Because he wanted it (daily newspaper Junge Welt)

Last year, the Australian Open (January 16 to 29) was overshadowed by the drama surrounding Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic, who was not vaccinated against the corona virus. Djokovic said he could compete in the tournament with an exemption. But he was taken into custody at the airport and expelled after an undignified legal wrangling. The order to extradite came from the highest authority, the Australian government at the time wanted to be tough on “border protection”. Djokovic’s eternal competitor, Spaniard Rafael Nadal, jumped at the chance to claim his 22nd – and possibly final – Grand Slam title.

When Australian tennis pro Alex de Minaur heard about Djokovic’s expulsion at a press conference, he laughed. According to de Minaur, he had himself to blame for the mishap. “He knew the rules.” In the round of 16 of this year’s tournament, the Australian met the Serbs and was humiliated 2:6, 1:6, 2:6. When Djokovic was asked in the on-court interview why the victory was so clear, he said: “Because I wanted it that way.”

Six days later, Djokovic won the Australian Open for the tenth time, more times than anyone else. In the final he defeated the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas 6: 3, 7: 6, 7: 6. With outstanding serves, strong returns and great nerves of steel, as in the hard-fought second set, Djokovic forced his opponent to go to the limit again and again in order to even have a chance. It was no use.

By winning the tournament, Djokovic not only equalized Nadal’s record of Grand Slam titles, he also lifted himself back to first place in the world rankings – in a direct duel with Tsitsipas, who in turn would have replaced the only 19-year-old Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz there if he had won. Alcaraz was unable to compete in Melbourne due to a muscle injury.

Djokovic gave up a single set during the tournament, losing a tie-break in round two against Frenchman Enzo Couacaud. The other three sets against number 191 in the world rankings confirmed that this was little more than a blemish: 6: 1, 6: 2, 6: 0. Djokovic’s dominance throughout the tournament was almost uncanny. On average, he gave up eight games per match. Nothing seemed to bother him, neither provocations from the audience about his position on the Covid vaccination, nor allegations that he was faking injuries, nor the media hype surrounding his father, who was photographed with tennis fans showing pro-Russian symbols. These were expressly forbidden by the organizer, but not all visitors adhered to them, which led to numerous discussions, especially in the first week of the tournament.

Djokovic is now arguably the last survivor of the “big three” era in men’s tennis. Roger Federer ended his career in September 2022, Nadal, who is struggling with numerous injuries, lost six of his last seven matches on the ATP tour. In Melbourne it was already the end of the first round against the American Mackenzie McDonald, who had hardly appeared before. Nadal was apparently struggling with pain, and his wife shed tears in the stands. There is a new generation making men’s tennis exciting. In addition to Alcaraz, these include 19-year-old Dane Holger Rune, 20-year-old American Ben Shelton, 21-year-old Jannik Sinner (Italy) and Jiri Lehecka (Czech Republic), who all played well in Melbourne.

In the women’s tournament, it was once again confirmed that predictions are almost impossible. Just when you thought that Poland’s Iga Swiatek, who has been at the top of the world rankings since April 2022, would again guarantee a place in the Grand Slam final, she lost to Kazakh Elena Rybakina in the round of 16. In the semi-finals, there was exactly one player left in the top 20, Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka. After all, she managed to win the tournament, in the final she defeated Rybakina 4:6, 6:3, 6:4. There was a favorite win in women’s doubles. The number one seeded Czech couple Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova beat Japan’s Shuko Aoyama and Ena Shibahara 6-3, 6-4 in the final.

Amazing things in men’s doubles: After the Australian childhood friends Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis sensationally beat established doubles pairs last year, the Australian pairing Jason Kubler and Rinky Hijikata, who only slipped into the main competition through a wild card, managed the same feat this year. In the final, the two defeated the equally unseeded duo of Hugo Nys (Monaco) and Jan Zielinski (Poland) 6:4, 7:6. Along the way, the Australians eliminated number one seeded pairing Wesley Koolhof (Netherlands) and Neal Skupski (Great Britain). Kyrgios and Kokkinakis were unable to defend their title as Kyrgios had to pull out of the tournament at short notice due to a knee injury.

The mixed doubles confirmed once again that age does not stand in the way of success in this competition. Indian pairing Rohan Bopanna (42) and Sania Mirza (36), a former women’s doubles number one, made it to the final. There, however, the youth prevailed in the form of the Brazilian duo Luisa Stefani (25) and Rafael Matos (27).

Things didn’t go well for the German participants in Melbourne. In the individual competitions, only Laura Siegemund from Filderstadt was represented in round three. There she lost to number four of the tournament, France’s Caroline Garcia, 6-1, 3-6, 3-6. Alexander “Sascha” Zverev won his opening game against the lucky loser Juan Pablo Varillas from Peru in five sets, which he considered a success after his six-month break due to a serious ankle injury he sustained at the 2022 French Open. In round two it was against the American Michael Mmoh with 7: 6, 4: 6, 3: 6, 2: 6. The last German in the tournament was Andreas Mies in men’s doubles. With his Australian partner John Peers, he lost in the quarterfinals to Marcel Granollers (Spain) and Horacio Zeballos (Argentina).

Things went better for the Russian players, who, like their Belarusian counterparts, played under a neutral flag. Last year’s finalist Daniil Medvedev was eliminated in the third round by the American Sebastian Korda, but Andrei Rublev made it to the quarterfinals (loss to Djokovic) and Karen Khachanov, like at the US Open, even made it to the semifinals (loss to Tsitsipas). The women also had a semi-finalist in Victoria Asaranka (loss to Rybakina). The neutral flag didn’t seem to affect her performances any more than that of Belarusian women’s tournament winner Aryna Sabalenka. Neutral flags for everyone?