History in the making: A roundup of the Australian Open

This year’s Australian Open was laced with history; it saw some of the oldest doubles winners, some of the youngest singles champions, a legion of 400 ball boys and girls, and over a million spectators passing through the Melbourne Park gates. Here’s a roundup of 2024’s first major tournament.

Jannik Sinner came out victorious in the men’s singles competition. At just 22 years old, he won his first Grand Slam title, after an incredible comeback against Daniil Medvedev. This made him the youngest champion of the Australian Open since 2008, when Djokovic won his first title.

During the tournament Sinner spoke of how he saw pressure as a privilege. He has grown up in the world of sport, having been a skier before choosing to focus on tennis at the age of 12. At only 14 years old, Sinner moved away from home for a more intensive tennis schedule, and the young star’s devotion has clearly paid off. In a hectic twelve months, he has reached the semi-final of Wimbledon and now won his first major.

The champions of the singles and doubles tournaments had all been down different paths to get to the position they are in today

Sinner’s victory was celebrated ecstatically by his loyal fanbase, known as the Carota Boys, often seen in orange or dressed as carrots at his games. This unusual costume became popular following a match in 2019 where Sinner ate a carrot during changeover – the Boys have been a trademark of the Italian’s crowds ever since.

Aryna Sabalenka’s win in the women’s singles was just as historic as Sinner’s parallel success, as she became the first woman to win back-to-back Australian Open singles trophies since 2013.

Sabalenka, who hails from Belarus, did not drop a single set in the final that she played against Qinwen Zheng. Her Australian Open victory came as a relief following her successive exits at the semi-finals of the French Open and the finals of the US Open and Wimbledon over the past year.

The results of the doubles tournaments were just as exciting as those of the singles.

Rohan Bopanna’s dreams came true when he won his first doubles title in what was his 17th attempt down under

In the women’s tournament, Hsieh Su-wei reunited with Elise Mertens to win. This became her second trophy won at this year’s Australian Open, having won the mixed doubles just days earlier with Poland’s Jan Zielinski. Aged 38, Hsieh also became the second oldest women’s doubles Grand Slam champion, only bettered by Lisa Raymond at the 2011 US Open.

Hseih’s latest Grand Slam titles took her number of major doubles successes to eight, the others having come from a collection of victories at Roland-Garros and Wimbledon. Some have argued that this remarkable record is due to her retirement from singles competitions – Hseih has opted to focus on doubles, and save her energy for Grand Slam tournaments.

In the men’s circuit, Rohan Bopanna’s dreams came true when he won his first doubles title in what was his 17th attempt down under.

Over the years, Bopanna has had 19 different partners, but it was his partnership with Matthew Ebden that finally saw him walk away with a major trophy. Bopanna’s remarkable persistence has made him the player with the most total attempts before winning a men’s doubles Grand Slam title – previously, he had tasted defeat 61 times.

The Australian Open is one of the biggest annual events for tennis and this year’s tournament was no less exciting than previous years – as always, the level of talent, especially among the winners, was extremely high.

The champions of the singles and doubles tournaments had all been down different paths to get to the position they are in today. Some had spent numerous years trying to win a trophy at a tournament like this one, some had already experienced victory at Grand Slams, and others achieved their first big win at this competition.

We will see these stars compete at their next Grand Slam in Paris towards the end of May, where they will all no doubt be hoping to come away with yet another title.