What Really Went Wrong For These Players At The Australian Open…

What Really Went Wrong For These Players At The Australian Open…

Subscribe to Our Newsletter “For The Love Of Tennis!” https://tennisplus.beehiiv.com/subscribe

Want To Help Support The Channel?:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgMAr3PRnvH4RSgHe_sVqUQ/join

SUBSCRIBE: https://bit.ly/tennisplusyt
SUBSCRIBE: https://bit.ly/tennisplusyt

For copyright matters relating to our channel please contact us directly at : Tennisplus@nanozebra.com
#atp #tennis #wta

Tennis is the greatest sport in the  world and if you disagree with me,   we are gonna have to battle it out – your  points against mine but before we do that,   let’s talk about the what really went wrong with  some of the biggest losers at the Australian Open…  

And then we’ll narrow down on a super quick recap  of everything that happened in tennis this week.  Big Losers At The Australian Open First of all, let me clarify that   this list has a lot of nuance to it  and shouldn’t be misconstrued as such.  Novak Djokovic The 10-time Australian Open champion  

Had no answers against an in-form Sinner, which  eventually led to his first defeat in Melbourne   since the 2018 fourth round and his first ever at  the semi final of the tournament. The result meant   that Nole saw an early end to his Calendar Slam  hopes once again. But at this point, I don’t think  

So many fans care anymore about Novak winning  a calendar grand slam because you only have to   take a wild guess at how many tennis players  have won 24 grand slams…How many? I bet you   already know. But then you might ask, “Doesn’t  this spell doom for Djokovic going forward?” My  

Response to that is…”Here we go again.” Isn’t this the usual narrative anytime   Djokovic loses a match? At this point, I believe  many of us are already aware of what we now call   the “Djokovic cycle”. Here’s what it looks like.  Novak dominates for long and wins all the slams,  

Which means that nobody then bets against him.  But then he loses to a younger player who is   peaking and then we all go like “This is the  end of an era.” (img). Personally, I’ll need   more convincing to believe that Novak won’t win  any more slams this year. On the bright side,  

I also think this loss will take some pressure off  him and allow him to go on another insane title   rampage like he did after his Wimbledon loss. But let’s look over all the drama surrounding   Djokovic’s loss and talk about someone  else who had a bitter pill to swallow. 

Daniil Medvedev Some tennis fans found themselves in a dilemma at   the Australian Open final when it came to picking  who they wanted to win the title. A maiden slam   for Sinner or a second major for Daniil Medvedev  after so many heartbreaks in the final. Jannik  

Sinner was considered the favorite since he was  a lot fresher than Daniil and had also beaten   the Russian in their last three encounters  but after Medvedev won the first two sets, he   looked to be on course for the title until Sinner  flipped the switch… and won the match in 5 sets. 

Considering that Medvedev has now lost 3  Australian Open finals in 4 years and 2 of   those after being two sets up, this loss will  surely hurt for a while. Although Daniil has a   healthy perspective like we see here it’s  a little hard to look past the fact that  

Meddy has now won only one of his 6 grand slam  finals. But for anyone who dares to downplay his   repertoire and call him a loser, former world  no. 1 Andy Roddick has some words for you.  Carlos Alcaraz For one reason or the other, the Australian Open  

Remains Alcaraz’s worst slam. Although he reached  the quarterfinal this time, which is something he   hasn’t done before, his loss to Sascha Zverev  brought a lot of talk about how Alcaraz has   lost a bit of his spark and some confidence as  well. But the truth is that although Carlitos  

Hasn’t won any tournament since Wimbledon, he  has put in a couple of impressive performances at   tournaments and isn’t playing badly in my opinion.  He just got beat by a better opponent and someone   who is actually good enough to beat him. We should be careful not to overlook room  

For growth with constant scrutiny in each of  Alcaraz’ performances. We’ve seen this sort   of thing among other greats, Pete Sampras being a  case in point. After his maiden slam win in 1990,   he had a few rough patches before his second major  almost 3 years after. Carlos has all the time in  

The world to improve and I reckon he will. But  it is a little different with this next player.  Holger Rune A second-round exit at the   Australian Open didn’t look too good for Rune. At  some point in the match, he vented his frustration  

By knocking off a mic from the umpire’s chair  (tweet). Rune being the highest seed to crash   out of the tournament against someone ranked world  no. 122 at the time was such a bummer considering   the fact that his contemporaries, Carlos Alcaraz  and Jannik Sinner both now have 3 grand slams  

Between them. Meanwhile, Rune is yet to make it  past the quarterfinal stage at any major. Less   than two months after hiring a new coach, Rune has  now parted ways with Severin Luthi and you can’t  

Help but wonder what the problem is at the moment.  (img) But let me ask you guys. How well do you see   Holger Rune performing this year? Alexander Zverev  We also need to include Alexander Zverev in this  list because he missed out on a big chance to win  

His first major. With Djokovic out of the way and  only a couple of points away from a final matchup   with Jannik Sinner, you can’t help but wonder how  the final would have turned out with Zverev being  

There. So close, yet so far for the German who has  now lost twice after leading by two sets to love.   Where do you think he missed it against Medvedev? Well, honorable mentions to Grigor Dimitrov,   Tommy Paul, and Ben Shelton all of  whom would have been disappointed  

With their performances at the AO as well. On the Women’s side, we have two standout names.  Iga Swiatek Iga was left looking for answers after her shock   exit. She inadvertently created the unenviable  record of becoming the first world No.1 to be  

Eliminated by a teenager in Melbourne since 1999.  12 months earlier, Iga admitted that she succumbed   to the pressure of being world no. 1 at the same  tournament. Swiatek has now gone beyond the fourth   round in Melbourne just once in five attempts.  Iga did however state that the court speed was  

A factor for her. She said it was quicker than  what she expected and that she was stressed more   than other tournaments. I’m pretty sure she’ll be  back to dishing out bagels and breadsticks at the   French Open which happens to be her favorite slam. Elena Rybakina 

For Elena Rybakina, the circumstances were  a little different. She had destroyed Aryna   Sabalenka in the final at the Brisbane  International earlier in the month and   wasn’t playing badly by any standards but  her second-round clash with Anna Blinkova  

Was a match for the Ages. Rybakina won more points  and had multiple. I literally lost count because   they were too many. But in the end, Rybakina  fell short at the final tiebreak that lasted   more than half-an-hour. Missing out on a lot of  ranking points and knowing that she was arguably  

The biggest threat to Sabalenka winning the  tournament will surely hurt for a while.  Who else did you have on your list as one of the  big losers at the Australian Open? Feel free to   share. Meanwhile, here’s what happened this week? Recap of the Week 

Saturday (Super Sabalenka) Already sounds like a long time since Aryna   Sabalenka defended her Australian Open against  Zheng chininwen. The Belarusian second seed   Sabalenka overpowered Zheng to a 6-3 6-2 victory  to claim her second Grand Slam trophy and doing so  

Without dropping a set. Sabalenka paid a heartfelt  tribute to her father, a former ice hockey player,   who passed away suddenly at the age of 43 in  2019. She then reflected on her difficulties   over the years and her satisfaction in being able  to defend her title. Nothing much happened for the  

Rest of the day as all attention turned towards  preparation for Sunday’s final between Jannik   Sinner and Daniil Medvedev. Sunday (A Final For Ages)  Including Sunday’s match, there were 35 five-set  matches played at the 2024 Australian Open,   which ties the record for most five-set  matches played at a Grand Slam in the Open  

Era. (Img) The only other time we saw as many  epic five-set battles was at the 1983 US Open.   Jannik Sinner faced Medvedev in the final and the  way the match played out was simply unbelievable.  

Medvedev raced to a 2 sets to love lead and looked  on course to finally get his hands on the elusive   Australian Open title but Sinner played the  match of his life to recover from the deficit   and win in 5 sets. In the process, Sinner smashed  the record for being the first Italian tennis  

Player to create a number of records in the sport.  I’m not really going to go into all the details   because we are making an analysis of the final and  Sinner’s fairytale Australian Open run. One way to  

Stay updated is to hit that Subscribe button,  so you don’t miss out on all the good stuff.  As the congratulatory messages poured in and with  the fanfare at an all time high in many places,   we were entertained by a rare clip of our newly  crowned grand slam champion doing this (clip). The  

Timing couldn’t have been better. Monday (Do Me A Favor Please)  After our circadian rhythms and body clocks  had been distorted for the last 2 weeks due   to the difference in time zones, many of us fans  were looking to catch up on some sleep. We woke  

Up to the updated rankings and all the changes,  which we covered in our weekly Newsletter. Yeah,   you should also Subscribe to our Newsletter, for  weekly recaps, hot takes, tournament updates,   and lots more. There are hardly any breaks in  tennis, so we all needed to quickly reset and get  

Ready for the ATP 250 tournament in Montpellier. Andy Murray got beaten by Benoît Paire in the   first round, which led to calls for his retirement  by some journalists and some fans who thought he   was beginning to tarnish his legacy with the many  early round losses. Murray, however, wouldn’t  

Hold back as he gave them a classy response.  Do me a favor please. (tweet). Personally,   I think Murray has earned the right to quit  whenever he wants. Shouldn’t be anyone’s business   really. He might be a shadow of his former self  but if he feels he still has something to give,  

Why not? For Benoit Paire, it would be his  first tour-level win since August 2022.  Elsewhere, we see Aryna Sabalenka make the  headlines once again as she finds herself on   the digital cover of Vogue Australia. She reckons  that she’ll be needing a couple of classes though  

To learn how to pose better. The highlight  of my day though was seeing an old clip of   Nick Krygios, one he wasn’t exactly proud of But that’s enough internet for the day. Let’s   see what Tuesday has in store for us. Tuesday (Hey, We Don’t Quit Here) 

It’s Tuesday and we see Richard Gasquet fall at  the hands of Pablo Llamas Ruiz in Montpellier.   Arthur Cazaux continues his impressive  form with a routine win. On the WTA tour,   the round of 16 gets underway at the Linz Open  and the Round of 32 in Thailand. 33-year-old  

Former world number 33 Federico Delbonis puts  an end to his ‘enriching’ 16-year career,   saying goodbye to the sport. The Argentine won  two tour-level titles and while he’s calling   time on the sport, someone else isn’t willing  to. 43-year-old Venus Williams has been told by  

Her younger sister Serena that she isn’t  allowed to quit (img). That being said,   we can expect to see more of her in the coming  tournaments. She intends to return in March,   targeting the American hard court tournaments  in Indian Wells and Miami. There’s good news  

Elsewhere with Sky Sports set to  launch their first ever dedicated   tennis channel in the UK & Ireland starting  from 11 February 2024. Better days ahead.  Wednesday (Last Chance) Wednesday came with an emotional   side to it off the court. Dominic Thiem reflected  on his struggles since his wrist injury and said  

That 2024 was his last chance to do something  to overturn his fortunes. He also split with   his coach Benjamin and stated that he will be  skipping Indian Wells and Miami to focus on   playing Challengers on Clay.(img). Do you see  any way back for Thiem or is this the end of  

The road? Holger Rune also parts ways with his  new coach and we ain’t exactly sure why. (img)  Meanwhile, Rafael Nadal heads back to the court  (clip) and will be looking to return to fitness.   Alex De Minaur shares some details about his  love life while Aryna Sabalenka opens up about  

Her friendship with Paula Badosa. Jannik Sinner  returns to the grind (img) because in his world,   there are no days off. Elsewhere, Iga Swiatek  does some go-karting as she looks to cool off   after a disappointing Australian Open. (Img) Back on the court, there aren’t too many upsets  

At the WTA tournaments but it’s such a bummer  seeing Paula Badosa retire due to a low back   injury in Hua Hin. Badosa, who was sidelined  for six months last year due to a back injury   and only returned to action three weeks ago,  began to visibly struggle towards the end of  

Her match against world number 108 Diana Shnaider  and subsequently had to retire. At the moment,   it is a little difficult to pinpoint the  exact injury, but we hope that it’s nothing   too serious. We also saw Jessica Pegula pull out  of the Middle East swing with a neck injury. Why  

Are we having so many injuries? Somebody? Anybody? On the Men’s side, the biggest news in Montpellier   was seeing former top 10 player Denis Shapovalov  squander 3 match points in his loss to Sascha   Bublik. After thrashing Bublik 6-1 in the first  set, Shapo must have thought that the second set  

Would have been equally as straightforward but  Bublik raised his game and was able to force a   decider which he decisively won. 1-6,7-6,6-3,  your final score there. But quick question for   you. Where do you think Denis Shapovalov  has missed it at this point in his career? 

Thursday (20 Years Already!) We go down memory lane on Thursday   and throw it back to 20 years ago when Federer won  his first of 6 Australian Open titles and became   the world number one for the first time…and  for the next 237 weeks (clip). Tennis hasn’t  

Been the same since then. And for many fans, no  matter what happens, Federer will always be the   reference point in tennis. If you want  to know what prime Federer looked like,   check it out in this video we made about him. On the court, Holger Rune gets secures 100th  

Tour-level win in Montpellier after dismissing  Llamas Ruiz to advance to quarter-finals but   it’s not so straightforward for Felix  Auger Aliassime who has to go recover   from a break down in the deciding test to go  through an in-form Arthur Cazaux in what was  

A rollercoaster third set. Cobolli, Coric,  and Shevchenko all win their matches. Taylor   Fritz withdrew from USA’s Davis Cup tie due to  injury and was replaced by Christopher Eubanks.  On the women’s side, what was supposed to be the  standout match between Donna Vekić and Dayana  

Yastremska ends up being one-sided with Vekić  dishing out breadsticks in both sets. 6-1,6-1.   Meanwhile, Ostapenko and Potapova win from  match point down in Linz (img) Off the court,   tennis legend predicts that Qinwen Zheng  will become a multiple slam winner as Andy  

Roddick labels Aryna Sabalenka as the most  consistent and bankable player on the WTA   tour. The WTA considers holding the WTA finals  at the Spectrum Centre which is home to the   NBA’s Charlotte Hornets. Hmmm, Interesting. Jannik Sinner then gives a word of advice to  

Young people on the importance of being careful  with social media. Sinner personally believes   that a lot of lies are projected on the internet  and prefers to be off the grid at times. He surely   has a point there or do you disagree? (Tweet).  World number 2 Carlos Alcaraz then playfully  

Reacts to FC Juventus’ signing of his namesake.  (img) (tweet). But the highlight of the day for   me was seeing Alejandro Davidovich Fokina get  engaged to the love of his life after his proposal   in Rome. Always a beautiful thing to see tennis  players finding lots of happiness off the court. 

Friday (Alexander Who?) So, it’s Friday and we see   more action in Montpellier. Alexander Bublik  comes from a set down to beat the number 6   seed Alexander Shevchenko in the all Kazakhstan  clash quarterfinal at Open Sud de France as he  

Continues to chase his 4th tour-level title.  Bublik fired down 15 aces throughout the match   and produced some clutch serving at important  moments but he’ll also be looking to reduce his   number of double faults. Elsewhere, Number 3 seed  Felix Auger Aliassime breezes past Harold Mayot  

In straight sets to set up a semifinal match  with Sascha Bublik. Ready to take a guess on   who makes it to the final between Bublik and FAA? Meanwhile, Holger Rune takes down Michael Mmoh as   he continues on his quest to rediscover  his very best form but before then,  

He reminds everyone that while Federer and Nadal  are usually seen as the good guys in the sport,   Novak Djokovic remains a popular figure among  the Next Gen. (img) Bet that would have left a   smile on Nole’s face. Always nice to see players  giving him the credit that he deserves. Borna  

Coric puts an end to Flavio Cobolli’s run later  in the day as we look forward to a Rune versus   Coric epic in the other semifinal. At the  Linz Open, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova takes   down number 4 seed Elise Mertens without much  trouble while top seed Jeļena Ostapenko barges  

Through Jodie Anna Burrage who could only win 3  games in the entire match. Ekaterina Alexandrova   makes it past Anastasia Potapova thanks to some  of the finest serving we’ve seen from her. Donna   Vekić then defeats Clara Burel after an  injury scare but she then reassures that  

There’s nothing much to be worried about.(Clip) We head over to Thailand where number 2 seed   Lin Zhu takes out Arina Rodionova in straight  sets to set up a clash with Wang Yafan. Number   3 seed Wang Xinyu comes through against Yulia  Putintseva in three sets and will now take on  

Diana Shnaider in the semifinal. Meanwhile,  Casper Ruud and his team found the best way   to prepare for the Davis Cup (clip). For those of  you ain’t quite sure what to make of Casper Ruud,   do you care enough to see a video about him and  do you reckon he makes another French Open final  

This year? We then see Elena Rybakina have a  practice session with Karen Khachanov .(clip)  Off the court, newly crowned Australian Open  champion Jannik Sinner shares an embrace   with Matteo Berrettini upon his return to  Italy. Andy Roddick has some good words  

To share about Coco Gauff and her father as  we look forward to more media presence from   Roddick. Can’t get enough of tennis can we? As usual, I’ve got you covered…Always. Until   next time but if you missed out on last  week’s recap, be sure to check it out here.