It’s that annual frenetic time of the year when tennis grips Australia. With the peak cricket season over, mainstream sports focus shifts to tennis, specifically the Australian Open.
Some cynics say that many feign tennis fandom this time of the year. To be fair, there are plenty with broken ankles from jumping on the bandwagon.
While we think the Aussie Open is a grand spectacle, and certainly it is one of our most prominent sports events, the event has a dubious reputation abroad. Simply, the Australian Open has traditionally been derided as the least important of tennis’ grand slams.
Before the event moved to Melbourne Park in 1988, it was played on grass courts at the Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club. Unfortunately, the courts looked like a dilapidated version of Wimbledon’s pristine setting; Kooyong was perceived as dated and provincial.
Some high-profile players were not particularly keen to travel the long distances and play at this eyesore.
Even up until about 20 years ago, some of the world’s best players skipped the tournament, notably Andre Agassi who later regretted sabotaging his chances of winning more grand slams.
The event has always struggled globally because of Australia’s time difference from the northern hemisphere. In the United States, the world’s biggest sports market, sports fans are also more invested in following the final stages of the NFL season at this time of year.
The Australian Open is essentially an afterthought.
Bill Simmons, a prominent American sportswriter and podcaster, believes the Australian Open is the equivalent of the US PGA Championship in golf, which is known as the fourth major. That is not a glowing endorsement.
But these archaic perceptions are countered by the Australian Open’s unpredictability, which makes particularly compelling viewing. As this year’s tournament nears, it is a timely reminder that the Open is quite possibly the most fascinating event of the four majors and the hardest to forecast.
The French Open is basically reserved for clay court specialists and has been Rafael Nadal’s personal playground the past decade. He has astonishingly won nine of the last eleven tournaments. Compounding the event’s predictability, the slowness of the surface can make matches stretch to interminable lengths.
Wimbledon’s prestige and history make it the most cherished tennis tournament in the world. But much like the French Open, only a select few are genuine championship contenders.
Only the big four in the men’s – Nadal, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray – have won the event since 2003. Between 1993 and 2000, Pete Sampras won seven of eight Wimbledons.
It is the hardcourt events in New York and Melbourne that offer hope to more players in the draw, particularly in an era where slugging from the baseline is in vogue. But the Australian event is tougher to win than its American counterpart.
The surface is slower than the courts at Flushing Meadows, providing a healthy medium between the big hitters and those with a penchant for the slowness of clay, making it a more level playing field for the 132 competitors.
In the women’s draw, during the past 15 years the Australian Open has been dominated by contrasting skill-sets, including finesse type players like Martina Hingis and Justine Henin juxtaposed with those possessing power of Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka.
The Australian Open can also catch out players not physically or mentally prepared for the nominal start of a new season.
Some players are still recovering from sore bodies and find it difficult to transition back into the grind of grand slam tennis – and the best of five sets for the men.
Others are determined to start the year positively and preparation can often make the difference. Notably, Agassi exploited this gap to win four Australian Opens in the second half of his career.
Melbourne’s schizophrenic climate adds another intriguing element. During late January, Melbourne is essentially a sauna.
Temperatures often exceed 40 degrees. The city becomes akin to the inside of a car that has been left out in the sun all day. Extreme weather conditions test the resolve and fortitude of the players like no other.
In 2014, Canadian qualifier Frank Dancevic fainted on court as the heat reached ridiculous levels, forcing the tournament to adjust its Extreme Heat Policy.
All these factors have thrown up an eclectic bunch of finalists this century.
Stan Wawrinka, Arnaud Clement, Rainer Schuttler, Marcos Baghdatis, Fernando Gonzalez and Jo-Wilifred Tsonga all made a mockery of expectations to make the final. In the era of the Big Four, no other grand slam has thrown up so many surprising results.
The Australian Open also has a knack of conjuring some cracking tennis matches: Jennifer Capriati versus Martina Hingis in ’02, Marat Safin versus Federer in ’05, Nadal versus Federer in ’09, and the epic Djokovic versus Nadal final in 2012 that finished after 1.30am local time.
It is lazy to dismiss it as the weak link of the grand slams. Every way you analyse it, the Australian Open is tennis’ most intoxicating and beguiling tournament.
Simply, the Australian Open is tennis’ best grand slam.
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