty, the women’s world number one, would be hoping for a win on home soil for the first time since Chris O’Neil hoisted the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup all the way back in 1978. In the meantime Wendy Turnbull, Kim Warwick, Pat Cash, and Lleyton Hewitt had all reached the final of the Australian Open without quite managing to take that precious last step. Naomi Osaka was back in action hoping to defend her title, the surprise US Open champion Emma Raducanu was seeded for the first time in a major, and the likes of Aryna Sabalenka and Maria Sakkari were desperate to get over their Grand Slam humps.
On the men’s side, in Djokovic’s absence Rafa Nadal was left to vie for a record 21st Grand Slam title, albeit after five months out with a debilitating foot injury and playing on a surface which has not always been kind to the clay court master, with his only previous victory in Melbourne coming in 2009. The in-form Daniil Medvedev was aiming to become the first player in the Open Era to win his first two Grand Slam titles back-to-back. And amid the scramble for a first major, Alexander Zverev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, and Matteo Berrettini would be in the hunt.
In the first round several outside prospects succumbed to the hazards of the women’s draw, with Coco Gauff, the former finalist Petra Kvitová, and past champions Sofia Kenin and Angelique Kerber seeing their hopes dashed inside two sets. The US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez was also sent packing, and Emma Raducanu faltered in the second round despite striving to make the best of a blistered finger, as the two youngsters continue to adjust to the rigours of the tour.
More surprising were losses for the third seed Garbiñe Muguruza and sixth seed Anett Kontaveit, who were swept in two sets by the French veteran Alizé Cornet and the young Dane Clara Tauson. As always the two-set format and the strength in depth of the women’s tour made life difficult for some of the favourites, with the first week of the Australian Open capped by Naomi Osaka’s defeat at the hands of a resurgent Amanda Anisimova, as the 20-year-old American fought back from a set down and saved two match points in the decider to enter the fourth round of a major for the first time since her run to the semi-finals of the French Open in 2019.
Things were more straightforward on the men’s side of the draw, where the tenth seed Hubert Hurkacz was the only major early casualty, though Félix Auger-Aliassime edged Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in four close sets and Denis Shapovalov needed five to oust the rising South Korean tennis player Kwon Soon-woo.
After reaching the final of the Sydney Tennis Classic and impressing against Nikoloz Basilashvili, the comeback kid Andy Murray ran out of gas against the Japanese qualifier Taro Daniel in the second round of the draw. And in one of the most compelling matches of the tournament, Daniil Medvedev burnt past the home favourite Nick Kyrgios in four sets, with the Australian full of praise for his opponent while Medvedev bemoaned the booing crowd for their low IQ.
As the weekend approached, the 2022 Australian Open bore witness to its first five-set epic as the seventh seed Matteo Berrettini prevailed 10-5 in the deciding tie-break versus the dashing young Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz. On Saturday the fifth seed Andrey Rublev ceded to the big hitting of Marin Čilić, Danielle Collins edged out Clara Tauson, Sorana Cîrstea continued her steady run of form at the Slams by defeating the tenth seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, and the 20th seed Taylor Fritz saw off the 15th seed Roberto Bautista Agut in five back-and-forth sets.
The fourth round brought another big victory for Madison Keys, who after toppling Sofia Kenin dispatched with her second seed of the tournament in the form of Paula Badosa. After thrashing Elina Svitolina the two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka was swallowed up by Barbora Krejčíková in swift sets. Ash Barty faced a sterner test as she ended the challenge of Anisimova, who at least managed to end the world number one’s streak of 63 consecutive service holds as she briefly broke for a 2-0 lead in the second set. And Jessica Pegula saw off the Greek warrior Maria Sakkari to reach the quarter-final stage of the tournament for a second consecutive year.
The shock of the weekend was the manner of Alexander Zverev’s defeat at the hands of Denis Shapovalov, as the third seed wilted in the face of his younger opponent’s more measured approach, with the Canadian winning through in three sets. And the surprises continued at the start of a new week as Simona Halep was squeezed out by Alizé Cornet, while Kaia Kanepi beat the second seed Aryna Sabalenka by the tightest of margins, the final scoreline reading 10-7 in favour of the Estonian at the end of the decisive third-set tie-break.
As the Australian Open progressed the spectres of recent scandals were never far from view. A BBC report cast further doubt over the timing of Novak Djokovic’s positive coronavirus test, while tournament organisers faced a fierce backlash following their decision to censure spectators who wore T-shirts begging the question ‘Where is Peng Shuai?’ By the second Tuesday of the tournament any qualms over such messages had been reversed, with the T-shirts a steady presence in the stands as Melbourne Park welcomed back full crowds after restrictions and snap lockdown measures marred last year’s event.
In the quarter-finals Ash Barty made light work of Jessica Pegula, while Madison Keys put on another display of pristine hitting to ease past the fourth seed Barbora Krejčíková, who grew dizzy in the soaring Australian summer heat. The powerful ball-striking of Danielle Collins put paid to the prospects of Alizé Cornet, whose feat was just as impressive as any trophy as the Frenchwoman managed her best ever showing on her sixtieth consecutive appearance in the main draw of a Grand Slam. Finally Iga Świątek held her nerve to stretch past Kaia Kanepi in three sets, in a match which turned on the second-set tie-break.
The men’s side was tough sledding for the favourites, who eventually prevailed at the end of some enthralling and seesaw contests. After racing through the earlier rounds, Rafa Nadal was two sets up versus Denis Shapovalov when the increasingly combative Canadian fought back to level the match. With the Spaniard showing signs of fatigue, a spot in the semi-finals seemed there for the taking, but Nadal showed all of his grit and experience to come out ahead, leaving Shapovalov to lament the alleged time violations of his fastidious opponent after branding the umpire ‘corrupt’ during the course of the match.
Matteo Berrettini was also two sets up to Gaël Monfils when the rangy veteran mounted a comeback, while Daniil Medvedev took the opposite tack as he fell behind by two sets to Félix Auger-Aliassime, saving a match point before securing his own narrow five-set victory. On court after the match Medvedev poked fun at event organisers and the crowd, saying that he had gained strength from the question ‘What would Novak do?’ in reference to the mental strength and consistency of the habitual champion. Only Stefanos Tsitsipas had it relatively easy in the quarters, as he sailed past the 20-year-old Italian Jannik Sinner.
By contrast the semi-finals proved lopsided affairs. Ash Barty and Danielle Collins turned daunting contests against Madison Keys and Iga Świątek into two-set routs, as Keys fell short for a second time after reaching the semi-final of the tournament in 2015, while Świątek took succour from her best performance at a major outside of the French Open. Meanwhile Nadal and Medvedev brushed off the challenges of Berrettini and Tsitsipas.
It was only the second meeting between Nadal and Berrettini, who proved the first Italian man to reach the semis at Melbourne Park after earlier becoming the first male born in the nineties to reach the quarter-finals of all four majors, and at the end of the match the shirtless Spaniard cheered off his vanquished opponent. The clash between Medvedev and Tstitsipas was more tetchy, as the Russian berated the umpire following an obscenity warning, turning attentions instead to the apparent coaching of Apostolos Tsitsipas from up in the stands, while calling the umpire a ‘small cat’ for his failure to take action.
All eyes were on Ash Barty as the local hero reached the final of the 2022 Australian Open without losing a set, broken just once on serve while dropping a mere 21 games across six matches. In her semi-final against Madison Keys, the canny Aussie who once specialised in the doubles and took a cricketing sabbatical from the tour lost just ten points on service. She would face Danielle Collins, the tenacious American who had reached the semi-finals in Australia in 2019 and the quarter-finals of the French Open as the tour resumed following the worst days of the coronavirus pandemic. At 28 years old, the fiery Collins was marking her debut in a major final.
Once more dominant on serve, Barty raced through the first set in just 32 minutes only to find herself 1-5 down in the second set, as Collins got to grips with her blistering groundstrokes and began to force the favourite into a series of forehand errors. Loosening up, Barty worked her way back on the return and kept blasting down the serves as the usually reliable backhand of Collins deserted her. Four games in a row left the second set all-square, and it was Barty who pressed ahead in the tie-break to win the match 6-3, 7-6 (7-2), ending Australia’s long 44-year wait for a homegrown tennis champion.
At 25 years old Barty also becomes only the second active player with major titles on all three surfaces, placing her alongside the all-time great Serena Williams. The only other woman to capture her first three majors at Roland Garros, Wimbledon, and then at Melbourne Park was Barty’s idol and fellow Indigenous Australian Evonne Goolagong Cawley, who arrived on court to present Barty with the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup at the climax of an emotional trophy ceremony. Danielle Collins could also cherish two weeks of hard work, as her final appearance pushes her inside the top ten players in the world for the first time in her career.
The crowd soon had more to cheer out on Rod Laver Arena as the doubles pairing of Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis met Matthew Ebden and Max Purcell in an all-Aussie final. Kyrgios and Kokkinakis put on a show to win the men’s doubles title by a score of 7-5, 6-4, with the festive and sometimes rowdy atmosphere fitting recompense after the Australian wild card duo of Jaimee Fourlis and Jason Kubler had lost out 6-3, 6-4 to Kristina Mladenovic and Ivan Dodig in the mixed doubles. Then on Sunday as an appetiser to the main event, the women’s doubles final saw Barbora Krejčíková and Kateřina Siniaková triumph 6-7 (3-7), 6-4, 6-4 over Anna Danilina and Beatriz Haddad Maia.
Despite his standing as the newest member of the Grand Slam club, Daniil Medvedev entered the 2022 Australian Open final against the 20-time major winner Rafa Nadal as the favourite, widely viewed as the best hard court player in the world at least in the absence of Novak Djokovic. The traditional big three each have their tournaments, with Roger Federer an eight-time winner at Wimbledon, Djokovic a nine-time winner in Australia, and Nadal an astonishing 13-time winner at Roland Garros, with four wins on the hard court in New York but only the solitary victory in Melbourne heading into the men’s final.
History was at stake for Nadal, who was competing to surpass Djokovic and Federer by becoming the first man to claim an elusive 21st Grand Slam. But Medvedev had successfully thwarted Djokovic at Flushing Meadows back in September, and was hoping now to once more play the spoiler.
With his lanky frame Medvedev moved swiftly out of the starting blocks, winning five games in a row to take the first set in just 42 minutes. And in the second set Nadal failed to make the most of some hard-won openings, as a ripping backhand which put paid to a 40-shot rally then his crafty use of the drop shot gave him two breaks of service. At 5-3 the Spaniard was serving to tie the match, but the crucial game got off to the worst possible start for Nadal, who suffered a rare miss on an overhead smash before shanking a forehand.
Forced to stave off a couple of break points, the match was briefly interrupted when an intruder hopped down from the stands, unfurling a banner as he was smothered up and carted off by security. Nadal managed to wrangle a set point, but the depth of Medvedev’s groundstrokes prompted more woes as the Russian broke back for a second time to force the tie-break. Sublime shotmaking combined with some uncharacteristic errors, and there was confusion at 5-4 as Nadal strayed wide with a looping volley, before Medvedev raised his arms aloft to rile the partisan crowd who jeered as the Russian claimed a two-set advantage.
Though he had earned the upper hand, it was Medvedev who cut an agitated figure at the start of the third set, with both players managing to hold serve as Medvedev squandered a hat-trick of break point opportunities. Remarkably for a player with so much success at the Slams, Nadal had not won a match from two sets down since defeating Mikhail Youzhny in the fourth round of Wimbledon in 2007.
But the Spaniard was now mixing up the length of his shots and making more measured forays into the net, with the momentum shifting as Medvedev griped with the ballkids over their ball-handling practises. A fierce backhand down the line left Nadal serving for the set, and as he summoned more pace from his serve and found the lines with his groundstrokes, Nadal reeled off the points to cut the margin of deficit.
At the start of the fourth set Nadal strained to save break points on his serve, as the quality of an already stellar match somehow eked up another level. The two players traded breaks back and forth, with Nadal surging ahead for the second time in the set to take a 3-2 lead as Medvedev laboured the drop shot. Between games the enigmatically grouchy Russian engaged in deep discussion with the umpire, asking him to control the noise of the crowd, a request which would prove for nought as Nadal consolidated the break with only his second ace of the match, before another backhand down the line took the match into a decider.
Both players had now spent more than 21 hours out on court during the course of the tournament. Following a nip and tuck start to the set, it was Nadal who broke at 3-2 to send the crowd into raptures. The Spaniard was now dominating the rallies, with Medvedev’s big serve leaving him in with a shout, only for the momentum to shift as Medvedev began to show more patience from the back of the court, with only his serve to the advantage side and a big smash salvaging another game for Nadal where threats had been lurking.
Medvedev then hurtled through his own service game to leave Nadal serving for the match, but the Spaniard could not see it out as the Russian swiped through the court to leave victory in the balance. Yet Nadal broke straight back and with new balls landed his third ace of the match to bring up three points for the championship. Now five hours and 24 minutes into the match, a quick dart to the net and a short volley were followed by a wide grin and rippling fist pumps, as an exhausted Nadal began to celebrate a momentous 21st Grand Slam title.
