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Matchpoint Madness: Tennis Insights

Matchpoint Madness: Tennis Insights

(December 31st - January 6th Recap)

Courtside Tennis & Emmanuel Okosun
January 07, 2024

You wouldn’t believe this.

Only a week into the New Year and we’ve got more than half-a-dozen players saving multiple match points and going on to defeat their opponents. Alexander Zverev saved 2 match points against Hubert Hurkacz at the final of the United Cup final to a decider. Earlier in the week Jordan Thompson saved 3 MPs against Rafael Nadal.

We also saw Marin Cilic squander 9 MPs and Alexei Popyrin also wasting 5 MPs. Former world No. 1 Angelique Kerber also came from a set down and saved two match points to defeat Ajla Tomljanovic at the United Cup.

We couldn’t have asked for a better start to the season! Unfortunately, Rafael Nadal won’t be able to play at the 2024 Australian Open due to an injury but we still have a lot to be thankful for.

New Video‼

Our NEW video just dropped and it’s everything about Holger Rune. We felt compelled to release this video because many of you guys asked for it and we also wanted to touch on some of the misleading narratives people have about the Dane. But here’s the real truth about Holger Rune.

What Happened Last Week?

United Cup

The tournament was nothing short of thrilling. Team Germany beat Team Poland in the mixed doubles to clinch the title. Poland’s defeat left Iga Swiatek in tears but she saw some consolation in winning the tournament’s MVP award. Earlier in the week we saw Australia’s Alex De Minaur hand Novak Djokovic his first defeat in 6 years in Australia with the Serbian also suffering a wrist injury. Team Australia then fell short to Team Germany in the semis while Team Poland downed Team France to reach the final.

Brisbane International

We saw Rafael Nadal finally make his comeback after 349 days away from the tour. He ended up reaching his 225th ATP quarterfinal before falling to Jordan Thompson in a closely contested three sets. Holger Rune made it to the final after subduing the hard-hitting Roman Safiullin in the semis but Rune couldn’t overcome Grigor Dimitrov who after 112 tournaments since the Nitto ATP finals 2017 became a champion again. 7-6,6-4 was the final score.

On the Women’s side, we saw Elena Rybakina completely annihilate Aryna Sabalenka 6-0,6-3 in the final. Naomi Osaka made her much anticipated comeback but lost to Karolína Plíšková in the round of 32. Meanwhile, teenage sensation Mirra Andreeva made it to the quarterfinals.

Auckland Open (WTA 250)

We saw Emma Raducanu return to tennis action for the first time since April 2023. Raducanu made a heartening start in her comeback tournament, winning her first match against Elena-Gabriela Ruse before falling to Elina Svitolina in three sets after nearly three hours of court time in the subsequent round. Coco Gauff defended her title at the event after making a comeback to beat Elina Svitolina.

Hong Kong Tennis Open

Andrey Rublev captured his 15th tour-level title and 10th on hard courts at the Bank of China Hong Kong Tennis Open after defeating Finn Emil Ruusuvuori, who was chasing his maiden tour-level crown in a heavy-hitting final, which Rublev won 6-4, 6-4 victory. Jerry Shang announced himself as someone to watch after his insane run to the semis.

Ranking Update: The Biggest Movers Of The Week

ATP

The biggest change on the Men’s side sees Australia’s Alex de Minaur finally break into the top 10 for the first time after his impressive performances at the United Cup. Alexander Zverev will also leapfrog Stefanos Tsitsipas to the 6th spot when the ranking gets updated on Monday. Sebastian Ofner breaks into the top 40 after reaching the semifinal in Hong Kong. Meanwhile, 22-time grand slam winner Rafael Nadal has climbed 221 spots to world no. 445 after reaching the quarter-final in Brisbane. Slow and steady Rafa.

WTA

On the women’s side, We have Elena Rybakina returning to her career-high world No. 3 after winning the title in Brisbane. Mirra Andreeva jumps up 11 spots and returns to the top 50 after reaching the quarterfinals at Brisbane. Unlike the ATP tour where the Brisbane International tournament is a 250 event, the WTA tour has it as a 500 tournament.

But what tournaments do we have coming up?

Major Tournament Updates

Adelaide International (January 8-13)

Tommy Paul, Nicholas Jarry, Seb Korda, and Lorenzo Musetti lead the field at the ATP 250 and WTA 500 event in Australia. Thanasi Kokkinakis has an impressive record at the tournament, scooping his maiden ATP singles crown in 2022 and reaching the semifinals last summer. In 2022 and 2023, there were two back-to-back Adelaide Internationals. Novak Djokovic won the Adelaide International 1 last year before Soonwoo Kwon triumphed at the Adelaide International 2. This year, however, there will only be one event.

On the women’s side, the top-seeded Elena Rybakina will be looking to continue her strong start to the 2024 season at the top half of the draw. Other notable players in the top half are No.3 seed Marketa Vondrousova, No.6 seed Jelena Ostapenko, and No.8 seed Veronika Kudermetova. In the bottom half, we have no. 2 seed Jessica Pegula, fifth-seeded Beatriz Haddad Maia, No.4 seed Barbora Krejcikova, and No. 7 seed Liudmila Samsonova.

What are your predictions on both tours? Send an email with your predictions, would love to hear your thoughts!

ASB Classic (January 8-13)

Ben Shelton is the top seed at the 250 event in Auckland, New Zealand. After winning his first tour-level title and reaching a career-high of No. 15 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, Ben Shelton will be looking to get off to a good start and live up to the billing as one of the most exciting new talents on the block in his second full season on the ATP Tour. Other Americans at the tournament are Christopher Eubanks and J.J. Wolf.

Also, former New Zealand resident and returning finalist Cameron Norrie is seeded no. 2. Defending champion Richard Gasquet gets a wildcard entry. Other players looking to make a mark are Arthur Fils, Adrian Mannarino, and Felix Auger-Aliassime who will be looking towards a new chapter after a disappointing 2023 season that saw the former World No. 6 almost fall out of the top 30.

Hobart International (January 8-13)

The WTA 250 event has Elise Mertens, Sofia Kenin, Emma Navarro, and Lin Zhu among the top seeds.

Australian Open (January 14-28)

The Biggest news at the moment is Rafael Nadal’s injury and subsequent withdrawal from the first grand slam event of the year. The Spaniard suffered from a micro tear in his hip and isn’t willing to put his body under further punishment. It’s such a shame seeing how well Rafa had been playing since his comeback. Here’s what Nadal said on X (Formerly Twitter)

Hi all, during my last match in Brisbane I had a small problem on a muscle that as you know made me worried. Once I got to Melbourne I have had the chance to make an MRI and I have micro tear on a muscle, not in the same part where I had the injury and that’s good news.
Right… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
— Rafa Nadal (@RafaelNadal)
9:09 AM • Jan 7, 2024

Watch Out For This Guy

Jerry Shang

The 18-year-old Chinese played on an extremely high level in Hong Kong having received a wildcard for the tournament. Shang reached his maiden ATP quarterfinal with wins over 7th seed Laslo Djere, and then Botic van de Zandschulp before defeating 3rd seed Frances Tiafoe in straight sets to reach his first career ATP semifinal where he lost to eventual winner Andrey Rublev in a tight three-set match.

Shang was world No. 1 in Juniors in July 2021. Seeing him generate so much power on his racket coupled with his excellent shot making. After receiving a wildcard for the Australian Open, it wouldn’t be too surprising to see the now 142nd-ranked Chinese cause some trouble to much higher-ranked opponents.

HOT TAKE

After watching Grigor Dimitrov’s level of play in Brisbane, it is hard to see anything stopping him from returning to the top 10 and possibly the ATP finals once again. It is a long season ahead with many variables though.

Off The Court

Mari Osaka, Naomi's sister, Accuses Her Father of Abuse

In an explosive post on social media, the 27-year-old Mari accused their father, Leonard Francois, of child abuse and harassment. Here’s what Naomi’s sister wrote on Instagram before the post got deleted.

Nick Kyrgios blames ATP for Djokovic injury

The Australian has called on the ATP to act after saying that the constant change of balls was causing more and more injuries to players. Here’s the tweet.

Change of balls every week finally got to novaks wrist 😭 the atp really need to do something about this problem. Players suffer all the time 🙏🏽
— Nicholas Kyrgios (@NickKyrgios)
10:38 AM • Jan 3, 2024

Trivia Of The Week

The Australian Open is around the corner and we all know that it is Novak Djokovic’s tournament but did you know that 8 players have beaten the Serbian at the Australian Open? Here they are: