This year’s Australian Open has been one that amazed and shocked the tennis world with the comeback kids returning to the pinnacle of the sport. From Roger Federer’s run to the title in his first tournament since Wimbledon to Mirjana Lucic-Baroni’s journey to her first grand slam semi-final since 1999, this year’s Melbourne Major has lived up to its nickname as the ‘Happy Slam.’
Throughout the entire tournament, Ubitennis director Ubaldo Scanagatta conducted day-by-day video accounts of the biggest developments. Providing an insight into the action from Melbourne, he was joined by prestigious American journalists Ben Rothenberg and Steve Flink. Rothenberg works for the New York Times and is the co-host of the NCR Tennis Podcast. Meanwhile, Flink is known for his work with The Tennis Channel. During the Australian Open, Flink was introduced into the Tennis Hall of Fame along with Andy Roddick and Kim Clijsters.
Relieving the highs and lows of a memorable two-weeks in Australia, the trio of experts provided their honest assessment of how the world’s best players performed and why some didn’t do so well as expected.
Day 1
- Eight seeds goes out (five women and three men)
- A strong start for the American players
- Stan Wawrinka and Roger Federer get off to a shaky start
Day 2
- Two seeds goes out (one man and one woman)
- Ivo Karlovic triumphs in Melbourne marathon
- Serena Williams and Novak Djokovic begin the tournament campaigns.
Day 3
- Eight seeds goes out (four in each draw)
- Nick Kyrgios’ Australian dream ended by Andreas Seppi
- Dan Evans knocks out former US Open champion Marin Cilic
Day 4
- Novak Djokovic exits the Australian Open
- Agnieszka Radwanska goes out of to Marjana Lucic-Baroni
- Benoit Paire Outlasts Fabio Fognini
Day 5
- Roger Federer thrashes Tomas Berdych
- Berdych – “It’s not so much fun. I would rather be sitting in the stands watching than on the court”
- Dan Evans knocks out Bernard Tomic
Day 6
- Dominika Cibulkova misses out on chance to become world No.4
- Rafael Nadal overcomes Alexander Zverev
- Johanna Konta crushes former world No.1 Caroline Wozniacki
Day 7
- World No.1 Andy Murray loses to Mischa Zverev
- Roger Federer beats Kei Nishikori in five sets
- Stan Wawrinka impresses
Day 8
- Rafael Nadal survives test against Gael Monfils
- Grigor Dimitrov ends Denis Istomin’s dream run
- Serena Williams muscles through
Day 9
- Steve Flink inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame
- Roger Federer breezes past Mischa Zverev
- Venus Williams battles into semi-finals
Day 10
- Rafael Nadal gets revenge against Milos Raonic
- Grigor Dimitrov continues unbeaten start to the season
- Title contender Karolina Pliskova goes out
Day 11
- Roger Federer triumphs in all-Swiss clash
- Concerns erupt over Federer’s leg injury
- Serena Williams sets up final showdown with sister Venus
Day 12
- Rafael Nadal overcomes Grigor Dimitrov in semi-final epic
- Federer awaits in the final
- Men’s final preview
Day 13
- Serena Williams wins the Australian Open
- Becomes only the second woman in history to win 23 grand slam titles
- Returns to the top of the WTA rankings
Day 14
- Roger Federer wins the Australian Open
- Recovers from a 1-3 deficit in the fifth set to complete dream return to the tour from injury
- Extends his all-time grand slam record to 18 titles
