Welcome back to Monday Tennis Briefing, where Competitor will explain the story behind the stories in court over the past week.
This week, the first tournament of 2025 concluded in Australia and New Zealand. Aryna Sabalenka continues to have a remarkable record and has had too many matches end in retirement.
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How to beat Aryna Sabalenka in Australia?
On the surface, there is little hope for others in the field. World No. 1 Sabalenka enters the Australian Open as a two-time defending champion with 27 wins in 28 hard-court Grand Slam matches and two Melbourne Grand Slams in September. The game together won her her first U.S. Open title.
After winning the Brisbane International on Sunday, she has won 27 of her last 28 matches in Australia, staying strong in an event where 10 of the 16 seeded players crashed out at the first opportunity.
It’s not as simple as her record in Australia suggests. Sabalenka had to beat Milla Andreeva in the semi-finals, a match that was tougher than the 6-3, 6-2 scoreline suggested, and then overcame a shaky first set to beat the qualifiers Polina Kudermetova won the final 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. Sabalenka made 36 unforced errors, a pretty poor performance, but she got the job done.
At this stage, she knows that against almost any opponent, the game will be on her racket. If Sabalenka plays anywhere near her best, she’ll look almost unbeatable in this regard, and the rest of the court will be hoping for either a big performance of their own or Sabalenka’s increasingly fewer rest days. one.
go deeper
‘I can be the best player in the world’: Aryna Sabalenka wins best season of her life
Charlie Excher
Why are so many people retiring due to injury just one week into the season?
The first week of the 2025 tennis season, much of which took place in 2024, had a 2021 feel to it, with Riley Opelka and Naomi Osaka reaching the finals in Australia and New Zealand respectively. At the time, Osaka was the most dominant women’s player in the world, and Opelka was a top-20 player.
But ultimately, their start to 2025 ends up feeling like 2024. Opelka has struggled with hip and wrist injuries and a host of related complications for much of the past two years, and he suffered a back injury in the first round of the Brisbane final against Jiri Lehka. Retired after trailing 4-1.
Osaka, who battled a number of niggles in 2024 and had her season ended early with a back injury, won the first set in the final against Clara Towson before retiring with an abdominal injury.
It’s not the way any player would have hoped to finish off their best weeks in a long time, but with just six days to go before the first major of the season, stopping near the finish line seems like the only thing left to do Safe move. They all used one word in their post-match comments: “I’m sorry.”
Both players appear to have been around for a long time, but are also relatively young. Osaka, 27, said last year that her goal was to play for at least another five to seven years. In Auckland, she said her longevity had more to do with her ranking than her body.
“If I’m not at the level that I think I should be at and I’m not at the level that I think I can be at, I’d rather spend time with my daughter,” she told a news conference.
Opel Card has not yet had such long-term considerations. The nearly seven-foot-tall frame has its own drawbacks when it comes to injury prevention.
Reilly Opelka beats Novak Djokovic in Brisbane to reach the final (William West/AFP Getty Images)
“I’m going to really train over the next few weeks to get stronger physically,” Opelka said after losing in the first round of the U.S. Open in August, early in his comeback.
“Our goal is to be able to have a really important offseason in December.”
There was another high-profile retirement, with Tomas Machak’s sudden exit in the Fed Cup semi-final against Taylor Fritz. Machak, who led 5-2 in the first set, gained two match points with Fritz’s serve and successfully held serve, but the American broke his serve and chased the score to 4-5.
During a changeover, Machak broke down, threw his racket and screamed at his coach. In the next set, trailing 5-6, he did it again when Fritz served to take the match into the third set. A point into the match, Machak walked to the net and told Freese he had cramps, pointing to his thigh for part of the second set.
Machak subsequently withdrew from the Adelaide International due to a knee injury and also hoped to participate in the Australian Open. In 2024, he looks like a world-class player at times and mentally and physically immature at other times, but he remains an enigma.
Matt Futterman
Nishikori Kei’s final glory?
Speaking of injuries, considering Nishikori’s bad luck, no one will begrudge Nishikori the final glory of his career. Now 35, the former world No. 4 knows his best days are behind him but continues to do his best to find the next big moment.
Just staying healthy for a while may be enough, but Nishikori says he may be capable of winning his first title in six years. He made it all the way to the final of the 250 Hong Kong Open last week, winning by one set, only to lose in the final to Alexander Muller, who won all five of his matches by one set. Invincible advantage wins. Kei Nishikori lost 2-6, 6-1, 6-3.
Nishikori’s recovery began after his 2014 U.S. Open final opponent Marin Cilic recovered from a serious injury and won the Hangzhou Open in September, Nishikori told reporters a month ago Competitor In a Zoom interview, he said that 2025 is the year he wants to achieve better results.
By 2024, he said: “I still want to take my time. Hopefully I can stay healthy and play a lot of games. He then added: “I hope I can play well starting next year.”
Much of the tennis world hopes so too.
go deeper
How Marin Cilic and Kei Nishikori stunned tennis at the 2014 US Open
Charlie Excher
To defend or not to defend?
A strange thing happened this year during the Australian Tennis Summer: the reigning 2024 WTA champions decided they didn’t really want to defend their title.
Coco Gauff won the Auckland title last year; she competes in the Fed Cup this year. Elena Rybakina won Brisbane; she also decided to play in the Fed Cup.
Emma Navarro won the Hobart title as a player playing the week before a major because everything was new and she needed any ranking points she could find . This is no longer who she imagined herself to be because she is ranked eighth in the world. Kimberly Birrell.
The defeat restored Navarro to the player he was the week before a Grand Slam, with the American heading to Adelaide not just to score but to compete. Things went even better for Gauff: She played in five Fed Cup matches and won all five, the last against her old nemesis, Poland’s Iga Swiatek. This is the definition of game preparation.
go deeper
How does Coco Gauff solve a problem like Iga Swiatek’s?
Matt Futterman
Best shots of the week
Coco Gauff has tennis fans digging out their protractors with this protractor.
Recommended reading:
🏆 This week’s winner
🎾 Fed Cup:
🏆 USA definition. Poland 2-0 win federation cup In Sydney. This is the second time the country has won the Confederations Cup.
🎾 Adenosine triphosphate:
🏆 Live in Lehka definition. Riley Opelka Won 4-1 (retired) Brisbane International Airport (250) Brisbane, Australia. This is his second ATP Tour title, both won in Australia.
🏆 Alexander Muller definition. Kei Nishikori(WC) 2-6, 6-1, 6-3 win Hong Kong Open (250) Hong Kong, China. This is his first ATP Tour title.
🏆 Joao Fonseca definition. Ethan Quinn 6-4, 6-4 win Canberra International Airport (Challenger 125) in Canberra, Australia. This is his second ATP Challenger title.
🎾 Women’s Tennis Association:
🏆 Alina Sabalenka(1) definition. Polina Kudermetova (Q) 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 win Brisbane International Airport (500) Brisbane, Australia. This is her 18th WTA Tour title.
🏆 Clara Towson(5) definition. Naomi Osaka(7) 4-6 (retired) won ASB Classic (250) Auckland, New Zealand. This is the Dane’s third WTA Tour title.
🏆 Aoi Ito(7) definition. Wei Sijia 6-4, 6-3 win Canberra International Airport (WTA 125) Held in Canberra, Australia. This is her first WTA 125 title.
📈📉 rise/fall
📈 Mira Andreeva After reaching the Brisbane International semi-finals, she moved up one spot to a career-high No. 15.
📈 Joao Fonseca After winning the Canberra International, his ranking rose 32 spots from No. 145 to a career-high No. 113.
📈 Polina Kudermetova After reaching the Brisbane International final, her ranking rose 50 places to a career-high No. 57.
📉 Andrei Rublev Dropped one spot from 8th to 9th, losing a key seeding spot at the Australian Open.
📉 Clara Brier Dropped 4 spots from 99th to 103rd, exiting the top 100.
📉 Adrian Manarino It fell 7 spots from 66th to 73rd, falling out of the top 70.
📅 coming soon
🎾 ATP
📍Adelaide, Australia: adelaide international airport (250) Starring Tommy Paul, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Sebastian Korda, Denis Shapovalov.
📍Auckland, New Zealand: ASB Classic (250) Starring Ben Shelton, Giovanni Petsperikad, Gael Monfils, Jakub Mencik.
📍Melbourne, Australia: Australian Open Qualifying Tournament Starring Joao Fonseca, Alexander Blockx, Learner Tien, Cruz Hewitt.
📺UK: Sky Sports; US: Tennis Channel💻
🎾 Women’s Tennis Association
📍Adelaide, Australia: adelaide international airport (500) Starring Jessica Pegula, Donna Vickery, Once Jabr, Emma Navarro.
📍Hobart, Australia: hobart international airport (250) Starring Dayana Yastremska, Rebecca Sramkova, Maya Joint, Sofia Kenin.
📍Melbourne, Australia: Australian Open Qualifying Tournament Starring Alicia Parks, Aoi Ito, Polina Kudermetova, Eva Liss.
📺 UK: Sky Sports; Us:
As the men’s and women’s tours continue, let us know what you noticed this week in the comments below.
(Top: Getty Images; Design: Eamonn Dalton)
