Australian Open Midterm Grades: Coco Gauff and Novak Djokovic Shine, Other Top Seeds Struggle

The women’s bracket looks wide open as favorites continue to fall, while the 36-year-old star remains the player to beat on the men’s side.The 2024 Australian Open has been a cool one, so far. Cool, in the sense that heretofore little-known players have come to the fore, the clearest sign yet that the Roger Federer-Rafael Nadal-Novak Djokovic-Serena Williams era is over, and we are now in a world of anyone-beats-anyone parity. The remaining players may range in age from 16–36, but record-scratching and head-scratching results have been relentless. Cool in the sense that we have seen shots like this. Cool, too, in the meteorological sense.

This is an event where, in the past, the heat has been so fierce that players’ rubber shoes have stuck to the hard courts. This year? Lots of sweater weather.For all the upsets, the two winners of the previous major remain. Djokovic, gunning for his 11th(!) Australian Open title has not been at his best but hasn’t needed to be. Coco Gauff, having worked with serve TaskRabbit Andy Roddick in the offseason, might well go back-to-back. And 2023 champion Aryna Sabalenka has lost six games in six sets.

Through three rounds, at the turn, this year’s midterm grades:2023 U.S. Open winners: With so many top challengers gone, Gauff looks poised to become the first woman to win back-to-back majors in three years. And Djokovic is…Djokovic.

Jannik Sinner: The only male player not to have dropped a set, cruises into Week Two. No letdown for a guy who beat Djokovic twice in the fallAdrian Mannarino: The 35-year-old lefty, sponsor-less Frenchman is playing the best tennis of his career. Now in the top 20 (for the first time) he is playing like it, taking out Ben Shelton most recently.

Amanda Anisimova: Welcome back. Her return from a mental health break has been smashing and er her ball-striking skills remain formidable