Kyrgios, Nick

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      Australians at Home Open Find Success After Year Without Much Tennis

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The Australian OpenWhat to Watch TodayHow to WatchThe Players to KnowTesting Australians’ VIrus AnxietiesAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyAustralians at Home Open Find Success After Year Without Much TennisFacing Australia’s strict quarantine rules, Ashleigh Barty, the No. 1 women’s player in the world, skipped tennis last summer and fall. So did some other Australians. They are doing just fine.Ashleigh Barty said she had “absolutely no regrets” about skipping some tennis events this year because of the pandemic.Credit…Alana Holmberg for The New York TimesFeb. 12, 2021Updated 9:41 a.m. ETMELBOURNE, Australia — Ashleigh Barty plowed through the first two rounds of the Australian Open. No surprise there, as Barty, 24, is the top-ranked woman in the world. Except that Barty had a layoff of nearly a year before the run-up to the Australian Open because she opted not to leave Australia, her home country, for much of 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic.Nick Kyrgios, a folk hero of Australian tennis, similarly spent the past 11 months at home in Canberra, skipping two Grand Slam events and several other playing opportunities. He still captivated the tournament Wednesday night when he came back from two match points in the fourth set against Ugo Humbert, the No. 29 seed, and won it in the fifth in front of an electrified crowd. On Friday, he almost upset third-seeded Dominic Thiem, the reigning United States Open champion, but lost in five sets.The success of Barty and Kyrgios, and that of some of their Aussie brethren, has lifted the spirits of Australian tennis fans who know too well the ongoing disruption caused by the virus, even in a country that has managed the pandemic arguably as effectively as any major economy in the world. Australian players passed up millions in potential prize money and several chances to play on the biggest stages in the sport, but have somehow come through in form.“Absolutely no regrets for me,” Barty said this week as she prepared to play with the weight on her shoulders of her country and its 42-year Australian Open singles championship drought.The difficult decision Barty and her fellow Australians faced is hardly settled, and players from other countries may feel similar pressures as travel restrictions change.Australia’s government has said it plans to continue to require all passengers arriving from outside the country through the end of the year to quarantine in a monitored hotel room for two weeks.For months, Canada has required people coming into the country to quarantine for two weeks, with the possibility of daily checks from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. In January, Canada stepped up those restrictions and is requiring a three-night stay in a hotel room for all incoming air travelers while they await the results of a virus test.The policies have forced a difficult choice on players from those countries: If they decide to play and endure all the international travel that professional tennis requires, they basically can’t go home until the end of the season in November — unless they choose to take a significant break.No one has any good answers. Felix Auger-Aliassime, the 20-year-old Canadian who lists his residence in Monaco but still has deep ties to Montreal, said he is trying to figure out when he might be able to see his sister and his parents during the year. He did a two-week quarantine when he returned to Canada last year but isn’t sure when he might be able to manage one again.Milos Raonic said he will probably play less this year so he can spend time with his family.Credit…Dean Lewins/EPA, via ShutterstockMilos Raonic, another Canadian with a residence in Monte Carlo, said he is unlikely to play a full season. He said he saw his parents for just five days last year, rather than for months at a time as he would in a usual year.“My family and those people that are close to me, they’re too important to neglect that aspect of my life,” Raonic said Wednesday after his second-round win over Bernard Tomic of Australia, whose tennis plans for the future are also somewhat up in the air.“It’s not easy,” Tomic said after the loss. “If I leave Australia now, won’t be coming back anytime soon, for sure.”Ajla Tomljanovic, one of the Australians who did play abroad last summer and fall, said the uncertainty of the schedule and the challenge of being away for so long had wreaked havoc with her game.“I’m not looking further than tomorrow,” Tomljanovic said after a brutal loss to Simona Halep, the No. 2 seed. Tomljanovich won the first set and led 5-2 in the third, then lost five straight games. “Everything is such an unknown. Anything can change any second.”That was partly what Barty, Kyrgios, Tomic, the former U.S. Open champion Sam Stosur and several other Australians figured last year when they passed on the revived tennis tours rather than deal with the uncertainty of the virus and the strict policies in Australia, which for months even limited travel between states.Kyrgios notoriously has a love-hate relationship with the game. Tomic is trying to rebuild his once promising career at 28. Stosur, at 36, won her first match at the Australian Open since 2015. All said they did not touch a tennis racket for months, using the time away from the game as a reset. Stosur’s partner gave birth to a girl in June.Barty gave up the most — the unique opportunity to play as the top player in the world and the chance to defend her French Open championship.She spent little time keeping up with or following tennis.“It was more enjoying my time at home and being grateful and appreciative for what I have,” she said.She played a lot of golf. She attended Australian Football League matches and was famously photographed, beer in hand, at the A.F.L. final between Brisbane and Richmond. She got another dog, a Border collie.Barty watched Australian Football League matches during her time away from tennis over the past year. “It was more enjoying my time at home and being grateful and appreciative for what I have,” she said.Credit…Michael Willson/AFL Photos, via Getty ImagesThen, with Australia’s tennis season on the horizon, she got to work.At first glance it is not obvious what makes Barty so effective. At 5-foot-5, she is built like a soccer midfielder and shorter than many of her elite competitors. She lacks the intimidating, blasting serve that several of the taller players in the top 20 have. She has powerful — though not overpowering — strokes.There are few players who are more fit, though. She can defend every corner of the court on a point and rarely appears to be breathing heavily. On her shoulders and upper arms, her muscles appear to have muscles. She also mixes an unrelenting style with a complex, slicing backhand. She gives away little for free, even when she is aiming for the sidelines, which she does often, and she has a knack for finding an opponent’s weakness and picking it apart.“Her tennis smarts are incredible,” said Daria Gavrilova, who lost to Barty on Thursday and has represented Australia with her on the national team. “Before a tie we always play team analysis, like the opposition analysis, and she’s always spot on. She’s just spot on every time.”After the time away, Barty appears no worse for the lack of wear. She won her tuneup event last week, beating the two-time Grand Slam winner Garbiñe Muguruza in straight sets in the final, then began the Australian Open with a 6-0, 6-0 win.While playing against Gavrilova, Barty wore a wrap around her upper left leg to support a muscle (ever the tactician, she refused to say which one). She insisted that the muscle soreness and the troublesome second set were not concerning or symptoms of rust.“Lost my way a bit,” she said of a rocky portion of the match.She appears to have found it, by following a surprising route, at least for now. She and the other Australians remain caught up in the nation’s remarkable Covid-19 success, which the country will not trifle with.“You have to do what’s best for you and where you’re based and situated throughout the year,” said Lleyton Hewitt, the last Australian to reach No. 1 in the world rankings. “There’s a lot of outside-the-box thinking that has to go on to be an Australian tennis player right now.”AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      2021 Australian Open: What to Watch on Thursday Night

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      AdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main story2021 Australian Open: What to Watch on Thursday NightThe third round of the Australian Open gets underway, featuring Naomi Osaka, Serena Williams, Dominic Thiem and Novak Djokovic.Naomi Osaka has lost a total of just eight games through her first two matches at the Australian Open.Credit…Paul Crock/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesFeb. 11, 2021, 7:07 a.m. ETHow to watch: 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Eastern on the Tennis Channel and 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. on ESPN2 in the United States; streaming on the ESPN+ and ESPN3 apps.As each singles draw dwindled to 32 players, some former major champions lost their hopes of snagging one more Grand Slam title. The 17th-seeded Stan Wawrinka lost his second-round match to Marton Fucsovics, and the eighth-seeded Bianca Andreescu fell to Hsieh Su-Wei.Although the field has shrunk, plenty of promising youngsters and past major champions remain.Here are some matches to keep an eye on.Because of the number of matches cycling through courts, the times for individual matchups are best estimates and certain to fluctuate based on when earlier play is completed. All times are Eastern.Rod Laver Arena | 7 p.m. ThursdayAryna Sabalenka vs. Ann LiAryna Sabalenka, the seventh seed, has equaled her best result at the Australian Open by reaching the third round. She has yet to make it to a Grand Slam quarterfinal, despite how consistently well she plays on tour. Sabalenka won three hardcourt singles titles in 2020, and started 2021 by winning the Abu Dhabi Open. Her aggressive style can help her on faster-paced courts, although on her poorer days it can create plenty of unforced errors.Aryna Sabalenka is the seventh seed.Credit…Cameron Spencer/Getty ImagesAnn Li, the world No. 69, has had a fantastic run of results in the past few weeks. Last week, she won the Grampians Trophy in Melbourne with a walkover in the final. Then, in the first round of the Australian Open, she upset the 31st seed, Zhang Shuai, while dropping only two games. Although her second-round match against Alizé Cornet required a bit more from her, Li played well, pushing through a tough second set tiebreaker in which she faced two set points. One more upset would put her in her first round of 16 at a Grand Slam event.John Cain Arena | 10 p.m. ThursdayNaomi Osaka vs. Ons JabeurNaomi Osaka, the third seed, has won a Grand Slam event in each of the past three years, all on hardcourts. The fast pace of play suits her, as she pins opponents into the back corners of the court with her flat shots. Osaka did not play in the French Open in October, citing concerns related to the pandemic. She is back into a groove at the Australian Open, dropping just eight games across her first two matches.Ons Jabeur, the 27th seed, became the first Arab woman to reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal at last year’s Australian Open, losing to the eventual champion, Sofia Kenin. Jabeur’s adaptability can be very difficult for opponents to handle; she can unravel an array of opponents’ weaknesses. To beat Osaka, Jabeur will need to have a strong start and not allow her opponent to get into a rhythm.John Cain Arena | 3 a.m. FridayDominic Thiem vs. Nick KyrgiosDominic Thiem, the third seed, won the United States Open in September, supplanting Marin Cilic (2014) as the most recent first-time male Grand Slam champion.A four-time Grand Slam finalist, Thiem has slowly been chipping away at the hegemony of the so-called Big Three of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. Though Thiem’s U.S. Open victory came on a hard court, that is not considered his best surface. And with the unusually quick conditions in Australia, he may struggle to return to the final, where he lost to Djokovic last year.Dominic Thiem is the third seed in men’s singles.Credit…Brandon Malone/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesNick Kyrgios, an Australian ranked 47th in the world, was often stereotyped as an uncouth punk for his perceived lack of interest in the sport of tennis. As the coronavirus pandemic shut down the ATP Tour, Kyrgios became a loud advocate for health and safety precautions, openly criticizing both his peers and legends like Boris Becker for choosing to socialize or complaining about safety measures. Now Kyrgios is playing in front of home crowds, and the fast-paced courts in Melbourne will aid his aggressive baseline style. However, after barely squeezing past the 29th seed, Ugo Humbert, in five sets, Kyrgios will be challenged to break down Thiem’s exceptional defensive play.Margaret Court Arena | 3 a.m. FridayDenis Shapovalov vs. Felix Auger-AliassimeDenis Shapovalov and Felix Auger-Aliassime, the two youngest members of the Canadian delegation at the Australian Open, are both aggressive, full-court players who rely on their athleticism to get through tough matches.Shapovalov, the 11th seed, reached his first Grand Slam quarterfinal at the U.S. Open before losing in five sets to Pablo Carreño Busta. Although Shapovalov, 21, lost both of his ATP Cup matches — a singles match against the seventh-ranked Alexander Zverev and a doubles match — they were tightly contested. After an impressive five-set win over the fellow up-and-comer Jannik Sinner, Shapovalov looks prepared to reach the second week of play.Felix Auger-Aliassime is the 20th seed.Credit…Quinn Rooney/Getty ImagesAuger-Aliassime, 20, has skated through his first two rounds, convincingly dismantling his opponents without dropping a set. The last time he faced Shapovalov on tour, he lost in straight sets in the first round of the 2019 U.S. Open. A year and a half later, this match will be a good test of whether he can usurp his close friend as the top Canadian men’s player.Here are a few more matches to keep an eye on:Serena Williams vs. Anastasia Potapova — 9 p.m.Milos Raonic vs. Marton Fucsovics — 1 a.m.Simona Halep vs. Veronika Kudermetova — 3 a.m.Novak Djokovic vs. Taylor Fritz — 5 a.m.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      Players to Watch at the Australian Open

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      AdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyPlayers to Watch at the Australian OpenWe know who’s likely to be in the spotlight at 2021’s first Grand Slam event, but here are six players who could be surprises.Daniil Medvedev on his way to winning the ATP Finals in November.Credit…Toby Melville/ReutersFeb. 6, 2021, 6:46 p.m. ETThe Australian Open has largely belonged to just two men since 2004, with Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer winning 14 of 17 titles. With Federer sidelined by an injury, Djokovic is the obvious favorite, and there are just two other clear-cuts: Rafael Nadal, who captured his 20th Grand Slam singles title last year in France and could claim his record 21st in Australia, and Dominic Thiem, who earned his first at the 2020 United States Open. (Thiem also beat Nadal in last year’s Australian Open and pushed Djokovic to five sets in the final.)The women’s draw is more open, but it has a few players in the spotlight. As with the men’s side, it starts with the top three in the rankings: Australia’s own Ash Barty, the world No. 1, who did not play in 2020 after the lockdown; Simona Halep, who reached the semifinals of the Australian Open last year, and had a win streak of 17 matches and three titles; and Naomi Osaka, winner of three Grand Slam events, including the 2019 Australian Open.Then there’s Serena Williams, whom people will watch because of her all-around greatness. If she wins this year she will tie for the most Grand Slam singles titles among women with 24.But there are less-recognizable players who could have deep runs into the second week and might even win. Here are six to watch in 2021.Daniil MedvedevThe men’s Top 10 has several rising stars like Stefanos Tsitsipas or Alexander Zverev, but Daniil Medvedev is the best bet to take home the title. To win, a player will likely have to take down two of the top three seeds, and he is the best candidate.While Medvedev’s 16-19 record versus Top 10 players may sound poor, it’s the highest for a player without a Slam. He’s winless against Federer, so that absence improves Medvedev’s odds.Medvedev, the 6-foot-6 Russian with the big serve and persistent baseline game, emerged as one of the game’s top returners and a Top 5 player in 2019. Grinding his way to two Masters 1000 titles, he also reached six straight finals, including the U.S. Open, where he took Nadal to five sets.Most notable was his triumph in November at the ATP Finals, where he had five straight wins, over Diego Schwartzman, Zverev, Thiem, Nadal and Djokovic. That level of sustained excellence gives him an edge.Credit…James Ross/EPA, via ShutterstockNick KyrgiosKyrgios, of Australia, has an overpowering serve, making him especially dangerous on the Open’s hard courts. His hard-court winning percentage is among the highest of players competing at the tournament. But he has so far failed to live up to his enormous potential. Temperamental and undisciplined, he has fallen through the years from 13th in the world to 47th.At 25, he’s still young, and he is prodigiously talented.His athleticism and flash always make him riveting to watch. If he can stay focused for two weeks, he’s 5-5 lifetime versus Nadal and Djokovic, which should give the front-runners pause.Credit…Julian Finney/Getty ImagesTaylor FritzThe younger players who could make a mark in Australia include Denis Shapovalov, Félix Auger-Aliassime, Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz. The most likely American would be 30th-ranked Taylor Fritz. Fritz has wins over Thiem, Zverev and top veterans like Fabio Fognini and Schwartzman. Last year, Fritz reached the finals in Acapulco, Mexico. A quarterfinal slot might be a stretch, but if he survives until the second week, it will herald a big step forward.Credit…Lintao Zhang/Getty ImagesBianca AndreescuThe cancellation of WTA’s year-end tournament gave the top players a long break before the Australian Open. But no top contender has been off the court as long as the eighth-ranked Bianca Andreescu, who has been sidelined with injuries since 2019.That year, she won 31 of her first 34 matches, including the BNP Paribas Open as a wild card because of a wide array of shots and a fearlessness in going for them. She capped her rise by upsetting Williams in the U.S. Open finals. If her shoulder and knee are healthy, she has the aggressiveness, the power and the Grand Slam experience to tear through the tournament.Credit…Thomas Samson/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesVictoria AzarenkaShe may be ranked only 13th, but she is, once again, a definite threat. Winner of the Australian Open championship in 2012 and 2013, Azarenka reached No. 1 in the world. She was the game’s top returner, breaking her opponent’s serve more than half the time. But she fell off the map after having a baby and then getting caught in a custody battle. When she did play, she struggled, reaching the fourth round of a major just once.But in 2020, Azaernka rediscovered her magic in a five-tournament run, where she won a title, reached two more finals, including the U.S. Open, and beat six players in the Top 20.Credit…Pool photo by Riccardo AntimianiGarbiñe MuguruzaShe finished 2019 ranked 36th. Then she went to the Australian Open in 2020 and reminded everyone that she was a former No. 1 and a Wimbledon and French Open champion. Muguruza used improved net play to topple the Top 10 players Elina Svitolina, Kiki Bertens and Halep en route to the finals. She lost to Sofia Kenin.Muguruza’s big serve and potent, albeit high-risk, ground strokes also looked impressive in Rome in September, and she defeated Sloane Stephens, Coco Gauff, Johanna Konta and Azarenka before falling to Halep. With both of those 2020 tournaments, Muguruza, now ranked 15th, showed she still had what it takes for a deep Grand Slam run.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      For Melburnians, the Australian Open Tests Anxieties About the Virus

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The Coronavirus OutbreakliveLatest UpdatesMaps and CasesSee Your Local RiskVaccine InformationWuhan, One Year LaterAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyFor Melburnians, the Australian Open Tests Anxieties About the VirusAustralians have gone to great lengths to control the coronavirus. And some don’t want to throw that away for a tennis tournament.A worker cleaned during a warm-up session at Melbourne Park on Thursday.Credit…David Gray/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesFeb. 4, 2021, 1:02 p.m. ETMELBOURNE, Australia — From the banks of the Yarra River to the vineyards of Mornington Peninsula, the news out of muggy Melbourne Park sent shivers across the state of Victoria.A worker at one of the hotels where players and officials were quarantined ahead of the Australian Open had tested positive for the coronavirus. The announcement, made late Wednesday, carried an irksome echo for Melburnians who have endured three lockdowns, including one that lasted 111 days, to successfully subdue the coronavirus.“There’s no reason for people to panic,” Daniel Andrews, Victoria’s premier, said on Thursday. But in many circles of this city, that button had already been pressed. The first tennis major each year is the crown jewel in this country’s sporting calendar, but even before the positive result snapped the state’s 28-day streak of zero community transmission, many Australians seemed conflicted about going forward with the event.Ian Hickie, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Sydney, said that Australia shut down the country last year — at tremendous cost to the economy and people’s mental health — “so we are spared the physical health disaster of North America and Europe and South America.”To risk giving back those hard-won gains “just doesn’t make sense outside a very narrow business sector,” he said, adding, “I think it would be safe to say most people are furious that it’s gone ahead.”The letters sections of Australia’s newspapers in recent weeks have become a Greek chorus, with readers railing about the hypocrisy of welcoming international visitors while continuing to shut out Australian citizens stuck abroad and about the dissonance of preaching about public health and safety while seeming to prioritize a world showcase event.The tournament had planned to allow up to 30,000 paying fans a day on the grounds, but the positive test prompted some ticket holders to ask for refunds on Twitter. Six men’s and women’s tuneup events at Melbourne Park were suspended Thursday, with matches rescheduled for Friday. The draw for the Australian Open was also postponed by a day to Friday. Craig Tiley, the chief executive of Tennis Australia, remained resolute that the Australian Open would start, as scheduled, on Monday.Craig Tiley spoke at a news conference on Thursday as tune-up events for the Australian Open were suspended for the day.Credit…Tennis Australia, via Associated Press“This is not about no risk,” Tiley said. “There’s no such thing as no risk. There’s always going to be risk. The objective is to minimize it as much as possible.”Restrictions on travel to a nation surrounded by water have helped Australia get and keep the virus largely under control. There were 52 active coronavirus cases in the country as of Thursday and nine people in the hospital. With a population of 25.8 million people — about four million more than live in Florida — Australia has had 28,838 cases and 909 deaths related to the virus.That more than 1,200 visitors associated with the Australian Open, including those from countries where variants of the virus have shown to be more transmissible, were given exceptions to enter the country confounded Hickie. “Our social cohesion and cooperativeness isn’t something that you can buy, and the sense that some people are just more important than others is a very un-Australian concept,” he said.In mid-January, as the players settled into their mandatory 14-day quarantine — some more cheerfully than others — Australians seemed divided. Some were aligned with tennis and government officials who looked at Victoria as a liberator rescuing international sport from the tyranny of the pandemic. Others believed that Australia’s standing as one of the leading countries in containing the virus carried more prestige than its standing as one of tennis’s four Grand Slam host countries.The Coronavirus Outbreak More