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Novak Djokovic feels like he has enjoyed the ideal preparation for the Australian Open after downing a series of high-calibre opponents on the way to winning the Adelaide International 1.
In his first tournament in Australia since being deported from the country last January, Djokovic beat American Sebastian Korda in an epic three-set thriller in Sunday’s final.
Djokovic produced a nerveless overhead smash while moving backwards to save Championship point during the second set, and he was cool as ice too late in the match to seal the contest 6-7 (8-10) 7-6 (7-3) 6-4 in three hours eight minutes. The 21-time grand slam champion will spend this week practising – and possibly playing a friendly match against Australian Nick Kyrgios – before attempting to win a 10th Australian Open crown.
Djokovic loved his experience in Adelaide, and feels the tournament was the perfect preparation for the first major of the year. “Absolutely. Five great matches,” Djokovic said. “The second round it was 7-6, 7-6 – tough two tiebreakers against (Quentin) Halys, who is playing very well.
“Then I had (Denis) Shapovalov, (Daniil) Medvedev and Korda, who is on fire, playing some high-level tennis, striking the ball amazingly. I couldn’t ask for a better preparation and lead-up to Australian Open. I have a week off for recovery now and working on specific things in terms of my game, my body, getting my mind in the right state for the best-of-five and two long weeks hopefully.”
The only hiccup Djokovic faced last week was a hamstring scare in his semi-final win over Medvedev. The 35-year-old revealed he’d worked “deep into the night” with his physio after the match and was able to shake off the niggle in time for the final the following day.
“It was all right,” Djokovic said, adding that he’s confident it won’t affect him at the Australian Open. “There were a few times in the match I felt was tightening up, the muscle, but nothing that would worry me for my performance.”
Djokovic’s tournament win in Adelaide was also an important step towards putting the dramas of last January behind him. The Serbian became worldwide news when he was deported from Australia for refusing to have the COVID-19 vaccine.
Djokovic says he holds no ill feelings towards Australia. “I don’t hold any grudges,” he said. “I told you I had far many more positive experiences in Australia to throw that away just because of what happened last year.
“I feel very comfortable with people, normal people, that follow sport, that I encounter on an everyday basis. I haven’t had any negative experience so far. So every person that I met, whether it’s in the city or in the woods – I actually met a few kangaroos as well, had a chat with them – everyone was very kind, very supportive.
“So there is no reason for me to feel differently than what I’m receiving from them.”
(Photo by Sarah Reed/Getty Images)
Kooyong Classic officials haven’t given up hope of enticing Nick Kyrgios to the Australian Open warm-up event after losing world No.1 Carlos Alcaraz to injury.
Former US Open champion Dominic Thiem has replaced Alcaraz, joining the likes of fellow former Melbourne Park runners-up Andy Murray and Marin Cilic and home hope Alex de Minaur.
Young guns Jannik Sinner and Borna Coric will also feature at the three-day exhibition event starting on Tuesday, with Czech teenage sensation Linda Fruhvirtova headlining the women’s field. But tournament director Peter Johnston on Sunday said he’d happily find a match for Kyrgios if the Australian No.1 wanted to test out his body ahead of the Open starting on January 16.
Kyrgios withdrew from the United Cup and the Adelaide International 2, citing a knee injury.
“We’re still holding a candle for Nick,” Johnston told AAP. “It couldn’t be a more perfect setting for him if he wants a hit before the Open.
“There’s always room for Nick. And don’t forget Novak (Djokovic). We’ve already got a pretty solid line-up but Novak is also welcome.”
(Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images)
Jessica Pegula and Taylor Fritz have emerged as Australian Open title threats after piloting the United States to United Cup glory in Sydney.
Fritz once again served as Team USA’s ice-cool go-to man in sealing Sunday’s final over Italy with a steely 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (10-8) victory over resurgent 2021 Wimbledon runner-up Matteo Berrettini.
As he did in a similarly tight semi-final triumph over Hubert Hurkacz, Fritz held his nerve in the key moments to give the US an unassailable 3-0 lead in the best-of-five tie at Ken Rosewall Arena.
The world No.9’s win followed straight-sets singles successes for Pegula and Frances Tiafoe and preceded Madison Keys’ 6-3 6-2 dispatch of Lucia Bronzetti that had the US on the cusp of a third 5-0 whitewash for the tournament. Utterly dominant throughout the 11-day first-time staging of the mixed-gender event, Team USA secured the trophy after winning 21 of their first 23 rubbers.
Tiafoe (6-0) won all five of his singles encounters as well plus a mixed doubles match with Pegula (8-1), while Madison Keys (5-0) was also unbeaten and dropped just one set in five singles outings. In a true team effort, Fritz (7-1) also delivered when it mattered as Team USA never looked like being toppled.
“It’s amazing for the team to win this event,” Fritz said after being crash-tackled by Tiafoe amid wild celebrations. “We came in with really high hopes, or at least I did, for the event so I was really happy to be in that position to clinch the match. The emotions when you win and everyone comes running out here, it’s amazing.”
Fritz’s clincher came after Pegula continued her hot summer to give the US a perfect start with a 6-4 6-2 victory over Martina Trevisan before Lorenzo Musetti retired with a shoulder issue after losing the first set 6-2 against Tiafoe.
The back-to-back defeats left Berrettini needing to beat Fritz to keep Italy’s hopes flickering. He couldn’t, as Fritz overcame the disappointment of failing to convert nine break points to nab both tiebreakers, as he had against Poland’s big-serving world No.10 Hurkacz on Saturday.
After losing her Cup opener to dual Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, Pegula won four singles and four mixed doubles matches in a row. The world No.3’s undoubted highlight was a 6-2 6-2 mauling of top-ranked Iga Swiatek in Saturday’s semi-finals.
But she was equally pleased to have kept the 27th-ranked Trevisan at bay with the trophy on the line. “Definitely very relieved,” Pegula said. “First match of the day, first match of the final and Martina’s playing great.”
Fritz’s win over Berrettini rounded out an equally impressive campaign that also featured a straight-sets drubbing of another grand slam finalist in Alexander Zverev, and seven wins in total from eight matches.
The reigning Indian Wells champion, Fritz stretched Open titleholder Rafael Nadal to five sets in last year’s Wimbledon quarter-finals and went the distance with nine-time winner Novak Djokovic at Melbourne Park in 2021.
World No.5 Aryna Sabalenka has banished her serving demons from last year by defeating 18-year-old qualifier Linda Noskova to win the Adelaide International 1 final.
Sabalenka was reduced to tears in the Adelaide tournament last year when her service game fell apart in her three-set loss to Sweden’s Rebecca Peterson. The 24-year-old lost so much confidence during that match that she resorted to serving underarm at one point.
Some of her overarm serves became mere lobs into the other side of the court, with the chair umpire intervening during a swap of ends to ask if she was OK. But it was a far different story on Sunday, with Sabalenka’s serve proving a major weapon in her 6-3 7-6 (7-4) triumph over Noskova.
“I didn’t have that flashback feeling,” Sabalenka said. “But maybe in the beginning, that first match, on the first second serve, I thought, ‘Let’s see how it’s going to be this year’.
“And I served it in, so I thought, ‘It’s not going to happen again’, and I felt so much relief after that. I don’t want this s**t to happen again. It was the worst feeling. I don’t even want to think about it.”
Noskova had to save match points during qualifying just to make the main draw, and she saved a match point in her quarter-final win over two-time grand slam winner Victoria Azarenka.
A semi-final win over world No.2 Ons Jabeur raised hopes of Noskova snaring a maiden WTA title. But Sabalenka’s greater experience and power on serve proved crucial in Sunday’s final, with the No.2 seed securing the win in 103 minutes.
It was her first WTA title since beating Ash Barty on clay in Madrid in May, 2021. Sabalenka struck 17 winners to four in the first set, and won the ace count 6-0.
Noskova fought tooth and nail to stay in the match, saving break points with the scores locked at 4-4 and 5-5 in the second set.
But two double faults in the tiebreak cost Noskova dearly, with Sabalenka going on to seal her 11th WTA title. Sabalenka finished the match with 44 winners compared to Noskova’s 20.
Noskova immediately turned her attention to the Australian Open qualifiers after losing the final. “I was walking down the hallway and thinking, ‘Who am I going to play next in Melbourne?'” she said. “This (Adelaide) tournament doesn’t matter in a few hours.”
Emboldened by her Auckland success, Coco Gauff says she can contend at Melbourne Park for a first major title at the Australian Open.
Gauff was an emphatic champion at the ASB Classic, winning five matches without dropping a set, culminating in a 6-1 6-1 win in the rain-delayed final over Rebeka Masarova. Her toughest match, a second round defeat of 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin, stretched to just 83 minutes.
“It was a great tournament for me. I couldn’t ask for anything better,” she said. “Each match I improved. I feel really good in my game right now. And I feel really prepared for Australia.”
The win means Gauff, the world No.7, has three career titles. This was her first trophy since Parma in May 2021, and her first on hard courts since the Linz Open in 2019 – or as Gauff noted in her acceptance speech, her “first since I was 15”.
Perhaps surprisingly for someone on such an obviously upward trajectory, Gauff said she couldn’t be content with her 2022 season after a late fade-out of five straight losses – including three at the WTA Finals.
“It’s definitely hard to enjoy things when everyone’s expecting so much from you,” she said.
On Monday she will pack for Melbourne, where she will be expected to improve on her first-round exit last year.
In 2023, she will enjoy the protection of the seventh seed – her highest ranking at a major – and with the benefit of her Auckland form, Gauff is setting her sights high. “I ended the last season roughly but I completely turned that around this week.”
Two-time champion Naomi Osaka has formally withdrawn from the Australian Open, adding to the growing list of superstar casualties.
Osaka hasn’t played since September and was long odds to make her comeback at Melbourne Park after posting pictures on social media only last week of her jaunt through Europe with her US rapper boyfriend, Cordae.
“Naomi Osaka has withdrawn from the Australian Open. We will miss her at #AO2023,” Open officials tweeted on Sunday.
Ukrainian Dayana Yastremska has been promoted to the main draw in Osak a’s absence.
Champion at Melbourne Park in 2019 and 2021, Osaka took in the Mona Lisa, concerts and only seemingly returned to her Los Angeles base last week and has shown no sign of any Open preparation.
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