{"id":78893,"date":"2025-01-27T15:26:06","date_gmt":"2025-01-27T20:26:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/?p=78893"},"modified":"2025-01-27T15:26:06","modified_gmt":"2025-01-27T20:26:06","slug":"major-talking-points-10-takeaways-from-the-2025-australian-open","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2025\/01\/27\/major-talking-points-10-takeaways-from-the-2025-australian-open\/","title":{"rendered":"Major Talking Points: 10 Takeaways From The 2025 Australian Open"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>In the first of a new series, Martin Keady looks back at the Major that just happened \u2013 in this case, the 2025 Australian Open \u2013 and considers what it might have told us about the season ahead. <\/em><strong><em>\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<h2>Major Talking Points: 10 Takeaways From The 2025 Australian Open<\/h2>\n<h3><strong>1.Madison\u2019s Mighty Run Was A Truly Great Debut Major Win\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>There\u2019s only one place to start with any recap of the 2025 Australian Open and that\u2019s with the magnificent debut Major win for Madison Keys, which is a sporting redemption story for the ages. Having initially been hailed as the natural successor to the Williams sisters who would clean up at the Majors, Keys subsequently struggled. And of course that struggle reached its nadir in the 2017 US Open final, when she was so overcome by nerves that she basically capitulated against her compatriot, Sloane Stephens.<\/p>\n<p>Fast forward nearly eight years and Keys conclusively proved that she has the cojones (figuratively speaking) to win any tennis match and any tennis event. Beating Iga \u015awi\u0105tek and Aryna Sabalenka, the two highest seeds in the tournament and the two all-conquering world No.1s of recent vintage, back to back in the semifinal and final respectively would have been extraordinary enough. But wining both those matches in third-set match tiebreaks virtually elevated Keys&#8217; achievement to the realm of the mythical. The young woman who was once so consumed by nerves in a Major final that she couldn\u2019t play proved in her second Major final, nearly a decade later, that she had the steeliest nerves imaginable.<\/p>\n<ol start=\"2\">\n<li>\n<h3><strong> Jannik Sinner Continues To Dominate Men\u2019s Tennis <\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>By contrast, the men\u2019s final in Melbourne was emphatically not one for the ages, as Jannik Sinner won comfortably in straight sets against Alexander Zverev to retain the title he had won a year earlier. Sinner is now unquestionably the greatest male hardcourt player in the world and his challenge this year will be to translate that hardcourt dominance into success on the two other surfaces that tennis is principally played on: clay and grass.<\/p>\n<div class=\"getty embed image\" style=\"background-color: #fff; display: inline-block; font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; color: #a7a7a7; font-size: 11px; width: 100%; max-width: 594px;\">\n<div style=\"padding: 0; margin: 0; text-align: left;\"><a style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/2195472008\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div>\n<div style=\"overflow: hidden; position: relative; height: 0; padding: 66.66667% 0 0 0; width: 100%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"display: inline-block; position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; margin: 0;\" src=\"\/\/embed.gettyimages.com\/embed\/2195472008?et=UZsA09uXRbhb4haoFZwHTg&amp;tld=com&amp;sig=tc1s3jRp5I-i_9DW_kv-pdeITEAQP8jyggiBzxlvOGs=&amp;caption=true&amp;ver=1\" width=\"594\" height=\"396\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>For every other male player, that is a daunting prospect. It may be that only a drugs ban imposed by WADA (the World Anti-Doping Agency) after the CAS (Court of Arbitration for Sport) hearing in April can stop Sinner from continuing to dominate men\u2019s tennis. Only an extended absence from the sport might be capable of bringing him back to the pack.<\/p>\n<ol start=\"3\">\n<li>\n<h3><strong> Was Alexander Zverev Too Honest For His Own Good? <\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>It&#8217;s bad enough to lose a big final in any sport, but tennis may be unique in insisting that its beaten finalists immediately have to conduct an on-court interview. That cannot be easy, to say the least, and as a result such interviews or speeches are usually forgettable. However, Alexander Zverev\u2019s runner-up interview in Melbourne may have been revelatory of his inner psyche, as he acknowledged that, for all his hard work, \u201cI\u2019m just not good enough\u201d.<\/p>\n<div class=\"getty embed image\" style=\"background-color: #fff; display: inline-block; font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; color: #a7a7a7; font-size: 11px; width: 100%; max-width: 594px;\">\n<div style=\"padding: 0; margin: 0; text-align: left;\"><a style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/2195472033\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div>\n<div style=\"overflow: hidden; position: relative; height: 0; padding: 66.66667% 0 0 0; width: 100%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"display: inline-block; position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; margin: 0;\" src=\"\/\/embed.gettyimages.com\/embed\/2195472033?et=OyR_DmLdR8NbScvr0Ot5_w&amp;tld=com&amp;sig=QU3jDdhcIqDtCbw4F9j9Ejlc5rEnL7ohE6IkgEGtDuI=&amp;caption=true&amp;ver=1\" width=\"594\" height=\"396\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Zverev was speaking immediately after a painful defeat \u2013 his third in a Major final \u2013 so he may just have been overcome by momentary dejection. However, the fear is that he was actually revealing his inner-most belief, or lack of it, when facing the likes of Sinner or Alcaraz in Major finals. For all that he is now No.2 in the world, it is arguable that Zverev is further away than ever from winning a Major Singles title. And if he really is doubting himself to the extent that he suggested in Australia, he may never win one.<\/p>\n<ol start=\"4\">\n<li>\n<h3><strong> Perhaps Alexander Zverev Should Speak to Madison Keys <\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>In many ways, up until finals weekend in Melbourne this year the careers of Madison Keys and Alexander Zverev had been comparable. They were both child prodigies who had not quite translated all their obvious physical attributes and tennis ability into Major success. Now, however, Keys is a Major-winner, so Zverev might be advised to talk to her to find out how she did it.<\/p>\n<p>Keys herself expounded the importance of talking to people, in particular therapists, in the wake of her Melbourne triumph. She emphasised that most of the therapy she has sought has been about improving her sense of self-worth as a human being, rather than her ability to win as a tennis player. Nevertheless, the two are obviously linked. So, it might just be that Zverev would similarly benefit from talking to a therapist, or to Keys herself, to learn how to face up to failure, accept it and then succeed anyway.<\/p>\n<ol start=\"5\">\n<li>\n<h3><strong> The Rise of The Next Gen (But Will There Soon Be A Fall?)<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>For much of the first week in Melbourne, it felt as if the Next Gen 2024 event that took place in Riyadh just before Christmas had somehow resumed in Australia in the new year. That was because so many of the Next-Genners performed spectacularly at the year\u2019s first Major, with Learner Tien, the runner-up in Riyadh, defeating Daniil Medvedev and Jo\u00e3o Fonseca, the winner in Saudi Arabia, defeating Andrey Rublev. In addition, Alex Michelsen and Jakub Men\u0161\u00edk, two other players who made the Next Gen Finals, also enjoyed strong runs.<\/p>\n<p>It will be fascinating to see how the Next Genners perform later in the season. The fact that the Next Gen event took place just before Christmas, in the middle of what passes for the tennis off-season, meant that the players who performed in it were relatively battle-hardened by the time they arrived in Australia. However, the fact that they effectively had no break at all at the end of last season might also mean that they suffer physical repercussions later in 2025.<\/p>\n<ol start=\"6\">\n<li>\n<h3><strong> Karol\u00edna Muchov\u00e1 Could Not Follow Up Her Hardcourt Success In NYC<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Jannik Sinner was able to extend his hardcourt dominance in Melbourne this year, making him the first man to win three hardcourt Majors in a row since Novak Djokovic in 2015 and 2016. And Aryna Sabalenka came close to \u201cthreepeating\u201d in Melbourne before ultimately losing in the final to Madison Keys. However, one of the finest performers at last year\u2019s US Open, Karol\u00edna Muchov\u00e1, was unable to continue her hardcourt form in Melbourne.<\/p>\n<div class=\"getty embed image\" style=\"background-color: #fff; display: inline-block; font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; color: #a7a7a7; font-size: 11px; width: 100%; max-width: 594px;\">\n<div style=\"padding: 0; margin: 0; text-align: left;\"><a style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/2194015044\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div>\n<div style=\"overflow: hidden; position: relative; height: 0; padding: 66.66667% 0 0 0; width: 100%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"display: inline-block; position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; margin: 0;\" src=\"\/\/embed.gettyimages.com\/embed\/2194015044?et=KRjYKSXbT5p8QosV3tcRHw&amp;tld=com&amp;sig=zsxBIDoU6gGm04owV8xwfdaWKyUdPfEO3Pi27gg55G0=&amp;caption=true&amp;ver=1\" width=\"594\" height=\"396\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Muchov\u00e1 was breathtaking in The Big Apple, producing one of the most stylish semifinal runs at any Major in recent years. However, so far she has been unable to back it up, including in Melbourne. In losing so early on in Australia, in the second round to Naomi Osaka (admittedly a rejuvenated Naomi Osaka who is trying to get back to her own Major-winning best), the Czech suggested that she might be reverting back to her mean or average level of performance at Majors in recent years, which has entailed relatively early defeat, notwithstanding her run in New York and reaching the 2023 French Open final. Faster surfaces like hardcourt and grass are surely the best surfaces for such a dynamic player as Muchov\u00e1, so it can only be hoped that she performs much better at Wimbledon and the US Open later this year.<\/p>\n<ol start=\"7\">\n<li>\n<h3><strong> It Was Good To See Coaches Being Honoured in Melbourne\u2026<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Because it is now firmly established as the official \u201cBig Bang\u201d with which the tennis season starts, the Australian Open has a long history of being innovative, ranging from its rebranding as \u201cThe Grand Slam of Asia-Pacific\u201d to its becoming a three-week tournament with a focus on qualifying and pre-tournament events. And it was in that tradition of innovation that it was heartening to see coaches being honoured in Melbourne, with Darren Cahill, Jannik Sinner\u2019s coach, and Bjorn Fratangelo, coach and now husband to Madison Keys, being particularly celebrated.<\/p>\n<p>The old joke was always that the easiest way to become a great tennis coach was to find a great tennis player, but obviously there is far more involved than talent identification. In providing technical assistance, life advice and often just a shoulder to cry on, coaches are invaluable and it is right that tennis is belatedly celebrating them. Hopefully this will be another Aussie Open innovation that the other Majors will soon copy.<\/p>\n<ol start=\"8\">\n<li>\n<h3><strong> But Andy Murray Coaching Novak Djokovic Might Be A One-Major Thing <\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>However, it remains doubtful that Andy Murray will ever be welcomed onto court as a Major-winning coach alongside Novak Djokovic. For all that Djokovic made the semifinal in Melbourne and praised Murray for his contribution to that run, the suspicion remains that Murray coaching Djokovic might just be a one-Major thing.<\/p>\n<div class=\"getty embed image\" style=\"background-color: #fff; display: inline-block; font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; color: #a7a7a7; font-size: 11px; width: 100%; max-width: 594px;\">\n<div style=\"padding: 0; margin: 0; text-align: left;\"><a style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/2193660688\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div>\n<div style=\"overflow: hidden; position: relative; height: 0; padding: 66.66667% 0 0 0; width: 100%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"display: inline-block; position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; margin: 0;\" src=\"\/\/embed.gettyimages.com\/embed\/2193660688?et=DMxTiqU6TwVIISAdOVTpug&amp;tld=com&amp;sig=0T7YJJN9pYRyeNfxfIB31RSV3DzLse5gsOkFIJGxn6M=&amp;caption=true&amp;ver=1\" width=\"594\" height=\"396\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Murray has only just retired as a player, after nearly two decades on tour, the last five years of which were decimated by the seemingly endless physical problems that ultimately curtailed his career. He also has four young children and a growing love of golf. So, although it is not impossible that he will go back on tour permanently with Djokovic, it is more likely that he will focus, like Djokovic himself, on the Majors, which in itself might make it more difficult for them to establish a long-term working relationship.<\/p>\n<p>Djokovic is the GOAT and Murray is arguably the greatest British tennis player ever, or at least the 21<sup>st<\/sup>-century equivalent of the great Fred Perry. However, that is no guarantee that they will form a Major-winning partnership.<\/p>\n<ol start=\"9\">\n<li>\n<h3><strong> Double Or Even Quadruple Disappointment At The Mixed Doubles Final <\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Outside of Davis and Fed Cup Finals, where it is still integral to a team\u2019s success or failure, doubles struggles to attract eyeballs, even among tennis fans. For all the commendable innovations in doubles, especially the\u00a0 introduction of the match tie-break at the end of the second set, it is still very much the poor relation of professional tennis, even though it remains the format of the game most widely played around the world.<\/p>\n<p>It is that backdrop that made what happened in the 2025 Australian Open Mixed Doubles Final so disappointing. Despite the fact that there were no fewer than four Australian players involved, there was still a minimal to non-existent crowd for it on Rod Laver Arena, which was a really bad \u201clook\u201d for both the Australian Open and the doubles format. Given the general love for tennis in Australia and for Australian players in particular, it is surely not impossible to fill an arena with schoolchildren if necessary, to give doubles players, especially those competing in the final of their home Slam, the audience they deserve.<\/p>\n<ol start=\"10\">\n<li>\n<h3><strong> Finally, There are No Tennis Fans Like Aussie Tennis Fans <\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>What made the lack of a crowd for that Mixed Doubles Final so surprising \u2013 doubly surprising, as it were \u2013 was that the 2025 Australian Open was generally a triumphant reminder of the fact that tennis remains incredibly popular in Australia, which was borne out by the record attendances for the tournament.<\/p>\n<p>The 2025 Australian Open, like every Australian Open, was also a reminder for the rest of the tennis-watching world that there are no tennis fans like Aussie tennis fans. While the rest of us complain about having to adjust to the Australian time zone for just a few weeks at the start of each year,\u00a0 for most Australian tennis fans missing sleep to watch the sport they love is virtually a daily occurrence.<\/p>\n<p>There was some justified criticism of some fans on site in Melbourne, but the majority of Australian tennis fans, along with those in the rest of the \u201dAsia-Pacific&#8221; region, must be among the most dedicated Netheads there are.<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo Credit: Mike Frey-<em>Imagn Images<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the first of a new series, Martin Keady looks back at the Major that just happened \u2013 in this case, the 2025 Australian Open \u2013 and considers what it might have told us about the season ahead. \u00a0 Major Talking Points: 10 Takeaways From The 2025 Australian Open 1.Madison\u2019s Mighty Run Was A Truly [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":993,"featured_media":78759,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7,10,2,15913],"tags":[42694,15149,85,16,205,3716,18113,63,22,48],"class_list":["post-78893","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-australian-open","category-editorials","category-featured","category-opinion","tag-2025-australian-open","tag-alexander-bublik-vs-jannik-sinner-prediction","tag-alexander-zverev","tag-andy-murray","tag-australian-open","tag-karolina-muchova","tag-learner-tien","tag-madison-keys","tag-novak-djokovic","tag-tennis"],"modified_by":"Steen Kirby","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78893","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/993"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78893"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78893\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78910,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78893\/revisions\/78910"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/78759"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78893"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78893"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78893"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}