Welcome to Take Five, a weekly series at USOpen.org recapping five of the biggest stories of the last week on the professional tennis circuit. At the Australian Open, Novak Djokovic and Aryna Sabalenka claimed singles titles of supreme significance to their respective careers.
Djokovic wins 10th Australian Open, 22nd major
Novak Djokovic was at his devastating best for much of the Melbourne fortnight, dropping just a single set in his seven wins. Sealed with a 6-3, 7-6(4), 7-6(5) final victory against Stefanos Tsitsipas, the Serbian's record-extending 10th AO title draws him level with Rafael Nadal atop the men's all-time list with 22 Slam trophies.
"Of course I am motivated to win as many Slams as possible. At this stage of my career, these trophies are the biggest motivational factor of why I still compete," Djokovic said in his post-final presser. "I still have lots of motivation. Let's see how far it takes me. I really don't want to stop here. I don't have intention to stop here. I feel great about my tennis."
The 35-year-old also reclaimed the world No. 1 ranking for the first time since last June by winning a Melbourne final that — like the 2022 US Open title match — doubled as a straight shootout for the top spot.
In the buildup to the year's first Grand Slam, Djokovic was unsure if he would even be able to compete as he dealt with a hamstring injury. But his health improved throughout the fortnight, with the Serbian hitting peak form in the second week.
Red-hot start for Sabalenka leads to first major title
She's no longer the best without one: A commanding performance over seven matches earned Sabalenka a long-awaited first major title. After winning the Adelaide International without losing a set, Sabalenka extended her ubeaten run to start 2023 to 11 matches by sweeping to victory in Melbourne.
She lost just one set in the fortnight, and it set the stage for her biggest result: She came from behind to beat reigning Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina in a hard-hitting, high-quality final, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. She'd previously been 0-3 in Grand Slam semifinals before beating unseeded surprise package Magda Linette in the final four to break new ground. Her Australian Open victory earned her a 12th career title, and a return to No. 2 in the WTA rankings.
Stepping out as a Grand Slam champion for the first time at Melbourne's bonitcal gardens on Sunday, Sabalenka was still in disbelief.
"I still feel like I'm on another planet, trying to understand what's just happened," Sabalenka said. "It's the best morning of my life. It's so beautiful."
To her credit, Rybakina also had an AO to remember. She beat three Grand Slam champions, as well as defending finalist Danielle Collins, in the Australian Open's in four matches leading up to the final. That included a 6-4, 6-4 win over world No. 1 Iga Swiatek in the last 16, and a straight-sets win over resurgent former world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka in the semifinals.
Three American men reach AO quarterfinals
For the first time since the 2000 Australian Open, three American men were among the last eight Down Under. It was the first time since the 2005 US Open that the nation had three quarterfinalists at any Slam, as Tommy Paul, Ben Shelton and Sebastian Korda all enjoyed career-best major runs to reach that stage or beyond.
Paul, who advanced the semis before falling to Djokovic, broke into the Top 20 for the first time on Monday, while Shelton cracked the Top 50 and Korda rose to a career-high ranking of world No. 26.
The trio is among 10 Americans in the Top 50 of the post-Australian Open ATP rankings, with J.J. Wolf also joining that elite group for the first time behind his fourth-round run.
Other notable results for Americans in Melbourne included Mackenzie McDonald's upset of Rafael Nadal, Jenson Brooksby's win against No. 2 seed Casper Ruud and qualifier Katie Volynets' victory over women's No. 9 seed Veronika Kudermetova.
Kunieda says goodbye, but Oda ascends
On the eve of the Australian Open wheelchair tournament draw ceremony, world No. 1 Shingo Kunieda announced his retirement from tennis. If the action in Melbourne was any indictation, Japan won't have to wait long for its next great champion.
Sixteen-year-old Tokito Oda reached his first Grand Slam singles final in just his third appearance at a major; he saved match points in a semifinal win over Gustavo Fernandez before losing out to No. 1 seed Alfie Hewett in a 6-3, 6-1 final. With the win, the Brit captured his first Australian Open.
Elsewhere, Dutch dominance continued. Diede de Groot and Sam Schroder won the women's and quad singles titles, resepctively, over Yui Kamiji and Niels Vink. De Groot won her 17th career Grand Slam singles title, and ninth in a row, while Schroder and Vink played in the final for the fourth consecutive major; Schroder now owns four Grand Slam quad singles titles.
In doubles, Schroder and Vink completed the career Golden Slam with a maiden Australian Open victory, while de Groot and Aniek van Koot, and Hewett and Gordon Reid, won their fourth AO titles together in the women's and men's open divisions.
Krejcikova and Siniakova's dominance continues among doubles highlights
Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova continue to show that they're the best doubles team on the planet; with a 6-4, 6-3 win over first-time finalists Shuko Aoyama and Ena Shibahara, they won their seventh career major title and second straight Australian Open.
The Czechs have now won 24 consecutive matches at majors, having won all three Grand Slam tournaments they played together in 2021. (They couldn't play at Roland Garros after Krejcikova contracted COVID-19.)
There were triumphs for two other compatriot pairs in the men's and mixed doubles, too. Wild cards Rinky Hijikata and Jason Kubler thrilled the Aussie faithful by running the table to their first Grand Slam title on home soil, while Brazil's Rafael Matos and Luisa Stefani won their first mixed major.
Hijikata and Kubler knocked off three seeded pairs in their title run, including a dominant 6-3, 6-1 upset of No. 1 seeds Neal Skupski and Wesley Koolhof in the quarterfinals. They also saved a match point in their third-round win. Beaten finalists Hugo Nys and Jan Zielinski also saved a match point in their run, in a third-round victory over No. 2 seeds Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury.
The Brazilians beat the Indian pair of Rohan Bopanna and Sania Mirza in the final, closing Mirza's career in Grand Slam tennis. The former world No. 1 and national trailblazer will retire from tennis officially next month.
