Recap the weirdest moments from the 2019 Australian Open
Bernard Tomic, Nick Kyrgios and Lleyton Hewitt aren’t the only ones to have caused some Australian Open drama. From awkward handshakes to fights over towels and middle fingers, this was the Australian Open.
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Just how observant were you during Australian Open?
On the court we all watched as the hours of highlight reel moments built up over the tournament, including heroics from Aussies Alex de Minaur and Alex Bolt, the return and then the demise of Serena Williams, the emergence of the ‘Greek Freak’ Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alexander Zverev’s epic on-court tantrum where he smashed his racquet nine times.
Off the court, the ongoing feud between Bernard Tomic and Lleyton Hewitt dominated the headlines, with Nick Kyrgios popping up every now and then to add his two cents.
HUGE WIN: HOW BARTY TOOK DOWN MARIA
STUNNING UPSET: WORLD NO. 2 DUMPED FROM OPEN
BAD LOOK: SHARAPOVA BLASTED FOR BATHROOM BREAK
But did you also catch a few of the off-Broadway highlights?
From on-court meltdowns to awkward handshakes and interview fails, recap the quirky moments you may have missed from Melbourne Park.
DON’T THINK, DO SOMETHING
We spend a lot of time banging on about Alexander Zverev’s grand slam credentials but unfortunately the fourth seed has yet again failed on the big stage.
Outside of a quarter-final slot at the French Open the 21 year-old German ace has not made it past the fourth round of any slam.
Not only did ‘Sascha’ capitulate against big-serving Canadian Milos Raonic, losing 1-6 1-6 6-7 (5-7) the reigning ATP Finals champion destroyed his racquet in an epic court-side meltdown.
The repeat racquet abuser smashed his weapon of choice nine times – five on one side and four on the other – after being broke twice in the second set.
DON’T BAG PABLO
Melbourne Airport baggage handlers: “We’re the best at bag-throwing in this town”.
Pablo Carreno Busta: “Hold my beer”.
It was one of the great meltdowns of recent years, with the teary Spaniard left seething when a point – in the super tiebreak, no less - he thought should be replayed was awarded to opponent Kei Nishikori in the fourth round.
“Obviously I’m very sad, no, because after five hours fighting, after five hours’ match, the way that I leave from the court wasn’t correct, and I’m so sorry, because that’s not me,” he said.
“I know that in any moment, I lost the head.”
GO BIG, THEN GO HOME
Frances Tiafoe’s stunning rise from playing tennis with holes in his shoes to an Australian Open quarter-final proved nothing short of incredible.
The man they call “Big Foe” treated himself leaving Melbourne, posting a snap with his feet up in business class upon jetting out.
“Great setup for the next 16 hours,” Tiafoe wrote.
He’d previously said he’d been able to change his parents’ lives with his feats, and is adopting a “why not” mentality to future slams.
“Rafa (Nadal) and these cats ain’t getting any younger, you know what I’m saying?.”
He received an Instagram comment from LeBron James, but said their contact was yet to go any further.
“No, if he texted me, I wouldn’t be here right now. I’d be Facetiming him, if he had my number.”
NO KIDDING
There’s still room for fun – even for the game’s best.
Roger Federer had his eyes on the prize but his twin son Lenny had a ball in the Swiss master’s player box, laughing and joking with coach Ivan Ljubicic.
“It was funny, I had to smile when I saw Lenny in the first row,” Federer was reported as saying.
“I didn’t know they would even come, but it’s great. They can eat lunch here and meet their friends.”
ICE QUEEN
What do Roger Federer, Grigor Dimitrov and Serena Williams all have in common?
Apart from blistering backhands and effortless groundstrokes the Australian Open victims all lost with Vogue magazine editor-in-chief sitting in their players’ box.
One punter went as far as to dub the British-American journalist and editor, known to wear bright colours and oversized shades, the “angel of death” on Twitter.
The animal rights activist was the central character of the best-selling novel, The Devil Wears Prada, late made into a successful film starring Meryl Streep.
WHAT A DOLL
Get out of here Qai Qai.
The presence of a doll swept through the Australian Open, but not just any doll — the “granddaughter” of Serena Williams.
The doll, dubbed Qai Qai, has more than 100,000 followers on social media and was snapped around Melbourne Park as her “grandma” made it to the quarter-finals.
Her “mom”, Williams’ daughter Olympia, might have to work on her parenting if her Aunt Venus’ observations are anything to go by.
“I’m really into the doll,” Venus Williams said. “I love Qai Qai. (It’s so good) because I personally see Qai Qai first-hand and the struggles that she goes through.”
LOVE-ALL
Early in the tournament, Elina Svitolina tried to play coy when asked about her budding romance with French player Gael Monfils.
Fast forward a couple of days and there was a joint Instagram account and cute shots holding hands and canoodling.
This game moves fast.
“He’s there for me, he’s supporting me, and I’m there for him as well,” Svitolina said. “He understands, I understand, what we’re going through. It’s great.”
CAMERA FAIL
It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane, It’s Spider-Cam.
The drone-like air-conveyance, used at Rod Laver Arena for dramatic close-up and aerial shots, created a stir moments after Ash Barty defeated Maria Sharapova when it slammed into the chair umpire’s stand.
😳 Omg. The overhead camera nearly took out the umpire after Barty v Sharapova #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/pAcurnfOLJ
— katie (@_KT23) January 20, 2019
SERENA’S EPIC CHOKE
It just doesn’t happen to Serena Williams.
Well not before the tennis legend crashed out of the Australian Open after seventh-seed Karolina Pliskova rallied from 5-1 down in the third set to stun the power-packed American.
Pliskova fended off four match points in the epic quarter-final showdown to deny Williams and complete one of the biggest chokes in grand slam history.
OUCH!
Spare a thought for the TAB customer that plonked $59,890 on three-time grand slam champion Angelique Kerber, the $1.11 favourite, to defeat American Danielle Collins.
Collins needed only 56 minutes to wipe out Kerber 6-0 6-2 in the round of 16.
A $70,000 bet on Madison Keys ($1.53) and $45,000 on Serena Williams ($1.32) also went under.
JUST RESTING YOUR EYES?
There is no doubt about it. Jet lag is nasty.
But no matter how bad you’ve got it, it is always a good idea to try and stay awake when you’re in the presence of tennis royalty.
One Italian journalist found that out the hard way on day one of the Open, when he was busted falling asleep in Rafael Nadal’s press conference.
Luckily Nadal saw the funny side and let the reporter off the hook with the old ‘just resting your eyes’ routine.
“I know, you were closing your eyes to be more focused on what I was saying,” Nadal said while laughing.
Rafael Nadal wakes up a sleeping journalist in his #AusOpen press conference pic.twitter.com/9JngjrULtp
— Indy Sport (@IndySport) January 14, 2019
#HANDSHAKEGATE
It shouldn’t be that hard, should it?
When the last point has been played, you come to the net and shake your opponent’s hand.
Well, that was far from the case when Barbora Strycova and Yulia Putintseva met in the middle of the court following their round one clash.
This was about as awkward as it gets.
I KNEW STRYCOVA AND PUTINTSEVA WON'T DISSAPPOINT ME! HANDSHAKE OF THE YEAR pic.twitter.com/hCo1PHmGnS
— LorenaPopa🕵ï¸â€â™€ï¸ ðŸ†ðŸ¥–👑 (@popalorena) January 14, 2019
The footage was shared all over the internet, in what quickly became known as the Open’s very own #handshakegate.
“I like to squeeze hand normal, but she squeezed me, like, hardcore! These bones — oww! Oww!” Strycova said after the match.
“I was like, ‘Why’d you do that?’ She said, ‘You squeezed my hand.’ I said, ‘I squeezed your hand normal! Just let it be.’
“I didn’t really care. It’s nothing big. Just, why?”
#MIDDLEFINGERGATE
The handshake issue wasn’t the last we heard of Yulia Putintseva.
The Kazakh player managed to embrace her inner Bernard Tomic when it came to infuriating the local fans with her efforts following a second-round loss to Belinda Bencic.
As she left the court, Putintseva was seen shaking her hand, seemingly disappointed with the crowd (which was full of children).
She then delivered a middle finger salute as she disappeared. Stay classy, Yulia!
Middle finger from PUTINTSEVA to the crowd OMG she's crazy 😂 pic.twitter.com/6FLC4J8NPn
— LorenaPopa🕵ï¸â€â™€ï¸ ðŸ†ðŸ¥–👑 (@popalorena) January 16, 2019
MARIA’S BRUTAL RESPONSE
There is a reason she is a grand slam champion and former world No.1.
Maria Sharapova takes no prisoners — ever!
Flashback to round one and Sharapova left her opponent Harriet Dart in tears after handing her a 6-0 6-0 thrashing on Rod Laver Arena.
Asked if she felt bad for Dart, Sharapova’s response was as brutal as it gets.
“There’s no time for empathy, I’m sorry to say, when you’re playing in the first round of a grand slam.
“There’s no doubt that my level wasn’t where I wanted it to be, but she was there to take the match. So I’m not so much worried about my opponent, but I have to step up when the time is right and when I need to.”
MEET MUZZ’S NO. 1 FAN
Andy Murray has played plenty of big matches at the Australian Open.
However, when news broke that this would be the final time we would see him on the court in Melbourne, the atmosphere for his round one match was off the charts.
But in a stadium full of Murray supporters, there was little competition to identify his No. 1 fan.
Murray’s mother Judy posted this photo of a fan who takes Murray’s most memorable moment with her everywhere she goes.
After getting a glimpse of the tattoo, Judy summed it up best.
“Just one of many extraordinary things I saw in Melbourne Arena on Monday night.”
Just one of many extraordinary things I saw in Melbourne Arena on Monday night. pic.twitter.com/Jc8gf8j6DP
— judy murray (@JudyMurray) January 15, 2019
FANS LOCK HORNS OVER HEADBAND
We never thought a sweaty headband would be that special.
How wrong we were.
There was some serious drama on display when Aryna Sabalenka decided to throw her headband into the crowd after her win over Katie Boulter.
Two female fans locked horns over the souvenir, with both refusing to let go.
After a prolonged standoff, security had to be called to the court and both were ejected.
In a valuable lesson about sharing, neither woman ended up with the headband.
THE (ALMOST) ULTIMATE TIEBREAK FAIL
Speaking of Katie Boulter, the young Brit didn’t get through her campaign without a bit of controversy of her own.
It started with Boulter making history when she and Ekaterina Makarova became the first players in Australian Open history to play in a final set tie-break.
The only problem was, Boulter didn’t know the rules.
When she reached seven points, she began to celebrate, thinking it was a traditional tie-break.
However, the new rule states a final set tie-break is actually to 10 points.
After a few embarrassing moments, Boulter eventually recovered to pull off the win.
“I’d actually seen it a lot over Twitter and stuff, a lot of people were talking about it,” she said after the match.
YOUNG GUN’S OUTBURST OF THE TOURNAMENT
“It was (the) heat of the moment. I said some really bad things”.
You certainly did, Stefanos Tsitsipas!
The young Greek rising star, who knocked out Roger Federer, has set the benchmark for the blow-up of the tournament following an expletive-laden outburst at an Australian Open linesman.
After being given a code violation in the third set of his match with Nikoloz Basilashvili, Tsitsipas teed off in Greek, shouting, “That w------ there has f----- me. F--- your house.”
Despite being in a different language, it didn’t stop the chair umpire from giving him another reprimand and he can expect a hefty fine on his way in the coming days.
Tsitsipas was quick to apologise after the match.
AUSSIE BATTLER’S $155,000 PAYDAY
The 2019 Australian Open has been life changing for young Aussie Kimberly Birrell.
Just a couple of weeks ago she was sharing a car with her mother.
Now she is expecting a $155,000 pay cheque to hit her bank account after a third round showing.
But what is Australia’s best tennis player without a set of wheels planning on doing with the money?
A car is certainly on the radar.
“That’s definitely going to be on the agenda, though, in the next couple of weeks as soon as I get home,” she said after her loss to Angelique Kerber.
“But, yeah, we’ve been talking about it a little bit. I definitely need a smaller car with the reversing camera because I need all the help I can get with parking.”
YOU’RE FIRED!
Rafael Nadal has had all sorts of issues with his body over the past 12 months.
In fact, the Spanish superstar has only been able to complete one hard court tournament in that time.
And after his win over local hope Alex de Minaur, it became clear who he is blaming for all the injuries.
John McEnroe: I have known you, I see your guys, I believe his name is Raphael, your trainer, would you like to give a shout out to him, maybe you would like to say …
Nadal: No, I am getting injured all the time.
McEnroe: What, it is his fault?! You’re fired!
THE ULTIMATE AUS OPEN MULTI
We’ve seen some crazy tennis multis over the years — but this one might just take the cake.
On Sunday night, one TAB customer placed a 20 leg multi across the men’s and women’s first round matches, for a stake of $5000 at odds of $11.09.
Incredibly, it all came down to US Open champion Naomi Osaka in her Round 1 match with Magda Linette.
Luckily for this punter’s blood pressure, Osaka came up trumps in a relatively straight forward two set win and secured the tennis guru a $55,400 payday.
‘THEY CALL ME ASPARAGUS’
Alexander Zverev has put on about 15kgs of muscle in the last couple of years.
The problem is, no one has noticed.
Speaking after his win against Alex Bolt, Zverev was asked about working with super trainer Jez Green, who has also helped Andy Murray.
While Murray’s results were clearly visible, it hasn’t been the case for Zverev.
“I’m disappointed,” he joked.
“I’m still the skinny dude on tour, even though I put on about 15kg.
“When he (Green) started working with Andy, you can actually see he became one of the strongest dudes on tour, whereas I’m still looking like … I don’t know. I have been called asparagus or something a few times.”
Who has the better rig, Zverev or Nadal? 😂👊 #AusOpen #9WWOS pic.twitter.com/vNmiGW4LGW
— Wide World of Sports (@wwos) January 19, 2019
DON’T YOU KNOW WHO I AM?
It doesn’t matter who you are. When you hit Melbourne Park, you better have your accreditation with you.
That goes for none other than Roger Federer, who was denied access into the players’ lounge after he had forgotten his pass.
It was certainly a brave security guard at the entrance, who told the 20-time Grand Slam champion that it was a case of no ID, no entry.
Luckily for Federer, someone from his team was on hand to bail him out of trouble.
BIRD S*** DERAILS AUS OPEN NIGHT SESSION
The day four night session at the Australian Open broke all kinds of records, with Jo Konta and Garbine Muguruza finding out the hard way that Melbourne Park never sleeps.
Thanks to a five set classic between Alexander Zverev and Jeremy Chardy the match before, the two were unable to hit the court until 12:30am.
There was a back-up plan, with Australian Open officials at one stage attempting to move the match to Show Court Three.
However, due to a large amount of bird poo on the court and not enough staff to clean it up, the switch couldn’t be made.
‘SHE DOESN’T REALLY TALK TO ANYBODY’
It appears the ice surrounding the feud between Maria Sharapova and Caroline Wozniacki is no closer to melting following their latest clash.
“I mean, I think our terms are the same as they have always been,” Wozniacki said after being dumped from the tournament by Sharapova.
“I think she doesn’t really talk to anybody and just, you know, has her team and has her own thing and that’s that.”
In her press conference, Sharapova was given the opportunity to return serve.
“She had made quite a few comments about you since your last meeting once you came back from your ban. Did that add a level of satisfaction like you really wanted to go out and beat her today?” one reporter asked.
“I just really like winning. I’m just really happy and proud of the way I competed today and I’m into the fourth round. So that’s all that matters,” Sharapova said.
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