The Prague Post - Nadal, Barty give Australian Open desperately needed happy ending

EUR -
AED 4.177034
AFN 81.881073
ALL 99.252011
AMD 444.591212
ANG 2.049629
AOA 1037.159397
ARS 1294.140502
AUD 1.780172
AWG 2.047025
AZN 1.955871
BAM 1.956825
BBD 2.294803
BDT 138.092365
BGN 1.957857
BHD 0.428625
BIF 3332.101328
BMD 1.137236
BND 1.492134
BOB 7.854392
BRL 6.605289
BSD 1.136596
BTN 97.022843
BWP 15.66621
BYN 3.71968
BYR 22289.824581
BZD 2.282996
CAD 1.574122
CDF 3271.828375
CHF 0.930816
CLF 0.028662
CLP 1099.889298
CNY 8.298232
CNH 8.30288
COP 4901.486936
CRC 571.199327
CUC 1.137236
CUP 30.136753
CVE 110.76909
CZK 25.063086
DJF 202.109685
DKK 7.466602
DOP 68.804268
DZD 150.758823
EGP 58.143346
ERN 17.058539
ETB 151.279275
FJD 2.597105
FKP 0.857926
GBP 0.857288
GEL 3.115634
GGP 0.857926
GHS 17.695231
GIP 0.857926
GMD 81.310831
GNF 9843.34521
GTQ 8.754588
GYD 238.429138
HKD 8.82913
HNL 29.46444
HRK 7.535212
HTG 148.317723
HUF 408.387089
IDR 19177.096068
ILS 4.192295
IMP 0.857926
INR 97.094366
IQD 1489.779092
IRR 47906.063871
ISK 145.100098
JEP 0.857926
JMD 179.644139
JOD 0.806641
JPY 161.924773
KES 147.268897
KGS 99.205072
KHR 4566.002173
KMF 493.021022
KPW 1023.518647
KRW 1613.043914
KWD 0.34871
KYD 0.947196
KZT 594.971784
LAK 24598.413236
LBP 101896.341242
LKR 339.937138
LRD 227.418739
LSL 21.444738
LTL 3.357962
LVL 0.687903
LYD 6.220433
MAD 10.547807
MDL 19.662304
MGA 5177.713287
MKD 61.514233
MMK 2387.530139
MNT 4022.532693
MOP 9.086962
MRU 44.847502
MUR 51.278215
MVR 17.512921
MWK 1974.241626
MXN 22.425622
MYR 5.012367
MZN 72.675032
NAD 21.444738
NGN 1824.920891
NIO 41.821916
NOK 11.909658
NPR 155.236349
NZD 1.90379
OMR 0.437833
PAB 1.136596
PEN 4.279379
PGK 4.700463
PHP 64.495487
PKR 319.102166
PLN 4.278742
PYG 9097.767521
QAR 4.14022
RON 4.978928
RSD 117.291464
RUB 93.451578
RWF 1609.188866
SAR 4.267179
SBD 9.516785
SCR 16.196165
SDG 682.90783
SEK 10.940517
SGD 1.490626
SHP 0.893689
SLE 25.900574
SLL 23847.250746
SOS 649.928851
SRD 42.248597
STD 23538.488054
SVC 9.945212
SYP 14786.663141
SZL 21.402579
THB 37.923356
TJS 12.206811
TMT 3.980326
TND 3.398064
TOP 2.663519
TRY 43.238615
TTD 7.712041
TWD 36.98749
TZS 3056.319969
UAH 47.101683
UGX 4166.329832
USD 1.137236
UYU 47.664978
UZS 14768.739292
VES 91.95534
VND 29420.293975
VUV 138.799625
WST 3.16989
XAF 656.312471
XAG 0.034867
XAU 0.000342
XCD 3.073437
XDR 0.816192
XOF 653.910611
XPF 119.331742
YER 278.907533
ZAR 21.404945
ZMK 10236.485804
ZMW 32.36396
ZWL 366.189511
  • BCC

    0.7800

    93.47

    +0.83%

  • JRI

    0.1600

    12.4

    +1.29%

  • CMSD

    0.0400

    21.96

    +0.18%

  • GSK

    0.5600

    35.93

    +1.56%

  • RBGPF

    63.5900

    63.59

    +100%

  • RIO

    1.0100

    58.17

    +1.74%

  • BCE

    0.4200

    22.04

    +1.91%

  • SCS

    0.0500

    9.76

    +0.51%

  • NGG

    0.6300

    72.11

    +0.87%

  • AZN

    0.5400

    67.59

    +0.8%

  • CMSC

    0.0400

    21.82

    +0.18%

  • RELX

    1.0000

    52.2

    +1.92%

  • BTI

    0.5400

    42.37

    +1.27%

  • VOD

    0.1400

    9.31

    +1.5%

  • RYCEF

    -0.1400

    9.36

    -1.5%

  • BP

    0.6600

    28.32

    +2.33%

Nadal, Barty give Australian Open desperately needed happy ending
Nadal, Barty give Australian Open desperately needed happy ending

Nadal, Barty give Australian Open desperately needed happy ending

An Australian Open like no other began in controversy with the deportation of Novak Djokovic but culminated in one of the greatest comebacks in tennis history by Rafael Nadal on Sunday.

Text size:

Throw in Ashleigh Barty becoming the first home winner for 44 years, and local heroes Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis winning the men's doubles, this was a Grand Slam that will live long in the memory for myriad reasons.

After the chaos that preceded the tournament, Tennis Australia couldn't have dreamt of a happier ending -- and it was one they desperately needed, after a competition riddled with unforced errors on the organisers' parts.

It began with the spectacle of the nine-time Australian Open champion Djokovic being detained in a notorious immigration hotel, suffering multiple court cases and eventual deportation -- shocking no matter which side you sit in the Covid-19 vaccination debate.

When the first serve at Melbourne Park was struck on January 17, the world number one was in a Dubai airport transit lounge waiting for his connecting flight home to Belgrade.

It wasn't just the Djokovic saga that cast a shadow over the first Grand Slam tournament of 2022.

Tennis Australia had to make a hasty and embarrassing U-turn after instructing staff to prevent spectators wearing "Where is Peng Shuai?" T-shirts to highlight concern for the Chinese player.

They also had to justify a largely voluntary Covid-19 testing protocol that came in for criticism from some players, notably world number three Alexander Zverev.

They may count themselves extremely lucky that there were only a handful of virus cases.

- Booing and screaming -

Tennis Australia will no doubt bask in the glory of their two historic champions, Nadal and Barty.

Tournament director Craig Tiley was beaming through his mask during the presentation ceremonies.

But as a central figure in the pre-tournament chaos he, or his successor, must make sure the extraordinary scenes in the run-up to the tournament are never repeated.

Crowds were back in numbers after days of pandemic-enforced empty arenas the year before, but spectators came in for flak for their raucous behaviour.

Kyrgios's opponents in particular complained of yobbish jeering, whipped up by the Australian bad boy.

And in the final, booing and screaming between serves to try to put off Daniil Medvedev made Rod Laver Arena seem more like Madrid during a Davis Cup tie -- a feverishly pro-Nadal cauldron.

The atmosphere degenerated further as the beer began to talk ever louder, with the epic match grinding on past 1:00 am Monday.

Medvedev became agitated, Nadal had to appeal for calm and the chair umpire had to threaten miscreants with removal by security staff.

- Monumental achievement -

But in the end, the abiding memory will be of Nadal's monumental achievement in winning that unprecedented 21st Grand Slam after an astonishing final lasting 5hr 24min.

It was Nadal's second Australian Open, but came 13 years after his first.

It was his first win from two sets down in almost 15 years, and a first in a Slam final.

When he touched down in Melbourne, the 35-year-old had played no competitive tennis since early August because of a chronic foot injury.

Eleven unbeaten matches later he has two more tournament wins and has moved ahead of Djokovic and Roger Federer as the all-time men's Grand Slam leader.

The absence of that pair -- Federer through injury, Djokovic through deportation -- will mean detractors will try to diminish Nadal's achievement, unparallelled as it is in the men's game.

Surely to be the best, you have to beat the best?

Nadal has good cause to say he did.

Medvedev, the Russian world number two, blew Djokovic away in New York four months earlier to prevent the Serbian becoming first to strike 21.

The de facto top seed, Medvedev is 10 years Nadal's junior, was the most recent Grand Slam champion and looked unstoppable as he led by two sets and held three break points in the third.

TV's computerised "Win Predictor" put Nadal's chances of triumphing from there at four percent.

But though Nadal was down, he was not quite out.

Slowly his determination and sheer will to win enabled him to claw the match back from the brink.

The result was on a knife-edge until the dying moments, and could have gone either way in the final set as the pair exchanged multiple service breaks.

But in the end four percent was all Nadal, and the Australian Open, needed.

X.Kadlec--TPP