As 2022 comes to a close, Sports Illustrated looks back at the themes and teams, storylines and through lines that shaped the year.
In a sport without a clock, nothing in tennis ends with predictability or on a reliable schedule. So it’s fitting that the end of the sport’s great generation is something that looks more like continents drifting apart than a Big Bang or a scoreboard showing no time left.
The year 2022 started with four active players in the sport, amazingly, with 20 or more major titles. It ended up with two. Roger Federer and Serena Williams, now both 41, announced their retirements, unequivocally in his case, slightly in her case. But the two remaining titans – Rafael Nadal, 36, and Novak Djokovic, 35 – combined to win three of the year’s four majors; and Djokovic closed the season playing perhaps as well as ever. So it’s the end of an era. Except not really.
Then again, the awkward, arrhythmic transition was a seam that ran throughout the tennis season.
In the traditional years, tennis loses its niche status at the Australian Open and breaks through to a larger audience. But in 2022, the pre-tournament drama exceeded the attention (and excitement) of most matches. With assurances he would be admitted to the country despite his choice to forego a Covid vaccination, Novak Djokovic, the event’s nine-time champion, was detained on arrival in Australia. His status became an international celebrity, became the source of countless hot takes and – to mix sporting metaphors – became a political football. And on the eve of the tournament, Djokovic was deported.
Suddenly, Rafael Nadal resurfaced and he used the opportunity to win the title, the 21st major of his career, breaking a three-way tie and vaulting him past Djokovic and Federer on the all-time list. The women’s title, meanwhile, went to Australian Ash Barty, the first home-grown player to win in almost half a century. Her status at the top of the sport cemented, she celebrated by… retiring a few weeks later.
Just when tennis looked unreliable, Poland’s Iga Swiatek became the new No. 1, making the most of his promotion on the battlefield, winning 37 straight matches, including the required seven at the French Open. And Nadal performed his annual rite of spring, winning at Roland Garros for, comically, the 14th time. For the first time in his career, he won the first two matches of the Grand Slam.
In response to Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, Wimbledon bowed to government pressure and unilaterally banned Russian players. The tours responded by stripping the event of ranking points and suing the tournament. Djokovic won the men’s title for the seventh time (perspective: one fewer than Federer), moving within a major of Nadal, 22-21. And because no sport does self-ownership as comprehensively as tennis, Elena Rybakina, a Russian-born, Russian-resident powerhouse competing under the Kazakh flag, took the women’s trophy.
Before the tournament, Serena Williams announced that the 2022 U.S. The Open would mark the final event of her illustrious career. The first week of the tournament felt like a rightfully deserved extended tribute to her with a tennis event going on. In the second week, time doubled and halved itself, and the event was hijacked by a 19-year-old Spaniard, Carlos Alcaraz, who won the first major (probably of many) of his career and rose to No. 1 in the rankings.
Yet the single most memorable moment of the year took place not at a major, but at a team event. Federer announced that the Laver Cup, which he had created, would mark the sunset of his career. Visibly compromised by his long-term knee injury, he played doubles with Nadal in his final match.
Afterwards: a poignant, bittersweet retirement ceremony where Federer and Nadal, memorably, sat together, shedding tears, holding hands.
It was almost imperceptible. In fact, none of them even claim to remember until the gesture was called to their attention. Yet it encapsulated so much. This shared sense of sports mortality, perhaps real mortality. This mutual appreciation of a rivalry that may have been a seesaw, but ultimately lifted them both. They shared a realization of finality, their sporting mortality laid bare.
Then later that weekend, in a breathtaking decider at the Laver Cup, Frances Tiafoe, an expressive American beat the contemplative Greek player, Stefanos Tsitsipas. And this may well have been the ultimate metaphor for the entire sport during this period of change. Time wins. Time is undefeated. Time waits for no one. But there are, waiting in abundance, other players and other stories. — Jon Wertheim
Novak Djokovic vs. Majors: How did we get here? By Chris Almeida and Jon Wertheim
When he arrived in Melbourne, Djokovic’s visa was canceled and he was denied entry into the country. Then the Australian government put him in a detention hotel where it houses refugees, sometimes for years. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Djokovic would not “be treated any differently to anyone else”, while the star’s treatment was criticized by the Serbian president as an affront to the entire country. Djokovic’s father, Srdjan, compared his son’s detention to the crucifixion of Jesus.
Rafael Nadal is happy to wear the crown of Jon Wertheim
Athletes are supposed to be more worn out and less available as they get older; Nadal has gone the opposite direction. The most focused and passionate competitors are supposed to be the first to burn out; Nadal’s matches still appear as sponsored content for intensity. The most physical player in tennis history wasn’t supposed to be around that long. By his own admission, Nadal will never have Federer’s easy grace or Djokovic’s crisp precision. But he moves on. All of this is a good reminder that in tennis, like life, magic comes in many forms.
‘Pickleball Is the Wild, Wild West’: Inside the Battle for the Fastest Growing Sport in America by John Walters
Pickleball: offspring of tennis and table tennis. The new shuffleboard. “Older people’s court basketball,” as actor Jeff Daniels put it.
You may have read about the sport with a silly name and 4.8 million followers. Or watch your local park or tennis club—or Leo DiCaprio—install a pickleball court or a dozen. Or heard that college coaches Scott Drew (of Baylor) and Mark Few (Gonzaga) played against each other in the Final Four bubble last year. Or caught Drew Brees’ latest posthumous tweet about his football: “I can work out for the pickleball tour.”
“Pickleball is the social media influence of the sports world,” Kelly Ripa said on Live With Kelly and Ryan. “I had never heard of it. And then I only hear about it.”
Serena Williams Changed Sports Forever by Jon Wertheim
Her career has not only been cinematic but literary. There is a gripping story, but also larger themes. She has unmistakably been the heroine, the main character, but there are rich supporting characters. Her story comes with rising and falling actions, plot points, conflicts and resolutions. Not unlike a tennis match, it can be divided into sections. There was an electric beginning and fierce middle and so far a graceful conclusion.
Steffi Graf is still too famous for Steffi Graf by Jon Wertheim
Background: For years I had been trying to write this story with Graf’s participation. In 2016, when Agassi swung by the SI offices. We joked about the difficulties I had in getting an audience with his wife. “Good luck with that,” he said, laughing good-naturedly at this quest.
Tennis’ most dynamic player is also Jon Wertheim’s most difficult
For a decade now, Kyrgios has split the Republic of Tennis, creating two sides, roughly equal in proportion, that might as well be divided by a net. He’s either the shot maker, the honest and charismatic and convincingly volatile McEnroe-meets-Draymond bundle of unpredictability who will bring freshness and electricity, bring in the kids and bring change to a tradition-choked sport.
Or he is an unhinged narcissistic brat (or something even darker) who competes like a coward and respects nothing – not his opponents, not his sport, not his predecessors and not least his own talents.
Carlos Alcaraz arrives ahead of schedule as world’s best By Chris Almeida and Jon Wertheim
Carlos Alcaraz is our U.S. Open men’s singles champion for 2022. He made, by his standards, quick work of Casper Ruud in the final: 6–4, 2–6, 7–6 (1), 6–3. And, boy, you can’t say he didn’t deserve it. He did everything you could possibly ask of him during the tournament: win long games, short games, late games, early games. Beat young players, old players. Everything. This guy is going to be good for a long time.
Roger Federer leaves a distinct, beautiful mark on tennis by Jon Wertheim
The country of Switzerland flows with fountains. But it’s unlikely you’ll ever see people tossing coins into one. This ritual is a tradition pretty much everywhere else in the world and this ritual never caught on in Switzerland for a simple reason. There is no need to wish for luck when you already have it. As one native son put it, “Only the poor must hope.”
This theme of opulence and extravagance – and recognition of luck – echoed throughout the career of Switzerland’s most towering athlete. Roger Federer, who announced his retirement from tennis on Thursday at the age of 41, always seemed to have plenty. Lots of charm. Lots of time. Lots of decency. Of course lots of talent.
How much is Barty worth?
With her personal fortune estimated at between $30 million and $40 million, Ashleigh Barty doesn’t have to work another day in her life. The world number 1 announced her retirement from tennis last Wednesday, just under a quarter of the way into the 2022 season. She has so far collected $23.8 million. in career prize money.
How Much Money Does Ash Barty Make? Ashleigh Barty: Net Worth 2022 Currently, her on-court earnings are around $23,829,071 from singles and doubles tennis on the WTA Tour. On the same subject : 7 Best New Movies on Amazon Prime Video in August 2022. In 2020, Forbes ranked Barty as the third highest paid female athlete in the world.
What is Barty’s net worth?
| Net worth: | $47 million |
|---|---|
| Age: | 26 years |
Who is playing in the US Open 2022 tennis?
Players
- Daniel Medvedev. lost to: Nick Kyrgios. To see also : MixNYC adds Clearmountain, Shirley, Germano and Staniulis to the immersive music event. in:…
- Rafael Nadal. Spain. lost to: FrancesTiafoe. …
- Carlos Alcaraz. Spain. defeated: CasperRuud. …
- Stefanos Tsitsipas. Greece. lost to: Daniel ElahiGalan. …
- Casper Ruud. Norway. lost to:…
- Felix Auger-Aliassime. Canada. lost to:…
- Cameron Norrie. The United Kingdom. lost to:…
- Hubert Hurkacz. Poland. lost to:
How many players are there in US Open tennis 2022? The tournament consisted of both men’s and women’s singles and doubles draws, as singles draws remained the standard 128-man format in each category, as both doubles draws reverted to the standard 64 players.
Is Federer playing in US Open 2022?
Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic are both absent from the 2022 US Open. See the article : USS Minneapolis-Saint Paul United States Naval Academy Midshipmen Tour. Federer is out with a long-term knee injury, while Djokovic’s vaccination status means he cannot enter the US.
Who is playing in the US Open men’s final?
Carlos Alcaraz defeated Casper Ruud in the final, 6â4, 2â6, 7â6, 6â3 to win the men’s singles tennis title at the 2022 US Open.
How much did Ash Barty win at Australian Open 2022?
As it stands, Barty’s fast work equates to an hourly rate of $146,721 – or $2453 per minute. Barty will collect a $2.875 million winner’s check if the Australian ace can overcome American Danielle Collins.
How much did Ash Barty win to win the Australian Open? With the title, she won $4.42 million, the largest amount of prize money at a single men’s or women’s tournament in tennis history to date. Barty finished the season as world No. 1 and won the WTA Player of the Year award, becoming the first Australian ever to receive the honor.
How much does the winner of the Australian Open win 2022?
The winners of the men’s and women’s singles trophies at Melbourne Park will each receive $2.875 million, while the runners-up will receive $1.575 million. Semifinalists leave with $895,000 more in their bank balances, while competitors who lost in the first round still scored $103,000.
Who won the women’s bronze?
This forced the game to an extra end and. In that end, with the last stone advantage, Canada’s Einarson played a nosedive on a Swedish stone to score a point, win 8-7 and take the bronze medals.
Who won bronze in 2022? Sweden takes bronze at the 2022 World Junior Hockey Championship with victory over the Czech Republic.
Who won the 2022 women’s bronze medal?
India won the women’s hockey bronze medal with a shoot-out win over defending champions New Zealand. Salima Tete looked to have won the game for India with her goal in the second quarter.
Who won women’s hockey bronze?
The Czech Republic took the bronze medal at the Women’s World Hockey Championship with a 4-2 victory over Switzerland on Sunday.
