Tag: Grand Slam

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Tennis is back on!

The ATP and WTA should offer great shows this year, especially at Grand Slam tournaments

After a short offseason of just over a month, tennis is back in the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) and Women’s Tennis Association (WTA). Some small tournaments were played in January, but it’s with the just concluded ATP Cup, and the now underway Australian Open — the first Grand Slam of the season — that tennis fans can really feel like their favourite sport is back.

Except for the travel involved, tennis is one of few sports with limited contact, which helped the ATP and WTA run almost as normal these past few months. In order to avoid the spread of COVID-19, adaptations for this season include things such as quarantines for players when arriving in the country of a tournament, and possible limitation rules on the number of staff ― coaches and fitness trainers, for example ― they can bring with them on site.

Compared to last year, the ATP Cup and Australian Open were pushed by two weeks, asking players to quarantine themselves for 14 days prior to the ATP Cup and the Grand Slam. Most tournaments are currently planned to be played this year, but we might see dates vary depending on the circumstances.

ATP

All eyes will be on the Big Three for the 2021 season. World number one Novak Djokovic will look to pursue his domination at the ATP. Djokovic has been leading the ATP rankings since 2019, and has been accumulating wins and titles at an impressive speed these past years. He’ll be a threat at the Australian Open, where he’s won eight of his 17 Grand Slam titles.

Rafael Nadal, who leads the men’s list with Roger Federer for most Grand Slam victories with 20, could perhaps rewrite history at the 2021 edition of Roland-Garros. Nadal has won 13 Roland-Garros titles, winning 100 of his 102 matches there.

Federer, who will turn 40 this season, announced to a Swiss radio broadcast that he will return to action in March, at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha. Federer has undergone two right knee surgeries since February 2020 and hasn’t played since late January of that year.

This could be his last season. Federer will definitely look at Wimbledon as his last chance to add a 21st Grand Slam to his collection, if that’s the case, as he’s won eight times there.

This season should be a promising one for rising star Jannik Sinner. Currently ranked 32nd in the world, Sinner won his first ATP title last year. He began 2019 ranked 553rd, and was already 78th in January 2020. At age 19, Sinner already has wins against top 10 players like Stéfanos Tsitsipás and Alexander Zverev.

WTA

Canadian star Bianca Andreescu is set to make her return to action at the Australian Open. Andreescu hasn’t participated in any tournament since October 2019. Having dominated the summer of 2019 with three titles, including the Rogers Cup in Toronto and the U.S. Open — her first Grand Slam and the first Canadian player to win one — Andreescu is now considered one of the best in the WTA.

Compared to ATP tournaments, things are much more unpredictable for women. Both Grand Slam and smaller tournaments offer surprises and impressive results all the time. In the three Grand Slam tournaments played last year, there were two first-time winners, including 19-year-old Iga Świątek, winning her first WTA title ever with a triumph at Roland-Garros.

Sofia Kenin is the other player who won her first major title last year. Ranked 4th in the world already, Kenin could be the next superstar on the women’s side. She not only has talent, but also character on and off the court, which is what the WTA might need with legend and 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams near retirement.

 

Graphic by Lily Cowper

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Rafael Nadal wins 20th Grand Slam title, ties for most in ATP history

The race for the most Grand Slam titles has never been so tight

Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, known collectively as the Big 3, have dominated the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for years. Despite all the great names in men’s tennis history, the Big 3 lead for the most ever Grand Slam titles won.

By winning his 13th Roland-Garros title on Oct. 11, a record in professional tennis, Nadal has joined Federer at the top of the list, tied with 20 Grand Slam titles each.

With all members of the Big 3 at different stages of their careers, it’s still unclear who’s going to finish with most triumphs. While both Federer and Nadal lead with 20, Djokovic’s not so far behind with 17.

At 33 years old, Djokovic is the youngest of the group. He’s arguably the only one who’s been able to compete against Federer and Nadal in every match, even beating them on many occasions, including in Grand Slam finals. Most of Djokovic’s impressive ATP records wouldn’t even be discussed today if it weren’t for his victories against Nadal and Federer along the way. As he’s just three Grand Slam titles away from tying them at 20, we can only imagine what may happen if he’s still playing after the other two retire.

Nadal, 34, may or may not finish his career with the most Grand Slam titles among the three, but what’s sure is that he has good chances of passing Federer if he stays healthy. Recognized as the best player ever on clay, Nadal could perhaps add a 21st major with a 14th Roland-Garros next year, as he’s won 100 of his 102 matches there.

It’s likely that Nadal will start reducing the number of tournaments he plays in a season. Federer has been doing so for a few years now, skipping almost all clay-court tournaments in order to better prepare for grass court tournaments and the annual U.S. Open on hard court in late summer. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see Nadal start skipping the grass part of the season, and just focus on important clay and hard court tournaments.

Even though Federer said he will come back in 2021 despite currently recovering from a second knee surgery this year, it’s hard to know how the 39-year-old will perform in what could easily be his farewell season. In an optimistic scenario, Federer could add to his list of major titles by winning the Australian Open and Wimbledon, which he’s won six and eight times respectively. Federer won both tournaments in 2017, and his 20th Grand Slam at the Australian Open in 2018 when he defended his title. Those seem to be his favourite majors, as his last Grand Slam other than those two was in 2009.

All members of the Big 3 have a case to finish on top for the most Grand Slam titles. They’re all at different stages of their careers, and all seem to dominate a different playing surface. Only time will tell where they end up.

 

Graphic by Rose-Marie Dion

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Colour Commentary: Tennis is back

The U.S. Open was played without fans in Flushing Meadows, New York

The 2020 tennis season started with the new ATP Cup tournament, as well as the Australian Open, the first of the four annual Grand Slams in tennis.

On Aug. 20, after five months of postponed and cancelled tournaments, tennis was finally back on for the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) and Women’s Tennis Association (WTA). Both Associations suspended their calendar’s tournaments until August due to the high risk of COVID-19 transmission.

The first tournament since the shutdown, the Western & Southern Open, normally held in Cincinnati, was played without fans in the U.S. Open site in New York.

Despite 2019 champions Rafael Nadal and Bianca Andreescu’s notable absences, the tournament provided a bit of a return to normalcy for the sport, and offered many surprises and great moments.

Speaking of surprises, the road to an 18th Grand Slam title was more than open for world number one Novak Djokovic. Without Nadal and Roger Federer, Djokovic was favoured to win the title right away, as no player apart from these three has won a Grand Slam since Stan Wawrinka did in 2016.

However, Djokovic got disqualified from his Round of 16 match for hitting a line judge with a ball. That meant a new Grand Slam champion other than the Big Three was going to be crowned, four years after Wawrinka. This year, it was Dominic Thiem’s turn to shine, as he lifted his first career major title on the men’s side.

Canadian players Denis Shapovalov, Félix Auger-Aliassime and Vasek Pospisil all finished with career-best results at the U.S. Open. Milos Raonic, the fourth and last Canadian of the tournament, was eliminated by Pospisil in the second round.

In the WTA, the tournament was being played without Ashleigh Barty and Simona Halep, world number one and two respectively, as well as four other members of the top 10 — not surprising that we’ve had so many great firsts.

For the first time in WTA history, three mothers reached quarterfinals at the same Grand Slam for the first time, with Serena Williams, Tsvetana Pironkova and Victoria Azarenka all in action. For Pironkova, it was her first tournament since 2017, as she took a break from tennis to give birth to her first child. Pironkova just started back training at the beginning of the year.

Final thoughts:

For the first tournament in a while, despite the nearly half-year hiatus, the U.S. Open surprised me with its organization and preparation. It made it through the two weeks of the competition without COVID-19 problems, and showed the tennis world that it’s possible to have sports despite not playing them in the same conditions as before.

 

Graphic by Rose-Marie Dion @the.beta.lab

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