A few weeks ago, a lot of things went down in the world of tennis. More specifically, the 2021 Australian Open gave the world a lot of exciting tennis and interesting narratives both for the Women’s and Men’s Singles and Doubles tournaments.
For the Women’s Singles, Japanese athlete Naomi Osaka was able to defend her title as the reigning Australian Open Champion by defeating American Athlete Jennifer Brady in two sets (6-4 and 6-3 respectively) in the final round of the tournament.
That would be Osaka’s 4th Grand Slam Title in her career. On top of that accomplishment, she became the 12th woman in the Open Era to win multiple titles in the Australian Open.
On her path to the finals, she had to compete against and defeat famous tennis icon Serena Williams in two sets (6-3 and 6-4 respectively) in the semi-final round. After the match, Osaka told reporters about playing against one of her idols in tennis.
Osaka said, “I was a little kid watching her play, and just to be on the court playing against her, for me, is a dream.”
After losing to Osaka, Serena Williams recently has listed her Beverley Hills home for 7.5 million dollars. The house has many lavish features such as a wine cellar, gym, yoga room, and more.
For the Men’s Single, Novak Djokovic continued his reign of terror on the tennis court as he defeated Daniil Medvedev in 3 sets (7-5, 6-2, 6-2 respectively) to win the Men’s Single title at the Australian Open. Djokovic has now won 59 ‘Big Titles’*, which is more than other top-tier athletes Rafael Nadal (56) and Roger Federer (54).
With another win, Djokovic has now won at least one ‘Big Title’ in 9 of the last 10 seasons of his career and has now won 9 titles at the Australian Open: the only tennis athlete to attain this achievement.
In the Men’s Doubles events, the pair of Ivan Dodig and Filip Polasek was able to win their first Grand Slam doubles title together after beating the previous year’s champions Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury in two sets. (6-3 and 6-4, respectively)
It was especially a special achievement for Polasek, as not only did he win the Men’s Doubles event, but he did so after coming out of retirement in 2018 due to back issues and while his spouse gave birth just a few days before the match was to take place. It was also Polasek’s first time hoisting a Grand Slam Trophy in the Men’s Doubles.
Last but not least, for the Women’s Doubles, the Belgian-Belarusian duo of Elise Mertens and Aryna Sabalenka were able to obtain their 2nd Grand Slam trophy together, beating Czechs Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova in the process. (defeated them 6-2 and 6-3, respectively)
Sabalenka has also stated she is focusing her attention on preparing for future Grand Slam singles in 2021.
Footnotes
* trophy at a Grand Slam Championship or Masters Series Tournament
References
https://ausopen.com/articles/match-report/sabalenkamertens-storm-womens-doubles-crown
https://ausopen.com/articles/match-report/dodigpolasek-dominate-claim-mens-doubles-title
https://sportsgrindentertainment.com/serena-williams-lists-home-for-7-5m-after-australian-open-loss/
https://nypost.com/2021/03/12/serena-williams-lists-home-for-7-5m-after-australian-open-loss/
https://www.atptour.com/en/news/djokovic-australian-open-2021-big-titles
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