A strong Grand Slam season from the Australian playing contingent has laid the foundation for an exciting Australian Open 2023.
Melbourne, Australia, 12 October 2022 | tennis.com.au
Seven Australian players claimed Grand Slam titles in 2022, the most to do so in almost five decades. A further 13 contested major finals in one of the most successful seasons in Australia’s proud Grand Slam history.
Canberra’s Nick Kyrgios posted career-best results at Wimbledon and the US Open, knocking out top five-ranked opponents at both events. His headline-making run at the All England Club made him the first Australian man to reach a Grand Slam singles final in 17 years.
But the 27-year-old’s career-best year began at Australian Open 2022, when he partnered with Thanasi Kokkinakis to win the men’s doubles title. The wildcard pairing eliminated four seeded teams in an electrifying run to become the first all-Australian champions at the tournament in 25 years.
Kyrgios and Kokkinakis have both since broken into the world’s top 20 in doubles and established themselves as one of the world’s best teams.
This confidence-boosting performance has also translated to singles success. Kokkinakis rose to his highest singles ranking in seven years, while Kyrgios returned to the world’s top 20.
The Special K’s beat Matt Ebden and Max Purcell in the first all-Aussie men’s doubles decider at the Australian Open since 1980 and attracted the biggest audience for a men’s doubles final in Australian television history.
That was only the beginning for Ebden and Purcell, who claimed their first Grand Slam title as a team at Wimbledon — the first all-Australian champions at the tournament in 22 years. They bravely saved match points in two matches during their title-winning run, a tournament first.
This triumph also marked the first time since 1982 that two different all-Australian teams have clinched Grand Slam men’s doubles titles in the same season.
Coming in HOT 🇦🇺 🔛 🔥#AusOpen • #AO2023 pic.twitter.com/7GzrQUfchs
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) October 12, 2022
Alex de Minaur and Jason Kubler enjoyed career-best runs at Wimbledon too, reaching the fourth round.
With Ajla Tomljanovic also progressing to that stage in the ladies’ draw, it marked Australia’s best result at the tournament since 1999.
De Minaur, who was Australia’s top-performing man with a maiden fourth-round…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Tennis.com.au – Tennis Australia…