Australian Open Midterm Grades: Favorites Still Alive in the Tournament

Both of the 2022 Australian Open champs were out by round two: Ash Barty having retired and Rafa Nadal having declined to retire from a match despite an obvious injury. The entire “Break Point” cast, it seems, was out by round three. This is the first Major after the retirements and sort-of-retirements of Roger Federer and Serena Williams … But the two pre-tournaments favorites—Novak Djokovic and Iga Swiatek—remain in the draw. Additionally: There’s an entire Special Forces unit of Americans, from young lefty Ben Shelton—on his first trip out of the country—to contenders Coco Gauff and Jessie Pegula. On to week two we go. But first, your midterm grades…

A

Novak Djokovic: Barring extraordinary upset (or an extraordinarily recalcitrant hamstring), his 10th title Down Under and 22nd Major overall beckons.

Iga Swiatek: The top seed is playing like it. And acting like it.

Americans: There are all manner of Yanks on both sides of the draw. Coco Gauff, the 18-year-old veteran, comes in for special recognition along with Sebastian Korda (who took out two-time finalist Daniil Medvedev.)

Andy Murray: It’s become international law that one cannot mention him without pairing with the descriptor “metal hip.” (Or mettle hip?) He also has 35 years under his belt, four kids at home, the best sense of humor in tennis and … after more than 10 hours on court and ten sets, he landed in round three. That was the end of his run, but must leave with real pride in his performance and confidence in his durability.

Chinese players: And not just the women. Zhu Lin (d. Sakkari) and Zhang remain. Seventeen-year-old Jerry Shang becomes first Chinese male to win a main draw match at a Major.

Czech teens: They just keep coming. Resistance is futile. Linda Noskova beat Ons Jabeur earlier this month. And the 17-year-old Linda Fruhvirtova (remember the name) announced herself in Melbourne. Speaking of special Czechs…

Martina Navratilova: Fighting her diagnosis as if it’s an opponent in the 80s. (Find her daily on the Tennis Channel pregame show, he says good soldieringly.)

A-minus:

Jack Draper: He lost his first match to Nadal. But—in what might be his last event for a while as an unseeded player—the secret is out.

Diana Shnaider: The Babushka-clad Russian teenage lefty, qualifies, wins a match and turns mild mannered Maria Sakkari into a WWE heel. Couldn’t spring that upset. But now in the top 100, she’s jeopardizing the likelihood she matriculates to N.C. State as planned.

Break Point: Hardcore tennis fans dwell on the unforced errors. Casual fans (and, critically, non-fans) are watching and enjoying.

B

Felix Auger-Aliassime: The Canadian has dropped sets in each of his first three matches. But onward he goes.

The run-up events: Great that tennis gives many players an opportunity to earn money and points the week before an event. But are we at the point where we’re better off clearing the weeks from the calendar? Players withdraw rather than risk sub-optimal health for Majors. Players who go deep, seldom have much left for the big show.

Coco Vandeweghe: Former semifinalist qualifies for the main draw, winning the decisive match 7-6 in the third … then falls in round one 6-3, 6-1.

Garbine Muguruza: We are duty-bound not to root. But only the coldest of souls isn’t quietly pulling for her. Entered last year’s event at No. 3. After losing in the first round—squandering match points—the future Hall of Famer is outside the top 80.

Dominic Thiem: We are duty-bound not to root. But only the coldest of souls isn’t quietly pulling for him. He won the U.S. Open in 2020. Since then, the affable Austrian fallen down the tennis mine shaft. After first round defeat, he’ll be outside the top 100.

C

Two seeds with two Major final showings in 2022: Both Casper Ruud and Ons Jabeur exit with whispers and whimpers in round two.

U.S. television coverage: If we operate on the supposition that “television is the lifeblood of a sports”… burying coverage, juggling coverage, moving matches to streaming, getting to the point that the coverage is so maddening that broadcasters are making explanatory social media videos? It’s a great way to kill a sport.

Injury-mania: Yes, injuries are part of sports. But this many? This early? This varied? Already low on stars, tournament loses Kyrgios, Alcaraz, Tomljanovic, Badosa before the event—and those are just the Netflix principles—and Nadal by Wednesday. We don’t think twice about images like this. Imagine other sports confronted with this fact pattern and, instead of addressing root causes or investing in solutions, essentially shrugging and saying, “Pity. Good luck with a fast and full recovery. Hope to see you back on tour soon!”

Scheduling: A sport that ends competition at 4 a.m.? It’s either a Le Mans 24 hour or a sport that resists serious treatment.