Australian Open tennis the story so far

We’re now a full week into the 2022 Australian Open and it’s been a decent and eventful tournament so far, to say the least. 

Here’s a quick summary of the top stories so far… 

Djokovic is a distant memory

That whole messy Djokovic saga now feels like it’s a million miles behind us, as he’s now in a meditation center in Montenegro and totally forgotten about. To be honest the men’s tournament is just way more exciting and has been blown wide open without him there.

Who really wants to watch the record all-time winner cruising it yet again? 

No one, it just gets boring…

Australia’s possible home-court winners

Australia’s top men’s and women’s tennis players are still in the tournament - Nick Kyrgios and Ashleigh Barty. Let’s take a look at how their chances of a home-court Grand Slam win are shaping up.

The Barty Party continues…

Barty is still the strong favorite to win the women’s Grand Slam after booking her place in the quarter-finals with a fairly comfortable straight-sets victory over Amanda Anisimova. The Queensland native, aged 25, defeated her American opponent 6-4 6-3 to progress. The world number one is almost certainly Australia’s best hope of a winner.

That being said though, we’re not ruling out…

Double trouble from “The Special K’s”

Australia’s Nick Kyrgios isn’t exactly known for his modesty or for giving mundane interviews. Kyrgios and his doubles partner Thanaski Kokkinakis, dubbed “the Special K’s”, pulled off a shock win over the current world number one team, Nikola Mektic, and Mate Pavic, in straight sets in the second round. They then followed it up with a third-round win on Sunday. Having booked their place in the quarter-final, Kyrgios has come out to boldly declare that he and Kokkinakis are now favorites to win the doubles Grand Slam.

To be honest, we wouldn’t rule it out, but moving back to the men’s game…

Will we see a new men’s Australian Open winner?

After seeing off Adrian Mannarino in straight sets on Monday night, Nadal is the only previous Australian Open winner to make it into the quarter-finals of the tournament. Nadal had to overcome a 28 minute-long tie break in the first round to win the first set 7-6 (16-14). After that, his French opponent dropped off dramatically as Nadal, 35, went on to win the following sets 6-2 6-2.

Nadal will now play Canada’s Denis Shapovalov in the quarter-finals. Shapovalov pulled off a shock upset win over Alexander Zverev. This is Shapovalov’s first-ever Australian Open quarter-final at the age of 22. The other confirmed quarter-final sees Gaël Monfils of France take on Italy’s Matteo Berrettini.

Do you think we’ll see a first-time Australian Open winner this year, or will Nadal win his first Australian Open title since 2009?