Decade's Best: Australian Open 2010-19
...three titles (2010/15/17), two absences (2011/18), one doubles title (2010) and a baby-on-board "co-champion" (Olympia) run tell the tale of Serena's decade in Melbourne, where she's won seven singles crowns. All three of her titles this decade came with Williams not dropping a set, with the last (most recent?) seeing her become, at 35, the oldest women's slam champ and the all-time major winner (passing Steffi Graf with title #23) of the Open era.
=============================
2. Li Na, CHN
...while she won Roland Garros first, Li's legend was cemented in Melbourne, both with a racket in her hand -- as part of the first two-CHN women semis in '10, as the first Asian slam finalist in '11, as a two-time runner-up in '13 and then with her first AO title in '14 -- and without -- with her charming, stand-up routine post-match ceremony speeches that no one will every likely top, her memorable photobombed trophy photoshoot, her breaking the news of her '15 pregnancy before 15,000 fans on Laver after the women's final, and even her triumphant return in '19, which included her official Hall of Fame induction announcement, her Legends tennis debut and her role in handing over the Daphne Akhurst trophy to the first Asian #1 (Naomi Osaka) in an unofficial passing-the-torch moment. The Australian Open in the 2010's wouldn't have been nearly as fun without Li, the first Asian star of the "Slam of Asia/Pacific." Aside from Billie Jean King's continued presence at the U.S. Open, is there any woman more intrinsically connected to any of the four majors (since Wimbledon would never allow anyone, even Martina Navratilova, to supplant the AELTC itself as the "face" of the tournament) than Li is with the AO? There's Rod Laver, and then there's her. As a nod to the tournament's Asian connections, could a Li Na Arena someday be a possibility on the grounds? Hmmm.
=============================
3. Victoria Azarenka, BLR
...Vika's decade in Melbourne devolved into something far less in its latter years as she missed back-to-back AO's after having a baby and dealing with a lengthy custody battle. But in 2012-13 she was at the height of her powers in the sport, pulling off the decade's only successful AO singles title defense. Victoria-in-the-State-of-Victoria *should* have been a perfect "love match," but the Belarusian met constant resistance Down Under as she was criticized for her grunting, unfairly assailed for a '13 semifinal MTO "controversy" that fueled Aussie media attacks and (hardly inadvertently) led to blatant disrespect from local fans in what should have been Vika's best career moments. Years after her #1 years she's likely now more easily accepted as an underdog to be fully embraced due to her personal struggles, but she's been slow to show the form that might allow her to take advantage of it. Few players have more deserved another later-career run and "reclassification" within the AO landscape than Azarenka. Maybe she'll eventually get such a gift. Maybe.
=============================
4. Angelique Kerber, GER
...the picture of consistency in Melbourne this decade. Six of the final seven years saw Kerber reach the Round of 16 or better. The Australian Open kicked off her career year of '16 with her maiden slam run (after saving MP in the 1st Rd.), making her the first German slam champ since Steffi Graf in 1999, and even in her disappointing "year after" she reached the 4th Round there. Kerber rebounded from her "off" season a year later in Melbourne, being 2 MP in the semifinals (vs. Simona Halep) away from returning to the final.
=============================
5. Kim Clijsters, BEL
...she only played in Melbourne the first three years of the decade, but three quarters of the way into her comeback (after a two-year retirement) won the title in 2011 (her last major crown) to improve her record in slam finals to 4-0 after her initial 0-4 career start in such matches during her career. She returned a year later and reached the semifinals, getting there after badly rolling her ankle in the 4th Round vs. Li but still winning after saving four consecutive MP.
=============================
6. Caroline Wozniacki, DEN
...the Dane's AO decade was a mixed bag. She reached her third career slam SF there in 2011 at age 20 during her first stint at #1, but then only had one QF+ result in Melbourne the next six years. She then finally (after saving 2 MP early on) picked up her maiden slam title in 2018 to return to the #1 ranking after a tour-record six year absence.
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7. Naomi Osaka, JPN
...made her slam MD debut as an 18-year old qualifier in '16 and upset a seed (Elina Svitolina), reached her first slam Round of 16 in '18, and then a year later claimed her second of back-to-back majors (becoming the first to do that since Jennifer Capriati in 2001), becoming the first singles #1 to hail from an Asian nation. This could be the start of something really big.
=============================
8. Maria Sharapova, RUS
...she had maybe the best decade at the AO of any player who didn't win the title. A previous winner in 2008, Sharapova twice got within a win of winning a second (2012/2015, losing to Vika and Serena). After opening the decade with a 1st Round loss, she failed to reach the Round of 16 just once ('18 3rd Rd., after missing '17 due to suspension) and ended the decade with a turn-back-the-clock performance while upsetting defending champ Wozniacki in '19.
=============================
9. Ekaterina Makarova, RUS
...Makarova had a great run this decade (4r-QF-QF-4r-SF-4r-4r from 2011-17) that included wins over both Williams Sisters ('12 Serena, '14 Venus), her second of back-to-back slam semis (2015), as well as women's doubles finals with Elena Vesnina in '14 and '18 (a win in either would have made the Russians the only female duo with a Career SuperSlam - all four majors, the WTAF and Olympic Gold).
=============================
10. Aga Radwanska, POL
...Aga posted two semifinals, three quarterfinals and a Round of 16 result in the decade. She defeated two-time defending champ Azarenka in '14 to end her 18-match AO winning streak.
=============================
the second duo since 1994 -- Serena/Venus 2009-10 -- to successfully defend the AO crown). In 2013, they defeated Williams/Williams, Makarova/Vesnina and Barty/Dellacqua in back-to-back-to-back matches, then Black/Mirza, Peschke/Srebotnik and Makarova/Vesnina from the QF on a year later. Errani & Vinci had been the runners-up in 2012, making them the only duo to reach three straight AO finals since G.Fernandez/Zvereva from 1993-95.
=============================
2. Bethanie Mattek-Sands/Lucie Safarova, USA/CZE: due to injury and illness, Team Bucie only played the AO together twice during their four seasons of partnership. But they never lost in Melbourne, going 11-0 in 2015 and '17 en route to two titles. With Mattek's previous MX title in '12 with Horia Tecau, her wins with Safarova made her the first of three woman to win MD and MX at the Australian Open in the 2010's.
=============================
3. Martina Hingis, SUI: in the first stage of Hingis' career, she won three singles (three-peating from 1997-99 while reaching six straight finals) and four doubles titles (with three different partners) at the AO. After returning from her first retirement, she won a MX crown in '06. Back from her second retirement, Hingis claimed a MX win with Leander Paes in '15 and the doubles in '16 in her only Melbourne appearance with Sania Mirza by her side.
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4. Kristina Mladenovic, FRA: Kiki joined Mattek-Sands and Hingis as the only players this decade to win both MX and WD crowns, adding the doubles with Timea Babos in '18 to her MX title with Daniel Nestor in '14. She and Babos returned to the '19 final.
=============================
5. Svetlana Kuznetsova/Vera Zvonareva, RUS/RUS: they denied Errani/Vinci their first AO title in the '12 final, thereby becoming the first post-Soviet, all-Russian duo to win a slam WD title
=============================
HM- Serena Williams/Venus Williams, USA/USA: their 2010 win was their fourth AO crown (and defended their '09 title), and third straight slam win. They'd win their fourth major in a row at Roland Garros a few months later, giving them six titles in their last seven slam appearances going back to the '08 Wimbledon (a 37-1 stretch). They've only played the AO doubles once since, losing in the QF in 2013.
=============================
=============================
2. Yui Kamiji, JPN: it rare was for an AO WC final in the last half of the 2010's to be without Kamiji being front and center. She reached five finals each in singles and doubles from 2014-19, surging to #1 in the world while winning one singles title (2017) and four doubles crowns in a five-year span. She wrapped up the decade as the top foil of new #1 Diede de Groot, falling to the Dutch woman in back-to-back finals in 2018-19.
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3. Diede de Groot, NED: the 2018-19 singles champ, de Groot's '19 s/d sweep made her the reigning champ in 7 of the 8 wheelchair slam competitions, the best 12-month run in the WC majors since Vergeer's retirement before the '13 season. At just 22, de Groot may be the first player who'll legitimately challenge *some* of her mentor Vergeer's slam title marks.
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4. Jiske Griffioen, NED: was a force throughout the decade, first in the shadow of Vergeer (with whom she won six WD slams in the 2000's), then later as the inheritor of the sport's #1 position late in her career, winning back-to-back AO singles titles in 2015-16 (during her four-titles-in-seven-slams stretch -- along with a Paralympic Gold -- before her retirement in late '17) and reaching six doubles finals in six appearances from 2011-17 (winning twice).
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5. Aniek Van Koot, NED: another Dutch player who played with and in the shadow of countrywoman Vergeer, Van Koot claimed the first post-Vergeer slam crown in '13 in Melbourne. She won four doubles titles with three different partners in the decade.
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*JUNIORS*
[Singles/Doubles Sweeps]
2011: Belgium's An-Sophie Mestach
2012: Bannerette Taylor Townsend
2013: Croatia's Ana Konjuh
2014: Hordette Elizaveta Kulichkova
2018: Taiwan's Liang En-Shuo
[Future Women's #1]
2010 girls champ Karolina Pliskova became the WTA's #1-ranked player in 2017
[Firsts, Seconds & Thirds]
2015: Tereza Mihalikova (first SVK at AO)
2016: Vera Lapko (second BLR slam champ, after Azarenka)
2017: Marta Kostyuk (third UKR slam champ, after K.Bondarenko & Svitolina)
2018: Liang En-shuo (first TPE singles slam champ)
2019: Clara Tauson (second Dane to win a jr. slam, after Wozniacki)
*FROM GIRLS FINALIST TO ADULT CHAMPION*
[2010 Girls Doubles RU Timea Babos & Gaby Dabrowski]
In 2018, Babos won the women's doubles title while Dabrowski was crowned the mixed doubles champ
[2013 Girls Doubles RU Barbora Krejcikova]
In 2019, Krejcikova won the mixed doubles title
=============================
2013: in the QF, Sloane Stephens becomes the first U.S. player younger than Serena Williams to defeat her in a singles match
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2013-19: seven consecutive Australian Opens host a first-time slam semifinalist
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2014: Dominika Cibulkova is the first Slovakian to reach a slam singles final
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2016: Angelique Kerber becomes the first slam singles champion to win the title after having been down MP in the 1st Round (vs. Misaki Doi)
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2018: 15-year old Marta Kostyuk is the first player born in 2002 to play in a slam MD. She reaches the 3rd Round, the youngest to do so at a slam since 1997.
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2018: Caroline Wozniacki is the first slam singles champ from Denmark
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2019: the final set 10-point tie-break rule is instituted, ending the era of "battle-to-the-death," final set marathons in the scorching Aussie heat
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2019: Japan's Naomi Osaka wins the title and becomes the first singles #1 from Asia
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2013: at 42, Kimiko Date-Krumm becomes the oldest woman to record a MD singles win in AO history, defeating Nadia Petrova in the 1st Round
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2016: Kristyna Pliskova sets the WTA ace record with 31 vs. Monica Puig in a 2nd Round match, but the Czech loses despite having held five MP
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2016: twelve seeded women lose in the 1st Round, the most since the introduction of 32-seed slam main draws at the 2001 Wimbledon
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2017: at 36, Venus Williams becomes the oldest slam AO singles finalist, falling to sister Serena in their nineth career slam singles final (the second at the AO, fourteen years after the first)
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2017: at 35, Serena Williams becomes the oldest slam singles champion
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2019: at 37, Serena Williams becomes the oldest woman to defeat a world #1, upending Simona Halep in the Round of 16
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2019: the Garbine Muguruza/Johanna Konta 2nd Round match is the latest starting (12:30 am) and ending (3:12 am) women's match in tournament history
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2016/2019: Zhang Shuai, after having been 0-14 in slam MD and with 13 failed attemps to qualify for a major in her career, stages a retirement-averting surprise run to the QF as qualifier, defeating #2 Simona Halep in the 1st Round for her first career slam win. Three years later she wins her maiden career slam title, taking the AO WD crown with best friend Samantha Stosur.
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2017: Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, 34, reaches her second career slam semifinal, eighteen years after her first at the 1999 Wimbledon
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2019: Aussie Samantha Stosur's women's doubles title run is her first of any kind on Australian soil since winning at a challenger level event in 2002
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=============================
*SURVIVOR CHAMPIONS*
[2010]
Serena Williams trailed Victoria Azarenka 6-4/4-0 in the quarterfinals
[2013]
Victoria Azarenka trailed Jamie Hampton by a 3rd set break in the 3rd Round
[2014]
Li Na saved a MP vs. Lucie Safarova in the 3rd Round
[2016]
Angelique Kerber saved a MP vs. Misaki Doi in the 1st Round
[2018]
Caroline Wozniacki saved 2 MP vs. Jana Fett in the 2nd Round
[2018]
Girls champ Liang En-shuo saved a MP in the 1st Round (vs. Olivia Gadecki) and two more in the SF (vs. Elisabetta Cocciaretto)
[2019]
Naomi Osaka trailed HsieH Su-wei 7-5/4-1 in the 3rd Round
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2011: Daniela di Toro reaches the wheelchair singles and doubles final
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2013: Jarmila Gajdosova wins the mixed doubles title, Ash Barty & Casey Dellacqua are doubles runners-up
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2014: Jarmila Gajdosova reaches the mixed doubles semifinals, Casey Dellacqua reaches the singles Round of 16
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2016: Dasha Gavrilova reaches the singles Round of 16
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2017: Samantha Stosur reaches the mixed doubles semifinals, Dasha Gavrilova reaches the singles Round of 16
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2017-18: "The Dasha Show"
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2018-19: "The Barty Party"
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2019: Ash Barty is the first Aussie singles quarterfinalist since 2009, Samantha Stosur wins the women's doubles title, Astra Sharma reaches the mixed doubles final
=============================
...in a slam record 4:44, after trailing 4-2 in the 3rd, Schiavone saves six MP in a 3:00 set, winning on her third MP.
2012 4th Rd. - Kim Clijsters def. Li Na 4-6/7-6(6)/6-4
...Li leads 6-4/3-1, then 5-1 in the 2nd set TB. Down quadruple MP at 6-2, Clijsters, who badly rolled her ankle in the middle of the set, claws her way back. At 6-5, Li directs a Clijsters drop shot down the line rather than into the open court, leading to a lob winner from the Belgian. Clijsters wins six straight points to force a 3rd set, then wins it 6-4.
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2014 3rd Rd. - Li Na def. Lucie Safarova 1-6/7-6(2)/6-3
...Li saves a MP down 6-1/6-5, which is upheld on a replay challenge from Safarova. Li wins the match, and goes on to win her first AO crown.
=============================
2016 1st Rd. - Angelique Kerber def. Misaki Doi 6-7(4)/7-6(6)/6-3
...less than a year after defeating Doi love & 1, Kerber drops the 1st set after having led 4-0. Up 3-1 and 5-3 in the 2nd, the German is forced to a TB, where Doi (firing big forehand shots all day long) holds a MP. Kerber wins the TB, ups her aggression in the 3rd, saved a BP to hold for 4-2 and goes on to win the match, win the title and her career year, finishing at #1.
=============================
2017 1st Rd. - Lucie Safarova def. Yanina Wickmayer 3-6/7-6(7)/6-1
...serving to stay in the match while down 6-3/6-5, Safarova fell behind love/40, and it seemed just a matter of time before the two would be shaking hands. But, three years after failing to convert MP vs. eventual champ Li, Safarova wasn't ready to go. Here's how things went:
Video of Lucie Safarova saving nine MPs against Yanina Wickmayer.https://t.co/tj6SPEMyno
— Steven Mills (@StevenMtennis) January 17, 2017
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2018 2nd Rd. - Caroline Wozniacki def. Jana Fett 3-6/6-2/7-5
...from the start Fett (in just her second career slam MD match) controlled the flow and direction of the match, dictating play with her power, and serving big while Wozniacki was seemingly forgetting about her new, more forward, aggressive style of play. The frustrated Dane's fifth double-fault of the match broke her own serve and she was down 5-1 in the 3rd. Fett took a 40/15 lead on serve and held double match point. And then she finally started to show her nerves. Fett continued to go for big first serves, but started missing them. Her deep groundstrokes started landing shorter in the court, and Wozniacki began to take advantage, allowing her experience advantage to take hold. With the Croat starting to resemble the big stage newcomer she was, Wozniacki knew what she needed to do: hit the ball deep in the court to prevent Fett's power from bailing her out of a rally, and try to never fire a ball outside the lines. Refusing to miss, Wozniacki saw the match come right back to her, and served out the win to produce a result that turned out to be THE biggest of the entire women's competition, as she'd go on to scale the final remaining wall in her career by claiming her maiden slam title.
=============================
2018 3rd Rd. - Simona Halep def. Lauren Davis 4-6/6-2/15-13
...in 3:44, Halep wins her Warrior masterpiece against a game Davis in a battle that, quite literally, was decided by a toenail. In the 2:22 3rd set, Halep faced triple MP at love/40, escaping with a combination of her own guile and Davis' toenail coming off at just about the WORST MOMENT EVER. On her fourth attempt to serve out the match, Halep finally prevailed. Afterward, she said, "I'm almost dead."
=============================
2018 SF - Simona Halep def. Angelque Kerber 6-3/4-6/9-7
...two warriors, brought to their knees by the never-say-die competitiveness of the other. Halep served at 5-3 in the 3rd set, but Kerber saved two MP. Then it was Simona's turn, saving two Kerber MP. Nearly half an hour after she'd had a chance to finish off the match the first time around, Halep won on her fourth MP of the day.
Incredible @Simona_Halep ??#AusOpen pic.twitter.com/Bs9ykQh9bE
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 25, 2018
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2019 QF - Karolina Pliskova def. Serena Williams 6-4/4-6/7-5
...with Williams serving at 5-1 and holding a MP it all seemed a fait accompli. But, first, a foot fault was called on Williams. Then, on the same point, she turned her ankle making a direction change behind the baseline. Visibly hampered, she never won another game, as Pliskova played the moment perfectly, saving three more MP at 5-4 and recapturing her early-match dominance on serve as she swept the final six games in the match to complete perhaps the craziest, most unexpected comeback, well, maybe ever.
=============================
2012: Vika's white shorts foreshadow victory
2013: After days of unbecoming media-fueled attacks against her for a late, anxiety-related medical timeout vs. Sloane Stephens in the semifnals, defending champion Victoria Azarenka is met with whistles, cat calls and anti-Vika signs (one labeled her "Cheaterenka") during the final.
2013: Li Na falls and hits her head in the final, but still manages to get the crowd to laugh
2014: The Genie Army is formed by smitten Aussie fans of Canadian Genie Bouchard
=============================
2014: Li Na's classic acceptance speech
2015: A "Twirlgate" controversy erupts as post-match interviews feature female players being queried about their outfits and asked to "twirl for us."
2016:
2016: Maria Sharapova tests positive for the recently banned drug meldonium, resulting in a two-year suspension. The former AO champion ultimately serves fifteen months and returns in the spring of 2017.
=============================
2017: Serena Williams becomes the first known slam singles champion to win a title while pregnant
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Here are the original 152 nominations, in descending order of category "importance," along with the five (in blue) players who are newly qualified as of the end of this AO. One player (in orange) was promoted to a new highest recognition category for 2010-19, as well.
The first cuts (hey, it has to happen sometime -- though this one is rather gentle, with easy choices) are listed after that...
*GRAND SLAM SINGLES CHAMPION* (17)
Victoria Azarenka
Marion Bartoli
Kim Clijsters
Simona Halep
Angelique Kerber
Petra Kvitova
Li Na
Garbine Muguruza
Naomi Osaka
Alona Ostapenko
Flavia Pennetta
Francesca Schiavone
Maria Sharapova
Sloane Stephens
Samantha Stosur
Serena Williams
Caroline Wozniacki
*GRAND SLAM SINGLES RUNNER-UP* (12)
Genie Bouchard
Dominika Cibulkova
Sara Errani
Justine Henin
Madison Keys
Sabine Lisicki
Karolina Pliskova
Aga Radwanska
Lucie Safarova
Roberta Vinci
Venus Williams
Vera Zvonareva
*GRAND SLAM SINGLES SEMIFINALIST* (20)
Timea Bacsinszky
Kiki Bertens
Danielle Collins
Elena Dementieva
Kirsten Flipkens
Julia Goerges
Ana Ivanovic
Jelena Jankovic
Johanna Konta
Mirjana Lucic-Baroni
Ekaterina Makarova
Elise Mertens
Peng Shuai
Andrea Petkovic
Tsvetana Pironkova
Magdalena Rybarikova
Anastasija Sevastova
CoCo Vandeweghe
Elena Vesnina
Zheng Jie
*GRAND SLAM SINGLES QUARTERFINALIST* (23)
Ash Barty
Belinda Bencic
Caroline Garcia
Camila Giorgi
Daniela Hantuchova
Kaia Kanepi
Dasha Kasatkina
Maria Kirilenko
Ana Konjuh
Svetlana Kuznetsova
Kristina Mladenovic
Tamira Paszek
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
Nadia Petrova
Yulia Putintseva
Shelby Rogers
Yaroslava Shvedova
Barbora Strycova
Carla Suarez-Navarro
Elina Svitolina
Lesia Tsurenko
Alison Van Uytvanck
Zhang Shuai
*YEAR-END TOP 10* (0)
--
*EIGHT-OR-MORE WTA SINGLES TITLES - 2010-19* (0)
--
*DOUBLES/MIXED SLAM CHAMPION* (27)
Timea Babos
Iveta Benesova
Cara Black
Latisha Chan
Gaby Dabrowski
Casey Dellacqua
Gisela Dulko
Jarmila Gajdosova
Anna-Lena Groenefeld
Martina Hingis
Hsieh Su-wei
Liezel Huber
Vania King
Barbora Krejcikova
Bethanie Mattek-Sands
Sania Mirza
Kveta Peschke
Andrea S.-Hlavackova
Lucie Hradecka
Nicole Melichar
Melanie Oudin
Lisa Raymond
Laura Siegemund
Katerina Siniakova
Abigail Spears
Katarina Srebotnik
Heather Watson
*YEAR-END DOUBLES TOP 10* (3)
Nuria Llagostera-Vives
Demi Schuurs
Rennae Stubbs
*OLYMPIC SINGLES QF-OR-BETTER* (1)
Monica Puig
*OLYMPIC DOUBLES/MIXED MEDALIST* (1)
Laura Robson
*SLAM DOUBLES/MIXED SEMIFINAL* (31)
Shuko Aoyama
Raquel Atawo
Jen Brady
Harriet Dart
Kimiko Date
Vera Dushevina
Marina Erakovic
Margarita Gasparyan
Eri Hozumi
Klaudia Jans-Ignacik
Miyu Kato
Andreja Klepac
Michaella Krajicek
Varvara Lepchenko
Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez
Christina McHale
Anabel Medina-Garrigues
Monica Niculescu
Makota Ninomiya
Alison Riske
Anastasia Rodionova
Alicja Rosolska
Chanelle Scheepers
Astra Sharma
Tamarine Tanasugarn
Taylor Townsend
Marketa Vondrousova
Galina Voskoboeva
Xu Yifan
Yang Zhaoxuan
Zheng Saisai
*OLYMPIC DOUBLES/MIXED QUARTERFINAL* (4)
Irina-Camelia Begu
Chan Hao-ching
Chuang Chia-jung
Teliana Pereira
*WHEELCHAIR SINGLES SLAM/MASTERS YEC/PARALYMPIC FINALS* (12)
Marjolein Buis
Diede de Groot
Daniela Di Toro
Sabine Ellerbrock
Florence Gravellier
Jiske Griffioen
Korie Homan
Yui Kamiji
Aniek Van Koot
Esther Vergeer
Sharon Walraven
Jordanne Whiley
*WHEELCHAIR DOUBLES SLAM/MASTERS YEC/PARALYMPIC TITLE* (1)
Lucy Shuker
*ASIAN GAMES FINALS* (5)
Akgul Amanmuradova
Chan Chin-wei
Luksika Kumkhum
Aldila Sutjiadi
Wang Qiang
Here are the first 21 cuts, with each player placed under their highest-level category. It leaves 136 players currently on the Top 25 Players of the Decade nomination list.
*DOUBLES/MIXED SLAM CHAMPION*
Jarmila Gajdosova
Melanie Oudin
*YEAR-END DOUBLES TOP 10*
Nuria Llagostera-Vives
*OLYMPIC DOUBLES/MIXED MEDALIST*
Laura Robson
*SLAM DOUBLES/MIXED SEMIFINAL*
Vera Dushevina
Marina Erakovic
Klaudia Jans-Ignacik
Michaella Krajicek
Anabel Medina-Garrigues
Chanelle Scheepers
Tamarine Tanasugarn
*OLYMPIC DOUBLES/MIXED QUARTERFINAL*
Irina-Camelia Begu
Chuang Chia-jung
Teliana Pereira
*WHEELCHAIR SINGLES SLAM/MASTERS YEC/PARALYMPIC FINALS*
Daniela Di Toro
Florence Gravellier
Korie Homan
Sharon Walraven
*ASIAN GAMES FINALS*
Akgul Amanmuradova
Chan Chin-wei
Aldila Sutjiadi
Wild card Justine Henin reaches the women's final in her first slam since ending her 20-month retirement, losing to Serena in their first and only meeting in a slam championship match. It was their last of fourteen career match-ups (SW 8-6).
===============================================
Two Chinese women -- Li Na and Zheng Jie -- reach the semis of a major for the first (and only... so far) time
All four of the women's semifinalists survived close calls: S.Williams rallied from 6-4/4-0 down vs. Victoria Azarenka in the QF, Henin trailed Alisa Kleybanova 6-3/3-1 in the 3rd Round, Li saved two MP vs. Agnes Szavay in the 2nd Round and was behind 6-2/5-3 against Venus Williams in the QF, and Zheng began her 1st Rounder vs. Peng Shuai by dropping the 1st set at love
===============================================
Nadia Petrova upsets two reigning slam champions -- Kim Clijsters (US) and Svetlana Kuznetova (RG) -- only to lose in the QF to Henin
===============================================
Maria Kirilenko upsets Maria Sharapova in the 1st Round in a 3:22 battle. Sharapova is the First Seed Out, as it's her worst slam loss since the 2003 Roland Garros.
===============================================
With Esther Vergeer out, her Dutch countrywoman Korie Homan wins the women's wheelchair singles crown, the only slam she'd win in her career. She retired from the sport later that year due to the aftereffects of a 2009 fall in which she tore wrist ligaments, for which surgery was not an option.
===============================================
Henin turns down an offer to sample Vegemite during a visit to the ESPN set on Australia Day, earning yet another Gold Star in this Backspinner's personal highlight book
===============================================
Barbora Strycova (then still married and going by Zahlavova-Strycova) and Regina Kulikova play a 1st Round match that lasts 4:18, the longest women's match in AO history. It's surpassed a year later in Melbourne, when Svetlana Kuznetsova and Francesca Schiavone engage in a 4:44 marathon in the 4th Round to set the all-time slam mark.
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Karolina Pliskova defeats Laura Robson in the girls singles final. Robson had defeated the Czech's twin sister Kristyna in the semis.
Timea Babos & Gaby Dabrowski lose the girls doubles final to Jana Cepelova & Chantal Skamlova. Eight years later, Babos wins the 2018 AO women's doubles with Kristina Mladenovic, while Dabrowski picks up the Mixed title with Mate Pavic, defeating Babos & Rohan Bopanna in the final.
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* - "It sucks." -- Kim Clijsters, after her 6-0/6-1 3rd Round loss (in the worst of her career, she had a 5/26 winner/UE ratio) to Petrova
* - "Well, like I said so many times before. If I would have gotten involved in what people said I would have never left the ghetto." - Venus Williams
* - "It was super cool. Prince William was really dapper and suave. You know, he was just basically, 'shazam!' ... "I told him that I might like his little brother better because he's the little brother, and he laughed and said he might like Venus better because she's older." -- Serena Williams, about meeting the visiting Prince William at Melbourne Park
* - "As long as I'm playing great, I'm not putting a number on it yet." -- Venus Williams, 29, when asked about possibly retiring from tennis. Nine years later, she's now in her third decade of participation at the AO.
Some things never change.
China's Li Na is the first grand slam singles final from Asia, reaching her maiden championship match after staging a comeback from 6-3/4-2 down vs. Caroline Wozniacki in the semifinals. She became the first Asian major winner at Roland Garros later that spring, and finally won the AO title in 2014 in her third Melbourne final appearance. Li recently topped the first ever fan balloting for the 2019 Hall of Fame class.
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A year after winning her fifth AO title, Serena Williams missed the '11 tournament after being out since the previous June after stepping on shards of glass in that infamous German nightclub incident
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The 2011 Australian Open proved to be the final major for former #1's Justine Henin and Dinara Safina. The Belgian, who'd injured her elbow at Wimbledon in '10 and was never able to adequately recover, lost in the 3rd Round to Svetlana Kuznetsova; while the Russian lost 6-0/6-0 to Clijsters in the 1st Round. Henin retired on January 26, and entered the Tennis Hall of Fame in 2016. Safina played deeper into the '11 season, then disappeared from the WTA tour for good, though her retirement didn't become "official" until 2014.
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Wheelchair legend Esther Vergeer wins her seventeenth career singles major, and eighth AO crown. She also claimed the doubles. Vergeer's 6-0/6-0 win in the final over Aussie Daniela di Toro extended her singles winning streak to a mindboggling 404 matches. It would eventually reach 470.
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Belgian An-Sophie Mestach sweeps the girls singles and doubles titles, defeating Puerto Rico's Monica Puig in the final. Mestach became the junior #1 with the result.
The two finalists' semifinal opponents would go on to have better pro careers. Bouchard reached the Top 5 and played in two slam finals (including the AO) in 2014, while Caroline Garcia would reach the Top 10 in 2017. Puig's career highlight has been her remarkable Gold medal run at the 2016 Olympics, a performance that very well may be *the* best of the decade. Mestach would reach only #98 on the WTA tour, winning zero titles before retiring in September '18. She played just one slam MD singles match (AO '15) in her career.
Mestach claimed the doubles with the Netherlands' Demi Schuurs, who reached the doubles Top 10 in 2018. Mestach never rose above #64, winning two WTA doubles titles.
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Francesca Schiavone defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova in the 4th Round, winning a 16-14 3rd set in a match that set the Open era women's slam record by lasting 4:44. In the three-hour final set, Schiavone saved six MP before finally winning on a third of her own. In the end, the Italian was suffering from a groin injury, while the Russian was bedeviled by blisters.
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This happened when Aga Radwanska played Kimiko Date-Krumm in the 1st Round, giving birth to a gif that will outlast us all.
* - Li Na cements her quotable legacy with tales of calling out her husband Jiang Shan (later "Dennis," as in tennis) for him thinking that tennis is "easy" and snoring too much, saying her mom doesn't come watch her matches because "she has her own life," and noting that she keeps her focus by thinking about the prize money she can win
* - Caroline Wozniacki, having fun during a press conference, provides both the answers and questions, and weaves a tale (later revealed to be quite tall) about a kangaroo scratching her leg. (Sparking, by the way, Backspin's "Caro's roo" metaphor about her missing slam title... until 2018, anyway.)
Sometimes it just works out that way.
Two years earlier in Melbourne, she'd lost a 6-4/4-0 lead in the QF vs. Serena Williams, twice failing to serve out the match. Williams then went on to win the title the year.
Azarenka ascended to the #1 ranking in the world for the first time at the conclusion of the tournament.
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Four years after she won the AO title, Maria Sharapova's appearance in the final is her second in a major since her late 2008 shoulder surgery. She'd become the first with such an injury to win a slam crown later that season at Roland Garros.
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The 2012 AO was Kim Clijsters' final appearance in the event, as she eventually retired following that season's U.S. Open after seeing a string of injuries hamper her play or keep her out of action. The maladies included an injured ankle incurred while dancing at a wedding in the spring of '11, costing cost her most of the clay season, then the worsening of the injury forced her to miss Wimbledon. She decided to end her season four months early soon after and missed the U.S. Open, where she'd won the previous two titles. She had hip spasms in Brisbane in early 2012 and retired from a match, then badly rolled her ankle in the AO 4th Round vs. Li Na. She rallied to win that match (saving 4 con. MP from 6-2 down in the 2nd set TB), then beat Caroline Wozniacki in the QF en route to the semis, where she lost to Azarenka.
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Petra Kvitova's semifinal result was her (so far) best career result in Melbourne, coming six months after her maiden slam title run at Wimbledon in 2011. There was even a SuperPetra sighting Down Under, as the Czech trailed Vera Dushevina 0-2, love/30 in the 1st Round, then she reeled off sixteen straight points, 19-of-20 and 24-of-27 to win the 1st set and go on to claim the final twelve games of the match.
Never having reached #1 (yet) in her career, the Czech had a shot in the weeks before the '12 Australian Open. Needing to win in Sydney in Week 2 (an event she later won in '15 and '19), she blew a 6-1/3-1 lead in the semis vs. Li and lost.
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In her first appearance in the AO since her title run in 2010, Serena Williams lost to Ekaterina Makarova in the Round of 16, her first defeat in Melbourne since 2008. The 6-2/6-3 scoreline tied her career record for fewest games won in a slam match. Until falling to the Russian, Williams has won fourteen straight AO matches, and was 25-1 back to 2003.
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Bethanie Mattek-Sands won the Mixed Doubles with Horia Tecau, claiming her first career slam title. As 2019 began, BMS had won a total of eight slam titles (5wd/3mx). She's a Wimbledon MX title away from a Career Golden MX slam, having won in the Olympics with Jack Sock in '16, as well as a Wimbledon WD title from a Career WD Slam, as well.
Svetlana Kuznetsova & Vera Zvonareva won the women's doubles, becoming the first all-Russian duo to win such a title in a major. (Larisa Savchenko & Natasha Zvereva won two slams in 1989 and '91 while representing the USSR.)
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Back after a one year absence, Dutch wheelchair legend Esther Vergeer won her 20th career slam singles and 20th career slam doubles crowns, defeating countrywoman Aniek Van Koot 6-0/6-0 in the singles final. It'd be Vergeer's final AO, as she'd retired before the '13 season after winning her final slam crowns at Roland Garros (s/d) in her last major, then sweeping the Paralympics Golds in London that summer. With seven Golds (4s/3d) and a Silver (wd) in her career, she's the most decorated Paralympic tennis athlete ever.
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15-year old Taylor Townsend sweeps the girls singles and doubles crowns, defeating Yulia Putintseva (then-RUS) in the final. She became (and still is) just the second U.S. girl to claim the AO crown (1989-Kim Kessaris), and the first Bannerette to sweep a slam's junior titles since 1992 (Lindsay Davenport at the U.S. Open). She additionally would become the first U.S. girl to finish as the girls #1 since 1982 (Gretchen Rush), and went on to win three of the season's girls doubles slam titles in 2012.
Genie Bouchard reached her second straight girls semifinal. Two years later, she'd reach the women's final.
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Caroline Wozniacki was the #1 women's seed at the 2012 AO, the sixth straight seed at which she sat atop the draw. It was the longest streak for a woman since Martina Hingis was the top seed at eleven straight between 1998-2001. Serena Williams would surpass both streaks from 2013-16, with fifteen consecutive #1 seeds.
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Three years after her dream comeback QF run in Melbourne, Aussie Jelena Dokic played her final career slam singles match at the '12 AO, losing in the 2nd Round to Marion Bartoli under the lights on Laver on Night 4. She'd play just seven more singles matches in her career that season, winning only one (vs. Mladenovic in Kuala Lumpur). Her final pro match came in Melbourne in 2014 in a doubles match with Storm Sanders, a 1st Round loss to Rybarikova/Voegele.
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* - "The whole country probably hates me right now." - Sorana Cirstea, after defeating #6-seeded Aussie Samantha Stosur in the 1st Round
* - "THIS is the dream." - Petra Kvitova, when asked if she dreamed of tennis accomplishments as a kid, after recovering from a 2-0, 30/15 3rd set deficit vs. Carla Suarez-Navarro in the 2nd Round
* - "I gave it some milk, and it just spit it all over me. I was like, is this the thank you I get for just being nice and petting the kangaroo? I got milk all over myself. I guess I deserved that for the story last year." - Caroline Wozniacki, on her latest zoo encounter with a kangaroo, one year after having spun a tall tale during the '11 AO about being scratched by a 'roo, a story that most thought was a true one at the time
* - "I'm 24 years old, almost 25. I love this sport as much as I loved it, you know, when I was at that age (17, when she won Wimbledon). I've also been through a lot of tough times. I've also said the success that I can achieve, the fact that I got myself back to being Top 5 in the world, playing tennis again, playing at a high level, competing at this level is pretty remarkable from where I was on a surgery table, not knowing if I'd ever be able to hit a serve again." - Maria Sharapova
* - [Commentating a match featuring Italian Sara Errani] "She's so busy on the return of serve my calves are getting sore just watching her." - Martina Navratilova
* - [When asked if Errani plays with the same zest as countrywoman Francesca Schiavone] "She plays with the same kind of passion. I think it's something in the pasta."
* - "I think it's just too loud. I don't think it's very necessary to scream that loud. So if they (the WTA) want to do something, why not?" - Aga Radwanska, when asked about rules being instituted against players grunting during points
* - [On Sharapova's on-court noise] "About Maria, I mean, what can I say? For sure that is pretty annoying and just too loud."
* - "Isn't she back in Poland already?" - Maria Sharapova, when told of Radwanska's comments. Sharapova reached the final, while Radwanska had lost in the quarterfinals.
* - [On Caroline Wozniacki] "Today you just can't let yourself get pushed back. She has to try to move in, step forward, otherwise there is always going to be somebody coming on top of her at a grand slam. She's a great player. I wish I would see her come in a little bit more." - Martina Hingis
* - "We won the match like, twice!" - an angry Elena Vesnina, after she and partner Sania Mirza finally defeated Liezel Huber/Lisa Raymond in the QF on their 8th MP. They *thought* they'd won on their 7th MP on a double bounce that wasn't called, the umpire didn't see and that Huber refused to admit had happened. The whole thing set off an on-court argument involving Mirza and (especially) Vesnina and Huber. Raymond, who was brought to tears by it all, later apologized to Mirza & Vesnina for Huber's actions and tweeted congratulations. Vesnina tweeted back, "Thank you Lisa. It was great match and u are better player and person on and off the court, then your partner!!!” Vesnina and Huber would get involved in another incident later in the season at Wimbledon.
* - "It's a dream come true. I have been dreaming and working so hard to win the grand slam, and being #1 is a pretty good bonus. Just the perfect ending and the perfect position to be in." - Victoria Azarenka
At the height of her powers, Azarenka reels off victories in 26 straight matches dating back to the 2012, and doesn't lose her first on-court match in '13 (she had two walkovers) until May. By the end of the season she sports a 26-2 record in the hard court slams of 2012-13, reaching the finals of all four, defeating future Hall of Famers Li and Sharapova for titles, and taking Serena Williams to three sets twice (serving for the match vs. Serena in the '12 US final).
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Li Na's appearance in the final is the third of her slam career, and her second in three years in Melbourne. She would return to the final a year later, finally winning the title in her last appearance at the AO.
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The tournament opened with each member of the triumvirate of talent at the top of the womens' game -- Azarena, S.Williams and Sharapova -- with a shot at the #1 ranking. Azarenka had assumed the top spot after winning the AO in '12, and retained it for all but four weeks (Sharapova) until February 18, 2013. At that point Williams replaced her at #1, and held onto the position for 186 straight weeks until she was moved aside by Angelique Kerber in September 2016.
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Sloane Stephens has her intitial breakout slam moment, reaching the semifinals after upsetting S.Williams in the QF. She's the first U.S. woman younger than Serena to ever defeat her.
In the semis, Stephens is dominated by Azarenka, though the match is best remembered for the Belarusian's late-match anxiety attack and much-debated double-MTO. Stephens wouldn't reach her second career slam SF until she won the U.S. Open in 2017.
Maria Sharapova opens singles play with back-to-back double-bagel victories, the best start by a woman in the AO since 1985 (Wendy Turnbull). She lost just five games through the first four rounds (a record), and nine through the QF (the previous record had been 20). She was defeated in the semis by Li.
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Canada's Rebecca Marino, in her first slam back after a late 2012 absence while dealing with "mental/physical fatigue," suffers a 1st Round loss to Peng Shuai. She retires from tennis in February due to what is later revealed to be issues with depression. She didn't play again until October 2017, and went on to win five ITF singles titles in 2018. Her appearance in qualifying at this year's AO was her first in any slam since her MD loss to Peng six years earlier.
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Sara Errani & Roberta Vinci win the women's doubles, giving the Italians three-quarters of a Career Doubles Slam. The duo completed their mission at the 2014 Wimbledon, having won all four slams over a 26-month stretch, going from zero to five career major titles during the span.
They defeated the Williams Sisters in the QF (both Sisters served for the match in the 2nd, and they led 3-0 in the 3rd), and wild cards Ash Barty (at age 16) & Casey Dellacqua in the final.
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Jarmila Gajdosova wins the Mixed Doubles with Matthew Ebden, coming the first Aussie woman to win the title since Samantha Stosur (w/ Scott Draper) in 2005. It'd be the only slam title of Gajdosova's career.
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With Esther Vergeer retired, Aniek Van Koot wins her maiden Wheelchair Singles slam title, topping Sabine Ellerbrock in the final. She claims the doubles with fellow Dutch player Jiske Griffioen. The pair would go on to win a natural Doubles Grand Slam in '13, sweeping all four titles to become the first WC duo that didn't include Vergeer (who did it in '09 and '11 with Korie Homan and Sharon Walraven, respectively) to accomplish the feat.
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Croat Ana Konjuh defeats Katerina Siniakova to win the girls singles title. Rising to #1, she'd later win the U.S. Open junior crown, as well. In Melbourne, Konjuh also picks up the doubles title with Canada's Carol Zhao.
The girls singles quarterfinal field included Elise Mertens ('18 women's SF), Barbora Krejcikova (WD co-#1 w/ Siniakova in '18, winning RG and Wimbledon) and Alona Ostapenko ('17 RG champ).
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At 42, Kimiko Date-Krumm becomes the oldest woman to record a MD singles win in AO history, defeating Nadia Petrova 6-2/6-0. She reaches the 3rd Round in singles, and in doubles (w/ Aranta Parra-Santonja) upsets the #3-seeded Czech duo of Hlavackova/Hradecka.
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Azarenka joined the list of AO champs who've won the title after surviving a close call early in the tournament. In the 3rd Round, the talented but star-crossed Jamie Hampton, treated for a back injury during the match, led the eventual champ by a break advantage at 2-1 in the 3rd. But while dealing with the pain of her injury, Hampton dropped serve a game later, then fell behind 4-2 and couldn't get the leveling break vs. Azarenka despite holding triple BP at love/40. Azarenka swept the final five games of the match.
Hampton reached three slam 3rd Rounds (3r-4r-1r-3r) in 2013, but due to injuries hasn't played a slam match since. In 2014, a hip injury led to six surgeries, and she hasn't returned to the tour. Of note, Hampton still lists herself as, simply, "tennis player" on her Twitter profile.
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Another player whose career was bedeviled by injury, Brit Laura Robson, had one of her best career moments in Melbourne in 2013.
Facing off with Petra Kvitova in a night match that went past midnight, the Australia-born Robson, 18, upended the #8 seed in a battle of lefties, coming back from a set down to get the win in a three-hour marathon. The Czech led 3-0 in the 3rd, had GP's for 4-1, and led 4-2. Kvitova (in all her Good/Bad Petra glory) got within two points of victory, and fired 18 aces on the night while also having 18 DF. Robson won an 11-9 final set, defeating her third slam winner in her last two slams.
Robson was a Wimbledon junior champ (2008) and two-time AO girls finalist (2009-10). In 2012, she won MX Olympic Silver with Andy Murray in London and reached her first career tour singles final. She attained her career high (#27) in July '13 after reaching her second slam Round of 16 (at Wimbledon) in less than a year. But a wrist injury in August altered the course of her career. After missing time she had surgery in '14, and spent the next few seasons attempting to make a comeback while often spending more time in a commentary booth than on the court. After slowly finding moderate success (winning her biggest title, a $60K in '17), she had hip surgery in the summer of 2018. She hasn't played since June of last year.
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After days of unbecoming, Australia media-fueled attacks against her for what happened vs. Stephens, Azarenka was met with whistles, cat calls and anti-Vika signs (one labeled her "Cheaterenka") during the final. After she won, when her name was initially engraved on the Daphne Akhurst Cup, Azarenka's home nation was listed as "BEL," rather than "BLR."
* - "Some people, the player's mother is younger than me." - Kimiko Date-Krumm, 42, on playing much younger opponnents
* - "I want both!" - Aga Radwanska, on whether she'd prefer to reach #1 or win a major
* - "[It'd be] like playing one of my mom's friends." - Sloane Stephens, on the prospect of playing Date-Krumm
* - [Aga Radwanska, asked what annoys her most] "A lot of things, actually. Slow drivers, for example. When my internet is not working... so angry."
* - "Truth is, I'm younger than you." - 30-year old Li Na, when interviewer Rennae Stubbs asked her if "30 is the new 20"
* - "I almost did the Choke of the Year." "I couldn't breathe. I had chest pains. It was like I was getting a heart attack." - Victoria Azarenka, on her apparent anxiety attack in the closing games of her SF (when she failed to convert 5 MP) vs. Sloane Stephens. The incident kicked off 48 hours of controversy that spilled over to the final, where the Aussie crowd was audibly and nastily against her in one of the more class-less moments in the history of "the happy slam"
* - "Because I'm stupid." - Li Na, when asked why she fell multiple times in the final. Against Azarenka, Li fell and injured her ankle early in the match, then again later, hitting her head (and eliciting a laugh from the crowd as she smiled while a doctor checked her condition by having her eyes follow her finger).
* - "I guess I'm pretty tough." - proud singles champion Azarenka, after successfully defending her title in the face of controversy
Hopefully, Vika will remember that going forward into 2019 and beyond.
After opening play vs. two 16-year olds (1st-Konjuh/2nd-Bencic), Li saved a MP vs. Lucie Safarova in the 3rd Round (the Czech challenged the call that went against her, as eventual history truly did hang, frozen, in the balance for a few moments). It would be Li's last Australian Open (unless you count her return for Legends competition play in '19), as she'd retire in September after not having played since Wimbledon due to a knee injury. Her final match was at Wimbledon that year, a 3rd Round loss to Barbora Strycova.
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Victoria Azarenka's two-year reign as the AO women's champ was brought to a close in the QF with a loss to Aga Radwanska, ending the Belarusian's 18-match Melbourne winning streak. 3-12 vs. Azarenka coming in, with seven straight losses (and 10 of 11) in the series, Radwanska had total games won stats of 6-2-4-6-6 in each of her previous five encounters with Vika. But the Pole brought fourth a "classic" Radwanska performance in the 3rd set in Melbourne, showing every shot in the proverbial tennis handbook en route a 6-0 route.
Up to that point, Azarenka had been the only quarterfinalist not to have lost a set in the tournament (and only lost a four sets during her long AO win streak), a week that included a 4th Round rematch of her so-called "controversial" SF match vs. Sloane Stephens from a year earlier. She defeated Stephens 6-3/6-2, giving up the same number of games (5) to her as she had in 2013.
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Dominika Cibulkova faced Li in the final, having become the first Slovakian woman to reach a slam singles final after recording four Top 20 wins (two Top 5 vs. Radwanska and Maria Sharapova, as well as wins over future #1 Simona Halep and former RG champ Francesca Schiavone). Her two-year RU/QF stretch at the AO in 2014-15 (10-2) stands out in her career at the event, as she was just 7-6 in Melbourne before then, and has gone 2-4 since. Had Cibulkova won the title she would have tied the record -- held by Nancy Richey (1968 RG) and Mima Jausovec (1977 RG) -- as the shortest slam winner ever, at five-foot-three.
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19-year old Genie Bouchard, in her fourth career slam MD, reaches the semifinal for the best major result by a Canadian woman since Carling Bassett at the 1984 U.S. Open. She'd go on in 2014 to reach the Roland Garros semis and Wimbledon final.
Meanwhile, Bouchard's Australian fans formed the "Genie Army."
Sara Errani & Roberta Vinci defend their women's doubles title, joining the Williams Sisters as the only duo to do so at the AO in twenty years. The Italians defeated Makarova/Vesnina in the final, coming back from 5-2 in the 3rd set to snatch the crown. The #1-ranked duo would lose the top ranking to Peng Shuai in February, but reclaim it later in the summer after completing their Career Doubles Slam by winning the WD at Wimbledon.
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Kristina Mladenovic wins the Mixed Doubles with Daniel Nestor, picking up her second career MX title. She hasn't added a third such win since, but *has* picked up Roland Garros (w/ Garcia) and Australian Open (w/ Babos) women's doubles crowns.
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Germany's Sabine Ellerbrock wins the women's wheelchair title, adding to her first career major won at RG in '13. She won the title with a victory in the final over Japan's Yui Kamiji, appearing in her first career slam singles final at age 19. She's since won six, including RG and the U.S. Open later in the '14 season. Along with Brit Jordanne Whiley, Kamiji claimed her first slam doubles crown. The duo would go on to complete a Doubles Grand Slam that season. Kamiji now has fourteen slam WD titles.
Russia's Elizaveta Kulichkova becomes the fourth consecutive junior to sweep both the singles and doubles titles in Melbourne. Defeating Croatian Jana Fett in the singles final, the Hordette becomes the first Russian girl to win a slam title since Dasha Gavrilova (now AUS) at the 2010 U.S. Open, and the first to do so at the AO since Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova's back-to-back crowns in 2006-07.
Kulichkova's pro career never took flght, as she was often injured. She won seven career ITF titles, and ranked as high as #87 in 2016. Having not played since failing to qualify at the 2017 U.S. Open, she retired in 2018.
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A year after setting an AO record by posting a MD singles win at age 42, 43-year old Kimiko Date-Krumm lost in the 1st Round to 16-year old qualifier Belinda Bencic, who was making her slam debut.
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The Aussie summer heat made its presence known in 2014: Jelena Jankovic burned herself on an uncovered chair, while Caroline Wozniacki's water bottle melted on a hot court
Ekaterina Makarova defeated Venus Williams in the 1st Round, staging a comeback from 3-0 down in the 3rd set. The win, combined with her victory over Serena at the '12 AO, makes the Russian one of the rare (and, as of 2019, one of just two) players with slam wins over both Sisters in a career in which they've never been ranked #1 in singles. Of course, Makarova *has* been ranked #1 in doubles.
Only Sloane Stephens currently resides on that oddball list along with Makarova, but three other players were once there only to remove themselves by eventually rising to #1: Angelique Kerber in '16, and both Karolina Pliskova and Garbine Muguruza in '17
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Wild card Aussie Casey Dellacqua, six years after her first thrilling Round of 16 run in Melbourne (where her grandma became a sudden star), pulls off another. Defeating former world #2 Vera Zvonareva, #18-seeded Kirsten Flipkens and former AO semifinalist Zheng Jie, she reaches the 4th Round, where she falls to Genie Bouchard. She'd go on to reach her third career slam Round of 16 at the U.S. Open later that year, but would only play one more year of singles before becoming a doubles specialist.
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Also at the 2014 AO: Simona Halep defeated Jelena Jankovic to reach her first career slam QF. With the result, she became the third Romanian woman to reach the Top 10, and first to make her debut there since Irina Spirlea in 1996. She'd go on to reach her first slam final at Roland Garros later in 2014, become #1 in 2017, and win her maiden slam in Paris in '18 while completing her second of back-to-back #1 seasons.
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* - "When I think of power I think of Serena. When I think of focus I think of Sharapova. When I think of heart and guts I think of Azarenka." - Chris Evert
* - "She's a genius!" - Pam Shriver, on Aga Radwanska
* - "Make me rich!" - Li Na, after winning the women's title, to her agent
* - [To husband Dennis, after the final] "Thanks a lot. You're a nice guy. And also you are so lucky... (you) found me!" - Li Na
It's the third slam final victory over Sharapova for Serena since she lost to the then 17-year old in the Wimbledon final in 2004, and her sixteenth straight over the Russian since she lost to her in the WTA Championships to close out that same '04 season.
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Ekaterina Makarova reaches her second consecutive slam SF, following up her '14 U.S. Open run with another. She gets there by defeating Simona Halep 6-4/6-0 in the QF in an early "Cliffs of Simona" moment for the Romanian.
Meanwhile, Madison Keys makes it three straight years with a 19-year old player from North America making her maiden slam semifinal run in Melbourne, following in the footsteps of Sloane Stephens (2013) and Genie Bouchard (2014). She hadn't been past the 3rd Round in any of her first ten slam MD appearances. Keys defeated Venus Williams in the QF, then lost to Serena a round later. But she didn't go out without a fight. Down 7-6/5-1, Keys saved seven MP on her own serve with a series of aces, thudding shots and a lack of nerves or dejection about her scoreboard deficit. She then saved an eighth MP on Serena's serve before making her first slam SF appearance as memorable in defeat as it was in accomplishment.
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Two years after defeating Sloane Stephens in the AO SF, and a year after handling her in similarly easy fashion in a 4th Round rematch a year later (she allowed just five games in both matches), Victoria Azarenka drew Stephens for the third straight year in Melbourne. This time it was in the 1st Round. And for the third straight year, save for the controversial ten-minute stretch two years ago, Vika dominated. She won 6-3/6-2... the exact same score as in their 2013 SF.
Meanwhile, Vika was seen in Melbourne wearing a dayglo yellow outfit that, conservatively, could probably be spotted from space.
44-year old Kimiko Date-Krumm played in her final slam MD match, losing to Amandine Hesse in the 1st Round. The Japanese vet announced her impending knee surgery after the AO. Four consecutive slam qualifying losses followed in 2015-16, and she retired in '17.
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Playing in their first event as a duo, Bethanie Mattek-Sands & Lucie Safarova win the women's doubles title, defeating the likes of Babos/Mladenovic (the would-be '18 champs), Makarova/Vesnina (3-time major winners and Gold medalists) and Y.Chan/J.Zheng in the final. Mattek-Sands was utilizing a protected ranking after returning from 2014 hip surgery.
The ultimately dubbed "Team Bucie" would go on to claim five slams together, with both reaching the #1 ranking in 2017. That year, they'd arrived at Wimbledon one SW19 title run away from a Career Doubles Slam together, as well as seeking a fourth straight major victory. But BMS' awful knee dislocation injury in singles ended their chances. When Mattek was ready to return in '18, Safarova's own injury/health issues prevented them from teaming up again until the '18 Wimbledon. They lost in the QF, and with Safarova's recent retirement announcement they ultimately played just eight matches (4-4) together after Mattek-Sands' injury.
Before the injury, they'd gone 77-12 from 2015-17, winning eleven titles (going 11-2 in finals), including those five slams and two Premier Mandatory events, as well as reaching a WTAF final.
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Martina Hingis teams with Leander Paes to win the Mixed title, defeating defending champs Mladenovic/Nestor in the final to claim her first slam title of any kind since 2006. Already a Hall of Famer who'd won fifteen major crowns (5/9/1) in her "first career," Hingis had returned in 2013. She ended up putting together a *second* HoF-worthy run before retiring again after 2017, winning four WD slams and six in MX.
She and Paes would combine for a Career Mixed Slam as a duo, winning all four major titles during a six-slam stretch between the '15 AO and '16 RG.
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Dutch wheelchair star Jiske Griffioen, already a winner of eleven major doubles titles, wins her first slam singles crown in Melbourne, defeating #1-ranked Yui Kamiji in the final. The win prevented Kamiji, who concurrently held all the other AO/RG/WI/US wheelchair titles, from being the simultaneously reigning champ in all seven (there are now eight) slam s/d competitions. Kamiji had defeated Griffioen in the semifinals of all three slam singles competitions in 2014.
Griffioen, 29, would go on to win three more singles slams and the '16 Paralympic Gold, and served 106 weeks as the women's #1. In 2016, she became the first ever champion of the Wimbledon women's wheelchair singles title. She retired after the 2017 season.
Meanwhile, Kamiji & Jordanne Whiley defended their AO doubles title, winning their fifth consecutive slam title.
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Tereza Mihalikova wins the girls singles, defeating Brit Katie Swan in the final. She was the first Slovak to win the AO girls title, and the first from her nation to win a junior slam since 2007. Mihalikova would reach the AO girls final in '16, as well, but wouldn't be able to match Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova's feat of back-to-back titles in 2006-07.
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* - "There is always nerves in the beginning." - Ana Ivanovic, after losing to qualifier Lucie Hracecka in the 1st Round, her worst slam result in four years. She'd rebound in Paris, reaching her first slam semi since winning Roland Garros seven years earlier, then go 5-6 in the next six slams and retire after the 2016 season.
* - "Can you give us a twirl and tell us about your outfit?"
* - "This old cat has a few tricks left." - Venus Williams, after coming back from 6-4/4-2, 40/love down to defeat Camila Giorgi in the 3rd Round
* - "This is vintage Azarenka right now." - ESPN's Pam Shriver, during the Azarenka/Wozniacki 2nd Round match won by the Belarusian 6-4/6-2
* - "Sometimes life deals you cards that you aren't expecting, but all you've gotta do is keep playing them and see what happens." - Venus Williams
* - "On the tennis tour you need good mental health." - Casey Dellacqua
* - "In the 3rd I think went into a trance. I just wanted to win." - Venus Williams, explaining her dominant final set performance against Aga Radwanska in the Round of 16. Winning 6-1, she allowed the Pole just two points on her own serve in the set and used a big serve, excellent court coverage and Wimbledonesque volleys to out-point Aga 30-16 as she reached her first slam QF in four and a half years.
* - "Dennis is doing good job -- he just makes one ace." - Li Na, announcing her pregnancy as only Li possibly could
Kerber is the first German, man or woman, to win a major title since Steffi Graf's final slam run in 1999. She goes on to have the best year of her career, winning a second slam at the U.S. Open, and reaching the Wimbledon, Olympic and WTAF finals.
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Twelve seeds fall in the 1st Round, the most ever since the first 32-seed slam draw at Wimbledon in 2001
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First-time slam semifinalist Johanna Konta is the first Brit in the final four at a major since Jo Durie at the U.S. Open in 1983
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Zhang Shuai reaches the QF, the best result for a qualifier since Angelica Gavaldon in 1990.
Having gone 0-14 in slam MD matches (and failed to qualify in 13 other majors), Zhang was considering retirement before the AO. Having reaching the MD, after surviving Virginie Razzano serving for the win in her final qualifying match, Zhang flew in her parents to see her play her 1st Round match, believing it may be her last. As it turned out, she upset #2 Simona Halep in the 1st Round (the first Top 2 seed to lose at the AO so early since #1 Virginia Ruzici -- Halep's manager -- did it in 1979) and #15 Madison Keys in the 4th Round en route to the QF, becoming just the fourth Chinese woman (Li, J.Zheng, Peng) to go so far in a slam. Zhang has gone on to win twelve more slam MD matches up the the 2019 AO.
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Francesca Schiavone (w/ 61) had a chance to tie Ai Sugiyama's all-time tour record for consecutive slam MD appearances (62) at the 2016 AO. But after her ranking slipped in 2015, Schiavone wasn't automatically qualified for the MD in Melbourne, and wasn't granted a wild card. Entered in qualifying, she lost to Virginie Razzano in three sets in the second round, ending her quest. The former Roland Garros champ played in the MD of the next eight slams, and the retired in the summer of 2018.
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The Eternal Sunshine of a Gavrilovian Aussie Summer.
Entertaining new Australian Dasha Gavrilova puts on a dramatic, slightly crazy and always wild Round of 16 run -- often turning night sessions into "The Dasha Show." She upset two seeds -- #6 Petra Kvitova and #28 Kristina Mladenovic -- and took #10 Carla Suarez-Navarro to three sets in the 4th Round.
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With Lucie Safarova out with a bacterial infection that had left her hospitalized, she and fellow '15 WD champ Bethanie Mattek-Sands didn't get to defend their title. BMS played with Sabine Lisicki, losing in the 2nd Round.
The title was instead won by the dynamic doubles duo of Martina Hingis & Sania Mirza, winning their third straight major during their dominant, though short-lived, partnership. The win extended their winning streak to 36 matches, and eight titles. They'd played each other in MX in Melbourne, with Mirza/Ivan Dodig defeating defending MX champs Hingis/Paes in the QF.
The Hingis/Mirza partnershp began in March 2015, and they opened by winning their first 15 matches, taking titles in Indian Wells, Miami and Charleston. From March '15 to August '16, when they broke up before the U.S. Open (they later played in the WTAF, having qualified as a pair), the duo won fourteen titles, claiming three slams along with six Premier Mandatory/Premier 5 crowns.
After a big year in 2017 playing with Latisha Chan (9 titles), Hingis retired once more. She was married in 2018, and is expecting her first child. Mirza missed the 2018 season and became a mother for the first time that year.
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Jiske Griffioen defends her wheelchair singles crown, defeating countrywoman and doubles partner Aniek Van Koot in the final. Yui Kamiji wins her third straight AO WC doubles title, her seventh at the last nine majors. She does it (def. Griffioen/Van Koot in the final) while partnering Marjolein Buis, as regular partner Jordanne Whiley played the 2016 slams with fellow Brit Lucy Shuker in preparation for that summer's Paralympic Games.
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2008 finalist Ana Ivanovic played her final Australian Open match, a 3rd Round loss to Madison Keys. AnaIvo led 6-4/1-0 when her ailing coach Nigel Sears was treated and carried from the arena. She led 4-2 in the 2nd, then 3-0 in the 3rd, but dropped both sets. The Serb retired following the 2016 season.
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Elena Vesnina wins the MX title with Bruno Soares, defeating CoCo Vandeweghe/Horia Tecau in the final to become the first Russian to win the AO title since Elena Likhovtseva in 2007.
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Belarusian Vera Lapko defeats 2015 girls champion Tereza Mihalikova in the '16 junior final, denying the Slovak back-to-back titles in Melbourne. The two had teamed to reach the girls doubles final at the 2014 U.S. Open and 2015 Wimbledon.
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Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, 33, lost in the 1st Round to Kirsten Flipkens after having served for the match in the 3rd set. A year later, she returned to Melbourne and reached the semifinals, the second major semi of her career. The first came eighteen years earlier at Wimbledon in 1999 when she was 17.
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Kristyna Pliskova set the tour record with 31 aces in her 2nd Round match with Monica Puig, a match the Czech lost after having held five MP.
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Kimiko Date-Krumm, 45, played her final slam match, an opening round of qualifying defeat at the hands of Amandine Hesse.
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18-year old Naomi Osaka (#127) made her slam MD debut after making her way through qualifying (she was Backspin's Q-Round "Player of the Week"). In her fourth *overall* tour-level MD, after a 1st Round win over Donna Vekic, she knocked off #18 Elina Svitolina in straight sets before losing to Victoria Azarenka in the 3rd Round. Up to and including the 2019 AO, she's reached at least the 3rd Round at ten of her first twelve slams, winning the U.S. Open in '18.
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In the QF, Serena Willams defeated Maria Sharapova 6-4/6-1 in a match-up of the final from a year earlier. It was Williams' 18th straight win over the Russian.
Sharapova tested positive for the recently-banned meldonium at the 2016 AO, a fact she went public with that spring. She was given a two-year ban of which she served fifteen months before returning in April 2017. The QF vs. Williams was Sharapova's final pre-suspension match. The two have yet to play since the 2016 AO, with Williams handing a walkover to Sharapova before what would have been a QF match at Roland Garros in '18.
At I said at the time of their most recent match, the final game of this blow-out match still served as a testament to the Russian's competitiveness. From three years ago:
"Really, coaches of young tennis players -- or young athletes, period -- should show the final game of the Williams/Sharapova match to their charges, covering up the score. The kids should be told to focus on Sharapova, playing with that look of intensity, clenching her fists and generally pumping herself up to give her all on every point, then asked what they think the score of the match was in that game.
She was down 5-1 (after having held serve to avoid being bageled in the set).
Maybe the cheers ("Don't give me your pity!") from the crowd irked her, but in the next game Sharapova seemed to make a point of showing her competitiveness in what would be the final game of the match. Serving with new balls, Williams hit her thirteenth ace on the second point of the game. But Sharapova didn't fold, not by a longshot. Clenching her fist, slapping her thigh and urging herself on, she fired a return winner to reach BP, then reached BP again soon afterward, still seeking an opportunity to get a foothold from which she might be able to climb back into the match. It was a characteristic stretch of points for Sharapova, though it was ultimately an unsuccessful one."
* - "I was with one foot on the plane back to Germany." - 2016 singles champion Angelique Kerber, on her 1st Round escape vs. Misaki Doi after facing a MP
* - "My dreams come true when I step on the court." - Victoria Azarenka
* - "You guys are crazy." - Dasha Gavrilova, responding to Aussie fans chants of "Dasha, Dasha, Dasha!" on MCA
* - "Pain is my second name." - Aga Radwanska
* - "When I play her, I know automatically I have to step up my game. I think that makes me play better." - Serena Williams, on facing Maria Sharapova
* - "Actually I am a tri-citizen. I've got a Hungarian passport, as well. I'm pretty much the female version of Jason Bourne." - Australian-born Brit (and '16 AO semifinalist) Johanna Konta
* - "I'm good from behind." - Dasha Gavrilova
* - "For me, it's chocolate." - Swiss Belinda Bencic, on the secret to Switzerland 's tennis success
* - "I want to hug the whole stadium." - Dasha Gavrilova, after upsetting #28-seed Kristina Mladenovic
* - "Every time I walk in this room, everyone expects me to win every match, every day. I’m not a robot.” - Serena Williams, during her press conference after losing in the final to Angelique Kerber
The final was an all-Williams affair, as Serena faced off with sister Venus for the ninth time in a major final (Serena 7-2), but the first since the 2009 Wimbledon. The match -- #28 in their series -- came nineteen years after their first pro meeting in the 2nd Round in Melbourne in 1998. At 36, Venus is the oldest slam finalist since at 37-year old Martina Navratilova at Wimbledon in 1994. Venus would go to reach the Wimbledon final later in 2017.
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34-year old Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, eighteen years after she reached her first slam semi at Wimbledon at age 16, reaches her second.
Lucic's journey back was a long and difficult one, as soon after her SW19 breakthrough she lost more than six years of her career after making a daring escape from a familial circumstance marked by mental and physical abuse.
With her career moments separated by a lifetime, both in tennis' generational terms as well as in regards to the maelstrom of her own personal experience, Lucic went down to her knees in the middle of Rod Laver Arena court after her biggest victory in nearly two decades, making the sign of the cross over her heart, then burying her face in her hands and bursting into tears. After coming back from a set down to defeat Wang Qiang in the 1st Round (her first AO win since '98), the Croat's storybook run included wins over two Top 5 players, #3 Aga Radwanska in the 2nd Round and #5 Karolina Pliskova in the QF.
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The semifinals were the oldest of the Open era, with 35-year old Serena and 36-year old Venus (who combined for the oldest Open era final) joined by 34-year old Lucic-Baroni. 25-year old CoCo Vandeweghe rounded out the field to make it three Bannerettes strong. (But that'd be nothing compared to the all-U.S. U.S. Open semis later that year featuring Venus, CoCo, Sloane Stephens and Madison Keys, the first of its kind since the '85 Wimbledon.)
For her part, Vandeweghe, who made it four straight Australian Opens with a North American first-time slam semifinalist, defeated the world #1 and defending AO champ (Kerber), three of 2016's major title holders (AO/US champ Kerber, RG winner Muguruza) AND two former slam finalists (Bouchard and Vinci).
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#4 Simona Halep, suffering from tendinitis in her knee, fell to Shelby Rogers in the 1st Round, her second straight one-and-done trip to Melbourne. A year later, she'd save match points in two matches en route to the final.
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Angelique Kerber, the defending champ and reigning #1, falls to Vandeweghe in the Round of 16, kicking off a campaign in which she'd follow up her career year of '16 with one in '17 in which she'd go title-less and fall out of the Top 20, the biggest non-injury/retirement related ranking slip for a season-ending #1 in tour history. She'd rebound a season later to win career slam #3 and finish at #2.
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"The Dasha Show" gets a *another* season, as Gavrilova makes her second consecutive Round of 16 run. In her next two AO appearances in 2018-19, the Aussie goes a combined 1-2 in the AO.
The 2017 Australian Open was almost as notable for which players WEREN'T there as it was for those who were. Among the absentees: Maria Sharapova (suspended), Sloane Stephens (foot surgery), Madison Keys (wrist), Victoria Azarenka (new mother) and Petra Kvitova (recovering from hand surgery after home invasion attack).
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After winning the AO doubles in their first event together in 2015, Bethanie Mattek-Sands & Lucie Safarova didn't get a chance to defend the title in '16 due to the Czech's illness. In 2017, though, they were able to finally play together again in Melbourne. Yet again, they won.
The win, coming weeks after Mattek-Sands had risen to the doubles #1 ranking, was the duo's second straight at a major. They'd win their third straight (5th overall) in the spring at Roland Garros. They went to Wimbledon looking for a Career Doubles Slam *and* non-calendar year Grand Slam. Their dream run was ended by Mattek-Sands' Wimbledon knee injury while playing singles. With BMS recovering, Safarova would replace her as doubles #1 in the summer, and "Team Bucie" wouldn't be able to defend their title in '18. In 2019, they were scheduled to play in Melbourne in what was to be the swan song for the retiring Safarova. But Safarova had to skip the event due to injury, and will likely end her career at another '19 event. As things turned out, Mattek-Sands/Safarova never lost at the AO, going 11-0 in their two events together while seeing injury/illness prevent them from teaming up there on three different occasions.
In singles, Safarova saved nine MP vs. Yanina Wickmayer in the 1st Round...
Video of Lucie Safarova saving nine MPs against Yanina Wickmayer.https://t.co/tj6SPEMyno
— Steven Mills (@StevenMtennis) January 17, 2017
2016 champs Martina Hingis & Sania Mirza became the latest duo to not attempt to defend their AO title, having broken up late in the previous season. Hingis teamed with Vandeweghe, losing in the 2nd Round, while Mirza (w/ Barbora Strycova) fell in the 3rd. Soon after, Hingis joined forces with Latisha Chan, winning nine titles, including the U.S. Open, in '17 before retiring for the final time at the end of the season.
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At age 35, after a career that had included eighteen WD titles, a tour-level singles final (in 2004) and two previous MX finals (2013-14 U.S. Open w/ Santiago Gonzalez), Abigail Spears won her maiden slam crown, teaming with Juan Sebastian Cabal to defeat the team of Sania Mirza/Ivan Dodig in the AO Mixed Doubles final.
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16-year old Aussie wild card Destanee Aiava is the first player born in the 2000's to play a match in a slam MD. She's also the first of Samoan descent.
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Japan's Yui Kamiji, playing in her third AO wheelchair singles final in four years, wins her first singles title in Melbourne, defeating two-time defending champ Jiske Griffioen in the final. The win brings Kamiji a Wimbledon singles title away from becoming the first player to win all eight slam titles in a career. As 2019 begins, Kamiji still needs that title...and she may just get beaten to the prize.
The player who could beat Kamiji to the eight-for-eight record is Diede de Groot. The 20-year old made her slam debut at the 2017 Australian Open, losing to Sabine Ellerbrock in her opening singles match, while advancing to the doubles final (w/ Kamiji) and falling to Griffioen & Aniek Van Koot. A protege of the great Esther Vergeer, de Groot has since gone on to dominate the sport, with Kamiji continuing to be her chief rival. Griffioen would retire by the end of 2017.
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In the 3rd Round, Svetlana Kuznetsova defeated Jelena Jankovic in a three-set, 3:36 thriller. Kuznetsova failed to put away the match after leading 6-4/4-1, but made up for it by coming back from 3-0 down in the 3rd to win 6-4/5-7/9-7.
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14-year old Marta Kostyuk wins the girls singles, joining Elina Svitolina and Kateryna Bondarenko as junior slam champions hailing from Ukraine. The #11 seed, she defeated #1 Rebeka Masarova (then SUI, now ESP) in the final. A year later, Kostyuk would qualify for the women's MD and reach the 3rd Round at age 15.
Bianca Andreescu & Carson Branstine team to take the girls doubles, defeating Poles Maja Chwalinksa & Iga Swiatek in the final. Canadian Andreescu also reached the singles semis, and served for the match vs. Masarova in the 2nd set. After she failed to close things out, and the match went to a 3rd, she was slowed by a leg injury and bageled in the final set. Just a few hours later, she managed to come back out and win the doubles final.
Branstine, playing for the U.S. at the time, would switch to representing CAN soon afterward. The pair would win the girls doubles at Roland Garros a few months later, then reach a tour-level WD final in Quebec City in September. In 2018, they teamed to win a $25K challenger title. In 2019, Andreescu qualified for the MD and notched her first career slam victory.
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* - “Clearly these matches are challenging, physically, mentally, all of that. It’s a challenge. But I’m up for the challenge. If I’m here, that’s why I’m here. I’m not just here to hang out halfway around the world. This is a long way to come for a hangout session.” - Venus Williams, after defeating CoCo Vandeweghe to reach her first slam final in eight and a half years
* - “I still feel I have something to prove to myself, to be better. To enjoy the game in a way that it hurts." - Barbora Strycova
* - “I think why people love sport so much, is because you see everything in a line. In that moment there is no do-over, there’s no retake, there is no voice-over. It’s triumph and disaster witnessed in real-time. This is why people live and die for sport, because you can’t fake it. You can’t. It’s either you do it or you don’t. People relate to the champion. They also relate to the person also who didn't win because we all have those moments in our life." - Venus Williams
* - “This has made my life, everything that happened that was bad it's made it all okay." - Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, on her unexpected 18-years-and-more-in-the-making second career slam semifinal run
* - “That's my little sister, guys. (To Serena) Your win has always been my win. I think you know that." - Venus Williams, addressing the crowd and Serena, after losing to her sister in the final
* - “I kind of want to be known as an amazing fighter, a person who persevered against everything, against all odds." ... "I never could dream about being here again. I will never forget this day." " - Mirjana Lucic-Baroni
* - “23...24...25. It's never enough." - 23-time slam champ Serena Williams, noting that even during the trophy presentation, Margaret Court's all-time major total of 24 titles was already being mentioned
Of course, her big moment came only after she'd climbed out of 5-1, 40/15 3rd set hole vs. Jana Fett in the 2nd Round, saving two MP vs. the Croat, who was playing in just her second career MD slam match.
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While the '18 AO will be known as the site of Caro's first major win, world #1 Simona Halep nearly stole the show. The Romanian badly turned her ankle in her 1st Round match, and carried that injury and impending exhaustion (she was hospitalized for just that after the tournament) all the way to the finish in true warrioress fashion.
Halep saved triple MP in a 3:44 3rd Round match vs. Lauren Davis, winning a 15-13, 2:22 3rd set in a match that tied the AO women's record for total games (48 - 1996 Sanchez Vicario/Rubin) and was the third longest AO women's match ever. In the semifinals, she saved two more MP vs. Angelique Kerber in the Match of the Year. Halep ultimately finished as runner-up to Wozniacki, falling in a 2:49 finale that finished off a two-week run that set the tone for her entire season, a dream year that included her maiden slam title run at Roland Garros and her second straight #1 season.
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2017 didn't mean much in 2018.
Singles champ Serena Williams was absent, having once again had a health scare after experiencing blood clot issues following the birth of her daughter in September '17. The player she defeated in the previous AO final, her sister Venus, lost in the 1st Round to Belinda Bencic. '17 semifinalist CoCo Vandeweghe lost in the 1st Round to Timea Babos, while the storybook final four member from twelve months earlier, Mirjana Lucic-Barnoni fell in the 2nd Round to Aliaksandra Sasnovich. Then 35-year old Lucic, while not having officially retired, has not played a match since.
The carnage hit the semifinalists from the previous slam -- the U.S. Open -- just as hard. Three-quarters of the all-Bannerette final four -- Venus, CoCo and Sloane Stephens (who fell to 0-8 since winning the U.S. Open in September) -- all lost on Day 1 of the '18 AO. Only Madison Keys survived, reaching the QF.
Venus would lose in the 1st Round at Roland Garros a few months later, giving her her first back-to-back opening match exits in a slam career that stretches back to 1997.
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Angelique Kerber, the '16 champ and former #1, survived (barely) a Round of 16 clash with Hsieh Su-wei. She was pressed to the brink, frustrated and shaking her head as she tried to figure out how to attack the Taiwanese veteran's varied series of drop shots, slip-sliding forehand slices, hooks, flat change-of-direction winners down the line, angled brain-twisters, curling hand-cuffers, and, of course, her more "normal" corner-to-corner groundstrokes that served to leave Kerber perpetually out of position for most of two full sets. Hsieh's great shot anticipation never appeared to force her to have to actually chase balls down, as she was always there waiting, with every option and shot within arm's reach. The tactics bewitched, bothered and bewildered Kerber almost to the point of defeat. Almost. Finally, once Hsieh had used up what remained of her physical reserves and was no longer able to twist the former #1 into a soft pretzel, Kerber took control and won in three. She then advanced to the semis, and held 2 MP vs. Halep for a berth in the final.
Kerber would go on to win Wimbledon and finish at #2 behind Halep (and just ahead of Wozniacki) in 2018.
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Belgian Elise Mertens makes it SIX straight Australian Opens with a first-time slam semifinalist.
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15-year old Marta Kostyuk, the' 17 AO girls champ, is the youngest AO qualifier since 2005 (Sesil Karatantcheva), making her the youngest in the MD since 1996 (Martina Hingis), and first ever in a slam who was born in 2002. In the 1st Round, the Ukrainian upset #25 seed Peng Shuai, and went on to reach the 3rd Round, making her the youngest to go so far in any major since Mirjana Lucic-Baroni at the 1997 U.S. Open. She ultimately went out at the hands of countrywoman Elina Svitolina.
Question: What did you take from that experience today?@marta_kostyuk: Well, a lot. How much you have to pay Svitolina to have one-hour lesson, so I got it for free.#AusOpen?????? pic.twitter.com/9OjX4YnznU
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 19, 2018
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Missing from the tournament along with Serena was Victoria Azarenka, for a second straight year. After being absent due to recently having a baby a year earlier, the two-time AO champ missed '17 because of travel restrictions due to a custody battle over son Leo. Azarenka had eight straight seasons of Round of 16-or-better results in Melbourne from 2009-16. She finally returned Down Under in 2019, losing in the 1st Round to Laura Siegemund after holding a 7-6/4-2 lead. Afterward, she tearfully spoke of how hard she has worked to make a comeback (both on and off court), only to be having a difficult time getting the sort of results from her tennis that she desires.
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Aga Radwanska played her final AO in 2017, losing in the 3rd Round to Hsieh Su-wei. The Pole had six straight Round of 16 results from 2011-16, reaching two semifinals in Melbourne. She retired after the '18 season.
Francesca Schiavone played her final AO, as well. She'd make her final slam appearance at Roland Garros, the site of her lone slam win in 2010, and then made a trip to New York during the '18 U.S. Open to make her retirement official.
Meanwhile, the event marked Petra Kvitova's AO return following her harrowing December '16 home invasion attack and career-saving hand surgery. She lost in the 1st Round in a 10-8 3rd set vs. Andrea Petkovic. The '18 event was also the first in Melbourne for Maria Sharapova since her return from suspension. She knocked off #14 seed Anastasija Sevastova in the 2nd Round, losing to Angelique Kerber a round later. In 2019, Sharapova would record an AO win over defending champ Caroline Wozniacki.
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Bernarda Pera upset Johanna Konta in the 2nd Round, becoming the first lucky loser to reach the AO 3rd Round since 1997.
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Once again, the reigning women's doubles champions were unable to attempt to defend their crown, as Mattek-Sands was out due to a knee injury. Lucie Safarova teamed with fellow Czech Barbora Strycova instead, reaching the QF.
The doubles title was claimed by Timea Babos & Kristina Mladenovic. Their win in the final over Ekaterina Makarova & Elena Vesnina (also AO finalists in '14) denied the Russians the chance to complete a Career Slam/Golden Slam/Super Slam (all four majors, the WTAF and Olympic Gold). They'd have become the only women's duo in tour history to complete the full set.
Babos was the first Hungarian slam winner since Andrea Temesvari in 1986, and she nearly picked up TWO in Melbourne, also reaching the MX final with Rohan Bopanna. The duo lost to Gaby Dabrowski & Mate Pavic. Dabrowski had previously won a MX crown a Roland Garros in '17 while partnering Bopanna.
Babos & Mladenovic would win the '17 U.S. Open title, as well, and then reach the '19 AO WD final.
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Taiwan's Liang En-shuo sweeps the girls singles and doubles, becoming the first from her nation to win a junior singles slam. Liang saved a MP in the 1st Round (vs. Olivia Gadecki) and two more in the SF (vs. Elisabetta Cocciaretto).
Liang's opponent in the final was Pastry Clara Burel, who'd go on to also finish as the runner-up at the season's Youth Olympics and U.S. Open. She won the season-ending Junior Masters, though, and finished the season at #1.
Liang picked up the doubles crown with Wang Xinyu. Xinyu would later team with Wang Xiyu at Wimbledon to become the first all-Chinese duo to win a girls doubles slam.
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Diede de Groot wins her first AO wheelchair singles crown (career slam #2), defeating Yui Kamiji in the final. Kamiji was playing in her fourth AO final in five years, and fell to 1-3 in those matches.
The Japanese star, still ranked #1 ahead of #2 de Groot at the time, would still claim her fourth AO doubles crown, teaming with Marjolein Buis to defeat de Groot & Aniek Van Koot in the final. It's Buis/Kamiji's second AO title in three years.
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* - "Last year is last year." - 2017 finalist Venus Williams, after losing in the 1st Round a year ago
* - "I'm almost dead." - Simona Halep, after surviving her 3:44, 3 MP saving 3rd Round marathon vs. Lauren Davis
* - "Si-mo-na! Si-mo-na!" - Romanian fans cheering on national heroine Halep
"I'm just taking a second to hug 'Daphne' - I've dreamt of this moment for so many years, to be here is a dream come true."
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 27, 2018
Your #AusOpen 2018 Champion, @CaroWozniacki! ?? pic.twitter.com/iFfSmlVCPA
Words can’t describe this feeling. pic.twitter.com/MUMtR5stV1
— NaomiOsaka????? (@Naomi_Osaka_) January 26, 2019
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Osaka trailed Hsieh Su-wei 7-5/4-1 in the 3rd Round, and later squandered a 7-5/5-3, triple MP lead in the final vs. Petra Kvitova (playing in her first slam final since her December '16 home invasion hand injuries) before rallying to win in three sets in their battle both for the singles title as well as the #1 ranking.
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Danielle Collins makes it seven consecutive AO's with a first-time slam semifinalist, joining the list of fellow North Americans that includes Sloane Stephens, Genie Bouchard, Madison Keys and CoCo Vandeweghe who've done so since 2013. Collins survived #14 seed Julia Goerges serving for the match in the 1st Round, and later blitzed the German's countrywoman, #2 Angelique Kerber, in the Round of 16, allowing the 2016 champ just two games.
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The 2019 AO marked the start of a new rule that instituted that singles matches would be decided in a 10-point TB at 6-6 in the final set rather than playing out the set with a player winning by two. One year earlier the 3rd Round Halep/Davis 15-13 3rd set had produced one of the most dramatic showcases of the entire season.
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Serena Williams, back at the AO for the first time since winning in '17 while pregnant with her daughter, became (at 37) the oldest woman to defeat a reigning world #1 with her Round of 16 win over Simona Halep. A round later, though, she'd lose a match vs. Karolina Pliskova in which she was serving up 5-1 in the 3rd with a MP. She turned her ankle during the MP rally, and was never quite the same. She didn't win another game, as Pliskova grabbed six straight games and saved four total MP en route to winning the set 7-5.
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Diede de Groot defends her AO wheelchair crown, claiming her third straight slam. She wins the AO doubles for the first time, making her the reigning champ in seven of the eight WC slam events, the most dominate one-year stretch in the sport since the retirement of her legendary Dutch countrywoman, Esther Vergeer, after the 2012 season. De Groot's match-up with Yui Kamiji (she allowed just two games) is their fifth in the finals of the last six slams.
I did it! @AustralianOpen kampioen in de single en dubbel! #AO2019 #grandslam #title #downunder #australianopen #itf #teamnl #knltb #rolstoeltennis #knltb #yonex #yonexbenelux #sunrisemedical pic.twitter.com/YlQsQhgJrC
— Diede de Groot (@DiedetheGreat) January 26, 2019
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Garbine Muguruza defeats Johanna Konta in a 2nd Round match that sets AO records as the latest starting (12:30 am) and finishing (3:12 am) women's match in tournament history
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First-time slam title winner Zhang Shuai, who nearly retired in 2016 before a surprise AO QF run in singles, claims the doubles with Aussie (and best friend) Samantha Stosur, who wins her first pro title of any kind on home soil since a series of challenger events in 2002. Stosur been AO WD runners-up with Lisa Raymond thirteen years earlier in 2006.
That moment when you become #AusOpen champions.@bambamsam30 @zhangshuai121 pic.twitter.com/nZpcPKHEgn
— TennisAustralia (@TennisAustralia) January 25, 2019
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Barbora Krejcikova wins the MX title with Rajeev Ram, claiming her third slam title in less than a year. The Czech won back-to-back RG/WI doubles titles with Katerina Siniakova in 2018.
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Clara Tauson defeats Canada's Leylah Annie Fernandez to win the girls junior title, joining Caroline Wozniacki (w/ 2) as the only Danish junior slam champs.
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Defending champ Caroline Wozniacki loses in the 3rd Round to Maria Sharapova, who posts her second best win (#1 Halep, '17 U.S. Open 1st Rd.) since her return from suspension in 2017. The Russian's double-bagel victory over Harriet Dart in the 1t Round had been the first in her career since 2014. Sharapova would lose in the Round of 16 to Ash Barty, who became the first Aussie to reach the AO QF since Jelena Dokic a decade earlier in 2009.
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Two-time AO champ Victoria Azarenka makes her first appearance at the AO since 2016, having missed the previous two years due to having just had a baby and then when undergoing a custody battle with her son's father a year later. She leads Laura Siegemund 7-6/4-2 in the 1st Round, but falls to the German. The defeat precedes a tearful press conference during which she tearfully discusses the difficulties of making a full comeback and how, even when she was winning titles, things weren't always easy (alluding to past AO performances during which she was criticized for her on-court grunting, called a "cheater" for taking an MTO vs. Sloane Stephens after having failed to convert 5 MP in a match she'd previously been dominating, and enduring Aussie media headlines that relentlessly attacked her during her two-year reign as the AO champ).
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* - "Look at her, prancing around like a spring lamb!" - Mary Carillo, on Amanda Anisimova during her win over Aryna Sabalenka
* - "I've been through a lot of things in my life. Sometimes I wonder why I go through them. But I think they're going to make me stronger. I want to believe that and I'm going to work hard for it. Sometimes I just need a little time and patience, and a little support." - a tearful Victoria Azarenka, after losing in the 1st Round in her first AO match sine 2016
* - "Clearly none of this has been a fluke." - Danielle Collins, on her surprise semifinal run
* - "I wanted to win and have the trophy. But I think I already won two years ago." - Petra Kvitova, after losing in the women's final two years after surviving a home invasion attack in which she sustained hand injuries that jeopardized her career
* - "Every time I have a dream, somehow I accomplish it. I still feel like it's a very strange moment. Like, I feel like I'm living right now, but it's not necessarily real, if that makes sense." - Naomi Osaka
posted by Todd.Spiker @ 12:37 AM
3 Comments:
The run by Errani/Vinci is what jumped out at me. Impressive then, even moreso now as Makarova/Vesnina turned out to be legendary.
You are right about Li. Maybe Mary Pierce at the French, especially with her entering the HOF will have a chance to do something similar.
Surprised Dementieva made the cut. She only played one year, so I know she wont last long.
With the notes about Venus and Serena being oldest to, etc, we are a year away from them playing in their fourth decade.
Yeah, I'd somewhat forgotten how much of a force Errani/Vinci were at the time in doubles. They won the Career Slam, I know, but they just about won three AO in a row, and knocked off a lot of big-name teams en route.
A few others who were just on the outside of the (singles) Top 10:
ZVONAREVA - the WD title, but also a slam SF
KUZNETSOVA - the WD title and 4:44, but a 4r-4r-QF run early that tailed off late
VENUS - if' I'd had an honorable mention (#11), she might have gotten it. The WD title and WS final and two QF, but Radwanska's consistency won out for #10. I could have listed her, I guess, but I wanted it to be a "Top 10." :\
KEYS - SF-4r-QF-4r since 2015
MUGURUZA - a QF & 3 4r
HALEP - a RU, 2 QF and a 4r
KVITOVA - a hammock result line stretch: QF-SF-2r-1r-3r-2r-1r-RU
You've got something there with Pierce, but part of me still thinks Lenglen is the most representative French woman after all these decades. Of course, Court probably *was* in the position to still be that in Melbourne, but that's sort of gone south, hasn't it?
Li Na is the AO treasure that keeps on giving. :)
Yeah, I tried to skim off the bottom of the list for the first cut, and at least give the ones who qualified in the highest categories a one-cut reprieve (I suspect Elena will be ushered out after Paris, along with at least one of the players who *just* qualified during the AO, a few who are only still there because they're active and *you never know*, and many others).
Yep. I guess that'll tie Navratilova then, since she was in the 1970s, 80s, 90s and 00s. Well, unless Martina would ever "pull a Minnie Minoso" and play a doubles match in an event to "technically" play in a fifth decade. She is still playing the Legends events, along with Li in Melbourne, who's just five years out of retirement. Navratiliova played her first major in 1973, nine years before Li was born. ;)
And Kamau Murray ends up with Puig. Not expecting Sloane type results, but she should be between 10-20. Hopefully this partnership gets her there.
Keys, Collins, Collins, Melichar are your Fed Cup team, which makes you wonder-where is Sloane?
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