2025 Australian Open: Who Needs an Offseason?

NOTE: Edited to add, well, words!

Before we go any further, I just want to say Madison Keys. She looks amazing right now and she's looked pretty good in the warmups. We gotta keep her encased in bubble wrap between matches. 

For the guys, I've never been a fan of Reilly Opelka but he better work that Brisbane magic. 

Men's Draw

I didn't see too many first-round matches that got me excited, but now that play has started, big props to Kei Nishikori. I've been rooting for him since back in the day and his career has been waylaid by injury. And also Thiago Montiero, it seemed for a second. Nishikori was down match point against an opponent who is kind of like Jelena Ostapenko -- lots of firepower, shots that make your mouth drop open, followed by errors that simply didn't need to be made. Heck of a treat for round one, that's for sure. 

And, yes, I picked Opelka against Djokovic. Now, I've watched too many true-crime documentaries to ever let Opelka into my car, but I do think he can beat Djokovic again -- that wasn't a fluke. But it's not just Opelka's game -- Djokovic does look a step slower. Did he ever, like, recover from his knee surgery?

Women's Draw

Now. Here are some good first-round matches. Note the starred matches. Minnen v. Aiava was a good one. I feel for Victoria Azarenka. Like, when did Lucia Bronzetti learn to serve like that? Did I miss something? Probably yes, but dang! I expect Emma Raducanu and Ekaterina Alexandrova to be another good one. I watched Laura Siegemund v. Hailey Baptiste, expecting exactly what I got -- the battle of the inconsistents. It was entertaining, as those matches tend to be. But yikeys. And Osaka/Garcia just finished about five minutes ago in my corner of the world. I think Osaka is right there, man. Right on the edge of another breakthrough. She's missing consistency and might need more match play for that. But she is riiiiight therrrrre.

And of course, if the seeds hold up, I am planning on putting everyone and everything on mute to watch Keys v. Danielle Collins. Keys just looks effortless right now. The power and accuracy is just flowing off the racquet. Danielle is just sheer willpower, so that should be fun!

TWA's Two-Week-Old Wimbledon Wrap

I’m not gonna lie – I was unprepared for Wimbledon this year. As ready as I was for RG, I was that unready for Wimbledon. I turned on the internet and results were rolling in and I was like, what?!?? So, here’s some delayed reactions from Wimbledon, which apparently is over?!?? 

1. That men’s draw. No disrespect, but Novak Djokovic just advanced through the easiest draw known to tenniskind, and that would have been true if Alex de Minaur had not withdrawn due to injury. No offense, Alex. After two weeks of listening to commentators talk about how “fresh” Djokovic was, here’s my counterpoint – if you’re playing in a two-week tournament, you want challenges, you want to see where your game is lacking today and give yourself a chance to fix it. The final at Wimbledon isn’t the time to have to work on that. Meanwhile, Carlos Alcaraz had seeded players from round three – tough ones. Yes, there is such a thing as getting tired out. But Alcaraz had that happy medium – good matches against good players and a good old-fashioned scare that can refocus you (Tiafffffff-) 

2. OK, so the Americans are coming. (-ooooeeeeee!!) That was a tough draw for Frances Tiafoe but taking the world No. 3 to five sets is nothing to be ashamed of. And I also can’t stop wondering about the alternate reality of Madison Keys closing out Jasmine Paolini before she got injured. Ben Shelton taking Jannik Sinner to five. Tommy Paul playing a tough match against Alcaraz. Taylor Fritz taking out Alexander Zverev. Thank you for your service. This week, five of the top 15 women in the world are American.  

https://www.wimbledon.com/en_GB/draws/gentlemens-singles/full 

3. This is nothing in the grand scheme of things, but I am admittedly still trying to get over Emma Raducanu ditching Andy Murray at his last Wimbledon, but also wondering what Andy Murray was thinking and what his options were. Apparently, Raducanu has never ever in her professional career played any kind of doubles. Why on earth would he even want to play with some newb at his last chance to win a match at Wimbledon?! Just because she’s British?!?? That’s crazy enough, but for Miss Raducanu to pull a Stefanie Graf on Murray and back out of the tournament so she could concentrate on the singles draw (which didn’t go great). It takes a lot of nerve to do something like that, but she has frankly not earned that behavior – she doesn’t have the gravitas for that kind of diva move. And Andy Murray at Wimbledon is no John McEnroe. (This is a good thing.) 

4. Novak Djokovic is a brat. I’ve never seen a more emotionally stunted champion. It’s almost as if being one of the best tennis players of all time isn’t enough for him. Beyond that, he also needs complete fealty from fans, even when he’s acting like a complete jackwagon. I see politics in this man’s future. 

4a. However, he is right about one thing: https://www.usmagazine.com/entertainment/news/novak-djokovic-says-pickleball-is-making-tennis-endangered/ 

5. Carlos Alcaraz is what tennis needs right now, I guess. This is no shade against him at all. But tennis is always picking at itself, trying to figure out what to change to make the game more exciting. Nothing, I’m saying. The game is fine and great and suspenseful and is full of amazing athletes with compelling stories that the powers that be do nothing with. BUT if we are saying the game needs excitement, a showman, than let me introduce you to Carlos Alcaraz and this ridiculous point he played with a young man who is also somewhat promising and understands showmanship.  

https://x.com/ProCozzo/status/1813139668742926681 

Seriously, help me. I can't stop watching this.

He’s a special one, that’s for sure. The way I was cussing at my TV on Sunday when he lost that 40-0 lead while serving for the match because I knew that giving Djokovic an inch is like giving him a mile? And then the way he recovered to dominate that tiebreak? Woof. 

6. Speaking of almost giving away a match, congrats to Barbora Krejcikova for her second Slam, which, like her first Slam win, came out of nowhere. I didn’t have her beating Danielle Collins, let alone Elena Rybakina. But there she was in the final. And I am always partial to short players kicking up dust so I was rooting for Paolini (aka Pao-Pao in my home during tense matches). I’m not sure if Krejcikova has the consistency to bring this level to every tournament, but her serve during the tournament was ridiculous. Paolini doesn’t have that big a serve, but props to her as well for her advancement through a very difficult draw on a surface that really shouldn’t work for her game.  

7. I’m always down to watch doubles, too, and especially when firecracker Taylor Townsend is in the draw. I'm just leaving this here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_r0Z3Zwdjxg&ab_channel=Wimbledon