A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
A shocker this morning at the Australian Open.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED SCOREKEEPER: Zverev.
UNIDENTIFIED COMMENTATOR #1: Full sets.
UNIDENTIFIED COMMENTATOR #2: Flops the volley.
UNIDENTIFIED COMMENTATOR #3: [inaudible] .
UNIDENTIFIED COMMENTATOR #1: Managing mentally and physically. This is a handshake.
UNIDENTIFIED COMMENTATOR #2: It's over.
UNIDENTIFIED COMMENTATOR #1: It's a handshake.
UNIDENTIFIED COMMENTATOR #1: Yeah.
UNIDENTIFIED COMMENTATOR #1: Zverev has moved through to the Australian Open final.
MARTÍNEZ: You can hear the shock on the ESPN broadcast. Novak Djokovic, who's won more grand slam men's titles than anyone else, quit his semifinal match after losing the first set. Some members of the crowd booed him as he walked off the court, though the majority did cheer him. Jon Wertheim, with Sports Illustrated, joins us now. So, Jon, I mean, what happened with Djokovic?
JON WERTHEIM: Djokovic, who was trying to win his 25th major title - which would be a record at age 37 - looked - there were some murmurs. You know, 37 years old, and time does its march. There were some murmurs he wasn't healthy. He came to this semifinal match and played a very tight first set, lost it, and then walked off the court, retired. And was a strange sight of Novak Djokovic, this towering champion, serenaded by boos. The crowd was not happy. But he has a muscle tear. It's an injury he's had before. Again, he's almost 38 years old. Things happen, and Novak Djokovic will not be winning his 25th major, at least not at this tournament.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah, the closer you get to 40, Jon, things just happen, right?
WERTHEIM: Things just happen.
MARTÍNEZ: OK, so now what's going to happen with the men's final?
WERTHEIM: I guess as much as there's some good news, we have No. 1 versus No. 2, the player who Djokovic defeated - who was playing Djokovic when he retired - Alexander Zverev. No. 2, seeking his first major title, will be playing the defending champion, Jannik Sinner, who beat a young American player, Ben Shelton, today.
MARTÍNEZ: OK, so let's go to the women's singles. So yesterday, American, a 19 seed - Madison Keys. She managed to clutch victory from Iga Swiatek. And this weekend, she takes on the top seed, Aryna Sabalenka, who's hoping to get her third Australian Open trophy. Jon, so what do you expect from this match? I mean, it looks like, you know, it looks like a Goliath versus David, or David v. Goliath, whichever order you want to put them in.
WERTHEIM: They hit with comparable power and are comparable physically.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah.
WERTHEIM: But no, I think you're right. Madison Keys will be the underdog. You know, these are tough times globally for incumbents. But the two defending champions, Sinner and Sabalenka, both looked very good. Sabalenka trying to win this for the third straight time. And Madison Keys is this sort of very well-liked veteran American from the Quad Cities, and she is seeking her first major title. So it would be a real sort of late-career breakthrough if she were to pull this match off.
MARTÍNEZ: So, Jon, last week, we aired a piece about Coco Gauff's new technique that she used at the Australian Open. She was beat in the quarter-finals by a lower-ranked opponent. What did you see? I mean, is it something that you think she's going to try and stick with?
WERTHEIM: She looked so good for the initial parts of this tournament, and then sort of some of the hitches and the technical glitches and came back. She had 28 unforced errors...
MARTÍNEZ: Oh, wow.
WERTHEIM: ...Which is an unusually high number, just on her forehand. I think, you know, she's such a good player, she will be able to overcome this long term, but I think there are going to be days like this when some of the errors creep back in her game, even with this new technique.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah, that's going to be something I'm going to be following because it is difficult - right? - to all of a sudden change the way you were for a long time and try something new, especially on stages like the Australian Open.
WERTHEIM: There's a larger metaphor there, but no, you're right. I mean, you have these ingrained. I mean, this is all muscle memory. Also...
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah.
WERTHEIM: ...Keep in mind tennis does not have much of an off-season, so it's not as though...
MARTÍNEZ: Right.
WERTHEIM: ...She can spend 90 days, you know, working.
MARTÍNEZ: That's Jon Wertheim with Sports Illustrated. Jon, thanks a lot.
WERTHEIM: As always, thank you.
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