The A-Z of a record-breaking 2024 Australian Open

From local hope Alex de Minaur to China’s rising star Zheng Qinwen and everyone and everything in between, these were the highlights and talking points of the 2024 Australian Open, from A to Z.

A: This was the summer of Alex de Minaur, in so many ways. Made his top-10 debut, took three top-10 scalps – including world No.1 Novak Djokovic – and came painstakingly close to his maiden Australian Open quarter-final before losing in five sets to Russian fifth seed Andrey Rublev. The future is bright.

Alex de Minaur broke into the world’s top 10 this summer and showed he belongs there with his performance at the Australian Open.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

B: Back-to-back women’s singles titles for Belarusian ball-blaster Aryna Sabalenka, who became the first woman to do so since her compatriot Victoria Azarenka in 2012-13. The world No.2 did not drop a set throughout the tournament and only Coco Gauff took more than three games off her in a set.

C: A hamstring injury robbed the Australian Open of then-world No.1 Carlos Alcaraz’s presence last year, but he was back in 2024 and made his deepest run. A quarter-final exit was still a tad disappointing, by the dual grand slam champion’s lofty standards, but he still played some breathtaking tennis. There was a minor ruckus when he was unable to name a WTA player he likes to watch in a post-match interview with Jim Courier.

D: Domestic violence is a serious topic, and that’s why German Alex Zverev continues to be under scrutiny, particularly after the news he will stand trial in his home country in May on domestic violence charges. Zverev strenuously denies the allegations and sees no reason not to be on the ATP’s player council. Jelena Dokic, herself a victim of domestic violence, asked Sabalenka to sign two towels after her semi-final win to help raise funds for children and female victims of domestic violence.

E: Matt Ebden is almost two years separated from his last singles match, but he is going stronger than ever on the doubles court. The 36-year-old West Australian partnered India’s Rohan Bopanna to the men’s doubles title on Saturday night, making the latter the oldest in the Open era to win a grand slam doubles championship. At least one Australian has won the past three AO men’s doubles finals.

Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden saviour their victory in the men’s doubles.Credit: AP

F: There were an unprecedented 20 five-set matches in the first round of this year’s event, which grew to a tournament record 34 ahead of Sunday’s final. This year’s Australian Open will tie the 1983 US Open for the Open era record for five-setters in a major if Jannik Sinner and Daniil Medvedev go the distance.

G: Fifty years have passed since Australian tennis legend Evonne Goolagong Cawley’s first of four-straight Australian Open singles titles, and she was rightly feted. The AO will also name its First Nations day after Goolagong Cawley from next year in recognition of her efforts to improve Indigenous lives.

H: It was a big fortnight for the Hewitts. Former world No.1 Lleyton Hewitt’s son, 15-year-old Cruz, made his AO debut in the boys’ singles as a wildcard in front of a capacity crowd on court three. Hewitt snr, who won two grand slam singles titles, was also deservedly inducted into the Australian Tennis Hall of Fame.

I: Iga Swiatek looked primed to finally end her Melbourne Park hoodoo after going through the United Cup unbeaten in five matches. But it was a familiar story for the world No.1 once the Open started. The star Pole was lucky to make it past the second round before losing to Czech teenager Linda Noskova in the next round. Swiatek’s semi-final in 2022 is the only time she made it beyond the round of 16.

J: There was competition for ‘J’, from the Jones siblings – Emerson and Hayden – who respectively made the girls’ final and boys’ quarter-final, respectively, and John Millman, who retired after a career headlined by his 2018 US Open quarter-final. But it would be remiss not to mention Italian Jannik Sinner, who ended Novak Djokovic’s Melbourne Park reign to reach his maiden major final.

K: Daria Kasatkina’s acid-tongued tweets directed at Alex Zverev, and shock quarter-finalist Anna Kalinskaya both deserved nominations, but let’s go with “Karma”. That was the word Zverev used in the new season of the Break Point doco to describe Daniil Medvedev’s first-round Roland-Garros loss. There were suggestions Medvedev mouthed exactly that after beating Zverev in five sets in the semi-finals, but the Russian denied it.

L: Late-night starts and early morning finishes were a theme this fortnight, with the record number of five-setters wreaking havoc. The earlier Sunday start did nothing to prevent them, at least in part because of the insistence on starting at certain times. As an aside, do we need “Legends” matches at all, or can they just be a filler if required?

M: Sixteen-year-old prodigy and 2023 junior finalist Mirra Andreeva was a sensation on court – reaching the fourth round in the women’s draw – and in the media room, with her talent and personality shining brightly. Medvedev made for captivating viewing, too, thanks to his revealing press conferences and three five-set escapes.

N: Rafael Nadal withdrew before this year’s Open due to a muscle tear, and may never compete in Melbourne again. His great rival Novak Djokovic, the undisputed king of Melbourne Park with 10 titles, did play but had a tough time from the get-go before losing a lopsided semi-final to Jannik Sinner. Djokovic says it is premature to call this the start of his decline.

O: There is only one Jelena Ostapenko, a power-hitting Latvian who believes she has never hit a ball long. Her third-round conqueror Victoria Azarenka played Ostapenko twice this summer, and they were particularly colourful clashes. Azarenka said Ostapenko’s line-calling “can be a bit comical”, but the latter still won the Adelaide title and reached the AO women’s doubles final.

P: A new policy enabling fans to enter stadiums after even – not just odd – games was a big winner for the patrons, but drew a mixed response from players. Australia’s Jordan Thompson called the AO “the wokest tournament ever” on learning about it mid-match, while Djokovic was “divided” on the merits of it. The fans also had a new “party court” (court six) as well.

Q: This was the year of the qualifier. Ukrainian Dayana Yastremska made the semi-finals, while Flavio Cobolli, Maria Timofeeva, Anastasia Zakharova and Australia’s Storm Hunter reached at least the round of 32. Last year’s girls’ champion Alina Korneeva and Brenda Fruhvirtova – both only 16 – qualified and won a round.

R: There is great amusement in the media room when the daily attendance is read over the speaker – and the inevitable record crowd is announced. But all jokes aside, this year’s Australian Open eviscerated the previous records, with 1,020,763 attending the main tournament (up from the previous record of 839,192) and the crowd up to 1,110,657 (up from 902,312) when the extra week of qualifying is included.

S: This could have been Sabalenka and Sinner, or the new Sunday start, but they went elsewhere. There was a sexism debate after Sabalenka revealed discussions took place about possibly switching her quarter-final off Rod Laver Arena if Djokovic’s clash with Taylor Fritz extended to a fifth set (it did not). British commentator Tim Henman wondered aloud: “Why are they asking the women to move, when they’re not the last match?”

T: Australian Open boss Craig Tiley has a right to be here, but the teenagers overran him. Among the young’uns to make their mark were Gauff, Andreeva, Korneeva, Noskova, Alex Michelsen, Dino Prizmic, Luca Van Assche, Juncheng “Jerry” Shang, Jakub Mensik, Arthur Fils, Brenda Fruhvirtova, Sara Bejlek and Ella Seidel.

U: There were upsets aplenty, particularly in the top half of the women’s draw, which created opportunity for lesser-known players. None of Swiatek and fellow seeds Elena Rybakina, Jessica Pegula, Ostapenko, Marketa Vondrousova, Marie Bouzkova, Veronika Kudermetova, Sorana Cirstea, Anhelina Kalinina, Lin Zhu or Emma Navarro reached the last 16.

American Coco Gauff was one of the teenagers who lit up the Australian Open.Credit: Getty Images

V: The discussion about value for money was again a hot topic, with “dynamic pricing” sending some fans into fits of anger. This masthead reported that on January 19 the cheapest tickets left to the men’s singles final were almost $2000. Ouch! Tiley will point to record attendance as justification for the price gouging, but it is something to monitor.

W: Melbourne’s weather was decidedly mild and even rainy at times, and the conditions at this year’s AO did not get anywhere near the oven-like temperatures of previous Januaries, such as in 2014 when there were four-straight days beyond 41 degrees. The players were undoubtedly relieved to have just an occasional warm day to deal with.

X: We are cheating, but French wildcard Arthur Cazaux (pronounced “Cazoo”, according to his ATP page) is our nomination. The world No.122 sent Laslo Djere, Holger Rune and Tallon Griekspoor packing on his way to the fourth round. The French reciprocal wildcard recipient won a match only five times in the previous two decades.

Y: One mention is not enough for hard-hitting Ukrainian Dayana Yastremska, the former world No.21 who became the first women’s singles qualifier to reach the semi-finals at the Australian Open since 1978. Hers is an interesting story, from her anti-doping violation – she was only months later cleared of any “fault of negligence” – to her pride at the Ukrainian fighters defending their country.

Z: This was not a tough letter to fill, given 12th-seeded Chinese star Zheng Qinwen – “Queen-Wen” to her supporters – made her maiden grand slam singles final before losing to Sabalenka. She is a household name in China and her profile should keep soaring. Zheng’s countryman Zhang Zhizhen also progressed to the men’s doubles semi-finals with Czech Tomas Machac.

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