The FTL Season is up and running again and you would have been off to a flier if you had eventual winners Carlos Alcaraz and Elena Rybakina in your team as it was these two who held the trophies aloft at the end of an entertaining two weeks of tennis.
Women's singles
The breakout star of the women's singles this year was undoubtedly American teenager Iva Jovic who didn't drop a set in her run to the quarter finals that included an impressive win over the no 7 seed Jasmine Paolini. Ultimately she was to go down 6-3, 6-0 to tournament favourite Aryna Sabalenka but the result was not a fair reflection of her performance and Iva will definitely be one to watch this year.
Iva was a popular DH pick in FTL and delivered a cracking amount of points for her owners.
Coco Gauff's mixed fortunes continued. She managed to negotiate her way through to the Quarter Finals but was humbled by a terrific display from the Ukranian Elina Svitolina who continues to impress after her return to the tour following the birth of her child Skai.
Meanwhile, Iga Swiatek continues to struggle against the very top players. The no 2 seed showed signs of the fragility that affected her last season when she dropped a set 6-1 to Kalinskaya in the 3rd round and even though she made it through to the Quarter Finals with minimal fuss, there wasn't too much surprise when she was beaten fairly convincingly by familiar foe Elina Rybakina.
In an all American Quarter Final, the often unheralded Jess Pegula saw off last seasons breakout star Amanda Anisimova in straight sets. Anisimova made two grand slam finals last year and finished comfortably in the year end top 10 so it will be a big challenge for her to repeat the success she had in 2025. Steady Jess however continues to impress.
The semi finals were both straight sets affairs with Aryna Sabelenka proving far too strong for Elina Svitolina. The 2nd semi final was tighter but Elena Rybakina is quickly establishing herself as one of the top players in the world right now and flying high after her win at the year end finals last year and she saw off Pegula in straight sets.
The one thing which had been lacking in the latter stages of the women's event was a thrilling match going the distance but thankfully we got that in the final with Elena Rybakina eventually triumphing in the final against Aryna Sabalenka in three tight sets. A sore one for Aryna who sought to claim her third AO title but a terrific start to the season for Elena Rybakina who will now look to achieve the consistency she needs to compete with Aryna and Iga for the No 1 spot.
Men's singles
Novak Djokovic arrived at the Australian Open fresh and ready to have another tilt at winning his 25th Grand Slam. At the grand old age of 38 you do feel that his chances of winning the 7 consecutive matches required to win a slam are becoming increasingly slim especially when the obstacles in his way are likely to include Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz. It would need him to play incredible tennis but also have a few things fall in his favour.
As the tournament played out, that's exactly what seemed to happen. He came through his opening three rounds without dropping a set against opponents you would expect him to beat but got a bonus in the 4th round when the potentially dangerous Mensik withdrew before the match.
That meant a walkover for Novak before having to face his first tough opponent, Lorenzo Musetti in the Quarter Finals. And by his own admission Novak was outplayed by Musetti. Two sets down and seemingly on the verge of a resounding defeat, a remarkable and unfortunate twist occurred with Musetti struck down by an injury he could not play through. Novak was through to the semi finals of the Australian Open without winning a single set in the Fourth Round or Quarter Finals!
His opponent in the semi final would be reigning champion Jannik Sinner who had benefitted from his own large slice of luck in the 3rd Round. On an incredibly hot day, Sinner struggled badly with the heat (not for the first day) and found himself a set and a break down to the American Eliot Spizzirri. At that moment, he seemed almost on the verge of a retiral but was delivered a timely reprieve when the heat rule kicked in. and the roof was closed. After a significant break while the roof was closed, Sinner returned a different player and comfortably saw the match out under more favourable conditions. In the Quarter Finals he cruised past Ben Shelton in straight sets.
If Iva Jovic was the breakout star of the women's competition then Learner Tien was the breakout star of the men's event. Like Iva, Learner had an excellent 2025 and increasingly looks like a star of the future. His biggest scalp at the AO was Daniil Medvedev who he had caused plenty of problems for in their matches last year. The manner of his victory at the AO - a 6-4, 6-0, 6-3 was quite the eye opener.
Learner would face Alexander Zverev in the Quarter Finals. After reaching the Australian Open final last year, Zverev was once again finding his best tennis in his bid to finally win that elusive first slam. Tien battled bravely and managed to capture the 2nd set but was ultimately defeated by the German.
In the fourth Quarter Final Carlos Alcaraz saw off home favourite Alex De Minaur in straight sets. De Minaur continues to impress but must be frustrated at his failure to be more competitive against the very top players.
The semi finals were both cracking matches.
Novak may have rode his luck a little in his run to the semi finals but he chose the perfect moment to produce some spectacular tennis in his semi final with Jannik Sinner. It seemed the writing was on the wall when Sinner took the first set and went ahead again in the third set but Novak defied the odds and the age gap to score a stunning comeback win over the Italian. Another final beckoned for the man with the most illustrious records in tennis history.
The other semi final was equally dramatic with Alexander Zverev mounting the most unlikely of comebacks from 2 sets down to Carlos Alcaraz. He was to serve for the match at 5-4 in the final set but whether it was the ghosts of the past for Zverev or the brilliance of Alcaraz, Zverev could not see it out and Alcaraz managed to turn the match quickly in his favour.
And there we had it - a final between the GOAT Novak Djokovic and the heir to the throne Carlos Alcaraz. Would it be a classic? It threatened to be, Novak came out firing and took the first set 6-2, providing that his best tennis was still good enough to take down the very best. But perhaps the toll of 5 sets against Sinner took effect because from then on Alcaraz took firm control of the match and cruised to a 2-6, 6-2, 6-3, 7-5 victory.
FTL Results
Here is the final global table for the Australian Open
Massive congratulations to Noah Elio and his team MAOUST who topped the first week of the FTL year and the first slam of the year with an impressive total of 957.617 points! Superman (Mark) were the best of the rest on 945 points with Smashing Pumpkins (Igor) finishing 3rd in the global league standings.
As a Level 2 participant, Noah wins the weekly prize. Below is the head to head between MAOUST and Lucky Losers (Tom Barnes) who were the top two teams in Level 2.
Lucky Losers ended the tournament with both the mens and womens champions while MAOUST only had Rybakina as a KP in their team but it was the strength in depth of the MAOUST team which proved crucial.
Noah had men's runner up Novak Djokovic and semi finalists Sinner and Pegula. He also had quarter finalist Ben Shelton in his team and crucially had Ivo Jovic returning 88 points as a dark horse.
Congrats once again Noah on a great start to the season!
No comments:
Post a Comment