The Australian Open is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments in a year making it a major tournament for all those who compete. It was held this year from January 17 to January 30 at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. One thing that made the tournament even more interesting this year was the absence of three of the biggest names in tennis: Serena Williams, Novak Djokovic, and Roger Federer. After so many well-fought points, games, and matches champions were crowned and records were set.

Final Match Recaps

Mixed Doubles

This year the Australian Open mixed doubles winner was the number 5 seed team France’s Kristina Mladenovic and Croatia’s Ivan Dodig. After beating John Peers and Zhang Shuai (the number two seed) in the semi-finals Mladenovic and Dodig faced the Australian duo Jamie Fourlis and Jason Kubler on January 27. Even with it being their first tournament together and falling behind in the first set Mladenovic and Dodig won both sets 6-3 and 6-4. Even though the Australian duo could not come away with the win they made quite an impression as a wildcard team (ranking not high enough to qualify automatically).

Women’s Doubles

On January 29 the number one seed team in women’s doubles Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova from the Czech republic clinched a win giving them a major title on all three court surfaces (grass, clay, hard). They faced Anna Danilina and Beatriz Haddad Maia who had yet to lose when playing together and although Krejcikova and Siniakova came out with a win they did not secure the first set losing their first set in the tournament 6-7 but they came back strong to win the next two 6-4,6-4. The match spanned a total of two hours and 42 min. 

Men’s Doubles

After a tight first set, the Australians Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios became the first Australian team to win the Australian Open since 1997 in two straight sets with scores of 7-5 and 6-3. On January 29 Kokkinakis and Kyrgios defeated another Australian duo Matthew Ebden and Max Purcell. Kyrgios and Kokkinakis who can also be seen on the singles court excited many fans and did not disappoint in their performance. With a mix of great shots, strategies, and a few tweener volleys Kyrgios and Kokkinakis showed just what a threat they are. 

Women’s Singles

After a series of upsets in the women’s singles tournament, the number one seed and Australian native Ash Barty came out on top. The reigning Wimbledon champion and three-time grand slam singles winner beat the U.S.’s Danielle Collins 6-3 and 7-6 winning the seven-point in the second set 7-2. Collins, an underdog in every manner seeded 27 fought hard but could not hold off Barty’s powerful serve and strong gameplay. Along with winning, Ash Barty also secured a spot as a player who has won a major title on all three court surfaces and the first Australian to win the Australian Open in 44 years. Even though the number one seed ended up as champion there were many upsets throughout the tournament including 2021 champion Naomi Osaka who lost to Amanda Anisimova in the third round, third seed Gabiñe Muguruza who was defeated by Alizé Cornet in the second round and 19-year-old Emma Raducanu who had just won the U.S. Open fell short in a match against Danka Kovinić.

Men’s Singles