The Australian Open is one of the four “Grand Slam” tennis tournaments held annually in Melbourne Park. The Australian Open began on November 17th, 1905 as a private tournament but became a Grand Slam tournament after opening to the public in 1968. The Open in recent years has been dominated by the “Big Three” of men’s professional tennis:  Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, and Rafael Nadal as they have won all but two Australian Open titles since 2004. Djokovic has been the most dominant player as he has nine titles, while Federer has six, and Nadal only has three. The Australian Open for women has been dominated by Serena Williams, who many consider the greatest of all time, as she has won seven Australian Open titles, three more her closest competitors in  Steffi Graf, Margaret Court, and Monica Seles who all have four.

This year was no different as Rafael Nadal took home his third Australian Open title after coming back to beat Daniil Medvedev 2-6, 6-7, 6-4, 6-4, 7-5. However, Nadal coming into this tournament was considered a dark horse contender because he was only the sixth seed in this tournament and had only won two titles prior to this year. Also, he is most known for his play on red clay because he has won thirteen titles in the French Open, which utilizes red clay. Additionally, after Nadal lost to Djokovic in four sets at the French Open in 2021 many people thought he was not the same player. Although he proved he could still win a grand slam in 2022, a controversy around whether or not Nadal truly deserved the trophy as Djokovic was not allowed to play due to off-court (Covid-related) issues. Regardless, Rafael Nadal broke the three-way tie with Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic by claiming his 21st Grand Slam title. 

Additionally, number one ranked Ashleigh Barty defeated Danielle Collins 6-3, 7-6, to become the first Australian to win the women’s singles title since 1978. In Barty’s post-match speech she paid homage to her roots by stating “As an Aussie, the most important part of this tournament is being able to share it with so many people.” Barty at the age of 25 has won her third title after her dominating performance when she didn’t drop a set. However, her opponent was the highlight of the whole tournament. Danielle Collins of America was 28, ranked 30th, and was dealing with an injury coming into the tournament, but the injury has seemed to inspire her to go 32-7. Although she eventually lost, the triumph from being written off in the first rounds to making it to the finals shows her persistence.

The next scheduled tennis major is the French Open in Paris in late May and early June.  Wimbeldon follow in early July and the major season concludes with the US Open in August.