Australian Open 2024

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The draw is out for the AO which has a Sunday start this year. Djoko has Sinner in his half, meaning Alcaraz and Medvedev are in the other half.

Andy Murray begins against Echeverry and could meet Djoko in the third round if he gets that far. Alcaraz starts v Gasquet while Tsitsipas faces Berrettini and De Minaur takes on Raonic.

There are a couple of blockbuster first rounds in the women's, with Swiatek drawn against 2020 AO champ Kenin and last year's runner-up Rybakina facing former number one Pliskova. Emma R, assuming she's fit to play, will be up against Shelby Rogers. Osaka has a tough opener v Garcia.

Djoko, for me, is a clear favourite while Swiatek will be the player to beat in the women's. Be interesting to see how far Sinner will get. De Minaur is in form and could go deep as long as he gets past Raonic. Medvedev could, perhaps, have done with being in Djoko's half of the draw. As the seeding goes, he would have to play two stupendous matches to take the title - knocking out Alcaraz and then Djoko.

Well this is a bit of a surprise - Alcaraz two sets down. Perhaps he shouldn't have been telling everyone how well he was playing.

He just has to hang in there, hold serve and hope Zverev can't keep up the good form. *

Medvedev had more of a struggle earlier than he thought he would. I gather Hurkacz had a BP in that final set so he was close to winning.

*Whoops. Alcaraz on his way out. 4-1 down in the thrid.

And there's a break back for Alcaraz to trail 4-5.

Alcaraz gets the 3rd set on a tie breaker.

Game on

Lazarus-like, Alcaraz is back from the dead. He takes the tiebreak with seven successive points to go into a 4th set.

Zverev stops the Spaniards momentum by breaking in the first game of the 4th.

And Alcaraz breaks back straight away.

Zverev breaks to lead 5-4 & will serve for the match.

And thats the match to Zverev, winning 6-1, 6-3, 6-7, 6-4.

Well that was a big shock, although it has to be remembered that Zverev has been a top player for some years and it was only a nasty injury that forced him out of the very high ranking places.

Medvedev, you feel sure, will be happier to play the German rather than Alcaraz. Will Zverev play so well again and how fit is he going to be?

If Alcaraz didn't know it before, he certainly does now - that winning Slams and getting to number one means everyone wants to beat you.

He shouldn't be too hard on himself, though. He is still comparatively inexperienced and he'll know you learn more from your defeats than from your victories.

I am nor overly shocked. Zverev has a 5-3 record vs Alcaraz. Rather like Nadal, Alcaraz has a field day attacking players with weakness on the backhand side. Zverevs backhand is arguably his best shot and is very powerful and solid. The big shot for Zverev is his serve, if it behaves he is so dangerous but he has been prone on other days to double faults at key stages. Today he had his serve and backhand in full flow, he smothered Alcaraz and gave him few opportunities to attack and have time on the ball to dictate. In truth with the exception of the end of 3rd set and early part of 4th set, Zverev dominated him. I think his game style is a tricky match up for alcaraz

If Zverev does go on to take the title, and I don't think he will, his path to glory could not be harder.

He's either going to have had to beat the top three seeds, or numbers two, three and four. I seem to recall Berdych facing something similar at Wimbledon in 2010. Having beaten Federer (seeded one) in the q-f and Djoko (seeded three) in the semis, he had to face in the final.....Nadal (seeded two). It proved a match too far for Tomas.

You sometimes need luck to win a Slam. Maybe one year Zverev will emerge from some seed-scattered section of the draw to finally be triumphant.

Agree Berdych was really hard done by at Wimbledon 2010. He definitely deserved a grand slam that guy. One of very few I am sure who can say he beat Federer, Djokovic, Murray and so many other top players in grand slams. I seem to recall he beat Federer at the US open too. He was a great ball striker

Zverev is capable of winning a slam and several slams on merit.   The best tournament tennis I have seen him play was at the French Open 2022 when he injured his ankle going toe to toe with Nadal.  He won the Olympic Gold in 2021 beating Djokovic in the semi, when Djokovic was a set and break up, raising his level and Djokovic had no answers to that.   He is only 26 years old and as long as he gets back to full physical fitness (which I assume he now has) he can win many slams.

slashermcguirk wrote:... Zverev has a 5-3 record vs Alcaraz. Rather like Nadal, Alcaraz has a field day attacking players with weakness on the backhand side. Zverevs backhand is arguably his best shot and is very powerful and solid. ....

Interesting observation

Sabalenka showed her liking for Melbourne (13 straight wins now) by seeing off Gauff in straight sets.

She'll play Zheng in the final and it's very difficult to see anything but a second successive AO title.

Attention turns to the men. No doubt there are some who feel Sinner can topple Djoko. But I'm tipping Novak to win. Having said that, we saw at Wimbledon last year that a young guy prepared to go toe to toe with Djoko can come out on top even on one of Novak's favourite courts.

With the other semi I'm going for Medvedev. I just don't think Zverev will play as well as he did against Alcaraz.

Maybe I am being overly harsh but I just find the quality of the women's matches so poor most of the time. I thought the Sabelenka Gauff match was really poor, just one unforced error after the next. I get Gauff is still very young but I just dont rate her that high, reminds me of a Wozniacki type. Bats everything back effectively but certainly wouldnt pay to go and watch her.

I have said it before but i feel like since around 2010 women's tennis has been very poor. I appreciate that its more unpredictable which can be a good thing but for me the quality of players is nowhere like it used to be. If you imagine the likes of Graf, Seles, Hingis, Serena, Henin and a handful of others in their prime, I think they would destroy the current generation of players. Even Sabalenka, huge ball striker but its like she has no Plan B if ball bashing doesnt work, reminds me a bit of players like Rublev, no variety etc.

slashermcguirk wrote:.... i feel like since around 2010 women's tennis has been very poor ... for me the quality of players is nowhere like it used to be. If you imagine the likes of Graf, Seles, Hingis, Serena, Henin and a handful of others in their prime, I think  they would destroy the current generation of players. ....

I am not convinced that would happen.   It seems to me the women's game has evolved into a power hitting, faster, more physical game.   As a result you get more errors, more variability in outcome as women players tend to be now more on the edge of what is possible in terms of power and maintaining that power.  However I would put Serena in this modern list - she had incredible natural power,  and Seles - she was the women's version of Nadal.

Djoko beaten! A shock, and yet considering how well Sinner has been playing of late, not so much of a shock.

I awoke to find Djoko a set and a break down which rapidly became two sets down. Even then I thought he would fight back and he saved an MP in the third set tiebreak to take it to a 4th.

But his serve always seemed under pressure and Sinner got the break in the 4th game and held on to win 6-3 to make the final.

Sinner never faced a break point.  Djokovic had difficulty holding his serve.  This was a convincing win for Sinner: 6-1 6-2 6-7 6-3

My preference is for a Zverev win. However let the best man win.

We could have a new GS champ and we certainly will if Zverev can overcome Medvedev.

I tipped Djoko to come out on top v Sinner. This was the AO where Novak has reigned supreme for ages. But as we saw with Alcaraz at Wimbledon last year, a young player performing well can topple Djoko even at his favourite venues.

Sinner said afterwards he reckoned Djoko wasn't feeling great on court. It could be that Novak was under the weather. This should not detract from Sinner's performance, though.

So who will he play in the final? I'm going for Medvedev.

No name Bertie wrote:

slashermcguirk wrote:.... i feel like since around 2010 women's tennis has been very poor ... for me the quality of players is nowhere like it used to be. If you imagine the likes of Graf, Seles, Hingis, Serena, Henin and a handful of others in their prime, I think  they would destroy the current generation of players. ....

I am not convinced that would happen.   It seems to me the women's game has evolved into a power hitting, faster, more physical game.   As a result you get more errors, more variability in outcome as women players tend to be now more on the edge of what is possible in terms of power and maintaining that power.  However I would put Serena in this modern list - she had incredible natural power,  and Seles - she was the women's version of Nadal.

The Graf backhand slice would completely befuddle most of the current women's tour and she had serious power on the forehand side too (Fraulein Forehand for a reason), she had variety to her game which is missing today. Footwork is arguably the most important aspect of a players game rather than brute power. Henin played in an era of power hitters (better than todays crop) and thrived, the best one handed backhand I think i've ever seen, again the slice and footwork would be too much for the current crop.

slashermcguirk wrote:I think this is Sinner's time. I had a feeling from the start that he would win it and I am even more convinced now. He has been the most in form player and to be fair he was so strong at the end of last year too. I had the feeling the one time he might lose was an early round when he  might be rusty but he has played himself into great form. You can simply never write off Djokovic but for me his form hasnt been close to his best. I think Sinner might well inflict a first loss at the Oz open for Novak since 2018. I cannot believe he is unbeaten that long, just remarkable consistency

Good call.

The second semi is going the distance and, finally, Medvedev has his nose in front. He has just broken Zverev to lead 3-2 in the 5th.

Zverev was two sets up but the Russian hung on in there, took the third on a tiebreak and then took the 4th also on a tiebreak after Zverev had two serves for it at 5-4 in the tiebreak.

Medvedev completes the comeback with another break to take the set 6-3 and the match.

Zverev will be very disappointed as he was in charge for much of the match. Serving at 5-4 up in that 4th set tiebreak, he was mighty close victory.

I would have made Sinner favourite to beat Zverev in the final and it might be harder, now, against Medvedev. But the Italian has been the outstanding player over the last few months and this is a terrific chance for him.

I am happy for Sinner who has been the form player since the end of last year. I thought he played very solid today but my goodness that is about as bad as I have seen Djokovic play for quite some time. His backhand and his return of serve were both really poor today, he just looked totally out of sync. He didnt even seem that bothered by it all on court, body language just looked passive most of the time. I guess you forget these guys are human, he hadnt lost at Oz open since 2018 which is extraordinary.

Anyway Sinner the deserved winner and I hope he goes on to win it now. I cant believe Zverev is after blowing a 2 set lead and lost to Medvedev. I thought maybe with that relative hammering of Alcaraz and dealing with the pressure in that one he was going to cruise into the final after taking two set lead. That loss is going to really hurt him.

While I respect Medvedev for being a really formidable competitor and he has a hugely effective game, I really do struggle to enjoy his playing style. I just find him dull to watch but he is an interesting character.

Based on form you would have to think this is Sinner's tournament to win, a lot will come down to which version of Sinner turns up. That being said, Medvedev can make any match akward!!

Djokovic's failing was not calling for his own medical timeout, instead of relying on a spectator falling ill. He'll learn from this.

Djoko afterwards said he'd played as poorly as in any of his GS matches, although he praised Sinner's effort.

Have just watched some highlights and been particularly impressed with Sinner's speed around the court. One of the key points was Djoko serving at 1-2, 40-0 in the 4th set. He did a drop shot but Sinner not only got to it but played a delicate cross-court drop shot winner from it.

From there he was able to get the crucial break and went on to win. I guess the bookies will make Sinner favourite for the title but knowing Medvedev the Italian will have to battle for it.

Another key point came in the other semi at 5-5 in the 4th set tiebreak. A winning point here, with Zverev serving, would have given the German MP. Medvedev appeared to mishit his return which dropped just over the net for a winner. He held his racquet up in apology and next point it was two sets all.

Such are the fine margins which can decide tennis matches. It must be a nightmare to play Medvedev who looks like he's prepared to run and rally for ever.

As expected Sabalenka was too powerful in the final and takes her second Melbourne title.

I'm expecting Medvedev to give Sinner a tough match. But the Russian has had some exhausting encounters although Sinner is probably playing well enough to win without an opponent's fatigue being taken into account.

Sinner in three or four sets, for me.

Almost time for the men's final. It could be a cracker. Medvedev is the more experienced, but Sinner is the fresher and has been outstanding for some months now.

The Big Four had had a hold on Wimbledon for 20 years before Alcaraz toppled Djoko last summer. The Big Three had held sway in Melbourne since 2014. Now that will change too.

Medvedev gets an early break in the final. Djoko didn't earn a single BP in his semi v Sinner. But the Italian is broken in just his second service game.

It's early days, yet. But this is a good start for Medvedev.

Medvedev breaks again in the ninth game to take the first set 6-3.

It all seems to be going wrong for Sinner. Medvedev now a set and 4-1 up and he's had TEN break points.

The Italian has got to try to spin this out and hope he improves and that Medvedev's level drops off.

With Medvedev two sets to love up it got to deuce at 4-4 in the third with Sinner serving. But he held on and broke Med in the next game to take the third set.

Pretty much a repeat in the 4th set, with Sinner holding on in a difficult service game and then breaking for 6-4 and.....we're into a 5th.

An epic comeback from Sinner in a day of epic comebacks.

We have a new GS champ. Sinner takes the 5th and the match. Medvedev, understandably, lacked a bit of fizz in the latter part of the match.

He couldn't get the ball past Sinner who was coming up with all the winners.

While I would never bet against Djoko at Melbourne, I thought that if anyone else was likely to take the title it would be Sinner.

He came into the tournament as very much the man in form. When the draw came out he was probably not all that phased by being in the same half as Novak, given that he'd beaten him twice in a few days at the end of last season.

Yes, Djoko by his own admission, played poorly in the semi. But maybe Sinner would have won anyway.

For the second Slam running, Medvedev has found the final a match too far. Perhaps he needs to adapt his game to shorten his matches. I saw some of the latter stages of the final live and the Russian did look as if he had run out of steam.

So now all the top four have won a Slam and they are emerging as a new Big Four. I'm sure we've not seen the last of Djoko but the young bloods are gunning for him.

I guess it was a surprise that Djoko didn't win in Melbourne and his record of never having lost a semi or a final there has gone.

But if anyone was likely to capture his crown it was Sinner. The Italian was fortunate to come up against a poorly-playing Djoko and then he had a stroke of good fortune in the final as Medvedev was, finally, worn out.

But getting through a Slam without becoming overtired is a skill in itself. Medvedev, perhaps, needs to win his matches more quickly.

So what does all this mean for the rest of the season? Djoko will be smarting and you feel he'll bounce back. Alcaraz, too, will be hurt by his loss to Zverev.

It was a pity Rafa couldn't play in Melbourne. But it's encouraging that he's already announced a quick return to the courts in February.

That was Medvedev's fourth five setter in 11 days which is far from ideal, 30 sets overall (including a retirement in the second round) and in 2022 it was 28 sets. Sinner by contrast played 24 sets, waltzing through the first five rounds in straight sets. That is a significant difference in court time and something the Russian needs to remedy if he's going to win more slams.