Novak Djokovic and Victoria Azarenka won the singles titles at the opening Grand Slam of the season for a second consecutive year, underlining their positions as the world #1s in the process. Both players were made to work hard to defend their titles, but demonstrated their mental fortitude in overcoming challenges both on and off the court.
Djokovic’s final opponent, Andy Murray, had not been challenged until beating Roger Federer for the first time at a Grand Slam in a memorable five-set semi-final, but the defending champion had been on the verge of a stunning defeat to Federer’s Davis Cup teammate Stanislas Wawrinka in the fourth round before eventually winning the match of the tournament 12-10 in an unforgettable fifth set.
After that Djokovic found his gear, despatching Tomas Berdych and making short work of David Ferrer in a particularly impressive semi-final display. Having faced each other in Melbourne for three consecutive years, Murray was determined to make amends for defeats in the previous editions of the tournament and started the final well, dominating a first set tie-break to snatch an early lead. Though Murray had the better of the play in the second set, a lapse in concentration cost him the next tie-breaker, and the world #1 began to hit increasingly accurately, finally breaking the Scot’s serve for the first time early in the third set and never looking back.
With the victory, Djokovic now has six career Grand Slam titles and becomes the first player since Roy Emerson completed a run of five in 1967 to win three Australian Open titles in a row, an achievement that he said was important to him; “I’m always motivated in every match that I play, but…to be mentioned in the history aspect and to win three in a row, it’s a huge achievement.”
Victoria Azarenka’s path to her second Slam title was easier on paper – the Belarusian didn’t face a single Top 20 player until the final – but the defending champion faced a number of distractions, not least a significant amount of criticism for an injury time-out taken during the closing stages of her semi-final win over the tournament’s surprise player, Sloane Stephens.
Nerves looked to be affected the defending champion in the early stages of her final with Na Li, the Chinese player taking the first set with some aggressive hitting that repeatedly found the lines. With the crowd clearly on the side of Li – who later commented that she saw so many flags she felt like she was playing at home – Azarenka then had to keep her head during a series of interruptions, including the traditional Australia Day firework display and two medical treatments to Li following falls in which she injured first her ankle and then her head.
With so much going on, it was unsurprising to see Li’s level begin to drop, and Azarenka’s foot was firmly on the accelerator by the final set, breaking the fourth seed comfortably to take a decisive lead. After the final point, the emotion was clear to all as Azarenka broke down in celebration, though she quickly won the crowd back over during her on-court speech following the match.
Azarenka thus becomes the first woman since Martina Navratilova in 1979 to win her second Grand Slam title in the same place as her first, and holds on to the world #1 ranking that had been under threat from both Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams at the start of the tournament.
Like the singles, both doubles competitions were won by the top seeds. Bob & Mike Bryan extended their record as the most successful partnership of the modern era, taking sole possession of the most Grand Slam titles won as a pair with 13. The Americans beat unseeded Dutch pair Robin Haase & Igor Sijsling 6-3 6-4 to claim the Australian title for a sixth time in their careers.
Sara Errani & Roberta Vinci claimed with women’s title in style. The world’s top pair hadn’t been at their best during the early stages of the tournament, but used a come-from-behind victory over the Williams sisters as a springboard to better things. In the final, they disappointed an expectant home crowd that had been hoping to see Australian wild cards Ashleigh Barty and Casey Dell’Acqua come out on top. The local pair acquitted themselves well though, taking the middle set before losing to the more experienced Italians in three. Errani & Vinci have now won three of the last four Slams, and look to be safe in the top spots until at least the European summer.
Australians had better luck in the mixed doubles final, where the first-time partnership of Jarmila Gajdosova and Matt Ebden fully capitalised on a wild card invitation to take part in the event by beating Czechs Lucie Hradecka & Frantisek Cermak to claim a first Grand Slam title of any kind for either player.
There was further success for Australia in the junior competitions, where two of their top prospects emerged to face each other in the boys final. Third seed Nick Kyrgios took the title with a 7-6(4) 6-3 win over his unseeded friend Thanasi Kokkinakis, thus keeping the trophy in Australian hands following Luke Savile’s victory in 2012. Two more Australians had unexpected success in the boys doubles, as unseeded pair Bradley Mousley and Jay Andrijic lifted the trophy,beating German/Austrian pair Maximilian Marterer & current European 16 & Under champion Lucas Miedler for the title.
Another European Junior Champion, Ana Konjuh (winner of the 14 & Under title in 2011) continued to make great strides, claiming both the girls’ singles and doubles titles. The Croatian repeated her win at last month’s Orange Bowl in beating Katerina Siniakova (CZE) 6-3 6-4 for the singles crown, having earlier teamed up with Carol Zhao of Canada to win the doubles over Oleksandra Korashvili (UKR) and Barbora Krejcikova (CZE). Still just 15, Konjuh will now become the junior world #1 and was playing under the watchful eye of her Fed Cup coach Iva Majoli, who looks forward to giving her a more prominent role on the team in the near future.
With the top players winning all four of the professional titles at the year’s first Grand Slam, the casual observer would be forgiven for thinking that not much is happening at the pinnacle of the game. But with Serena Williams edging closer to the women’s top spot despite her defeat in Melbourne and Rafael Nadal returning to action in ten days after the longest injury break of his career, and likely to be seeded outside the Top 4 for Roland Garros, the next Grand Slam is already shaping up to be a fascinating event.
2013 Australian Open Roll of Honour
Men’s Singles
(1) Novak Djokovic (SRB) d. (3) Andy Murray 67(2) 76(3) 63 62
Men’s Doubles
(1) Bryan/Bryan (USA) d. Haase/Sijsling (NED) 63 64
Women’s Singles
(1) Victoria Azarenka (BLR) d. (6) Na Li (CHN) 46 64 63
Women’s Doubles
(1) Errani/Vinci (ITA) d. (WC) Barty/Dellacqua (AUS) 62 36 62
Mixed Doubles
Gajdosova/Ebden (AUS) d. Hradecka/Cermak (CZE) 63 75
Boys’ Singles
(3) Nick Kyrgios (AUS) d. Thanasi Kokkinakis (AUS) 76(4) 63
Boys' Doubles
Andrijc/Mousley (AUS) d. Marterer (GER)/Miedler (AUT) 63 76(3)
Girls’ Singles
(3) Ana Konjuh (CRO) d. (2) Katerina Siniakova (CZE) 63 64
Girls’ Doubles
(1) Konjuh (CRO)/Zhao (CAN) d. Korashvili (UKR)/Krejcikova (CZE) 57 64 (10-7)
Men’s Wheelchair Singles
(2) Shingo Kuneida (JPN) d. Stephane Houdet (FRA) 62 60
Women’s Wheelchair Singles
(1) Aniek van Koot (NED) d. (2) Sabine Ellerbrock (GER) 61 16 75
Men’s Wheelchair Doubles
(2) Jeremiasz (FRA)/Kuneida (JPN) d. Olsson (SWE)/Kellerman (AUS) 60 61
Women’s Wheelchair Doubles
(1) Griffioen/Van Koot (NED) d. (2) Shuker (GBR)/Buis (NED) 64 63
Quad Wheelchair Singles
(1) David Wagner (USA) d. (2) Andy Lapthorne (GBR) 7-5 1-6 6-4
Quad Wheelchair Doubles
(1) Wagner/Taylor (USA) d. Lapthorne (GBR)/Hard (SWE) 62 63