2022 Australian Open

The 2022 Australian Open was a Grand Slam tennis tournament that took place at Melbourne Park, Australia from 17 to 30 January 2022. It was the 110th edition of the Australian Open, the 54th in the Open Era, and the first Grand Slam of the year. The tournament consisted of events for professional players in singles, doubles and mixed doubles. Junior and wheelchair players competed in singles and doubles tournaments. As in previous years, the tournament's main sponsor was Kia.

Rafael Nadal and Ashleigh Barty won the men's singles and women's singles titles, respectively. Nadal claimed his record-breaking 21st major title by defeating Daniil Medvedev in the final, coming back from two sets to love down. Barty won the first Australian Open singles title by an Australian in 44 years by defeating Danielle Collins in straight sets in the final.

Novak Djokovic and Naomi Osaka were the 2021 champions in Men's Singles and Women's Singles, respectively. Djokovic was unable to participate in the tournament after his visa was cancelled by Australian Immigration Minister Alex Hawke on the merits of Djokovic being a "high profile unvaccinated individual" whose presence in Melbourne "may foster anti-vaccination sentiment". Osaka lost in the third round to Amanda Anisimova.

Tournament

The 2022 Australian Open was the 110th edition of the tournament, held at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The tournament returned to its traditional January slot after the 2021 tournament was held in February after a precaution over concerns with the strict COVID-19 protocols.

The tournament was run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is part of the 2022 ATP Tour and the 2022 WTA Tour calendars under the Grand Slam category. The tournament consisted of both men's and women's singles and doubles draws as well as the mixed doubles events. There were singles and doubles events for both boys and girls (players under 18), which are part of the Grade A category of tournaments. The junior competitions returned after a year of absence. There are also singles, doubles and quad events for men's and women's wheelchair tennis players as part of the NEC tour under the Grand Slam category.

The tournament was played on hard courts and took place across a series of 25 courts, including the four main show courts of Rod Laver Arena, John Cain Arena, Margaret Court Arena and 1573 Arena. It was also the debut of Kia Arena, which made for five main tennis arenas.

Singles players

; Men's singles

; Women's singles

Events

Men's singles

* Rafael Nadal def. Daniil Medvedev, 2–6, 6–7^(5–7), 6–4, 6–4, 7–5

Women's singles

* Ashleigh Barty def. Danielle Collins, 6–3, 7–6^(7–2)

Men's doubles

* Thanasi Kokkinakis / Nick Kyrgios def. Matthew Ebden / Max Purcell, 7–5, 6–4

Women's doubles

* Barbora Krejčíková / Kateřina Siniaková def. Anna Danilina / Beatriz Haddad Maia, 6–7^(3–7), 6–4, 6–4

Mixed doubles

* Kristina Mladenovic / Ivan Dodig def. Jaimee Fourlis / Jason Kubler, 6–3, 6–4

Wheelchair men's singles

* Shingo Kunieda def. Alfie Hewett, 7–5, 3–6, 6–2

Wheelchair women's singles

* Diede de Groot def. Aniek van Koot, 6–1, 6–1

Wheelchair quad singles

* Sam Schröder def. Dylan Alcott, 7–5, 6–0

Wheelchair men's doubles

* Alfie Hewett / Gordon Reid def. Gustavo Fernández / Shingo Kunieda, 6–2, 4–6, 0–7

Wheelchair women's doubles

* Diede de Groot / Aniek van Koot def. Yui Kamiji / Lucy Shuker, 7–5, 3–6, 0–2

Wheelchair quad doubles

* Andy Lapthorne / David Wagner def. Sam Schröder / Niels Vink, 2–6, 6–4, 0–7

Boys' singles

* Bruno Kuzuhara def. Jakub Menšík, 7–6^(7–4), 6–7^(6–8), 7–5

Girls' singles

* Petra Marčinko def. Sofia Costoulas, 7–5, 6–1

Boys' doubles

* Bruno Kuzuhara / Coleman Wong def. Alex Michelsen / Adolfo Daniel Vallejo, 6–3, 7–6^(7–3)

Girls' doubles

* Clervie Ngounoue / Diana Shnaider def. Kayla Cross / Victoria Mboko, 6–4, 6–3

Point distribution and prize money

Point distribution

Below is a series of tables for each of the competitions showing the ranking points offered for each event.

Senior points

Wheelchair points

Junior points

Prize money

The Australian Open total prize money for 2022 increased by 4.9% to a tournament record A$75,000,000.

COVID-19 vaccination, visa controversies and other controversies

On 4 January 2022, defending champion Novak Djokovic announced that he could compete in the Australian Open after he had been granted medical exemption from mandatory COVID-19 vaccination by Tennis Australia and the health department of the state of Victoria, after a blind review of his application. However, the Australian Minister for Home Affairs, Karen Andrews, stated that regardless of Tennis Australia and Victoria's decision, Australia's border requirements would be still enforced by the federal government, namely that unvaccinated individuals entering Australia "must provide acceptable proof that they cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons".

On 5 January, Djokovic was detained by the Australian Border Force upon arriving in Australia and being determined to not meet the entry requirements for unvaccinated travellers. His lawyers requested an injunction against deportation in order to appeal the visa refusal; this allowed Djokovic to remain confined in a detention hotel pending the outcome of the appeal. On 10 January, the Federal Circuit and Family Court ruled against the government on procedural grounds, ordered his release from detention and directed the federal government to pay his legal expenses. The reason for the ruling was that when Djokovic was in immigration holding before his visa was cancelled, Australian officials reneged on an agreement to give Djokovic sufficient time to contact his lawyers and tennis authorities before his official interview; this led the Australian government to concede they treated Djokovic unreasonably.

Twenty-five other players and staff had applied for a medical exemption and a handful of applications had been granted. Among those, two people with the same type of visa and exemption as Djokovic had reportedly been allowed into the country. Player Renata Voráčová was one of those granted an exemption and allowed into the country. She had participated in a warm-up tournament but was subsequently detained in the same hotel as Djokovic and deported on 8 January 2022. Filip Serdarusic, a tennis coach with the same exemption, was also allowed entry but left the country voluntarily.

Public opinion in Australia of an unvaccinated athlete being permitted entry while many Australians remain stranded overseas due to the pandemic, in order to participate in an event that spectators cannot attend unless fully vaccinated, has been overwhelmingly negative. A notable poll published by '' The Sun Herald'' and ''Sunday Age'' newspapers on Sunday showed 71% of respondents did not want Djokovic to be allowed to stay.

On 14 January 2022, Alex Hawke, the Australian Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs, exercised his ministerial powers under the ''Migration Act 1958'' to cancel Djokovic's visa, citing "health and good order grounds, on the basis that it was in the public interest to do so". An application for review of the decision was made in the Federal Court, but was dismissed on 16 January, ruling out Djokovic's participation in the 2022 Australian Open. Djokovic said he was "extremely disappointed" with the decision but accepted the ruling, and flew out of Australia that night. Salvatore Caruso, ranked 150 in the world, took his place in the draw as the "lucky loser".

During the 2022 Australian Open, ' Where is Peng Shuai?' t-shirts were banned from the venues.
The ban was reversed following an outcry.

References

External links

Australian Open official website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Australian Open, 2022

2022 WTA Tour
2022 ATP Tour
2022 in Australian tennis
2022 in tennis
Australian Open
2022
COVID-19 pandemic in Australia
2022