Other Tournaments

The 2020 Australian Open 2020 Officially Begins

Melbourne has become the focal point for supporters of tennis. The 2020 Australian Open has finally begun after prolonged delays; it’ll take place between January 20th and February 2nd. Lengthy wildfires, extensive rain and hailstorms forced the Australian Open to be delayed for nearly two weeks. However, Naomi Osaka and Novak Djokovic now have their chance to defend world titles from 2019. The best tennis players worldwide are competing for the opportunity to defeat this legendary athlete. We won’t know who these individuals will compete against at the finals until February 2nd when the tournament is completed.

The Single’s Ladies Championship is being held on February 1st, which will immediately follow with the Double’s Ladies Championship later in the afternoon. February 2nd is when the Single’s and Double’s Gentlemen’s Championship will be held. This will mark some of the latest dates ever seen in the Australian Open, with weather conditions being life-threatening for the Association of Tennis Professionals. Matches permitted for the outside courts remain cancelled until further notice, which followed for 24 hours of continuous rain and hail. Re-opening these courts won’t be discussed until January 21st, meaning that thirteen matches were held hourly at indoor courts in Melbourne on Monday. Cleaning crews are working extensively to remove all flooded waters, avoiding possible damage to the courts.

The 2020 Australian Open is being held in Melbourne Park, with more than ninety-six matches planned for January 20th to 22nd. Once the flooded waters have receded from these courts, several events will be played hourly between 10:30 am and 5:30 pm. When the semi-finals begin, that number will deplete to four matches daily. Those in Australia’s looking to the tournament as a beacon of hope have been disappointed, with four of their home-based athletes being eliminated on the 1st day. Things didn’t approve on the 2nd day of the Australian Open, with an additional three ATP members being removed before the afternoon. This included John Patrick Smith, Andrew Harris and Lizette Cabrera. Australian supports officially have no home-based competitors to root for this year.

The United States Dominating Early Rounds

Americans competing in the Australian Open have dominated the 1st round at Melbourne Park. Sam Stosur, a former champion with the United States open, defeated Ash Barty on January 21st. She will now compete against Lesia Tsurenko during the 2nd round at Rod Laver Arena. When it applies to the American’s wildcard, Max Purcell removed himself from the tournament following concerns regarding weather conditions in Australia. This has allowed for Jannik Sinner of Italy to move forward in the second round, where he will compete against John Millman for America. This follows after John defeated Ugo Humbert of France on January 20th at the third indoor court.

The Top Competitors

Sporting analysts are determining the highest-rated competitors in the 2020 Australian Open. Most have agreed that Nick Krygios, Jordan Thompson, Alex Bolt, Alexei Popyrin, Arina Rodionova, Naomi Osaka, Venus Williams, Coco Gauff, Serena Williams and Marc Polmans are the top-rated ATP athletes for 2020. The first individual in this list to compete this year was Naomi Osaka, where she defeated Marie Bouzkova with three straight-sets. Osaka now moved forward to the second round, where she will compete against Serena Williams at the Rod Laver Arena. When it applies to Serena Williams, she decimated her 1st round competition of Anastasia Popova. It took the record grand slam champion fifty-eight minutes to defeat Anastasia.

One of the most shocking events in the 1st round was Venus Williams being defeated by Coca Gauff. This loss followed after the two had battled at Wimbledon last year, where Williams had also lost to Gauff. Competing at 39-years-old, Venus Williams doesn’t have the skillsets required to defeat a competitor at fifteen years of age. The gentlemen’s championship also had shocking moments in the 1st round, with Denis Shapovalov from Canada losing to Martin Fucsovics from Hungary. This Canadian is a rising star that was expected to dominate over competitors at the 2020 Australian Open.

There was one solid final matchup in the 1st round that saw a significant competitor moving forward. Roger Federer defeated Steve Johnson from America is 80+ minutes. It’s expected that Nick Krygios will be the next opponent for Roger Federer in the 2nd round. However, there’s also the chance that John Millman could compete against Federer for the 2nd round. Those interested in seeing the follow-up matches throughout the second round can watch live streams offered by the Australian Open association. ESPN, TSN and EuroSports are also providing live coverage of the weekly events until February 2nd.