We came off from an excellent 2nd half of tennis last year thanks to our two excellent players in Nick Kyrgios (Wimbledon Final & QF US Open) & Ajla Tomjlanovic (Back-to-Back QFs), as well as the Final of both Davis Cup & Billie Jean Cup Team campaigns where we were runners-up to Canada & Switzerland respectively.
When it comes to our Aussies at the Australian Open this year, we hoped that Kyrgios & Tomljanovic would be there as our marquee stars amongst the top seeders after the retirement of last year’s women’s singles champion Ash Barty. Sadly, their respective injuries in the lead-up tournaments has prevented them the chance to show something special on home soil here at Melbourne Park.
The men’s draw was not bad with Alex De Minaur doing so well up until the 4th round where he was easily eliminated by eventual champion Novak Djokovic (Serbia). So does Alexei Popyrin with his upset win v 8th seed Taylor Fritz (USA) in RD 2 before he was gone next round in straight sets by another American in Benjamin Shelton. For the women though, it just wasn’t the same without Barty & even Tomljanovic where we only had Olivia Gadeki & Kim Birrell into the first two rounds, before their own exits mean that there’s no more Aussies left in this draw.
Let’s hope our Aussies go well at the other grand slams if we want a strong home campaign barring injuries next year, with the Roland Garros (Paris, France) next up in late May. And let’s not forget that we are still so good in the men’s doubles circuit also on home soil, with the Special Ks (Nick Kyrgios & Thanasi Kokkinakis) smashing it last year & now it’s the Jason & Rinky duo of Jason Kubler & Ricky Hijikata following their straight sets triumph late on Saturday night v Hugo Nys (Monaco) & Jan Zielinski (Poland).
So lots to look forward when cheering our own Tennis stars, while Australia is looking to go one better in 2023 with the Davis Cup & Billie Jean Cup Finals campaigns.
