The week before the start of the Australian Open didn’t see many of the top players in action, but we were still entertained. Starting off on the negative side, Alex de Minaur suffered an abdominal injury during the ATP Cup and will have to sit out of the Australian Open, crushing the hopes of Australian fans who were betting their money on the “Speed Demon”. Some other shocking news came with the positive doping exams of Nicolas Jarry and Robert Farah, who are suspended until further notice. Things are not looking great for South American tennis!
Now to the good part – the NextGen was extremely well represented this week. Following Roger Federer’s prediction, Andrey Rublev has started the year accomplishing some pretty special things. He conquered his second ATP title in 2 weeks, showing that he might do some damage in the Aussie Open draws. Ugo Humbert, the 21-year-old Frenchman, conquered his first ATP title after defeating some big names that included Denis Shapovalov, John Isner, and Benoit Paire. Well done!
On the women’s side, Ashleigh Barty was able to bounce back from her early loss last week, and conquered the title in Adelaide. The other WTA of the week saw Elena Rybakina continue her momentum from last week’s final in Shenzhen and go all the way in Hobart. This hot start of the year shows that she might be going far in Sydney.
Lastly, once again we were able to see players coming together to help Australia after the fires. Several of the top ATP and WTA players came together during the Rally for Relief, an event that raised $3.5 million USD for the victims of the fires.
Winners Of The Week
ATP/WTA
- ATP 250 Auckland: Ugo Humbert
- ATP 250 Adelaide: Andrey Rublev
- WTA Premier Adelaide: Ashleigh Barty
- WTA International Hobart: Elena Rybakina
Challengers
- ATP Challenger 80 Bangkok 1: Attila Balazs
- ATP Challenger 80 Bendigo 2: Steve Johnson
Futures
- M25 Rancho Santa Fe, CA, USA: Brandon Nakashima
- M15+H Bagnoles-de-l’Orne, FRA: Jules Marie
- M15 Antalya, TUR: Javier Barranco Cosano
- M15 Cairo, EGY: Javier Marti
- M15 Cancun, MEX: Alessandro Bega
- M15 Manacor, ESP: Carlos Alcaraz Garfia
- M15 Monastir, TUN: Antoine Escoffier
- W25 Malibu, CA, USA: Nadia Podoroska
- W15 Antalya, TUR: Nina Potocnik
- W15 Cairo, EGY: Cindy Burger
- W15 Cancun, MEX: Sofia Sewing
- W15 Fort-de-France (Martinique), FRA: Audrey Albie
- W15 Monastir, TUN: Victoria Muntean
Top 5 Biggest Upsets
- Danielle Collins def Belinda Bencic – 6/3 6/1
- John Millman def Karen Khachanov – 4/6 6/3 6/3
- Feliciano Lopez def Fabio Fognini – 3/6 6/4 6/3
- Ugo Humbert def Denis Shapovalov – 7/5 6/4
- Heather Watson def Elise Mertens 6/7(5) 6/4 7/5
Injuries
- Angelique Kerber – lower back
- Alex de Minaur – abdomen
Match of The Week
- Ugo Humbert def Benoit Paire – 7/6(2) 3/6 7/6(5)
Top Shots & Highlights
Ugo Humbert vs Benoit Paire
Andrey Rublev vs Felix Auger-Aliassime
Our Top Content Of The Week
- Video: JJ Wolf Vs Marco Trungelliti – Australian Open 2020 (4K)
- Video: J.J. Wolf Slow Motion Service Game (1080P) – Australian Open 2020
- Video: Hitting On ROD LAVER ARENA (court view) – Australian Open 2020
- Article: Tennis Elbow – The Full Guide For Tennis Players
- Article: Tennis Volleys – Definition, Steps, & Tips (with Photos)
What We’re Looking Forward To
There’s obviously one thing to look forward to this week, and that is the Australian Open. The first Grand Slam of the year has finally arrived, and we are extremely excited about it. Could this be the Grand Slam in which a NextGen player finally dethrones the Big 3? We’ll see about that. Some of our favorite first round match ups are: Sam Querrey vs Borna Coric, Reily Opelka vs Fabio Fognini, and Steve Johnson (coming from a Challenger title) vs Federer. Should be a very interesting first week at the Aussie Open.
What We’re Up To
Karue continues to keep up the good work with Naomi during the Australian Summer, this week at the Australian Open. She’s starting her campaign to defend her title against M. Bouzkova.
Gui is sorting out some last details of the My Tennis HQ website before we can finally launch it officially.
Stay tuned for some very cool content coming out this week!