By Erik Gudris | Sunday, January 24, 2016
Week one at the Australian Open offered up plenty of upsets, surprises, and a fond farewell to one of the game's greats.
Photo Credit: Mark Peterson/Corleve
Once again, the first week of a major provided tennis watchers with big upsets and big news on and off the court. Here’s a look back at an eventful week one at the Australian Open.
More: What to Watch on Day Eight
Match Fixing Scandal
The biggest off-court news at the Australian Open happened far away from Melbourne. On opening day, the BBC and Buzzfeed issued a joint report about what it claims are ongoing abuses of match fixing in the sport. The report alleged 16 players - all in the top 50, including one Grand Slam champion - were linked to match fixing, but that the sport’s governing bodies are either ignoring the issue and/or are woefully understaffed to fully monitor and respond to deal with it.
The fallout continued with Roger Federer asking for specific names of potential wrongdoers while Novak Djokovic was asked repeatedly about various matches that he lost in 2007 that, though seeming suspicious to some, were completely legitimate results.
Though the focus has returned to the matches in Melbourne, this issue is not going away. While the ATP Tour’s top executives stressed that they are on top of things, this report, and more like them, will likely become a recurring story for the rest of the year. The big questions are will this report start any real change in the sport? Will lower ranked players, who barely make ends meet day in and day out, start getting more substantial prize money at events, something that might help deter them from considering accepting a bribe? Will tennis events stop taking sponsorship money from betting companies even though other professional sports continue to do so? Will the ATP and ITF step up their efforts to search out and punish those players who fix matches, or will they just hope that their current efforts will be good enough? Stay tuned.
What’s Next for Nadal?
Once again Rafael Nadal and Fernando Verdasco offered up a classic match in Melbourne. But this time it was Verdasco who prevailed in five sets to avenge his heartbreaking loss in 2009 to Nadal. The loss by Nadal opened up new questions on which way Nadal’s career is headed. What was most troubling for Nadal was, that once again, he fell short against an opponent who basically outhit him from every side of the court even though Nadal looked in control of the match.
Nadal, after his loss, said he was trying to adapt to changes in how the game is being played now. Though he once dominated so many players from the baseline, now Nadal appears a step slower and not able to close out matches as he once did.
To write off Nadal completely, including saying that he will never win another major title, is wrong. Many have called for Nadal to seek new coaching advice away from his uncle Toni Nada, If that happens or not, something needs to change for Nadal if he is going to halt these recent losses and once again prove himself to be a reigning member of the “Big Four”.
Seeds of Despair
Being a seeded player in the women’s draw at this year’s Australian Open did not prove to be an advantage. Simona Halep, Garbine Muguruza, Petra Kvitova, and more crashed out of the opening week. While it certainly made the women’s draw unpredictable and exciting for fans to watch, the reality is is that being a higher ranked player means very little in today’s WTA.
Except for the continuing dominance of Serena Williams, the WTA is at a level of parity unlike in years’ past. Anyone in the top 100 can beat anyone else on a given day and past results mean very little. What’s perhaps most troubling for many established players still trying to reassert themselves into becoming Grand Slam contenders again, there not have going to have it easy. Melbourne saw many younger and emerging players like Daria Gavrilova and more enjoy breakthrough performances.
Maria Sharapova fended off 18-year-old Belinda Bencic in their first ever meeting. Afterwards Sharapova said, “These are the players who will ultimately take out place but not quite yet.” Not quite yet, but they are closing in for sure.
Music To No One’s Ears
Nick Kyrgios was expected to draw more attention playing in his home major down under. Yet, along with tennis, he once again got embroiled in controversy mostly due to his volatile personality.
Kyrgios, while playing Tomas Berdych in the third round, became incensed over what he thought was music being playing in the arena. He berated the chair umpire despite calls from Australian fans in the stands to “get over it”. Kyrgios went on to lose in four sets. Though Kyrgios did not incur any fines for his behavior, it was clear that even his local fans are getting tired of his antics. Expect more fireworks from Kyrgios this season until he learns to balance his personality with his sizzling on-court game.
Farewell Lleyton
The year-long send off for Australian great Lleyton Hewitt came to a fitting, if somewhat disappointing end in the first week. Hewitt, playing in his 20th and last Australian Open, gave the local fans plenty to cheer about early when he won his opening round match against fellow Aussie James Duckworth. The party came to an end though in his next match at the hands of David Ferrer who easily beat Hewitt in straight sets.
Hewitt received accolades from players and fans for his incredible career, especially for how he battled through injuries and continued playing well into his 30’s. Hewitt will now start the next chapter of his tennis life as the new Australian Davis Cup captain.
"I've been very fortunate that I've had such a great career that I had the opportunity to go out on my terms,” Hewitt said. “A lot of great sporting athletes don't have that opportunity. And especially if you play in a team environment where a coach makes a decision whether you're going to play or not sometimes where you finish your career. I actually had the ball in my court in a lot of ways to do that here at the Australian Open. I feel really pleased about that.”