We witnessed quite a few significant things in the world of tennis this year. There were some abrupt pullouts, shock-upsets and a sexual allegation in the tennis domain to dominate the newspaper headlines in the year so far. Of course, the biggest downer has been the end of the reign of the duo in the “Big Three” exclusive club. So, the timing won’t be inappropriate to recall some of the events that transpired this year in the universe of this sport.
Djokovic Still On Top
The Serb woke up to the sweet smell of victory by winning the Australian Open for the record ninth time. But as the season headed to its finale, he failed in his bid to create another history. The world waited with bated breath for the Serb to become the first player after Rod Laver to complete the calendar slam ie to win all the Grand Slams in a year. However, Daniil Medvedev denied Djokovic this honour by defeating the Serb in straight sets at the US Open and also stopped the latter from overtaking Rafa and Fedex in terms of the number of Grand Slams, 20 at the moment. However, no one could stop Djokovic from achieving year-end number one ranking for the seventh time, surpassing his childhood idol Pete Sampras. Eventually, he got tired by the Davis Cup kicked in and Serbia lost to Croatia in the Semi-Final.
Stand-off With China
China has been quite instrumental in WTA’s growth strategy so far and the country has organised several tennis events in the last few years as well. However, Peng Shuai’s sexual assault allegation against a former vice-premier did cast a big shadow on the ties between the tennis body and the country. The WTA has made it amply clear that unless China acts tough on this incident, it will not hold any event in the country as it fears the security of its players. So, the ball is finally in China’s court and the country’s next course of action would be closely watched from all quarters.
End Of Rafa-Fedex Era
Yes, it is indeed sad to come to grips with the fact that the era of the supreme duo in the league of “Big Three” is all but over with the only one in the exclusive club making his presence felt in the world of tennis at the moment. Both Federer and Nadal had many injury-forced layoffs and to make it worse Rafa lost his clay-court supremacy to Djokovic when the Serb beat the 13-time French Open czar in the Semis. The murmur regarding the exits of the GOATS from the tennis-verse is only growing louder day by day. Will there be another comeback prior to the swansong?
Struggling Selena and The “Mentally Worn Out” Osaka
The 23-time slam winner Serena William threw in the towel during the first round of her Wimbledon game to miss the rest of the season in 2021. And her successor in the female tennis world, Naomi Osaka after grabbing her fourth slam in the form of the Australian Open at the beginning of this year, vanished from the scene all of a sudden for a different reason. She abandoned the French Open before her second-round match as the Japanese felt the pressers were taking a big toll on her mental health. This brings to the fore the criticality of mental well-being among sports personalities yet again.
A New Champ On The Horizon
The 18-year-old Briton might have been the 150th ranked qualifier on the hardcourt major, but she became the first female Grand Slam winner for her country in 44 years. Emma Raducano was clearly the newcomer of the year with a fourth-round finish at Wimbledon and the coveted US Open crown this year. Her feats surprised all and sundry in the tennis circuit and looking at her exploits, so far, the young Briton looks set for more glories in the future.
