Australian Open 2023 Men's Report

The 2023 Australian Open, the ^111th edition of the tournament, once again guaranteed many surprises, exciting matches, and a thrilling final. However, the Australian public faced two major setbacks before the tournament. Due to a blood clot in his knee, crowd favorite—and highest-ranked Australian tennis player—Nick Kyrgios was unable to compete at the Grand Slam tournament in his home country. This despite his performance in 2022 making him an outsider for the title in Melbourne. Furthermore, superstar Carlos Alcaraz was also forced to withdraw.

Still, plenty of players were present who could have a shot at victory at the 2023 Australian Open. Ten-time tournament winner Novak Djokovic, for example, was back in the field after being barred by the organizers in 2022 due to his unvaccinated status, and defending champion Rafael Nadal was also on the field. Furthermore, the rest of the world's elite were represented, with players like Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Casper Ruud, Andrey Rublev, and five-time finalist Andy Murray.

Highlights Australian Open 2023

Although Murray reached the final in Melbourne five times, he wasn't among the 32 seeded players in this tournament, and so he faced the strong Italian Matteo Berrettini in the first round. Murray didn't mind, however, and in a five-setter, he defeated Berrettini, who, Lorenzo Musetti and Borna Coric, had two other seeded players exit in the first round. The Dutch players participating in the 2023 Australian Open, Botic van de Zandschulp and Tallon Griekspoor, defeated Ilya Ivashka and Pavel Kotov, respectively, in the first round. The Dutch players faced each other directly in the next round, which meant the end of the tournament for Van de Zandschulp (6-4/6-4/6-4).

For someone who stalled even further in the second round, defending champion Rafael Nadal was the one. The Spaniard, struggling with injuries, lost decisively to Mackenzie McDonald in three sets. That second round also proved to be the end of the road for Alexander Zverev. The German did win the first set against American Michael Mmoh, but he was ultimately defeated. But this round proved to be a stumbling block not only for Zverev, Van de Zandschulp, and Nadal; other seeded players such as Casper Ruud, Taylor Fritz, Pablo Carreño Busta, Diego Schwartzman, and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina also had to retire early.

Korda defeats Medvedev

For Medvedev, who reached the final in 2022 and lost only twelve games in the first two matches, the 2023 Australian Open was over after three rounds. American Sebastian Korda surprised the Russian, defeating him in three sets. For Griekspoor, the last Dutchman remaining in the tournament, things also ended after the third round. There, he met Tsitsipas, who won the match 6-2, 7-6, 6-3. Other outsiders like Felix Auger-Aliassime, Holger Rune, and Jannik Sinner were eliminated before the quarterfinals, leaving surprising names like Jiri Lehecka and Ben Shelton among the players in the quarterfinals. However, they were eliminated there by Tsitsipas and Tommy Paul, respectively.

While Tsitsipas subsequently reached the final with a victory over Karen Khachanov, a final berth was not in the cards for Paul. He met Djokovic in the semifinals, who subsequently defeated the American in three sets. Thus, the 2023 Australian Open final ultimately fell between Tsitsipas and Djokovic, who had only dropped one set throughout the entire tournament.

2023 Australian Open final

Remarkably, Djokovic, who had already won the Australian Open nine times before the tournament, didn't face much trouble with his opponent in the final either. The first set even ended relatively quickly (6-3), after the Serb quickly broke Tsitsipas's serve. Both the second and third sets went to a tiebreak, with Djokovic winning the final twice. Thus, the 2023 Australian Open final was decided in three sets, and Djokovic lifted the trophy in Melbourne for the tenth time in his career. It was a historic title for Djokovic, who with this victory equaled Nadal's record of 22 Grand Slam titles.