No Novak Djokovic. No Roger Federer. No Serena Williams.
You’d think that would lead to a wide-open Australian Open 2022, with new faces popping up to try and win a Slam while some of the game’s all-time greats are on the sidelines.
Instead for the first time in 33 Slams, there are no first-time semi-finalists on either the men’s or women’s side of the draw, according to tennis writer Ben Rothenberg.
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Stefanos Tsitsipas’ quarter-final win over young gun Jannik Sinner on Wednesday evening confirmed the stat would come true.
Tsitsipas, a three-time semi-finalist at Melbourne Park and French Open finalist, is joined in the last four on the men’s side by:
– Rafael Nadal, who’s won a few Slams here and there;
– Matteo Berrettini, 2021 Wimbledon finalist;
– And either Daniil Medvedev (2021 US Open winner) or Felix Auger-Aliassime (2021 US Open semi-finalist).
On the women’s side, our final four are all back where they’ve been before:
– Ash Barty, Wimbledon and French Open winner;
– Madison Keys, 2017 US Open finalist;
– Iga Swiatek, 2020 French Open winner and;
– Danielle Collins, 2019 Australian Open semi-finalist.
The Australian Open itself has had multiple first-time Slam semi-finalists in each of the last four years:
– 2021: Karolina Muchova and Aslan Karatsev;
– 2020: Sofia Kenin and Alexander Zverev;
– 2019: Danielle Collins, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Lucas Pouille;
– 2018: Elise Mertens, Kyle Edmund and Chung Hyeon.