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Upsets, Drama in First Few Days of Australian Open

Posted on by kayleij

The Australian Open tennis tournament has been in full swing for just a few days, but it’s already made shockwaves in the sporting world. Since qualifying rounds began on Jan. 8 for both men and women’s singles players, we’ve seen upsets, withdrawals, and even a pregnancy announcement!

One of the first tournaments since all-time greats Serena Williams and Roger Federer retired from tennis near the end of last playing season, remaining members of the old guard like Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic were expected to continue their reign. However, Nadal was upset fairly quickly in the round of 64 by American player Mackenzie McDonald, shocking many fans despite nagging injuries that had been plaguing Nadal, as well as an injury he suffered during the match. Nadal had been the defending champion “down under” in Melbourne.

Meanwhile, the embattled Novak Djokovic was permitted to compete in the Australian Open this year after not being allowed to compete last year and even being deported due to his refusal to get the COVID-19 vaccine. Many of the most popular Tweets surrounding Djokovic were praising his anti-vaccine stance and arguing that the tournament’s decision to allow him to compete is proof that his stance is correct. However, the tournament is also allowing players who test positive for COVID-19 to actively compete, so perhaps this is not the best example of good judgment.

Nadal’s name has garnered 281.82K mentions since qualifiers began Jan. 8, with an unsurprisingly major uptick in volume as matches began and the number-one seed was quickly eliminated. The most traffic around his name came from the United States as well as his native Spain. A fun fact discovered during demographic research: the word “nadal” in Polish translates to “still,” and so it is also a very popular word in Polish content, though not relevant to our tennis research.

Meanwhile, Djokovic’s name has 214.1K mentions in the same time period, and the volume around his name has fluctuated much more than Nadal’s as people continue to weigh in on his vaccine stance and whether or not the tournament was right for allowing him to play again this year. Yet 63% of all these mentions were positive, indicating that people are still supporting him for either his position or his play, which has admittedly been strong already.

In other news about controversial players, Nick Kyrgios withdrew from the tournament just a day before his first match due to an injury. Kyrgios is an Australian and, despite being something of an abrasive personality and divisive athlete, is always a hit in front of his home fans.

Kyrgios and Djokovic played an exhibition match on Jan. 13 prior to the start of the Australian Open, which drew tons of fans and indicates a repair in the relationship between the two players. Kyrgios himself weighed in on the success of the match and his own image in the news media:

Lastly, another star player withdrew just before the tournament, but for a positive reason rather than an injury: Naomi Osaka is pregnant! The 25-year-old star announced on Jan. 11 that she was expecting her first child and would understandably be missing the Australian Open and much of the 2023 season. She shared an image of the sonogram on her Twitter page along with a statement:

Osaka is well-known not only for her stellar play at a young age but also her outspoken emphasis on mental health and how pro athletes should be treated by fans and media members, as well as her in-tournament support of the Black Lives Matter movement. While she will certainly be missed from the lineup, fans seem to be celebrating her announcement regardless: more than 60% of the mentions of her name were positive.

Another young star is holding down the fort with Osaka out: American Coco Gauff stormed onto the scene a few years ago while still in her mid-teens to go on an improbable run. Now just 18, she’s starting the Australian Open strong as well with a much-publicized battle against 20-year-old Brit Emma Raducanu. This was a battle of next-generation stars and Gauff came out on top this time around.

The tournament will continue over the next few weeks as new champions are set to emerge on both the men and women’s sides of play.

Author: Kayleigh Jackson 

Posted in Tracking News via Social Media Analytics