Spring Festival is approaching, most of the northern hemisphere is in the cold winter, the southern hemisphere of Australia is in the middle of the summer sun, tennis experts from all over the world gathered in the garden city of Melbourne, in the 2022 Australian Open, for sports fans to present a gripping opening year tennis feast.
As the first Grand Slam tournament of the year, the Australian Open has always been focused on thousands of eyes, players have experienced hard winter training time, are eager to make a start at the beginning of the new season, fans finally survived the long winter break and can re-watch the wonderful competition.
Take Tram 70 from Flinders Street, melbourne's main thoroughfare, past the landmark Flinders train station and Federation Square, and it is only a few minutes' drive to Melbourne Park, the venue of the Australian Open. The magnificent Rod Laver Stadium stands side by side with margaret Court, and together with John Kane Stadium, the Australian Open is the only Grand Slam tournament in the four Grand Slams to have three open-close roof venues.
Strolling through the Australian Open, the eye-catching Rolex clock is a presence that cannot be ignored, as if it is always reminding fans and friends that the time for tennis is here again. As the watch brand most closely associated with the sport of tennis, Rolex has now reached partnerships with all four Grand Slams, of which the connection with the Australian Open began in 2008, and this year will be the 15th year of Rolex's timepiece and co-sponsor of the Australian Open.
At present, the 2022 Australian Open schedule is more than halfway through, although it is only allowed to operate at 50% attendance due to the epidemic, but the enthusiastic Australian Open audience can always ignite the atmosphere of the scene. The first week of the Grand Slam is full of opportunities and challenges. For low-ranking players, they can compete with top stars on the biggest stage, and with a "nothing to lose" mentality, they can often create huge problems for seed players. For those who win the championship, each round should not be taken lightly, but also must be a reasonable distribution of physical strength, for the second week of the impact of the champion to save physical strength, know how to retract freely is very critical, at this time the rich experience of the competition can help a lot.
Overall, the first week of this year's Australian Open has been uneventful, with most of the seeded players successfully advancing, and impressive underdogs include last year's US Open women's singles champions Radukanu and Fernandez out early, last year's WTA Finals champion and runner-up Muguraza and Kontavette both lost in the second round, three-time Grand Slam champion and five-time runner-up at the Australian Open Murray lost 0-3 to Daniel Taro in the second round, and women's singles champion Naomi Osaka lost to Anisimova in the third round.
To the surprise of Chinese fans, the five golden flowers composed of Wang Qiang, Zhang Shuai, Wang Xinyu, Wang Xiyu and Zheng Qinwen all passed the test of the first round of the Australian Open, and Qi Brush entered the second round, of which Wang Qiang and Zhang Shuai took advantage of the victory to chase and enter the third round. Although Wang Xinyu, Wang Xiyu and Zheng Qinwen lost in the second round, the three "post-zero" young players lost in the second round, but they lost the No. 2 seed Sabarenka, the No. 4 seed Krejickova, and the No. 5 seed Sakari, these valuable experiences with high-level players will play a key role in their future growth.
Rolex Spokesperson: Sina
The role-packed Rolex also delivered a satisfactory report card in the first week of the 2022 Australian Open. In the men's singles, Zverev, Sina and Fritz, three Rolex spokespeople, reached the round of 16. Among them, the 20-year-old Italian teenager Sinar is the youngest player in the round of 16, he competed as the No. 11 seed, in the first three rounds of the portuguese player Sosa 3-0, 3-0 victory over the United States player Johansen, 3-1 Nick Japan's dark horse Daniel Taro, the first time in his career to reach the fourth round of the Australian Open, next, he will compete with Australian darling Demilner for a place in the quarterfinals, is expected to continue to refresh his best record at Melbourne Park.
Rolex Spokesperson: Fritz
The 24-year-old American star Fritz also played well at the Australian Open, having fallen to the threshold of the third round of the Grand Slam seven times in the past, this time, he experienced a five-set battle of ups and downs in the third round of the Australian Open, narrowly defeating the 15th seed Agut, the first time to reach the second week of the Grand Slam, achieving a major milestone breakthrough in his tennis career, the next game he will face the 4th seed Tsitsipas.
Rolex Spokesperson: Zverev
Tokyo Olympic champion Zverev was listed as the No. 3 seed of the Australian Open, and he easily passed the first three rounds 3-0, although in the fourth round of the focus battle lost 0-3 to Canada's "wind chaser" Shapovalov, but I believe that the German star whose skills are becoming more mature still has a chance to attack the Grand Slam title in the 2022 season.
Rolex Spokesperson: Alcaraz
It is worth mentioning that although Rolex spokesperson and Spanish "genius teenager" Alcalas, born in 2003, regrettably stopped in the third round of the Australian Open, he showed great competitiveness in the match with No. 7 seed Berrettini, and fought hard in five sets until he grabbed ten in the decider. After a rigorous winter training, Alcaraz's figure is stronger than before, he appeared in a sleeveless top at the Australian Open this time, the muscle lines are clear and full, the batting power is strong, not only countless fans, but also the prospects of the new season are widely favored by various tennis experts.
Rolex Spokesperson: Swartec
In women's singles, Rolex spokespeople and No. 7 seed Swatak performed the best, as the 2020 French Open laureate, she highlighted the deep heritage of a Grand Slam champion, reaching the fourth round of the Australian Open for the third consecutive year, and the past six Grand Slams have all reached the second week. Looking back at Svatek's promotion to the Australian Open, the first three rounds were all 2-0 wins, a total of only 12 sets lost, it can be described as a hot hand, in the fourth round she will play against the Romanian good Kostia, if she wins, will create her best record at the Australian Open.
Rolex Spokesperson: Ostapenko
Another Rolex spokesperson, Ostapenko, is also a former French Open champion, and this Australian Open trip she started low-key, following 2017 and 2018, successfully reaching the top 32 of the Australian Open for the third time. In a French Open civil war in the third round, Ostapenko missed the advantage of winning 6-2 in the first set, and was reversed by no. 4 seed Kregitskova in two 6-4 reversals, although she had no chance to continue to move forward, but the spirit she played in the game made people see the hope of recovery.
As of now, the No. 6 seed Nadal, the No. 7 seed Berrettini, the No. 14 seed Shapovalov, the No. 17 seed Monfils and others have locked up a place in the men's singles quarterfinals, of which only Nadal is a former champion of the Australian Open, can he keep the glory of the giants? Top seed Barty, No. 4 seed Kregitskova, No. 21 seed Pegura, American Maverick Keyes and other famous players have all entered the women's singles quarterfinals, and the women's singles championship trophy "Daphne Akhhurst Memorial Cup" will usher in a new owner. With the deepening of the round of competition, the 2022 Australian Open has gradually entered the sprint stage of competing for the championship, the strong dialogue between the big seeds is about to be staged, the gold content of each game will gradually rise, and the competition in the second week of the event is bound to be more intense, let us witness the birth of a new Australian Open champion.
(Text/He Song Photo/Visual China)