Tennis Australia is proud of its flagship tournament, the Australian Open, and delighted with the way it is often called “The Happy Slam.” But for elite players embarking on a new year with much to protect in the way of rep and ranking, the event also qualifies as The Scary Slam.
“A lot of players have played matches and tournaments before Australia (the tournament), and they prepare pretty well for it,” Carlos Alcaraz told me, on a swing through New York last month. “For me, that’s the most challenging thing about Australia.”
Tennis’ great annual reset takes place at the Australian Open, and in one way the game’s haves, including Alcaraz, Aryna Sabalenka, Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek, should thank their lucky stars that the much-debated “off-season” (roughly, a month) is so fleeting. The psychological capital accumulated by a player melts away quickly as any break lengthens.
Even with a short hiatus, second and third-tier players get big ideas, especially if they are coming off solid late-season results the previous year (when the elites are running on fumes), and committed to working hard during the break.
“Everybody is doing a really solid and pretty good pre-season,” Alcaraz added. “It feels like all the people are going to show his cards on the table, how hard they worked for Australia and to do really good results.”
