Good luck to anybody who entered a bracket competitors for the 2023 Australian Open.
Whereas the lads’s title favorite continues to be alive in Melbourne, that’s nearly the one predictable factor to occur in week one of many season’s first Grand Slam occasion. Perhaps it’s as a result of Novak Djokovic didn’t characteristic on Netflix.
There may be loads of atone for from the primary seven days on the Australian Open. Right here’s what you’ll want to know.
In Case You Missed It: Canadians wrestle in week one
Traditionally, the Australian Open has been one of many higher majors for Canadians and that was no totally different a 12 months in the past, when each Félix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov reached the quarter-finals and pushed the eventual finalists to 5 units. And with seven Canadians in the primary draw this 12 months, expectations have been excessive.
However the 2023 Australian Open didn’t go in line with plan for the Canadian contingent.
No Canadians reached the second week in Melbourne, the closest being Auger-Aliassime who reached spherical 4, solely to be upset by 71st-ranked Jiri Lehecka in 4 units. The sixth seed by no means appeared comfy in his first three matches, which embrace a comeback from two units to like down in spherical two.
By reaching the fourth spherical, Auger-Aliassime was the final sufferer of the “Netflix Curse.” All 10 gamers featured within the recently-released Netflix documentary sequence “Break Level” struggled in Melbourne, in the event that they performed in any respect.
Of the ten gamers featured within the first 5 episodes, Nick Kyrgios, Paula Badosa and Ajla Tomljanovic all withdrew earlier than the event. Matteo Berrettini misplaced in spherical one from match-point up, whereas Taylor Fritz, Thanasi Kokkinakis, and second seeds Casper Ruud and Ons Jabeur all misplaced in spherical two. Maria Sakkari was ousted within the third spherical leaving Auger-Aliassime because the final man standing.
Vasek Pospisil had a superb probability to finish his countryman’s run in spherical one when he took the opening set of the all-Canadian conflict, however in the end fell in a virtually four-hour four-setter to the Montrealer.
For the second 12 months in a row, Denis Shapovalov suffered a heart-breaking loss after developing simply brief in a comeback bid. He was overwhelmed in spherical three by tenth seed Hubert Hurkacz regardless of rallying from two units all the way down to pressure a fifth. He misplaced in the identical style to Rafael Nadal in 2022.
Caroline Garcia was a singular reason for frustration for the Canadians as she defeated each Katherine Sebov and Leylah Annie Fernandez within the first and second rounds respectively. For Sebov, it was a defeat in her Grand Slam essential draw debut after qualifying for her first main.
Bianca Andreescu suffered her personal heart-breaker in spherical two when she held match level within the second set, solely to lose in three units to Spanish qualifier Cristina Busca. Rebecca Marino misplaced in spherical one to Lin Zhu of China, who went on to achieve the fourth spherical.
Just one Canadian stays in Melbourne, that being Gabriela Dabrowski. She and companion Giuliana Olmos picked up a pair of wins of their first two matches and are by way of to the third spherical of the ladies’s doubles draw.
General, chaos reigned in Australia within the first week, leaving a comparatively vast open subject on the ladies’s aspect and Novak Djokovic’s path to a tenth Australian Open even clearer.
For the primary time within the Open Period, the highest two seeds in each males’s and girls’s singles failed to achieve the quarter-finals. Whereas Ruud and Jabeur fell sufferer to the Netflix curse (within the type of Jenson Brooksby and Marketa Vondrousova), the highest seeds Rafael Nadal and Iga Świątek crashed out early too.
Nadal’s exit may largely be chalked as much as a hip harm suffered in his second-round match towards Mackenzie McDonald, though the reigning champion appeared sluggish in his first-round match and within the lead-up to the harm in spherical two. Świątek was merely overpowered within the fourth spherical by Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina.
On the lads’s aspect, the one Prime 16 seeds remaining are No. 3 Stefanos Tsitsipas, No. 4 Novak Djokovic and No. 5 Andrey Rublev. For the ladies, solely No. 3 Jessica Pegula and No. 5 Aryna Sabalenka are nonetheless standing among the many high seeds, though three former main champions, Rybakina, Jelena Ostapenko and Victoria Azarenka, are all nonetheless alive.
One spotlight from week one was Andy Murray turning again the years in his first two matches. He contributed to the Netflix curse by taking out each Berrettini and Kokkinakis in five-set thrillers. He denied a Berrettini comeback in spherical one, beating the Italian in a fifth-set tiebreak after Berrettini had rallied from two-sets down.
His second spherical match is an early match of the 12 months and comeback of the 12 months candidate as Murray trailed Kokkinakis by two units and 5-2, solely to combat again and win 7-5 within the fifth set in 5 hours and 45 minutes, the longest match of the Scot’s storied profession. He ran out of fuel in spherical three towards Roberto Bautista Agut.
What to Watch: Can anybody deny Djokovic?
Heading into the 2023 Australian Open, Novak Djokovic was already the overwhelming favorite. However now that the draw has utterly imploded, the chances of him profitable Aussie Open No. 10 and tying Rafael Nadal with 22 majors are even larger.
He’ll play Andrey Rublev within the quarter-finals and can then meet the winner of the All-American battle of first-time main quarter-finalists between Tommy Paul and Ben Shelton within the semifinals.
On the highest half, Stefanos Tsitsipas is the favorite to achieve his second main closing. He performs Jiri Lehecka within the quarter-finals and would then meet both 18th-seed Karen Khachanov or Twenty ninth-seed Sebastian Korda within the semis.
Jessica Pegula will hope to not emulate the NFL crew her household owns, the Buffalo Payments, and keep away from crashing out early regardless of being the title favorite after Swiatek and Jabeur’s defeats left her because the highest-ranked participant remaining.
It gained’t be straightforward for the American, who meets two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka after which must undergo one other main winner, both reigning Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina or 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko, within the semis.
Aryna Sabalenka has carried her sturdy kind to begin the 12 months into Melbourne and appears primed to achieve a primary main closing. She has but to drop a set on the Australian Open and meets unseeded Donna Vekic within the quarter-finals. Both thirtieth seed Karolina Pliskova or Magda Linette can be ready within the semis.
Gabriella Dabrowski will face an unseeded crew in spherical three of the ladies’s doubles. With a win, she and Giuliana Olmos would play the tenth seeds within the quarter-finals and will face second seeds Pegula and Coco Gauff within the semis.
Below the Radar:
It was not simply the adults competing final week in Melbourne. Three younger Canadians have been competing within the junior competitions.
Solely Keegan Rice managed to win a match, advancing to the second spherical of the doubles. He misplaced in first-round match in singles. Naomi Xu and Ellie Daniels represented Canada within the ladies’ attracts, however misplaced in first spherical of each singles and doubles.
Away from Melbourne, 17-year-old Kayla Cross reached the doubles closing at an ITF W25 occasion in Boca Raton, the third doubles closing of her profession. She and companion Renata Zarazua upset the highest seeds on their technique to the ultimate, the place they misplaced to the fourth seeds in a third-set match tiebreak.
Benjamin Sigouin additionally reached a doubles closing final week, on the M15 occasion in Ithica, NY. He and Max Kiger have been the highest seeds, however misplaced in straight units within the closing to the second seeded pair.
Cadence Brace reached the quarter-finals of a W25 occasion in Guadeloupe.
This week on the ATP Challenger Tour, Vasek Pospisil returns to Quimper, France, the place he gained the title final 12 months.
You may comply with the Canadians in motion each week right here.
