The first Grand Slam of the year, the Australian Open in January, feels like it happened a lifetime ago. A lot has changed since in 2020. T...
The first Grand Slam of the year, the Australian Open in January, feels like it happened a lifetime ago. A lot has changed since in 2020. The sport was shutdown for close to half a year due to the coronavirus pandemic with the French Open postponed and Wimbledon cancelled as the traditional final Major, US Open being the second of the year.
The spectre of the disease will be very present in New York, a Grand Slam played in a bubble without fans, with many big names including top five players such as Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Ashleigh Barty and Simona Halep missing.
The results of the decade’s first Grand Slam in Melbourne felt very familiar with Novak Djokovic winning his 17th Grand Slam while Sofia Kenin stunned the women’s draw to lift her first. There have been very few top-level tournaments since then but if recent results are anything to go by, there is very little that might stop the same from repeating at the second Grand Slam of the year.
Men’s world No 1 Djokovic is very much the man to beat as he extended his unbeaten run in 2020 to 23 matches after winning the relocated Cincinnati Open despite injury problems. In a depleted field, the women’s...
