MELBOURNE – After Novak Djokovic organized a secret meeting with about a hundred fellow ATP Tour players during the ongoing Australian Open, most of the athletes were asked thousands of questions about the real purpose behind such gathering. None of them revealed any significant detail, even if the Daily Mail yesterday published an article that talked about how the players are asking for a bigger piece of the pie in terms of revenues currently distributed amongst other entities and governing bodies.
Despite being the least lucrative of the four Slams, the Australian Open has recently decided to invest a billion dollars to rebuild Melbourne Park, which on the one hand will certainly please the players, but on the other hand could trigger some skepticism. The players somehow feel exploited.
“The tournament director Craig Tiley is doing an amazing job to accommodate our needs and make us feel like home,” Djokovic said in his post-match press conference while denying the rumors of a possible players’ boycott at next year’s Australian Open.
At the end of the day, the players – who are the main characters of the worldwide tennis circus – are tired of picking up the scraps. The prize money at this year’s Australian Open is 55 million Australian dollars, but the tournament’s financial value is approximately 10 times more.
A few years ago, Nadal was particularly angry after leaving a meeting organized by the board of the Pro Council, as he felt that the players didn’t have enough power. Roger Federer candidly admitted: “The players should have more power, instead of leaving it to other entities and bodies. We are not trying to create a new union, but it would be very positive if only us players were able to meet once a year to talk about our problems – without involving federations, promoters and agents. The problem is that the younger players are exclusively focusing on emerging from the pack and are often represented by their agents, while the older players feel that most problems regarding the tour are not their concern anymore. Finally, the top players are too worried about winning and remaining part of the elite.”
As a matter of fact, most of the decisions concerning the ATP, WTA and ITF have been taken by the same chairmen and boards for years Djokovic and the rest of his fellow players are now demanding more power and money, without officially declaring war to the tennis governing bodies or founding a new union.
Roger Federer has been the overwhelming favorite to capture this year’s Australian Open since the tournament started. Not only is he the defending champion, but he also appeared to be in great form at the Hopman Cup a couple of weeks ago. There were plenty of question marks concerning his main rivals – Nadal, Djokovic and Wawrinka.
The first two days of competition confirmed that Federer – who easily dismissed Bedene last night – remains the favorite, but his rivals are not so far off like many thought before the tournament started. Nadal is moving as well as ever without any knee problems, Djokovic’s elbow doesn’t seem to bother him and Wawrinka showed that he is in for a fight despite a precarious physical condition. Rafa lost only three games to Estrella Burgos, Djokovic dominated Young and Wawrinka prevailed over Berankis in four hard-fought sets. It is safe to say that all three champions can exponentially improve their form throughout the two weeks of competition. Juan Martin del Potro – who has recently made his way back into the top ten after a long tortuous road – is also another serious contender for the title and yesterday opened his campaign with a convincing three-set victory over Tiafoe.
While day one provided us with the surprising elimination of 10 seeded players – 5 men and 5 women, day two featured more predictable results. The defeat of Milos Raonic – who has been suffering from injuries in the past few months – can’t be considered a surprise anymore. The Canadian lost to the Slovakian Lukas Lacko, whose first-round draws at previous Grand Slam events had always provided him with almost unsurmountable tasks: He faced Nadal twice and Federer, Djokovic and Tipsarevic once – when Tipsy was ranked No. 9 in the world. Facing No. 22 ranked Raonic must have been some sort of a relief for the Slovakian.
Raonic’s frailty reminds me of another giant – Richard Krajicek, who won Wimbledon in 1996. Like Raonic, who was a Wimbledon finalist in 2016 after upsetting Roger Federer in the semifinals, Krajicek was injured very often. Andre Agassi once said: “As soon as Richard starts thinking about tennis, he feels pain somewhere in his body.” The Dutchman is 6′ 4″ and Raonic is 6′ 5″, so I wonder if their height could be the possible cause of their multiple injuries. Raonic also has to deal with a posture problem since one of his legs is slightly longer than the other.
After winning the title in Auckland last week, Bautista Agut seemed to run out of steam in Melbourne against his countryman Fernando Verdasco – a veteran and former Australian Open semifinalist. Verdasco’s epic semifinal against Nadal in 2009 is considered one of the most spectacular matches in Australian Open history.
Many fans were disappointed by Petra Kvitova’s unexpected loss to Andrea Petkovic in an enthralling encounter during which the Czech served twice for the match but failed to capitalize on her opportunities. Martina Navratilova predicted that Kvitova was ready to win the title, but apparently Petra hasn’t fully recovered from the home invasion that occurred in her apartment 13 months ago in the Czech Republic. Andrea Petkovic is a former top ten player with enough personality to rise to the occasion when the opportunity presents itself.
In her post-match press conference, I asked Maria Sharapova if she is willing to continue to play tennis for many more years. “Years ago, I would have never thought that I would still be playing at 30. Here I am instead,” the Russian said. In the next round, Sharapova will face Anastasia Sevastosa, who defeated her at last year’s US Open.
At the end of the press conference, Maria – whom I have known for many years – came up to me and gave me a kiss on the cheek. I probably turned red and told her that this year in Rome I will take her around the city. “On your Vespa?” she asked. “Yes, like Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn,” I said. “Oh, I love that movie!” she confessed. Please don’t tell my wife. She never reads my articles anyway.
(Article translation provided by T&L Global – Translation & Language Solutions – www.t-lglobal.com )
