The Australian Open, the first Major Grand Slam tournament of the year offered a total prize-money worth US $71 million. (Getty Images)
The current edition of the Australian Open has seen multiple top stars being eliminated in the early rounds of the tournament – is it a cursed slam?
The ongoing edition of the Australian Open has sprung a number of surprises and upsets. Multiple seeded stars from both the ATP and WTA divisions have been eliminated in the early stages of the competition. The results have certainly made fans wonder – is this a cursed slam?
The 2023 Australian Open is the first Grand Slam tournament in the history of the Open Era (since 1968) where the top two seeds of both men’s & women’s singles draws have lost before the quarter-finals. In the men’s category, Rafael Nadal (1) and Casper Ruud (2) were eliminated in the second round. In the women’s category, Iga Swiatek (1) was eliminated after losing in Round 4 while Ons Jabeur bowed out of the tournament in the second round itself.
The ‘Break Point’ curse is now complete as Felix Auger-Aliassime has become the latest player to bow out of the Australian Open. ‘Break Point’ is a tennis-based Netflix series featuring some of the top stars in the ATP and WTA circuit. All the 10 players who featured in the inaugural season of this Netflix series, have now either missed the tournament or been eliminated. Nick Kyrgios, who is one of the lead characters in this docu-series had to withdraw due to injury while others like Matteo Berrettini, Taylor Fritz, Casper Ruud, Ons Jabeur among others have been eliminated. Maria Sakkari and Felix Auger-Aliassime are the last two players from this series to have been eliminated from the tournament.
Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime was the last player from the series to be alive in the tournament. While most of the other players were eliminated from relatively early rounds, Felix managed to make it to the fourth round in Melbourne. However, he was not immune to the curse and the sixth seed lost to unseeded Jiri Lehecka in fourth sets. Most of the players who had a role to play in this series are top-seeded stars and their elimination so early in the tournament comes across as a major surprise.
More Tennis news
Follow our dedicated Tennis page for instant Tennis news and updates