Top Australian Open Men’s Moments
The Australian Open is upon us. The men and women of the ATP and WTA will now take a few weeks off, ponder their year, and start looking forward to next year. As usual, the Australian Open highlights the opening of the year, and sets the tone for what’s to come. Additionally, it now has the record for best attended Grand Slam ever, with 734,667 attending the 2018 tournament.
It wasn’t always this way. In the early years of the Open Era, in the 70’s and 80s, the Australian Open was played grass and many top players would skip it. It was also played in grass before the 1988 edition and around Christmas time. This all changed after the venue changed to Melbourne Park and it was played in late January instead of around Christmas time. Also, they got rid of the grass and decided to play the tournament on hard courts.
- Agassi beats Sampras in the 1995 Australian Open Final
This final is important in that Agassi beat Sampras in a Grand Slam final. He would never accomplish this feat again. He would go on to lose to Pete at the US Open Final in that year, Wimbledon in 1999 and the US Open in 2002. That being said, this final followed up Andre’s 1994 win at the US Open and solidified him as the player to beat during the summer of 1995. Final score was 4-6, 6-1, 7-6, 6-4.
- Marat Safin beats Federer in the 2005 Australian Open Semifinal
This was one of the best matches I have seen in my life. Marat Safin was playing out of his mind during this tournament, but so was Federer. Federer had already established himself as sort of unbeatable by this point and was on a 26-match winning streak. And he made Marat Safin work for it. In the end, it took Marat five grueling sets to stop Federer, and go on to the final and win the championship. Final score was 5-7, 6-4, 5-7, 7-6, 9-7.
- Roger Federer beats Nadal for the 2017 Australian Open
This win is fresh in all our minds. After five years of not winning a Grand Slam, Roger comes back after a six-month hiatus to win his 18th Grand Slam title. And he beats Rafa Nadal no less. This win would set him up for a wonderful two-year swing that would see him win Wimbledon in 2017 and defend his Australian Open title in 2018. Final score was 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3.
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