¦wiątek lost to Tsitsipas. A surprising decision by the organizers of the Australian Open tennis tournament

If a sporting event is so popular, why not invest in local promotion? Perhaps the organizers thought so Australian Open ChampionshipBecause on the way from the airport to central Melbourne, I didn’t notice any items that reminded me of the Grand Slam tournament, which starts on Monday. They may be in other parts of the city, but the only trace of the tournament I’ve spotted so far is a tram stop outside the entrance to the tennis complex at Melbourne Park. And one of the stickers might surprise you.

Australia celebrates local heroes and Djokovic

There are many such stickers. For obvious reasons, a lot of space is reserved for Australian players. One featured Ajla Tomljanovic, Alex de Minaur and Thanasi Kokkinakis, and the accompanying tagline read “Where Local Heroes Shine”.

Kokkinakis has been awarded again – with Nick Kyrgios. friends for many years tennis playersWho specializes in singles, unexpectedly won the doubles competition last year in Antipodes. A poster referring to this success was titled “It Begins With Romance”.

“Where history becomes legend” – this is the caption of the poster in which he stars Novak Djokovic. The famous Serb is a very important figure in this tournament. He has won it nine times and is the men’s singles record holder. And – as you can see – the good impression was not spoiled by last year’s confusion, which ended with the withdrawal of the visa of the non-vaccinated against COVID-19 competitor and repatriation.

Polish disaster after the best season in years. From heaven to hell

Christmas with a supporting role. There was no place for the defending hero

The Australian Open organizers haven’t forgotten Świątek either. A Polish woman had emphatically dominated the previous women’s season Tennis, on a label with Stefanos Tsitsipas and Coco Gauff. The Greek and American’s success and talent cannot be denied, but there is no doubt that the 21-year-old from Raszyn has the greatest accomplishments in this group to date. Since last spring, she has been the number one racket in the world, and last year she won eight tournaments, including the Grand Slam tournament.

The player from Athens is fourth on the list ATP, his career high was one place higher and to date he has reached one Grand Slam final. He did it at Roland Garros 2021. His best result in Melbourne was the semi-final, and in that respect he’s on par with Świątek. However, he is the central character in the poster titled “Here the Story Begins”.

Not only the tennis player’s fans, led by coach Tomas Wiktorowski, were not disappointed on this occasion. There was no space on the posters, for example Rafael Nadal. The Spaniard has a record 22 Grand Slam titles in men’s singles, including two in Australia. He enters the current version as the defending champion.

It remains only for Shvetek to prove in court that he is worthy of a leading role. And the first step in this direction will be the defeat of German Julie Niemeyer in the opening.