Weekly serve: The highs and lows from the Australian Open so far

Interest in the Australian Open is sky high, but it may not be a good thing to have record crowds through the gates. See the highs and lows from the first week at Melbourne Park here.

A whirlwind of drama, excitement and unpredictability engulfed the first seven days of the Australian Open, as record crowds swarmed Melbourne Park and queued for hours to cram into the outer courts for a glimpse of any tennis.

Aussie fans heckled some of the sport’s finest from the stands, but copped a bigger serve than they expected in reply as the likes of Danielle Collins refused to hold back.

But years down the line, that might just be remembered as the chaotic backdrop to a tournament where a new generation of stars announced themselves to the world with giant-killing performances.

Gael Monfils is fit and firing. Picture: AFP

HIGHS

The evergreen entertainer

He was bizarrely kept off-Broadway by tournament organisers, but veteran French star Gael Monfils’ run to the fourth round was one of the biggest crowd delights in the first week of the Open.

Monfils, 38, entered the tournament fresh off becoming the oldest ATP tour title winner in Auckland, and ousted his world No. 31 countryman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in a five-set thriller in the first round.

The peers he entered professional tennis alongside were the likes of Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka, so it’s remarkable that Monfils will be back inside the top 40 when the ATP rankings are updated next week.

His third-round win over No. 4 seed Taylor Fritz was a sign he is not slowing down and there’s every chance the Frenchman with all the shots will return for a 20th appearance at Melbourne Park next year.

Eva Lys celebrates one of her three wins in the main draw so far. Picture: AFP

Lucky, but not a loser

Eva Lys was told she was into the main draw little more than 10 minutes before she was called onto the court to face Australian Kimberly Birrell in a first-round clash following the sudden withdrawal of 13th seed Anna Kalinskaya.

The German 23-year-old, who lost to Destanee Aiava in the final round of qualifying, equalled the record as the best performed lucky loser in a grand slam on Saturday as she overcame Romania’s Jaqueline Cristian to win 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.

Only two men have ever reached the fourth round of a major after being parachuted in as a lucky loser – Dick Norman (Wimbledon 1995), and Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard (Wimbledon 2024)

And only one woman had completed the feat in the last 30 years, with Elina Avanesyan reaching the round of 16 at Roland Garros in 2023.

Joao Fonseca brought the Brazilian fans to their feet this week. Picture: AFP

The Brazilians are back

There was no better crowd atmosphere than on 1573 Arena as a Brazilian army cheered on Beatriz Haddad Maia and Joao Fonseca in back-to-back matches during the second round.

Novak Djokovic said this week Brazilian fans having someone to cheer for was “super important” for the future of tennis, and they now have a genuine star in both the men’s and women’s draws.

Haddad Maia, who reached a US Open quarterfinal last year, is the first Brazilian woman since Maria Esther Bruno in 1959 to have cracked the top 10 in the world rankings, while 18-year-old Fonseca breezed through qualifying before he stunned world No. 9 Andrey Rublev in a straight sets first-round victory.

This tournament could be long remembered for unearthing a star trio of teenagers in Fonseca, his fellow qualifier Learner Tien, and Czech 19-year-old Jakub Mensik.

Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis struggled with injuries. Picture: Michael Klein

LOWS

INJURY CURSE HITS AUSSIES, STARS ALIKE

The injury struggles of Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis have been well documented, but most disappointing for local fans were the glute and abdominal issues that contributed to the demise of genuine title threat Alexei Popyrin in the first round.

Popyrin was the 25th seed and riding the high of a career best year into his home grand slam, but faded badly after a first-set win against France’s Colentin Moutet to lose in four sets.

Seeded two spots lower, Jordan Thompson also had his campaign ruined in the first round by a foot injury which could leave him sidelined for weeks.

Some of the game’s biggest names were forced out as well, with dual champion Naomi Osaka bowing out of a hotly anticipated third-round clash against Belinda Bencic, and men’s world No. 10 Grigor Dimitrov lasting little more than a set before deciding he would not be able to beat lucky loser Francesco Passaro due to a groin issue.

Tensions were high when Danielle Collins played Destanee Aiava on Thursday. Picture: AFP

OVERCROWDED AND UNRULY

Interest in the Open is sky-high and the tournament continues to be at the cutting edge of “the fan experience”, but organisers must consider scaling back the number of available ground passes to help fans watch actual tennis.

While the night ground passes have helped people come in to enjoy a post-work drink in the heart of festivities, most who purchase a ticket also rightly expect they can sit in the stands of an outer court.

This for many tennisgoers has not been the case, and maybe that frustration has fuelled some of the awful crowd behaviour on the showcourts which included the jeering of American Danielle Collins during her clash with Destanee Aiava on Thursday night.

Collins’ “thanks for the pay cheque” quips post-match were off-key, but the 10th seed had every right to give it back to the hecklers when she beat Aiava in three sets.

Daniil Medvedev had a nightmare tournament. Picture: AFP

HERE FOR A BAD TIME, AND NOT A LONG TIME

He was Ash Barty’s tip to win the whole tournament, but Daniil Medvedev was heading home by Friday morning after one of the all-time grand slam stinkers by a top-five seed.

The Russian was always going to need time to find his best after staying home for a longer off-season than most to welcome his child earlier this month, but few could have expected to find him staring down the barrel of a straight-sets defeat to the world No. 418 Kasidit Samrej.

Medvedev managed to save that match, but not before breaking his racquet and an expensive net camera in a tantrum likely to cost him a hefty fine.

He could also be sanctioned for failing to front the media after his 3am defeat to American qualifier Learner Tien in the next round, but what was there really to say after a nightmarish week in Melbourne.