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    Australian Open: John Newcombe, Jimmy Connors and the 1975 Final

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    It was Newcombe’s home tournament, and for him, the No. 1-ranked Connors was the draw. Then the Australian won.John Newcombe never planned to play the 1975 Australian Open.At 30 years old, Newcombe was nearing retirement. He had played his home country’s major tournament almost every year since 1960, winning the championship in 1973 and reaching three other semifinals. He had also won Wimbledon three times and the U.S. Championships twice, as well as 16 Grand Slam doubles titles (he would add one more in 1976).This year’s Australian Open, which begins on Sunday in Melbourne, marks the 50th anniversary of one of the most important matches of Newcombe’s career.Newcombe was at home in Sydney when, in mid-December 1974, less than two weeks before the start of the ’75 Australian Open, he was informed by Tennis Australia, the tournament’s governing body, that Jimmy Connors, the defending champion, had entered the draw.Connors, 22 years old at the time and ranked No. 1 in the world, and Newcombe had been waging war with each other, on and off the court, since their first encounter in the quarterfinals of the 1973 U.S. Open. Newcombe won that match en route to the title.In his career, Newcombe won seven Grand Slam singles titles, including Wimbledon in 1970.GettyNewcombe was ranked No. 1 in 1970 and ’71, when rankings were determined by a group of journalists before the ATP established an official ranking system in 1973. He was also No. 1 briefly in 1974. Connors took over the top spot in ’74 when he won the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. He missed out on a chance for the Grand Slam — winning all four majors in a calendar year — that season when he was barred by the International Tennis Federation from playing the French Open because he had committed to playing World Team Tennis in the United States.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Australian Open: Alex de Minaur’s Love for the Major

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      He played a memorable match there as a 17-year-old, when he came from behind and won.For all the milestone moments Alex de Minaur has had over his nearly 10-year pro tennis career, including nine ATP singles titles, there is one victory that stands out.It was the opening round of the 2017 Australian Open in de Minaur’s first main draw at his first major championship in his home country, when the then-17-year-old saved a match point in the fourth set before beating Gerald Melzer in five sets and almost four hours.In the opening round of the 2017 Australian Open, de Minaur, who was then just 17, beat his opponent in five sets and almost four hours. “It’s one of those moments that I had grown up dreaming about,” de Minaur recalled in an interview.Getty“I remember everything about that match,” said de Minaur during a phone interview shortly after he arrived in Sydney, Australia, his hometown, late last month to start his 2025 season playing for Australia in the United Cup. “Making my debut on show court three in front of a packed crowd. It was so hot, but there were so many people supporting me from the very first point to the last. It’s one of those moments that I had grown up dreaming about. To be able to win that last point and the whole release of emotions, of tension, fatigue that had built up through the whole match was a pretty surreal experience.”De Minaur, now 25, has become Australia’s great hope. Last season, in addition to notching wins over Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, he beat Alexander Zverev, Daniil Medvedev, Taylor Fritz, Andrey Rublev, Casper Ruud and Stefanos Tsitsipas, winning titles in Acapulco, Mexico, and the Dutch city of ’s-Hertogenbosch, and reaching a career-high No. 6 in July.But he also suffered excruciating losses, most notably to Rublev in the round of 16 at the Australian Open, the tournament de Minaur said he coveted most.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      The Young Talent of Tennis Takes Aim at the Established Stars

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      The top players still dominate, but many young players are expected to challenge them for the big trophies.Coming off a 2024 season of major breakthroughs — from 27-year-old Taylor Fritz cracking the top five to 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva breaking into the top 20 — the big question for 2025 is whether these rising stars can reach the most prestigious winners’ circles.The catch, of course, is that Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have won the last 10 men’s Grand Slams, the last three ATP Finals and half of the Masters 1000 titles in the last two years, while Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff have captured eight of the last 11 women’s Slams, the last two WTA Finals and 10 of the last 16 WTA 1000 titles.Taylor Fritz reached the U.S. Open final in 2024 and cracked the top five. Patrick McEnroe, an ESPN analyst, called Fritz “an amazing competitor,” but did not foresee him winning a Slam this year.Richard Wainwright/EPA, via Shutterstock“And it’s not like they’re going anywhere,” said Mary Joe Fernández, an ESPN analyst. Sinner is just 23 and Alcaraz is 21; while Sabalenka is 26, Swiatek is just 23 and Gauff is merely 20.“Players are knocking on the door and there is a tremendous excitement, but there are some question marks, too,” said Tracy Austin, a Tennis Channel analyst. “And now the question is whether they’ll be overwhelmed by the expectations.”Just a few years ago, those expectations were bestowed on Alexander Zverev, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Daniil Medvedev, said Patrick McEnroe, an ESPN analyst, but Medvedev is the only one of the three to have won a Slam — the U.S. Open in 2021 — and Tsitsipas has fallen from the top 10.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      In 2024, Tennis Was Busy With Action On and Off the Court

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      There were striking matches, coaching changes, and Novak Djokovic finally won his Olympic gold.Throughout much of the year, pro tennis players complained that the calendar was more overstuffed than their luggage following a weekslong tournament run and that the off-season was as slim as Sebastian Korda’s lanky frame.But as 2024 closes and thoughts move to the new season, which begins with the United Cup in Australia this month, the sport has seen several surprises in the last few weeks.Just as we were committing to memory some extraordinary matches this year — including Carlos Alcaraz’s five-set Roland Garros semifinal victory over Jannik Sinner; his final-round win over Sinner in Beijing that snapped Sinner’s 16-match win streak; Iga Swiatek’s third-set tiebreaker over Aryna Sabalenka in the final of Madrid; and Coco Gauff’s 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (2) win over Zheng Qinwen in the finals of the WTA Finals — there were even more upending developments off court.The most unexpected revelation was the news that Novak Djokovic, who split with his longtime coach Goran Ivanisevic in March and played largely coachless throughout the season, suddenly announced that he was adding Andy Murray to his coaching team at least through the Australian Open in January.Novak Djokovic changed coaches in 2024, leaving Goran Ivanisevic in March and recently announcing that he was adding Andy Murray to his coaching team.Karsten Moran for The New York TimesThe move dispelled any rumors that Djokovic, 37, who failed to win a major in 2024 for the first time since 2017 — but did capture a gold medal at the Paris Olympics over Alcaraz — is nearing retirement. It also delivered a message to his foes that Djokovic is aiming for a record-breaking 25th major in 2025.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Without Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, Men’s Tennis Looks for New Faces

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      For the first time in decades, the ATP Finals will be played without either Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal or Novak Djokovic. Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz are poised to take over.In mid-September, just two weeks after Jannik Sinner won the U.S. Open to secure a 2-2 win-loss record with Carlos Alcaraz at the major championships in 2024, Alcaraz was asked if he envisioned his rivalry with Sinner ultimately replicating that of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.“Well, a lot of people talk about it,” Alcaraz said during the Laver Cup in Berlin. “I like hearing it, I’m not going to lie. I hope that our rivalry is going to be or almost like the Big 3 had during their career. This is the first year that we shared all the Grand Slams. Hopefully, it’s going to keep going like that, sharing great moments, fighting for the great tournaments.”Sinner, the world No. 1, and the third-ranked Alcaraz have played three times this year — at Indian Wells, in the semifinals of the French Open and in the Beijing final in September — with Alcaraz winning all three matches. They could meet again in the ATP Finals, which begin on Sunday in Turin, Italy. The two have yet to face each other in the ATP Finals.Sinner and Alcaraz will be joined in Turin by Alexander Zverev, Daniil Medvedev, Taylor Fritz, Casper Ruud, Alex de Minaur and Andrey Rublev.Zverev, runner-up to Alcaraz at this year’s French Open, is a two-time ATP Finals champion, in 2018 and 2021. Medvedev, who reached the final of the Australian Open in January before falling to Sinner, won the ATP Finals in 2020 and was runner-up to Zverev in 2021.This is the first time in 23 years that neither Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer nor Rafael Nadal will compete in the eight-man year-end championships. Federer, who won the championships six times from 2003 to 2011, retired in 2022 and Nadal, who is retiring after representing Spain in the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga later this month, did not play enough tournaments this year to qualify.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      In Tennis, Turning a Backhand Into a Forehand

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      Experts say hitting what’s called an inside-out forehand to an opponent’s backhand gives a player an edge.The ATP Finals in Turin, Italy, features the best men’s tennis players in the world, who have some of the strongest backhands on the tour. And yet, these players are often succeeding by running around those backhands and getting into position to turn them into the more powerful forehand.Most points end in four shots or less, but when rallies reach that fifth shot, players need to seize an advantage. “Hunting for forehands is not about trying to end the point, but about controlling it and getting on offense as quickly as you can,” said the ESPN analyst Patrick McEnroe.Being the first player to turn a backhand into a forehand, called an inside-out forehand when it’s hit to your opponent’s backhand, is that edge, putting them on the defensive and opening up the opposite corner.“The forehand is the bigger weapon, and it’s easier to maneuver your opponent because you can create better angles,” added Michael Russell, who coaches Taylor Fritz, one of the eight entrants in Turin.Craig O’Shannessy pushed Novak Djokovic, who has one of the best backhands, to hit more forehands when he coached him during 2017-19.O’Shannessy, who focuses on statistics and patterns, has studies showing that forehands are, on average, about eight miles an hour faster than backhands and that between two-thirds and three-quarters of all winners are typically hit on forehands.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      In Tennis, Alexander Zverev’s Many Trials

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      He has not won a Grand Slam, but has taken an Olympic gold. He’s ranked No. 2, but has been fined over his temper on the court. He also has settled domestic abuse charges.Mischa Zverev knows his little brother better than anyone.A decade older than Alexander, who is also known as Sascha, Mischa has served as part-sibling, part-parent throughout Alexander’s life and tennis career.When Sascha was 6, Mischa took him along while he was playing satellite tournaments in Australia, hitting with him after his matches and letting him ride on his shoulders on the way home from the beach. Now the little brother is ranked No. 2 in the world, reached the French and U.S. Open finals, won an Olympic gold medal and is about to play in his seventh ATP Finals. He also won his seventh ATP Masters 1000 event last week at the Rolex Paris Masters.He has had his off-court travails over the last several years, including now-settled charges of domestic abuse and an on-court outburst during a loss in 2022, for which he was fined and placed on probation by the ATP.“I do know what I did, I do know what I didn’t do,” he said this spring before the charges were settled. “That’s, at the end of the day, what’s going to come out, and I have to trust in that.”Zverev, 27, won the ATP Finals in 2018 with back-to-back wins over Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, and then again in 2021 when he beat Daniil Medvedev in the final. The indoor tournament, which begins on Sunday in Turin, Italy, suits his style.“There’s no wind, no sun, nothing to distract me too much,” Zverev said in September. “I like having to play at 100 percent from the first match on. And it helps to have past success at a tournament. That’s something you can keep in the back of your mind.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      In Tennis, Grigor Dimitrov Has a Renaissance

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      The tennis player turned pro in 2008 and is now back in the top 10 as he prepares for the Rolex Paris Masters.Grigor Dimitrov had just lost a grueling, two-plus-hour, three-set match to Jakub Mensik in Shanghai three weeks ago. Most vanquished players head straight to the locker room and get out of the arena quickly.But Dimitrov is no ordinary guy. One of the most well-liked and respected competitors on the ATP Tour, Dimitrov understands his role as a leader in tennis. So, here was, on the phone, answering questions, earnestly and honestly, into the later hours of the evening.At 33, Dimitrov is experiencing a renaissance at a time when many of his contemporaries are contemplating retirement. Once called Baby Fed because his stunning one-handed backhand resembled that of Roger Federer, Dimitrov ranked a career-high No. 3 in 2017. Barely in the top 30 at the start of 2023, he is now No. 9. Runner-up to Novak Djokovic at last year’s Paris Masters, Dimitrov stands just off the pace in the race to qualify for this year’s ATP Finals.The following conversation has been edited and condensed.Some players have trouble staying motivated by the end of the season. Do you?When you’ve competed so many years, you really don’t think about it that much. Whether it’s going to be my last tournament or it’s going to help me get to the Finals, it’s stressful for every player, but everyone carries it differently. I always know that it’s good to finish the year on a good note.What’s the key for you to play well indoors?I like the way the surface plays out. It’s softer on the legs. It’s basically like playing on wood, and I grew up [in Bulgaria] playing on wood so I can relate to it very nicely, and it brings back good memories.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Playing Tennis Is Tough. So Is Being the Director of a Tournament.

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      Former players often run big events, and they have to deal with such requests as better food and accommodations. “As tournament director you know that not everyone is going to be happy,” one said.If Frances Tiafoe has his way, every player lounge at an ATP Masters 1000 tournament will have table tennis and video games. There will be top-shelf food, “Not some dry chicken, but quality stuff that doesn’t taste like cardboard,” Tiafoe said in an interview in September, and tournament directors will loan players luxury cars for the week rather than forcing them to rely on tournament transportation.Most important, Tiafoe, a U.S. Open semifinalist this year, wants the scheduling of matches to be fair and equitable for all, not just the game’s stars.Casper Ruud, the eighth-ranked player in the world, agrees with Tiafoe about the food, but he cares more about having a spacious gym on site for the players to warm up and cool down.“Some players like to eat pasta, others like more meat, and some like to eat rice, so having good chefs who can cook fresh food that’s something the players really appreciate,” Ruud said during the Laver Cup in Berlin last month.Masters 1000s are the highest-level tournaments on the ATP Tour, offering the most prize money and ranking points outside of Wimbledon and the Australian, French and U.S. Opens. There are nine such events, including the Rolex Paris Masters, which begins Monday. More than half of those tournaments — Indian Wells, Miami, Madrid, Rome and the Rolex Paris Masters — are run by former touring pros who have become tournament directors.Two former female world No. 1s, Amélie Mauresmo and Garbiñe Muguruza, also are tournament directors, Mauresmo for the French Open and Muguruza at the WTA Finals, which begin Nov. 2. All offer a unique perspective on players’ wants and needs.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More