Evelyn Reynolds

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    Rafael Nadal Wins the Australian Open, His 21st Grand Slam Title

    Nadal broke his tie with Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer in men’s singles major career victories by beating Daniil Medvedev in five sets in the final.MELBOURNE, Australia — For an aging champion who has earned his reputation as one of the greatest competitors in sports, it was a fitting way to stand alone with 21 Grand Slam men’s singles titles.Down, two sets to none, in the Australian Open final, against the higher ranked and considerably younger Daniil Medvedev, Rafael Nadal did not simply count himself fortunate to have made it so far in a tournament he once considered himself unlikely to play.Instead, he did what he has done since he burst onto the tennis scene nearly 20 years ago as a longhaired teenager in pirate pants.He fought. He thought. He fought and thought some more, and his prize was his most unexpected major title and a victory, 2-6, 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-4, 7-5, that was utterly suitable for archiving.It was a match awash in long rallies, momentum shifts, dazzling winners on the run and break points saved and converted. It started on Sunday evening in Melbourne and ended after 1 in the morning on Monday. It was 5 hours 24 minutes of true grit, and it broke Nadal’s tie with his greatest rivals, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, who are now tied for second on the men’s career list with 20 Grand Slam singles titles each.“For me, it’s just amazing,” Nadal said. “Being honest, one month and a half ago, I did not know if I will be able to be back on the tour playing tennis again, and today I am here in front of all of you having this trophy with me. You really don’t know how much I fought to be here.”Nadal, a Spaniard seeded sixth here, has proved many times that he does not beat himself. He just won’t. You need to pry a match and trophy from his hands, point by point, game by game, set by set. The second-seeded Medvedev, despite all his power and skills, could not manage it, losing his way midway through the third set and never quite figuring out how to correct course.Nadal gave him openings, no doubt, failing to serve out the championship at 5-4 in the fifth set with the crowd behind him as it was throughout this marathon of a match. But at 5-all, Medvedev could not capitalize. Nadal broke him right back and then served for the title again.This time, he did not blink. Let the record note that he clinched No. 21 by holding at love, winning a baseline rally, hitting a service winner, and then an ace and then a backhand volley winner into an open court that was an apt final touch to one of his masterpieces.It was not his cleanest or prettiest work of performance art. He had to draw outside the lines and erase some of his game plan to find a way to the finish, but this was definitive, vintage Nadal in that he managed to continue competing in the moment no matter how rocky the previous moment might have been.He is 35 and did not win a Grand Slam tournament in 2021 — losing to Djokovic in the semifinals of the French Open, the tournament where Nadal has reigned supreme, then playing only one more tournament the rest of the season because of a chronic foot problem.There were discussions with his family, friends and support team about retirement. But Nadal remains passionate about the game, and after recovering from the coronavirus in late December, he flew to Australia to try again.Nearly one month later, he has yet to lose a match in Melbourne, winning a warm-up tournament at Rod Laver Arena, then winning the main event by working his way through seven rounds in all sorts of ways and weather.He suffered in the heat against Denis Shapovalov in the quarterfinals, losing a two-set lead and seeking medical treatment off court before winning in five sets. But Sunday’s final was played under the lights in the evening.Medvedev, beaten by Djokovic in straight sets in last year’s Australian Open final, was the dominant player at the start this time.He extended Nadal in his two opening service games, then broke him at love in his next two service games to take firm command of the opening set.Rod Laver Arena during the men’s singles final match between Nadal and Daniil Medvedev.Paul Crock/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesThe second set quickly became more complicated — and spectacular — as they attacked, stretched and defended brilliantly. Nadal won a 40-shot rally, the longest of the match, finishing it with a crisply sliced backhand winner that landed on the sideline and earned a standing ovation and then his first break of serve.But his early lead proved unsustainable as Medvedev reeled him in, showing more consistency in the extended rallies and winning many more quick points with his bigger first serve.A Russian, Medvedev was prevailing in the duel between Nadal’s best shot (his bolo whip of a forehand) and his own best shot (a slap of a two-handed backhand). Medvedev finally broke back as Nadal served for the set in a marathon game and failed to convert a set point.Medvedev then rallied from 3-5 in the tiebreaker by winning the final four points to take what looked like a commanding two-set lead.Nadal hugged his father, Sebastián, after the match.Martin Keep/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesNadal has now won all four of the major tournaments at least twice. He won his first Australian Open title in 2009, defeating Federer in five sets and then consoling him as he broke down at the awards ceremony. But Nadal has often been the one in need of comforting in Melbourne since then.He lost four straight finals in radically different ways. In 2012, Djokovic beat him in a nearly six-hour test of skill and will that left both men struggling to stand as they awaited their trophies. In 2017, Federer, playing freely as he returned from injury, snuffed out Nadal’s own comeback story by rallying from 1-3 deficit in the fifth set.Then, in 2019, Djokovic dealt Nadal the most lopsided defeat of his career in a major final, dominating him, 6-3, 6-2, 6-3. Watching that rout and knowing Nadal’s history in Melbourne, it seemed difficult to imagine him winning another Australian Open.But Nadal surprised the field this year, and also surprised himself. More

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    Ashleigh Barty Wins Australian Open Women’s Singles Title

    The top-ranked Barty defeated an American, Danielle Collins, to become the first Australian to win the Grand Slam singles title there since 1978. “I’m so proud to be an Aussie,” she said.MELBOURNE, Australia — The 44-year drought was over in Ashleigh Barty’s sunburned country. Barty, often inscrutable on a tennis court, had just finished letting her guard down with a full-flex howl of delight that could almost be heard above the roars in Rod Laver Arena.Now, Barty, Australia’s first Australian Open singles champion since 1978, was motioning to someone on the other side of the deep blue expanse, beckoning with both hands and a relaxed smile.Casey Dellacqua emerged from the sidelines. They have been close for a decade — since Barty summoned the moxie at age 15 to ask her to play doubles — and it seemed appropriate on this fulfilling Saturday night that Dellacqua, now retired, be the first to embrace her.“She brought me into the sport again,” Barty said.Dellacqua supported Barty’s decision in September 2014 to leave the tennis tour. Barty, just 18, was depressed, lonely and desperate to live a more normal life than that provided by hotels and practice courts. And when Barty had spent more than a year away from the game, playing professional cricket and leaving the jet lag behind, it was Dellacqua who invited her out for a hit and helped her realize that she did indeed want to fully explore her prodigious tennis talent.Barty returned to the tour in 2016 with no ranking but full commitment, and Saturday’s 6-3, 7-6 (2) victory over Danielle Collins of the United States was the latest proof that she made the right decision, for herself above all, but also for her sports-mad country.“She knows how proud I am of her,” Dellacqua said as she sat next to Barty on the set of Australia’s Channel Nine on Saturday. “Everybody thinks I have done a lot, but I cannot explain what Ash has done for me.”For a tennis nation like Australia, home to Rod Laver and Ken Rosewall and to grass courts in country towns and fancy clubs, it beggars belief that it would take 44 years to win any tournament, much less their own. But the drought was real in Australia, as homegrown champions like Patrick Rafter and Lleyton Hewitt and Samantha Stosur won major singles titles abroad but came up short in Melbourne.Barty, now 25, has solved the riddle — aced it actually — by not dropping a set in any of her seven matches at this year’s Australian Open.Born and raised in the steamy Australian state of Queensland, Barty has been ranked No. 1 for more than 100 weeks and has become a hugely popular figure in her home nation. Her matches during the Open this year have attracted large television audiences.But until now, her most significant triumphs also have come far from Australia. She won her first Grand Slam singles title in 2019 at the French Open and won Wimbledon last year when most Australians were unable to travel because of coronavirus restrictions.But she was able to organize a “Barty Party” at home this year, defeating the 27th-seeded Collins in prime time.After erasing two breaks of serve to rally from 1-5 deficit in the second set, she dominated the tiebreaker and finished off her victory with a forehand passing shot winner.After hugging Dellacqua, Barty was presented the winner’s trophy by another of her touchstones, Evonne Goolagong Cawley, a four-time Australian Open singles champion who, like Barty, is of Indigenous Australian heritage. The two women from different eras — Goolagong Cawley is 70 — have developed a deep connection, and Goolagong Cawley’s appearance on Saturday night was kept a surprise from Barty, who had not seen her in a year.“As an Aussie, the most important part of this tournament is being able to share it with so many people,” Barty said in her victory speech. “You guys today in the crowd have been nothing shy of exceptional. This crowd is one of the most fun I’ve ever played in front of and you guys brought me so much joy out here today. You relaxed me and you forced me to play my best tennis and against a champion like Danielle I know I had to absolutely bring that today.”In truth, it was not Barty’s best tennis: there were too many nervy shots, a first serve percentage of just 57 percent and even a missed backhand volley into an open court. But in light of the occasion and all that Aussie-Aussie-Aussie expectation, it was a stirring finish and it capped a dominant performance throughout the tournament.Barty’s final match wasn’t perfect, but it was stirring, and capped a dominant performance throughout the tournament.Alana Holmberg for The New York TimesBarty swept through the draw by controlled play with her precise and powerful first serve, crisply chipped backhand and versatile topspin forehand. She won 82 percent of her first serve points against Collins, an aggressive returner, working wonders repeatedly with her sliced serve in the deuce court and fighting through some shaky patches to find the angles and lines when she needed them most.Barty has not beaten a player ranked in the top 10 in any of her three Grand Slam singles victories. That is not her fault, of course, and there were seven other top 10 players in Melbourne this year.Collins will surely harbor some regrets about the second set. She was in firm command at one stage and seemed to be relaxing under duress while Barty was tightening, double faulting twice to go down 1-5. But though Collins was within two points of winning the set in three different games, she could not close the deal as the near-capacity crowd gave Barty nothing but positive reinforcement, meeting Collins’s errors with cheers and her winners with polite applause.Collins was unusually subdued early, though was soon pumping her fist and shouting her trademark “Come on!” But she said she has struggled with back pain during this deep run in Melbourne, which explains why she has been standing up on changeovers instead of taking a seat, and neither her body nor her nerve could sustain her in the second set.“She started to push me back in the court a little bit more. I think I was having some issues really being able to fully rotate on some of my shots to be able to get my shots to where I needed them to be,” Collins said. “It was really unfortunate, but did everything I could, tried to push through it, fell short.”Collins delivered an eloquent, moving speech, breaking into tears as she thanked her mentor, Marty Schneider, doing justice to the occasion and to Barty.Danielle Collins was within two points of winning the second set in three different games.Alana Holmberg for The New York Times“It’s been tremendous to watch her climb the rankings all the way to No. 1 and live out her dream,” Collins said.It was a road game for Collins, but she has played plenty of those in her long and challenging climb from the public parks of Florida to a Grand Slam final.Collins, 28, was a two-time N.C.A.A. singles champion at the University of Virginia and did not turn fully professional until she was 22, quite a contrast with Barty, who began her professional career at age 14.Collins will rise to No. 10 in the world rankings after her run and become the top-ranked American for the first time. But she could not stop Barty from giving Chris O’Neil company. O’Neil, the last Australian to win the Australian Open in singles was an unseeded player ranked outside the top 100 who never made another deep run at a major tournament after her victory in 1978.The crowd cheered as Barty howled after winning match point.Alana Holmberg for The New York TimesBarty has now solidified her spot as the world’s top-ranked player and has won her three Grand Slam singles titles on three different surfaces, red clay at the French Open, grass at Wimbledon and hardcourt in Melbourne. The only Grand Slam singles title she has yet to win is the U.S. Open, although she did win the women’s doubles title in New York in 2018 with her American partner, CoCo Vandeweghe.At 5-foot-5, Barty is not physically imposing in a sport increasingly populated by taller players like the 5-foot-10 Collins. But Barty is a complete threat, able to adjust her game on the fly and hit a particularly wide variety of shots.When she returned to tennis in February 2016, she did so with a new coach, Craig Tyzzer. They have formed quite a partnership and have worked to develop Barty’s game while preserving her mental health and enthusiasm.She did not compete on tour for most of 2020 because of coronavirus restrictions, and after her successful summer in 2021, she was weary and homesick and chose to return to Australia after losing in the third round of the U.S. Open instead of remaining overseas and competing in the WTA Finals in Mexico. Despite the similarity between the hardcourt surfaces used in Melbourne and New York, Tyzzer surprisingly said on Saturday that he does not think that Barty will win the U.S. Open unless the tournament makes a move to using heavier balls that are better suited to her game, which relies heavily on spin.But the decision to take a break certainly has paid off at the start of 2022. She is 11-0, winning the title in Adelaide and now, most significantly, seven matches at the Australian Open, giving Australians a much-needed lift after nearly two years of pandemic lockdowns and restrictions.“It can’t be easy playing with the weight of your country on your shoulders,” said Todd Woodbridge, the former Australian Open star, at the awards ceremony.But Barty’s shoulders were sturdy enough, and the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup was soon glittering in her deft hands. More

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    Nick Kyrgios Aims for a Men's Doubles Title at the Australian Open

    Nick Kyrgios lost early in the Australian Open singles tournament, but that has not stopped him from grabbing the spotlight, as he so often does at his homeland Grand Slam.Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis, his close friend and fellow Australian, received a wild-card entry into the doubles draw. They have triumphed through the competition using a mix of skill and showmanship that has turned their matches into raucous celebrations, the furthest thing from the often-sedate affairs usually associated with tennis.They have made their message clear to fans — drink up and make noise. To purists it is sacrilege: an improper, disrespectful display of toxic masculinity and style over substance, like all the between-the-leg half volleys and underhand serves Kyrgios employs. The moves are used both as weapons and to keep himself and the crowd entertained.Entertainment shouldn’t be a problem on Saturday, given the all-Australian men’s doubles final that features Kyrgios and Kokkinakis against compatriots Matthew Ebden and Max Purcell.To Kyrgios, the better the show, the better the tennis. And the louder and more uncomfortable the fans can make it for the opponents, the better a chance he has of prevailing.“Playing for them is more important than tennis success,” Kyrgios, who wears a basketball singlet during his matches, said of his supporters after he and Kokkinakis won their quarterfinal match. During that match, the network televising the Australian Open kept cutting away from Rafael Nadal’s five-set thriller over Denis Shapovalov to cover the Kyrgios-Kokkinakis show.“The level of entertainment is different,” Kyrgios said. With Kyrgios leading the men of Australian tennis, it always is.Kyrgios, right, and Kokkinakis during their quarterfinal win at the 2022 Australian Open last week.Kyrgios during his first-round win at the Open. Kyrgios has said that John Cain Arena is his favorite court to play at, and the tournament schedules many of his matches there.Young fans surrounded Kyrgios as he signed autographs after practice at the National Tennis Centre in Australia last week. While security tried to move him swiftly through the crowd, he paused to joke and take selfies with as many people as he could, and he signed until he was told to move on.Kyrgios greeted his girlfriend, Costeen Hatzi, after his semifinal win with Kokkinakis in men’s doubles.After his semifinals win, Kyrgios met his support team and family for dinner at the restaurant Nobu in Melbourne.Kyrgios and Kokkinakis defeated the top-seeded partners Nikola Mektić and Mate Pavić of Croatia in a straights upset on Day 5 of the Australian Open.Fans were overjoyed at Kyrgios’s first-round match. His opponent, the British qualifier Liam Broady, described the atmosphere as “incredible” in a post-match interview but also said he found the experience “absolutely awful’” after being taunted throughout the match as Kyrgios won, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3.Kyrgios, who is known to draw a younger and more vocal crowd to his matches, vented his frustration to the crowd after someone yelled out before his serve. He subsequently lost the point. More

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    Nadal and Medvedev Will Play in Australian Open Final

    The Spaniard defeated Matteo Berrettini and will play for a record 21st career Grand Slam men’s singles title against Medvedev, who beat Stefanos Tsitsipas in four sets.MELBOURNE, Australia —Rafael Nadal moved within one match of a record-breaking 21st Grand Slam men’s singles title by defeating Matteo Berrettini of Italy, 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, in the semifinals of the Australian Open.The sixth-seeded Nadal will face the No. 2 seed Daniil Medvedev in Sunday’s final, the latest clash between the old guard and new wave in men’s tennis.Medvedev also won in four sets on Friday, defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas, 7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-4, 6-1, But Medvedev’s victory was considerably more tempestuous than Nadal’s. After losing his serve in the ninth game of the second set and receiving a code violation for a visible obscenity that he said was misinterpreted, Medvedev shouted angrily at chair umpire Jaume Campistol for most of the changeover, suggesting that Tsitsipas’s father was illegally coaching his son from the player box.“Are you stupid? His father can talk every point?” Medvedev said from his chair, screaming “Look at me!” at the Spanish official when Campistol turned his gaze back toward the court to try to defuse the situation.It was an extraordinary outburst, a flashback to combustible champions of the past like John McEnroe. Medvedev said after the match that he regretted the way he has sometimes treated chair umpires.“I regret it all the time, because I don’t think it’s nice,” he said. “I know that every referee is trying to do their best. But, yeah, when you are there, tennis, you know, we don’t fight with the fists, but tennis is a fight. It’s a one on one against another player. So I’m actually really respectful to players who never, almost never show their emotions because, I mean, it’s tough, it’s tough, because I get, I can get really emotional.”Medvedev said he could not be certain that Apostolos Tsitsipas was coaching his son. He said all he could hear was his commentary during the match in Greek, which Medvedev does not speak. But tournament officials soon stationed Greek umpire Eva Asderaki-Moore in a tunnel within earshot of the players’ box. When Tsitsipas eventually received a warning for coaching early in the fourth set, he did not win another game, and Medvedev accelerated to the finish.“Many times I lose the match because of this,” Medvedev said of his tantrum. “Lose concentration and too much energy, so as soon as I’ve done it, I was like that’s a big mistake.”Tsitsipas, who has said in the past that his relationship with Medvedev is frosty, smiled when asked about Friday’s outburst.“It’s for sure funny,” he said. “I don’t pay attention to this stuff. Players like to do this stuff to throw you off mentally. Could be maybe a tactic. It’s all right. He’s not the most mature person.”Daniil Medvedev will play Nadal in the men’s singles final.Dave Hunt/EPA, via ShutterstockTsitsipas, who has received several coaching violations in recent seasons, said he was not being coached on Friday even if he believes it should be allowed in men’s tennis. “I cannot hear anything when I’m playing and having the crowd be so loud every single point,” he said. He said that he had spoken with his father to try to stop him from talking during his matches. “My father, look, he’s a person that when he gets into something when there is a lot of action, his medicine is to talk, and you can’t stop it,” Tsitsipas said. “It’s something that he does from nature. I’ve talked to him about it. I’ve tried.”Medvedev, who could be fined for his comments to Campistol, said he has been working on himself, as well, after losing his temper regularly in his early years. He showed zen-master composure in his second-round defeat of Australian Nick Kyrgios last week with Kyrgios egging on the crowd, but Friday was a step back.“In the heat of the moment, I just lost it,” he conceded.Sunday’s duel with Nadal will be a rematch of the grueling 2019 U.S. Open final that Nadal won in five sets. Nadal, the 35-year-old Spanish star, is tied with his longtime rivals Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic for the men’s record.But neither Federer nor Djokovic played in this year’s tournament. Federer is still recovering from knee surgery and Djokovic, a nine-time Australian Open champion, was deported on the eve of the tournament after his visa was revoked by the Australian government and his appeal was rejected.Nadal, the only member of the Big Three in Melbourne, came through Djokovic’s half of the draw and has carried the torch surprisingly well after missing most of the second half of the 2021 season with a chronic foot problem. When he did return to action in late December for an exhibition in Abu Dhabi, he contracted the coronavirus and developed symptoms at home in Majorca, Spain before making the long trip to Australia.But he won a warm-up tournament at Melbourne Park before the main event and has now swept through six more matches to reach his sixth and most unexpected Australian Open final. He was in tears on court after the victory and said he had discussed the possibility of retirement with his family last year.“This is a success that is particularly emotional,” Nadal said. “It means so much to me, perhaps because it’s so unexpected.”He has won this title just once, beating Federer for the title in 2009. Since then, he has experienced plenty of tennis heartache in Rod Laver Arena: losing a 2012 final to Djokovic that went 5 hours 53 minutes, and another marathon to Federer in 2017 despite holding a 3-1 lead in the fifth set.Now, he has a chance to set himself apart.“For me it’s all about the Australian Open more than anything else,” he said when asked about the prospect of winning No. 21. “I was lucky to win in 2009 but never thought about another chance in 2022.”Nadal now has a 2-0 record against Berrettini, the strapping 25-year-old Italian who has a big serve and heavy forehand and plenty of charisma, but also has a comparatively weak backhand that Nadal exploited repeatedly.Medvedev argued with the chair umpire, believing that Tsitsipas’s father was illegally coaching his son from the player box.Dave Hunt/EPA, via ShutterstockBerrettini had no break points on Nadal’s serve until the eighth game of the third set, but with Nadal serving at 3-4, Berrettini sprinted to his right and hit a forehand passing shot winner down the line that appeared to surprise both men. Nadal was soon serving at 0-40 and two points later, Berrettini was able to break him for the first time, slapping a forehand winner.He then served out third set, baring his teeth to his support team as he strutted past Nadal to his chair before the fourth set.“He’s a very solid player, very dangerous,” Nadal said. “And in the third, I knew at some point he is going to go for the shots. I didn’t play a good game with my serve at 3-4, but he played some great shots. The passing shot down the line was unbelievable.”But the patterns of play were still in Nadal’s favor as he continued to focus his attacks on Berrettini’s backhand. The Italian did hit a two-handed winner to get to 15-30 on Nadal’s serve in the opening game of the fourth set, but Nadal won a cat-and-mouse exchange on the next point as Berrettini missed a backhand slice off a good drop shot.Nadal will play in his sixth Australian Open men’s singles final.Dean Lewins/EPA, via ShutterstockThough Berrettini kept hustling and ripping through his forehands, he could not sustain his comeback, losing his serve in the eighth game of what turned out to be the final set.“We need to suffer, and we need to fight,” Nadal said, summing up his philosophy over his nearly 20-year career. “That’s the only way I am where I am today.”Both Federer and Djokovic have taken aim at No. 21 in a Grand Slam final and missed. Federer had two match points on his serve against Djokovic in the 2019 Wimbledon final and failed to convert. Djokovic faced Medvedev in last year’s U.S. Open final and lost in straight sets.Now it is Nadal’s turn, even as he continues to say that finishing ahead of Federer and Nadal in the Grand Slam chase is not his obsession or priority.“Being very honest, for me is much more important to have the chance to play tennis than win the 21, no?” he said.But a second Australian Open title would certainly be most welcome. He is the fifth oldest man to reach the singles final here in the Open era and like Federer, who was 35 when he won in 2017, Nadal is coming back from an injury layoff and playing with freedom and lower expectations than usual.He had the staying power and desire to hold off Denis Shapovalov in a five-set quarterfinal in the heat. After two days to recuperate, he had the skill set and precision to hold off Berrettini under a closed roof on Friday with the rain pelting down on Melbourne during the match. More

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    ‘He’s Inspired a Nation’: Dylan Alcott Says Goodbye to Tennis

    Alcott, a recent Australian of the year recipient, ends his career with 15 Grand Slam quad singles titles and a platform for his motivational messages, but a loss in his final match.MELBOURNE, Australia — The lineup at Rod Laver Arena on Thursday at the Australian Open offered a who’s who of the host country’s biggest tennis stars.The doubles pair of Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis won their semifinal match in the afternoon, setting up an all-Australian final in men’s doubles. The top-ranked Ashleigh Barty won her semifinal in the first match of the evening session, becoming the first Australian woman to reach the singles final at this tournament since 1980.But for Barty, the achievements in those matches paled to those of the man who played just before her in the final match of his career: Dylan Alcott, a quad wheelchair tennis player.“Honestly, Dylan, for me, is at the forefront of that,” Barty said in her on-court interview. “He’s inspired a nation. He’s inspired the whole globe.”Alcott, 31, announced in November that this Australian Open would be his final tournament, drawing a finish line for a dominant career in which he won the quad singles competition at 15 of the 19 Grand Slam tournaments in which he played. Alcott also won Paralympic gold in Tokyo in 2021, making him the first man to achieve the Golden Slam in quad singles, winning all four majors and the Olympics.Fans on Thursday cheered Alcott’s career, which began, he said, with only five people at the first Australian Open match of his career.Quinn Rooney/Getty ImagesAlcott lost, 7-5, 6-0, to second-seeded Sam Schroder in the final on Thursday, to the disappointment of the thousands who had come to watch him — including many in T-shirts sold at the tournament that list his Grand Slam triumphs on the back. Alcott’s athletic ability has paralleled his resonance in Australia, where he has become a cultural presence. On Tuesday, he was named Australian of the year in a ceremony in Canberra, Australia’s capital.Though uncertain of his chances at the ceremony, Alcott traveled between his semifinal and final matches for a chance to receive the award from Scott Morrison, the country’s prime minister.In his acceptance speech in Canberra, Alcott, who was born with lipomeningocele, a dysraphic condition of the spine, showed the wit and directness for which he is known. “I thought I had no chance, and then I got here and I saw this really good-looking ramp, and I thought: I might have a chance here,” Alcott said in his ice-breaking remarks before shifting to darker reflections.Through sports, Alcott found a platform to spread his message. He first won Paralympic gold in basketball in 2008 when he was 17, later switching to tennis. But the attention was far from immediate. “Legit, there was five people there,” Alcott said of his first Australian Open match, in 2014. “Five. My dad, mom, brother, couple of mates, and some people who got lost and accidentally walked past.”When Alcott did interviews and made appearances, his charisma won him further exposure, both as a radio and television personality and as a spokesman for brands like ANZ bank. “The reason I’ve been able to cut through is because of who I am and what I say and what we stand for as a community,” he said. “Luckily I just know how to string two words together. And also I’ve got a get-stuff-done attitude where I just want to get it done.”Alcott expressed frustration that other successful athletes with impairments have had nowhere near his resonance, but he hoped that his could pave a path.“Tennis players have won Grand Slams and gold medals in wheelchairs before, but haven’t had that cut through,” Alcott said. “It’s got nothing really to do about me playing tennis, to be honest. It’s about what I say, I guess who I am, mostly being fully proud of who I am, authentically me and challenging the status quo.”The Australian Open has embraced Alcott, making him prominent in its advertising campaigns. His face smiles opposite Barty’s on a mural near the tournament’s south entrance. Wheelchair tennis, particularly the quad division, has never gotten anything close to the attention that Alcott has attracted. But he expressed optimism that the players who now will be able to win Grand Slam event titles in his absence — including Schroder and his Dutch compatriot Niels Vink — will be able to sustain interest.“They’re ready to go,” Alcott said. “I’m redundant. I’m officially a retired, washed-up proper loser, and I love that.”Schroder said the thousands inside Rod Laver Arena for Alcott’s farewell were “by far the most that have come to watch” one of his matches. “It’s a great atmosphere,” he said. “The Australians are very, of course, very proud of Dylan, and they showed that out on court, which is great. But they’d also cheer when I make points, you know. It was just an amazing energy on court today and in the stands, which really helped me get through it as well.”Alcott said he wished he had taken more chances to appreciate the atmosphere himself, particularly once he knew he was “rinsed” and “cooked” after his exhausting week. “I was really trying to be within myself, but that was unbelievable,” he said. “The crowd was so good, so loud.”“Scarily, I’m used to that now,” Alcott added. “Can you believe that? From a guy that had five people watching him to that being normal. That’s just ridiculous to think. I will never take it for granted, mate.”Sam Schroder of the Netherlands returning a shot in his 7-5, 6-0 victory over Alcott on Thursday.Joel Carrett/EPA, via Shutterstock More

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    Ashleigh Barty and Danielle Collins Will Meet in Australian Open Final

    Cheered by a home crowd, the top-ranked Barty defeated Madison Keys in straight sets to become the first Australian to reach the women’s final since 1980. Collins enjoyed her own straight sets win over Iga Swiatek.MELBOURNE, Australia — It is all about choices, this game of tennis and life.Down-the-line or crosscourt? Rip or chip? Stay home and rebuild your strength? Or hit the road in search of more points and glory?The coronavirus pandemic that disrupted old patterns and created new problems has made some of the choices more complicated, but Ashleigh Barty is on a hot streak, as anyone who has played her in this Australian Open can confirm.Madison Keys was the latest to swing away and come up short as Barty kept delivering pitches and tactical shifts that Keys could not handle. Barty won the first set of their semifinal on Thursday night in 26 minutes and won the match in just over an hour, 6-1, 6-3.She is the first Australian since Wendy Turnbull in 1980 to reach the women’s singles final at the Australian Open.She will face Danielle Collins of the United States, who defeated Iga Swiatek of Poland, 6-4, 6-1, in the second women’s semifinal. Barty will be the favorite based on her cool and precision under pressure over the last 11 days. Barty said she intended to embrace the opportunity rather than try to block out its significance.“You have to,” Barty said. “It’s fun. It’s brilliant to be playing in the business end of your home slam. I’m not going to lie about that. It’s amazing. I think being able to experience it multiple times has been incredible, but Saturday’s going to be a new experience for me. So I go out there and embrace it, smile, try and do the best that I can and whatever happens, happens.”Collins is one of the most ferocious competitors in women’s tennis and has been serving and returning particularly well down the stretch in Melbourne. She won 86 percent of the points against Swiatek’s second serve on Thursday.“She loves to get in your face and loves to really take it on,” Barty said.Barty leads their head-to-head series 3-1, but Collins won their most recent match in straight sets in Adelaide, Australia, last year, and has also pushed her to three sets in two of their other matches.“We’ve had some incredible battles over the years,” said Collins, the No. 27 seed. “To play against the No. 1 player in the world in her home country, I think it’s going to be really spectacular. I love the energy the fans bring whether they are for me or for my opponent.”Danielle Collins defeated Iga Swiatek in straight sets.Loren Elliott/ReutersCollins, 28, is a two-time N.C.A.A. singles champion from the University of Virginia who turned professional later than most of her rivals on the professional tour. She is a scrappy, demonstrative player but also has point-ending power and has come back convincingly in the last nine months after struggling with endometriosis. Since July, she has a 32-7 singles record and will rise to No. 10 in the rankings on Monday, becoming the top-ranked American.Collins has battled some more in Melbourne with tough three-set victories over Clara Tauson in the third round and Elise Mertens in the fourth round. Barty has yet to come close to dropping a set, and Keys met Barty at the net after Thursday’s rout with a smile on her face as if to say, “You’re in the zone, Ash, enjoy it.”“She’s just playing incredibly well. I mean, you have a game plan in your head, but she’s just executing everything so well,” Keys said in her post-match news conference. “She’s serving incredibly well, so you don’t get any free points on that. Her slice is coming in so much lower and deeper than it was in the past so it’s hard to do anything on that. Then you try to play to her forehand and she can open you up there.”Madison Keys congratulated Barty at the net after the match.Morgan Sette/ReutersBarty’s variety is her strength, and as the match with Keys developed, she rarely gave the powerful American the same type of shot for long, mixing two-handed backhand drives with one-hand slices, off-speed angled forehands with bolts up the line. “I think everything has just improved a little bit,” Keys said. “I think she’s got a little bit more precise on her serve. I think her forehand she’s doing a really good job at mixing up paces and spins, as well. It feels like you can’t really get in a rhythm off of that forehand side. Then on her backhand side, I mean, everything is coming in at your shoelaces on the baseline. So it’s not like you can really do anything with that.”Keys, who was on a 10-match winning streak, looked more resigned than glum. Tennis may not mean as much to Australia, as it once did in the days of Rod Laver, Ken Rosewall, Margaret Court and Evonne Goolagong Cawley. But a Barty victory in Australia would certainly be a cultural happening. The 25-year-old from Brisbane is a particularly popular figure here with her down-to-earth personality and deep roots in the land: she is partly of Indigenous heritage.Ranked No. 1, she won her first Grand Slam singles title at the 2019 French Open and her next at last year’s Wimbledon, prevailing in a mood-swinging final against Karolina Pliskova that got complicated before she won in three sets.But there have been no edgy matches or extended challenges so far in Melbourne, where she can become the first Australian to win the singles title since Chris O’Neil in 1978.Barty was cheered by the home crowd throughout her match.Darrian Traynor/Getty ImagesO’Neil was unseeded and ranked outside the top 100: one of the biggest surprise Grand Slam champions in tennis’s long history. Barty is in a very different position as the top-ranked player in the game and the focus of attention in her country whenever she plays a match.But after choosing to cut her season short in 2021 and return home to Australia to recover after the U.S. Open where she was upset in the third round, she has started the 2022 season fresh, focused and devastatingly on target. She has dropped just 21 games in six matches and is striking a fine balance between finesse and power.Next challenge: her first Australian Open singles final on Saturday night in prime-time in Rod Laver Arena. Is she ready?“Absolutely,” she said after steam-rolling the unseeded Keys. “Let’s do it.” More

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    Audio Technology Helps Blind People Follow Australian Open Tennis

    At the Australian Open tennis tournament, new technology is translating the movement of the ball into sounds to help blind and low-vision fans follow the action.Listen to This ArticleThere’s a new way for sports fans to follow tennis. Hear it here.To hear more audio stories from publications like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android.Rapid, echoing pops go off in Michael Marshall’s ears when he listens to an Australian Open tennis match, followed closely by high- and low-pitched clinks. Three pops on the left signal that the ball landed close to the line; a low-pitched clink means that the player returned it with a backhand stroke.Without context, these noises might sound like arcade sound effects or some new version of Morse code — but each one is a message meant to help people who are blind or have limited vision follow the game. A new technology, called Action Audio, is being tested on a large scale for the first time at this year’s Australian Open, where every match in the Rod Laver Arena is available on a livestream with this accessibility feature.Marshall, 35, of Melbourne, is an avid tennis fan who listens to the tournament on the radio every year. He said Action Audio had added a layer to his experience, allowing him to more clearly track the ball during a point.“Everything is like, oh, yes, this is the final piece that I’m missing,” Marshall said. He later added, “It gives you those cues that you never really had before.”He and other blind sports fans often listen to radio descriptions of games instead of watching them on TV. But with serves flying at over 100 miles an hour and groundstrokes routinely exceeding 80, even the most descriptive radio announcer can’t talk fast enough to capture every nuance of the action on a tennis court. Details like how close the ball landed to a line, how fast it traveled and what direction it moved are not always described, according to Machar Reid, head of innovation at Tennis Australia.“They might do it on one shot, but it’s hard to do on every single shot on the rally,” he said of radio announcers.Tennis Australia partnered with Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, and the digital design and communications agency AKQA to develop Action Audio in 2019. Reid said that tennis was the ideal sport to begin with because of its existing ball-tracking technology. In general, a fully equipped tennis court has 10 or 12 cameras collecting data around 50 times a second. That data is typically used to make quick calls about whether a shot landed in or out of play.Action Audio’s technology converts the data into 3-D sound — a process that takes less than a second — allowing it to be broadcast alongside live radio commentary.Chatai Goncu, a data scientist, operated a MIDI controller pad to make audio adjustments for Action Audio.Alana Holmberg for The New York TimesThe sounds include one, two or three blips to indicate how close the ball is to the sideline or baseline. If the ball is close to the line, three blips will go off. If the ball lands farther inside the line, two blips sound. One blip means the ball was hit toward the middle of the court.The sounds come through the left speaker if the ball was played to that side of the court, and through the right speaker if it landed on the right.As the ball moves around, it jingles and rattles. The sound is loudest when the player strikes the ball, and it fades away gradually as the ball travels. High-pitched clinks indicate a forehand, while low-pitched clinks indicate a backhand.In the future, Reid would love to integrate Action Audio into TV broadcasts and develop it for other sports that use optical tracking systems, such as baseball, he said.One challenge in developing sport soundscapes is determining how many actions can be captured and translated to sound before the audio becomes overwhelming or distracting, according to Tim Devine, the executive innovation director at AKQA.“Do you want to know where the ball is, or do you want to follow a player?” he asked.To figure it out, AKQA and Tennis Australia reached out to fans to ask what they found most interesting about tennis and then surveyed blind people to see which sounds worked best. Developers tried to use sounds that were already familiar to users, such as the jingling rattle of the bell ball used in blind tennis, Reid said.The developers are also collecting feedback from people who tune into this year’s Action Audio livestream, which has drawn listeners from about 70 countries.Umpires observed a match at the Australian Open. Data from cameras around the court is translated into the sound that Action Audio broadcasts.Alana Holmberg for The New York TimesKarl Belanger, an accessibility analyst for the National Federation of the Blind in the United States, is among those listeners. He was listening to the audio stream provided by Tennis Australia last week when he heard an advertisement for Action Audio. He was excited to tune in but became frustrated because the design of the site was not fully compatible with the screen-reader technology that blind people use to decipher web pages.“That one layer of it just kind of mars the whole experience when you have to fight with the player to even experience it,” Belanger said.Developers acknowledged Action Audio was a work in progress and said that AKQA and Tennis Australia would work to make the player more accessible.To get the full benefit of Action Audio, listeners need headphones or speakers that can separate sounds for the left and right ears. Without this, Belanger said, the audio is not as helpful.Belanger suggested other improvements — such as a sound for when the ball hits the net — but overall, he said, the audio soundscape was well designed. As a sports fan, he now wants the same concept used for every sport.For some blind and low-vision fans, Action Audio makes it easier to enjoy the game alongside friends and family. Kala Petronijevic, 11, who is from Melbourne, is blind in her right eye and has limited vision in her left eye.Kala has been playing blind tennis since she was 5. She is a big fan of the sport, but she didn’t always enjoy watching games. She used to have to constantly ask her father who had hit the ball and what was going on.“It was hard following the game,” Kala said. “I wouldn’t really be interested because I wouldn’t know what was going on. But with Action Audio, I can follow the game promptly.”Audio produced by More

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    Australian Open Final Four: It's Nadal vs. Berrettini and Medvedev vs. Tsitsipas

    The men’s singles semifinals will feature No. 6 Rafael Nadal against No. 7 Matteo Berrettini, and No. 2 Daniil Medvedev against No. 4 Stefanos Tsitsipas.MELBOURNE, Australia — None of the men’s singles semifinalists at the Australian Open has made it this far unscathed.All have been pushed to five sets in the heat at Melbourne Park this year.Rafael Nadal, making his latest comeback, dropped more than 10 pounds and had to battle through nausea and dizziness during his toasty, testy victory over Denis Shapovalov of Canada on Tuesday in Rod Laver Arena. Daniil Medvedev of Russia had to save a match point in the same stadium on Wednesday before prevailing against Shapovalov’s countryman, Felix Auger-Aliassime, in an after-midnight thriller.Matteo Berrettini has been stretched to the limit twice: by the Spanish teenager Carlos Alcaraz and the French veteran Gael Monfils. Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece had to rally to wriggle free of the American Taylor Fritz.But after Medvedev’s entertaining escape from a two-set deficit in the quarterfinal, the final four is set, and it is a lineup with genuine star power if, for now, only one true tennis great.That is Nadal, 35, who is in close range of surpassing his longtime measuring sticks, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, with a 21st Grand Slam tournament singles title but, as usual, is talking down the destination and favoring the journey.The sixth-seeded Rafael Nadal in his five-set victory over Denis Shapovalov in the men’s quarterfinals.Alana Holmberg for The New York Times“I am super satisfied and feel a very lucky person in general for all the things that happen to me in this life, no?” Nadal said, looking drawn but fulfilled after battling past Shapovalov. “You can’t always be frustrated if the neighbor has a bigger house than you or a better phone or a better thing, no? I’m not going to be frustrated if Novak or Roger finishes the career with more Grand Slams than me.”Nadal, it should be said, has a lot of nice things, including a million-dollar watch and an 80-foot yacht named “Great White,” but he clearly still craves more time on the court. Why else would he spend months rehabilitating again from the chronic foot condition that first threatened his career in his early 20s? Why else would he make the trip to Melbourne despite falling ill with the coronavirus in late December?The love of the game remains, and he could get plenty more court time (and challenges) in his semifinal duel with Berrettini, the strapping 6-foot-6 Italian whose topspin forehand is nearly as heavy as Nadal’s.They have played just once. Nadal won in straight sets in the semifinals of the 2019 U.S. Open, the last Grand Slam tournament Nadal won on a hardcourt. But Berrettini, 25, is now an established threat in majors after reaching last year’s Wimbledon final.“I watch him so many times in this tournament and other tournaments, cheering for him,” Berrettini said of Nadal. “Playing him in Rod Laver in the semifinals is something that I dreamed about when I was a kid.”Matteo Berrettini in his match against Carlos Alcaraz.Alana Holmberg for The New York TimesBut the dream now is not to play him but to beat him.“I know I can do it,” Berrettini said at a late-night news conference this week. “It’s gonna be a really tough one, but I’m in the semis in a Slam for the third time, like you guys said, so it means that this is my level, and I want to get further.”Berrettini is the first Italian man to reach a singles semifinal at the Australian Open and will remain the only one until at least next year. Jannik Sinner, his redheaded, 20-year-old compatriot, was no match for Tsitsipas in the quarterfinals on Thursday.Tsitsipas, a 23-year-old right-hander coming back from minor elbow surgery in the off-season on his playing arm, seemed under par in the early rounds as he mistimed his groundstrokes. But he clicked into a higher gear against Sinner: dominating with his versatile and powerful forehand, one of the best shots in the game. He converted all four of his break points, did not face a break point on his own serve and adjusted beautifully to Sinner’s big-bang baseline pace to win, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.Afterward, he thanked his surgeon in Switzerland.“He’s been sending texts to me after every single match,” Tsitsipas said. “We didn’t think I’d be playing in the Australian Open.”Playing like that again in the closing rounds would likely win him the Australian Open, where he emerged in earnest in 2019 by upsetting Federer, whose smooth athleticism, all-court game and one-handed backhand have influenced Tsitsipas’s similar game.But to reach the final Tsitsipas must complete what looks like the toughest mission left in Melbourne. He must defeat Medvedev, the gangly, 25-year-old Russian with an unorthodox style, who is closing in on Djokovic’s No. 1 ranking after defeating him in the 2021 U.S. Open final.Stefanos Tsitsipas celebrated defeating Jannik Sinner in their quarterfinal match.Dean Lewins/EPA, via ShutterstockMedvedev and Tsitsipas — ranked No. 2 and No. 4 respectively — both leaders of the new wave, have had a chilly relationship on tour and acknowledged it. But they warmed to each other when they played the Laver Cup for Team Europe in Boston last year.“It kind of got better after Laver Cup,” Tsitsipas said. “We haven’t really spoken in the last couple of months, but our relationship is competitors on the court and kind of fighting for the same dream.”Medvedev leads their head-to-head series 6-2 and is 4-0 against Tsitsipas on outdoor hardcourts, the surface at the Australian Open. But Medvedev, who lost to Djokovic in the final at Melbourne Park last year, came within one point of elimination on Wednesday against the dynamic and inspired Auger-Aliassime.Medvedev had beaten him in all three of their previous matches while losing just one set. But he lost the first two sets in the quarterfinal as he proved less reliable than usual during their extended, often spectacular baseline rallies and struggled to read and return Auger-Aliassime’s big serves.They were quite a contrast. Medvedev played his service games at breakneck pace, often taking less than 10 seconds between points. Auger-Aliassime was measured on his service games, usually using the full 25 seconds. His technique is classic, with smooth strokes and follow-throughs. Medvedev’s is 100-percent artisanal, with his long limbs flying in all sorts of seemingly suboptimal directions but his ball-striking so clean and devastating.He is full of big-point confidence after winning his first major in New York, and he needed it on Wednesday when he faced match point on his serve at 4-5, 30-40 in the fourth set after a double fault.He saved it by ripping a first serve wide that Auger-Aliassime could not handle and then carried the momentum to victory.Russia’s Daniil Medvedev saved a match point in the fourth set before winning his quarterfinal match against Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime.Loren Elliott/ReutersHe was lucky, too, getting a boost earlier in the match when play was stopped to close the retractable roof in Laver Arena because of rain during the third-set tiebreaker. The conditions were considerably cooler with the roof closed, and, Medvedev acknowledged, more to his liking.But indoors or outdoors, it was a taut thriller of a match, one that the ninth-seeded Auger-Aliassime came so close to winning.“I think he was just a little bit more clutch than me, a little bit more solid at times,” said Auger-Aliassime, who was broken in the third game of the fifth set and failed to convert any of his six break points in that set.Medvedev seemed unleashed down the stretch: brimming with energy and feeding off the crowd. When his comeback was complete, he was asked on court by the commentator Jim Courier how he had turned the match around.“I didn’t really know what to do,” he answered. “So I don’t know if people will like it but I told myself, ‘What would Novak do?’”There was a chorus of boos from the largely Australian crowd at the mention of Djokovic, the unvaccinated Serbian star who was deported from the country on the eve of the tournament after his visa was revoked and his appeal denied.Medvedev is not usually affected by crowd disapproval — see the 2019 U.S. Open — but he took diplomatic cover this time: quickly mentioning “Rafa” and “Roger” as potential influences, too, and getting a cheer for his efforts.But Djokovic, popular or not, is the champion Medvedev has been channeling in Melbourne.“During all the matches, as soon as I was down a little bit, I was like, ‘Just be like Novak. Show him that you are better,’” he said referring to his opposition.So far, that has been just good enough for Medvedev, the highest men’s seed in the tournament. Djokovic, a nine-time Australian Open champion, would have been seeded No. 1. Though his absence has affected the competitive balance, it has not kept this tournament from providing plenty of entertainment and a worthy final four. More