Novak Djokovic, Emma Raducanu, Ashleigh Barty and Naomi Osaka feature in best tennis moments of 2021

What were the standout moments from the 2021 season?

It was a year filled with great matches, drama and incidents, from the chaotic quarantine situation in Australia to the French Open curfew/non-curfew, and Novak Djokovic’s historic Calendar Slam bid.

With the 2022 season fast approaching, we look back at some of the most memorable occasions from the last 12 months...

Whenever the Olympics roll around there are always the same questions around tennis: how much do the medals mean to players?

For some players the Olympics will never be as important as the four majors; for others there isn’t anything better than playing for your country.

The strict Covid-19 protocols in Tokyo this summer, plus the tight schedule, meant that the tennis event was never going to attract all of the top players in the world, but those who were there showed how much it meant to them.

It meant so much to Djokovic to represent Serbia that he opted to play singles and mixed doubles, a decision that possibly backfired as he lost in the semi-finals of the singles and then pulled out of the doubles with injury. He was clearly gutted not to win any medal, but the emotions were at the other end of the scale for Alexander Zverev, who was in tears after stunning Djokovic, and Belinda Bencic, who said she would probably never top winning gold for Switzerland. Pablo Carreno Busta also looked overjoyed to beat Djokovic and win a bronze medal for Spain.

The Olympics might not be top of the priority list of everyone, but they provide some special moments for those who do attend.

How different things might have been for Ashleigh Barty this year.

Having decided to leave Australia for the entire season, Barty’s first stop was the Miami Open, her first overseas tournament for over a year. The journey from Brisbane took nearly 50 hours and Barty arrived facing questions about whether she deserved to be No 1, having not played for most of the last year while Naomi Osaka had won two Grand Slam titles.

Barty admitted recently that she was “rattled” by the questions over her position and was determined to prove a point in Miami. But her tournament was very nearly ended in the first round as she was down a match point against world No 149 Kristina Kucova. Barty saved the match point by putting away a weak serve for a winner, and then clawed her way back from 0-40 in the next game to win the match.

Barty would go on to win the Miami Open, which paved the way for a strong clay season and then a second Grand Slam title at Wimbledon. She finished 2021 with five titles to her name and is the WTA player of the year, but had she not saved match point against Kucova the season might have turned out differently.

Naomi Osaka put her mental health first at the French Open when she announced that she would not be taking part in press conferences.

“I’m writing this to say I’m not going to do any press during Roland Garros,” said the four-time Grand Slam champion. “I’ve often felt that people have no regard for athletes’ mental health and this rings true whenever I see a press conference or partake in one. We’re often sat there and asked questions that we’ve been asked multiple times before or asked questions that bring doubt into our minds and I’m just not going to subject myself to people that doubt me.”

Osaka’s statement was a big moment for her and a big moment for tennis.

While she was largely backed by fellow sports stars – “girl, do you. Your life is yours to live” was Venus Williams’ reaction – there were others who said it was part of the job and Osaka should be required to attend press conferences. The Grand Slam tournaments felt that way as they released a joint statement threatening Osaka with disqualification and a ban from future events if she did not reverse her decision.

It didn’t come to that as Osaka decided to withdraw from the tournament before her second-round match. She has hardly played since and it will be fascinating to see how she looks when she returns to the tour on a full-time basis.

Will her announcement in Paris be a pivotal point in her career and will it be a changing moment for how press conferences are conducted?

It didn’t have the perfect ending for Djokovic, but his Calendar Slam bid was the dominant storyline in men’s tennis for two-thirds of the season.

It was a feat that hadn’t been achieved by a male player since Rod Laver in 1969 and Djokovic seemed to be getting better and better as he went from major to major. In Melbourne he was pushed close several times and was nearly undone by an abdominal injury; in Paris he had to battle through two four-set matches and come from two sets down on two occasions, including in the final; then at Wimbledon he eased to the title for the loss of just two sets.

At the US Open – having seen his chances of a Golden Slam ended in Tokyo a month earlier - the pressure was evident throughout and in the end he fell at the final hurdle. The fact he made it so far should not be forgotten, and his tears at the end made it even more significant.

June 2021: WTA Tour debut.

September 2021: Grand Slam champion.

Will Emma Raducanu’s US Open win ever not seem such an almighty shock?

Raducanu’s run to the title in New York, 11 matches from the start of qualifying to trophy lift without dropping a set, has never been done before, and will probably not be done again for a long time.

It’s difficult to pinpoint when winning the tournament seemed like a possibility. Looking back now at the way Raducanu was playing and her composure in beating higher-ranked and far more experienced players, it should have been clear that she had a strong chance from the way she rolled through the first week. But even then few could have predicted that she would handle tests against 11th seed Belinda Bencic and 17th seed Maria Sakkari with such ease to reach the final.

The way she raised her game in the latter stages of the tournament – and held her nerve when the world was watching in the final - was so impressive and suggests there is plenty more in store for the British No 1.

It was one of the more bizarre moments of the year to have fans in the stands watching Djokovic’s French Open quarter-final against Matteo Berretini, and then 20 minutes after 11pm they were all gone due to the a nationwide curfew.

The decision to kick out those in attendance did not go down well and it seemed inevitable that the same would occur two days later when Djokovic faced Rafael Nadal in the semi-finals given the match started in the evening.

But this time the supporters were left celebrating rather than booing as it was announced they could stay beyond the curfew to watch the end of the match.

“In agreement with the public authorities, the match will be able to go to an end with the spectators, it is a tolerance granted given the completely exceptional nature of the circumstances,” said the announcer on Court Philippe-Chatrier.

It was certainly a match deserving of a full stadium as Djokovic came through in four sets to beat the defending champion and reach the final.

Rarely, if ever, can there have been as much anticipation for an ATP 250 match as there was when Roger Federer made his long-awaited return to the tour in Doha in February.

All eyes were on Federer to see how he performed, whether he moved freely, if his game was still the same, if this really might be the start of a comeback that led to a Grand Slam win at Wimbledon. It was Federer’s first match in 405 days, since the 2020 Australian Open, and it showed as he was unsure about the shot-clock time and having to get his own towel, both reasonably new additions to the tour.

His performance was encouraging as he battled through to beat Dan Evans in three sets. Federer described himself as “incredibly happy” with the match, but couldn’t pull off another win in his next outing as he lost to Nikoloz Basilashvili.

Where to start with the 2021 Australian Open?

A three-week delay, hard quarantine rules, players stuck in hotels for 21 days, mice invading rooms, rooms transformed into training centres, complaints from the locals, complaints over the food, Nick Kyrgios calling Novak Djokovic a “tool”, hastily arranged warm-up events, a five-day lockdown during the event.

It was one of the most unique tennis tournaments in history. Let’s hope it’s a smoother ride in January.

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