Chris Oddo and Richard Pagliaro break down a thrilling 2020 Australian Open, looking closely at the title runs of Sofia Kenin and Novak Djokovic as well as the runner-up performances of Dominic Thiem and Garbiñe Muguruza.



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On Sofia Kenin:

"To come from triple break point down and hit the five gutsiest and greatest shots of your life in a row, in succession, against a two-time Grand Slam champion and former World No.1 and just to lay it all out there at the moment when you need it the most--it blew my mind and it must have blew Muguruza's mind as well too, because it was just incredible that she was able to produce at that level, under that pressure. Just unbelievable."

Pagliaro adds: "Her ability to time the ball and take the ball on the rise, I think it's really unsettling for players."

On Garbine Muguruza:

"I do think it is the beginning of a building year--look you climb Mt. Kilimanjaro, majors seem like a speedbump compared to that."

"I think it is a breakthrough tournament for her."

"She's more of an all-court player than I think she gets credit for."



On Novak Djokovic

"If he didn't have that elbow injury I think he'd be at 20 majors right now," Pagliaro says of Novak Djokovic.

Pagliaro adds: "His strength of character and stamina might be his most underrated virtue. ... he will be the Grand Slam king in my view."

On Dominic Thiem

"What he did was build upon the promise that he showed us all at Indian Wells when he beat Roger in the finals to break through there, he showed us that his game is transferable, that he's not a one-surface champion, that he can do it on hard court." Pagliaro says.

"What he showed me is that he was able to flip the switch through a lot of turmoil and hard times," says Pagliaro, who points out that Thiem had a rough go at ATP Cup and things could have become more complicated when he fired Thomas Muster as his co-coach midway through the tournament."