By Matthew Marolf
The first month of the year included an inordinate amount of dramatic highs and lows, both on and off the court, so we decided to highlight January 2019’s most emotional moments.
January 2nd: Wang Xinyu cramps and is forced to retire while leading her idol, Maria Sharapova.
The 17-year-old was up a set and a break in her home country before cramps set in. In a touching moment, Sharapova came over to console her young opponent, who was in tears after giving up the match.
January 5th: The thrilling end of the Hopman Cup final.
In the finals between Switzerland and Germany, it came down to the mixed double match featuring Roger Federer and Belinda Bencic against Sascha Zverev and Angelique Kerber. And in the final set tiebreak under “FAST4 scoring,” the championship ended up being decided by one final point, with the winners of the point winning the event. Federer and Bencic would win the dramatic last rally, and were ecstatic about defending their title in what will likely be the last Hopman Cup event.
January 6th: Julia Goerges cries after defending her title in Auckland.
The 30-year-old had been just a few points from being upset in the final by 18-year-old Bianca Andreescu, but crumbled to the court in tears after mounting a comeback to win this event for the second straight year.
January 10th: Andy Murray announces he plans to retire this year.
In easily the month’s most emotional moment, Murray told the press ahead of the Australian Open that he would be retiring due to his ongoing hip issues. Andy hoped to play until Wimbledon, but allowed for the possibility that the Australian Open may be his last professional event. Perhaps Murray’s hip resurfacing surgery at the end of the month will enable Andy to return to the court.
January 12th: Kvitova outlasts Barty in an epic Sydney final.
Kvitova was too exhausted to properly celebrate after this back-and-forth match that was decided in a final set tiebreak.
January 12th: Alex de Minaur wins his first ATP title.
The 19-year-old Australian did so on home soil, and after playing his semifinal match earlier that same day.
January 14th: Roberto Bautista Agut’s five-set win over Andy Murray.
Murray fought through the pain to comeback from two sets down, only to succumb to Baustista Agut in the fifth. It was a highly emotional scene on Melbourne Arena, with Andy’s mother Judy watching on with tears in her eyes.
January 15th: Kamil Majchrzak cramps and retires after holding a two-set lead over Kei Nishikori.
The 23-year-old was on the verge of the biggest win of his career, before losing 15 of the last 17 games in the match as his body gave out.
January 15th: Victoria Azarenka break down during her press conference.
This was hard to watch. Following a disappointing first round loss, Azarenka was asked about how she can draw strength from all she’s been through. Her time on the tour has been severely disrupted over the past few years by the birth of first child, and the subsequent nasty custody battle with the child’s father. After a long pause to let out some tears, Azarenka would say, “I’ve been through a lot of things, you know, in my life, and sometimes I wonder why I go through them. But I think they’re gonna make me stronger. I wanna believe that, and I’m gonna work hard for it.”
January 18th: Frances Tiafoe’s comeback win over Andreas Seppi.
Just two days after upsetting Kevin Anderson, Tiafoe came back from two-sets-to-one down to take out Seppi in five. Following a shirtless LeBron James-esque celebration, the 21-year-old was overcome when he sat back down. He would then go on to upset Grigor Dimitrov to advance to his first Major quarterfinal, which brought on even more tears, and another shirtless victory celebration.
January 20th: Stefanos Tsitsipas’ upset of Roger Federer.
In perhaps the Australian Open’s most memorable moment, the 20-year-old couldn’t seem to believe he had just upset the all-time great. His little brother was visibly emotional after watching Stefanos’ victory.
January 21st: Pablo Carreno Busta explodes after an over five-hour loss to Kei Nishikori.
Carreno Busta was ahead in the final set tiebreak, but didn’t win another point after a close call did not go his way. He had a right to be angry, as the umpire did not handle the situation well, but he allowed the call to completely unravel himself. His emotions came raging out as he left the court, an episode he would apologize for soon after.
January 22nd: Petra Kvitova brought to tears after reaching her first Major semi-final in five years.
When interviewed on-court by Jim Courier following her quarterfinal win, Petra broke down when asked if she ever doubted she would be back in the semifinals of a Grand Slam event.
January 23rd: Karolina Pliskova’s unlikely comeback victory over Serena Williams.
It was a bizarre scenario where Serena was called for a foot fault on match point, and then twisted her ankle as the point played out. Pliskova saved four match points overall after being down 5-1 in the third set, and the tears came quickly after she capitalized on a match point of her own.
January 26th: The great women’s final was emotional for both the victor and runner-up.
It was fulfilling to see Osaka get to fully enjoy a Major title, but the most emotional moment was when Kvitova thanked her team for sticking by her after the in-home attack that almost robbed her of her career.
January 27th: Novak Djokovic wins his third straight Major.
Djokovic never played better than in this dismantling of what he calls his greatest rival. His 15th Major obviously meant a lot to him.
