(Credit: SI.com)
The 2021 Australian Open is a wrap! Novak Djokovic took home his 9th Australian Open title and 18th grand slam title, defeating Daniil Medvedev 7-5, 6-2, 6-2 in the men's singles final. Naomi Osaka took home her 2nd Australian Open title and 4th grand slam title, defeating Jennifer Brady 6-4, 6-3 in the women's singles final. Below is my list of 10 things to take away from the two weeks that were in Melbourne.
Note: Click here to check out complete results from the tournament in case you missed any of the action.
#1. Novak Djokovic is very much in the GOAT conversation: Love him or hate him, when you look at all that Novak Djokovic is accomplishing, it's clear that he's very much in the discussion for GOAT (Greatest Of All Time). He's just two shy of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal's mark of 20 grand slam titles and for whatever reason, he's especially found his groove in Australia. He had to battle through some injury, but found a way to still come out on top. It's amazing what this guy is doing.
#2. Naomi Osaka is the best in the world on hard court: Naomi Osaka proved that she is the best in the world on the hard courts after winning her 2nd Australian Open title. Her other two grand slam titles have also come on the hard courts at the U.S. Open, so she's certainly figured things out on the hard court. The next step for her is to figure out how to win on the grass of Wimbledon and the clay of Roland Garros. Once she figures that out, she could truly dominate the sport.
#3. Daniil Medvedev isn't quite there yet: Daniil Medvedev is knocking on the door, but he still has more work to do before he wins his first grand slam. This was his second trip to the final of a grand slam (2019 U.S. Open) and all things considered, he has to feel good about the way he competed over the two weeks in total. At the same time, he has to also feel a bit discouraged to not get a single set off Djokovic. One thing Djokovic said earlier in the tournament is he, Nadal, and Federer aren't going to hand anything over to the next generation. Sunday was just another reminder of that.
#4. Jennifer Brady has established herself as one of the top American players: When talking about the top American players, Serena Williams of course is right at the top with Madison Keys, Sofia Kenin, and Sloane Stephens often getting mentioned next. By reaching the final and elevating her ranking to #13 in the world, Brady shows she belongs among the very best of America's players and that she might be the next American to win a grand slam. It's going to be interesting to see what the rest of 2021 brings for Brady.
#5. The Australian Open is not Rafael Nadal's event: Rafael Nadal has won Roland Garros 13 times, Wimbledon twice, the U.S. Open four times, and the Australian Open once in his career. For whatever reason, the Australian Open just isn't his event. It's a bit odd because he's won the U.S. Open, also a hard court event more than Wimbledon, so hard court is his second best surface. One would think he'd have more Australian Open titles under his belt, but alas he has just the one in 2009.
This year, he went out in the quarterfinals to Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3, 6-2, 6-7, 4-6, 5-7, blowing a two set lead. I'm not saying Nadal will never win another Australian Open, but after seeing the way he lost this one and also looking back on his overall history at the event, it's hard to see it happening. Fortunately he's still got Roland Garros on lockdown!
#6. Ashleigh Barty needs to step it up Down Under: As the #1 ranked player in the world and by extension the top ranked Aussie, Ashleigh Barty needs to step it up in her home grand slam. She exited in the quarterfinals 6-1, 3-6, 2-6 to #25 Karolina Muchova and quite honestly, choked that match. She should have gone to the final and been on the other end of the net facing Naomi Osaka in the final. She had a really good draw and wasn't able to get it done. The bottom line is we should expect more out of Barty going forward. This year's Aussie Open was a major disappointment for her.
#7. Aslan Karatsev has arrived: Nobody knew who Aslan Karatsev was before this tournament (including myself) and he made quite an introduction, making it all the way to the semifinals before falling to Novak Djokovic in straight sets. It'll be interesting to see if this guy can work his way into more semifinals going forward and possibly even reach a final. The vibe I've gotten is this guy is for real and that this won't be the last we see from him. Going to be fun to see how he performs at Roland Garros and beyond.
#8. Whether or not Serena Williams wins another grand slam is very much a live question: Even though she lost in the semifinals to Naomi Osaka and had an impressive win over Simona Halep in the quarterfinals, it's still not clear if we'll ever see Serena Williams win her 24th grand slam singles title and tie Margaret Court's record. She hasn't won a grand slam singles title since the 2017 Australian Open. That's four years ago. She'll turn 40 in September and quite honestly doesn't have much time left in her career. As a matter of fact, the way she left all emotional and all had some wondering if this was her last Aussie Open. I hope it's not, but the end is near regardless.
#9. Stefanos Tsitsipas likewise has more growing to do: At 22 years of age, Stefanos Tsitsipas is still a young man and has plenty of time to win his first grand slam title. He's getting close, but is still yet to reach his first career final. Going down in straight sets to Medvedev in the semis, who in turn went down in straight sets to Djokovic in the final has to put things in perspective for him. Hopefully he'll use this as a learning opportunity and motivation to get better. He's certainly one of the brightest young talents in the game today.
#10. Sofia Kenin was a disappointment: I picked Sofia Kenin to win the women's title and she exited in the 2nd round. As the defending champion and top five player in the world, she has to do better than that. Hopefully she'll bounce back and have a strong rest of the season. Maybe the U.S. Open will be her time to shine once again.
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