Some Australian Open players claim they ignore the bracket
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Awaiting a new topic during a pre-Australian Open Conference Caroline Garcia — someone skilled and smart enough to reach the U.S. Open semifinals and win the season-ending WTA Finals in 2022 — was worried the next query could involve naming possible opponents.
“I don’t want to know the draw!” Garcia blurted out, raising her left hand as if to literally deflect the subject. “I don’t know my draw!”
She’s not the only athlete to make this claim. Melbourne Park during the year’s first Grand Slam tournament, where the second round begins Wednesday. This is actually a very common refrain among tennis players who move from one stop to the next on the tour. 1-ranked Iga Swiatek.
They insist it is important to remain blissfully unaware of any potential path to a title and offer various reasons, ranging from superstition to an insistence on — yes, you probably guessed it — that old cliche about “playing one match at a time.”
“I didn’t really see the draw,” three-time major champion Swiatek said last weekend, before play began. “I only know who I’m playing (in the) first round.”
They haven’t glanced at the bracket, they say.
They won’t, they say.
And they absolutely, positively, do not want anyone else — a coach, an agent, a physical therapist, a hitting partner, a friend or (heaven forbid!) a journalist — sneaking a peek and revealing what the draw sheet might hold in store.
It’s hard to ignore the fact that there is so much attention being paid to the tournament.
No. Aryna Sabalenka, the 5-seed, pointed out that social media makes it difficult to keep your blinders on. The idea of a player on his way to the championship is a constant topic.
“Someone is going to post a prediction (of) who I’m going to play, so, anyway, I would see that,” said Sabalenka, who takes on Shelby Rogers of the U.S. on Thursday. “I’m not opening the draw and trying to see, ‘OK, I’m going to face that, that, that.’ No, no, no, I’m not doing that. I’m just trying to take it one step at a time.”
There are 128 entrants in the women’s singles event at each of the four Grand Slam tournaments and another 128 in the men’s singles. To win the trophy, you must make it past seven rounds.
So it seems as if it might be the sensible — even advisable — approach to be fully aware of what, of who, could lie ahead.
This is why there are some, such Frances Tiafoe, the 24-year-old American seeded 16th, thinks it’s nonsense for players to say they are not aware of what’s out there.
“Everyone who says they don’t (know), they’re lying, man,” said Tiafoe, a semifinalist at last year’s U.S. Open. “You know who’s around. You can see the potential matchups. But you can’t make those potential matchups unless you take care of the food that’s in front of you.”
No. No. 6 seed Felix-Auger Aliassime is, for one, recognized as such.
“I don’t refuse to look; I look a little bit further down the draw,” Auger-Aliassime said. “But it still doesn’t change that I’m totally focused and locked in on the first match I have to play. I’ve had great moments in Grand Slams, but also some very tough moments — losing earlier, like first or second round — so I’m always aware that you never can take anything for granted.”
Swiatek said she used to check the draw but no longer.
Similar for Alexei Popyrin of Australia, who ranks 113th on the ATP rankings.
“I used to look ahead. I used to be able to see every step of the draw as it happened. I’ve kind of stopped that. I’m trying to take it one match at a time. Just focus on the match ahead, not look forward to the second or third round or fourth round,” Popyrin said. “It’s not the best to look ahead when you haven’t even done the first step. For me, that was a learning process.”
Popyrin could face No. If both of their matches were successful, Taylor Fritz, 8th seed from the U.S., will play in the second round.
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Follow Howard Fendrich on Twitter at https://twitter.com/HowardFendrich
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