The 2022 Australian Open was a Grand Slam tennis tournament that took place at Melbourne Park, Australia from 17 to 30 January 2022. It was the 110th edition of the Australian Open, the 54th in the Open Era, and the first Grand Slam of the year. The tournament consisted of events for professional players in singles, doubles and mixed doubles. Junior and wheelchair players competed in singles and doubles tournaments. As in previous years, the tournament's main sponsor was Kia.
The men's singles title was won by Rafael Nadal, and was Nadal's 21st major title, and his second Australian Open. He defeated second seed Daniil Medvedev in the final, winning in five sets after being two sets down. In winning the title, Nadal broke the record for all-time men's major singles title - it was previously tied at 20 between himself, Novak Djokovic, and Roger Federer. The women's singles title was won by Ashleigh Barty, who won her first Australian Open title and third major title. She defeated 27th seed Danielle Collins in straight sets. Barty was the first Australian to win the title since Chris O'Neil won the title in 1978. The final would also prove to be Barty's last professional match, with Barty announcing her retirement in March 2022.
The event was overshadowed by Djokovic's battle with Australian immigration after disclosing he was not vaccinated against COVID-19. In the end, he was unable to participate after his visa was cancelled twice by Australian Immigration Minister Alex Hawke.
Tournament
The 2022 Australian Open was the 110th edition of the tournament, held at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The tournament returned to its traditional January slot after the 2021 tournament was held in February after a precaution over concerns with the strict COVID-19 protocols.
The tournament was run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is part of the 2022 ATP Tour and the 2022 WTA Tour calendars under the Grand Slam category. The tournament consisted of both men's and women's singles and doubles draws as well as the mixed doubles events. There were singles and doubles events for both boys and girls (players under 18), which are part of the Grade A category of tournaments. The junior competitions returned after a year of absence. There are also singles, doubles and quad events for men's and women's wheelchair tennis players as part of the NEC tour under the Grand Slam category.
The tournament was played on hard courts and took place across a series of 25 courts, including the four main show courts of Rod Laver Arena, John Cain Arena, Margaret Court Arena and 1573 Arena. It was also the debut of Kia Arena, which made for five main tennis arenas.
Singles players Men's singles Champion Runner-up Rafael Nadal Daniil Medvedev Semifinals out Matteo Berrettini Stefanos Tsitsipas Quarterfinals out Gaël Monfils Denis Shapovalov Jannik Sinner Félix Auger-Aliassime 4th round out Miomir Kecmanović Pablo Carreño Busta Alexander Zverev Adrian Mannarino Alex de Minaur Taylor Fritz Marin Čilić Maxime Cressy 3rd round out Lorenzo Sonego Cristian Garín Sebastian Korda Carlos Alcaraz Radu Albot (Q) Reilly Opelka Aslan Karatsev Karen Khachanov Pablo Andújar Taro Daniel (Q) Roberto Bautista Agut Benoît Paire Andrey Rublev Dan Evans Christopher O'Connell (WC) Botic van de Zandschulp 2nd round out Tommy Paul Oscar Otte Alexander Bublik Pedro Martínez Corentin Moutet Tallon Griekspoor Dušan Lajović Stefan Kozlov (WC) John Millman Aleksandar Vukic (WC) Dominik Koepfer Kwon Soon-woo Hubert Hurkacz Mackenzie McDonald Benjamin Bonzi Yannick Hanfmann (Q) Alex Molčan Kamil Majchrzak Andy Murray (WC) Steve Johnson Philipp Kohlschreiber Frances Tiafoe Grigor Dimitrov Sebastián Báez Ričardas Berankis Norbert Gombos (Q) Arthur Rinderknech Alejandro Davidovich Fokina Diego Schwartzman Tomáš Macháč (Q) Richard Gasquet Nick Kyrgios 1st round out Salvatore Caruso (LL) Mikhail Kukushkin (Q) Tseng Chun-hsin (WC) Sam Querrey Federico Coria Ernesto Escobedo (LL) Federico Delbonis Facundo Bagnis Cameron Norrie Lucas Pouille (WC) Fabio Fognini Tomás Martín Etcheverry (Q) Alejandro Tabilo (Q) Márton Fucsovics Jiří Veselý Brandon Nakashima Daniel Altmaier Feliciano López Yoshihito Nishioka Lloyd Harris Kevin Anderson Carlos Taberner Holger Rune Laslo Đere Egor Gerasimov James Duckworth Nikola Milojević (Q) Jaume Munar Denis Kudla Peter Gojowczyk Thanasi Kokkinakis (WC) Marcos Giron Roman Safiullin (LL) Damir Džumhur (LL) Andreas Seppi Lorenzo Musetti Nikoloz Basilashvili Tomás Barrios Vera (Q) Jordan Thompson João Sousa (LL) Stefano Travaglia Marco Cecchinato Marco Trungelliti (Q) Maximilian Marterer (Q) Jiří Lehečka (Q) Thiago Monteiro Albert Ramos Viñolas Mikael Ymer Gianluca Mager Roberto Carballés Baena Timofey Skatov (Q) Emilio Gómez (Q) David Goffin Alexei Popyrin Alex Bolt (WC) Emil Ruusuvuori Filip Krajinović Hugo Gaston Juan Manuel Cerúndolo John Isner Ugo Humbert Jan-Lennard Struff Liam Broady (Q) Henri Laaksonen
Women's singles Champion Runner-up Ashleigh Barty Danielle Collins Semifinals out Madison Keys Iga Świątek Quarterfinals out Jessica Pegula Barbora Krejčíková Alizé Cornet Kaia Kanepi 4th round out Amanda Anisimova Maria Sakkari Victoria Azarenka Paula Badosa Elise Mertens Simona Halep Sorana Cîrstea Aryna Sabalenka 3rd round out Camila Giorgi Naomi Osaka Nuria Párrizas Díaz Veronika Kudermetova Jeļena Ostapenko Elina Svitolina Wang Qiang Marta Kostyuk Clara Tauson Zhang Shuai Danka Kovinić Tamara Zidanšek Daria Kasatkina Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova Maddison Inglis (WC) Markéta Vondroušová 2nd round out Lucia Bronzetti (Q) Tereza Martincová Belinda Bencic Madison Brengle Maryna Zanevska Bernarda Pera Elena-Gabriela Ruse Zheng Qinwen (Q) Wang Xiyu (WC) Alison Riske Jil Teichmann Harmony Tan Jaqueline Cristian Alison Van Uytvanck Sara Sorribes Tormo Martina Trevisan (Q) Anett Kontaveit Ana Konjuh Irina-Camelia Begu Elena Rybakina Beatriz Haddad Maia Emma Raducanu Heather Watson Garbiñe Muguruza Rebecca Peterson Magda Linette Kristína Kučová Samantha Stosur (WC) Marie Bouzková Hailey Baptiste (Q) Liudmila Samsonova Wang Xinyu 1st round out Lesia Tsurenko (Q) Varvara Gracheva Lauren Davis Anastasia Potapova Kristina Mladenovic Arianne Hartono (Q) Dayana Yastremska Camila Osorio Irina Bara (LL) Kaja Juvan Ekaterina Alexandrova Anhelina Kalinina Claire Liu Jasmine Paolini Aliaksandra Sasnovich Tatjana Maria (PR) Andrea Petkovic Viktória Kužmová (Q) Donna Vekić Anna Karolína Schmiedlová Panna Udvardy Petra Martić Yulia Putintseva Fiona Ferro Sofia Kenin Greet Minnen Cristina Bucșa (Q) Coco Gauff Kirsten Flipkens (PR) Diane Parry (WC) Nao Hibino (LL) Ajla Tomljanović Kateřina Siniaková Astra Sharma Shelby Rogers Caroline Dolehide (Q) Vera Zvonareva Océane Dodin Viktorija Golubic Zarina Diyas Magdalena Fręch Katie Volynets (Q) Jang Su-jeong (Q) Sloane Stephens Arantxa Rus Mayar Sherif Viktoriya Tomova (Q) Clara Burel Harriet Dart (Q) Daria Saville (WC) Anastasija Sevastova Stefanie Vögele (Q) Petra Kvitová Misaki Doi Robin Anderson (WC) Anna Bondár Angelique Kerber Rebecca Marino (Q) Caroline Garcia Leylah Fernandez Priscilla Hon (WC) Emina Bektas (Q) Ann Li Storm Sanders (WC)
Events
Men's singles
Rafael Nadal def. Daniil Medvedev, 2–6, 6–7(5–7), 6–4, 6–4, 7–5
Women's singles
Ashleigh Barty def. Danielle Collins, 6–3, 7–6(7–2)
Men's doubles
Thanasi Kokkinakis / Nick Kyrgios def. Matthew Ebden / Max Purcell, 7–5, 6–4
Women's doubles
Barbora Krejčíková / Kateřina Siniaková def. Anna Danilina / Beatriz Haddad Maia, 6–7(3–7), 6–4, 6–4
Mixed doubles
Kristina Mladenovic / Ivan Dodig def. Jaimee Fourlis / Jason Kubler, 6–3, 6–4
Wheelchair men's singles
Shingo Kunieda def. Alfie Hewett, 7–5, 3–6, 6–2
Wheelchair women's singles
Diede de Groot def. Aniek van Koot, 6–1, 6–1
Wheelchair quad singles
Sam Schröder def. Dylan Alcott, 7–5, 6–0
Wheelchair men's doubles
Alfie Hewett / Gordon Reid def. Gustavo Fernández / Shingo Kunieda, 6–2, 4–6, [10–7]
Wheelchair women's doubles
Diede de Groot / Aniek van Koot def. Yui Kamiji / Lucy Shuker, 7–5, 3–6, [10–2]
Wheelchair quad doubles
Andy Lapthorne / David Wagner def. Sam Schröder / Niels Vink, 2–6, 6–4, [10–7]
Boys' singles
Bruno Kuzuhara def. Jakub Menšík, 7–6(7–4), 6–7(6–8), 7–5
Girls' singles
Petra Marčinko def. Sofia Costoulas, 7–5, 6–1
Boys' doubles
Bruno Kuzuhara / Coleman Wong def. Alex Michelsen / Adolfo Daniel Vallejo, 6–3, 7–6(7–3)
Girls' doubles
Clervie Ngounoue / Diana Shnaider def. Kayla Cross / Victoria Mboko, 6–4, 6–3
Point distribution and prize money
Point distribution Below is a series of tables for each of the competitions showing the ranking points offered for each event.
Senior points EventWFSFQFRound of 16Round of 32Round of 64Round of 128QQ3Q2Q1Men's singles20001200720360180904510251680Men's doubles0 13007804302401307010403020210
Wheelchair points EventWFSF/3rdQF/4thSingles800500375100Doubles800500100Quad singles800500100800100
Junior points EventWFSFQFRound of 16Round of 32QQ3Boys' singles37527018012075302520Girls' singlesBoys' doubles2701801207545Girls' doubles
Prize money The Australian Open total prize money for 2022 increased by 3.5% to a tournament record A$74,000,000.Australian Open prize money 2022: How much money will the players earn?, Sporting News, 22 January 2022
EventWFSFQFRound of 16Round of 32Round of 64Q3Q2Q1SinglesA$2,875,000A$1,575,000A$895,000A$538,500A$328,000A$221,000A$154,000A$103,000A$53,500A$35,500A$25,250Doubles *A$675,000A$360,000A$205,000A$113,000A$65,250A$45,100A$30,050Mixed doubles *A$190,000A$100,000A$50,000A$24,000A$12,000A$6,250
Djokovic's vaccination and visa controversy On 4 January 2022, defending champion Novak Djokovic announced that he could compete in the Australian Open after he had been granted medical exemption from mandatory COVID-19 vaccination by Tennis Australia and the health department of the state of Victoria, after a blind review of his application. However, the Australian Minister for Home Affairs, Karen Andrews, stated that regardless of Tennis Australia and Victoria's decision, Australia's border requirements would be still enforced by the federal government, namely that unvaccinated individuals entering Australia "must provide acceptable proof that they cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons".
On 5 January, Djokovic was detained by the Australian Border Force upon arriving in Australia and being determined to not meet the entry requirements for unvaccinated travellers. His lawyers requested an injunction against deportation in order to appeal the visa refusal; this allowed Djokovic to remain confined in a detention hotel pending the outcome of the appeal. On 10 January, the Federal Circuit and Family Court ruled against the government on procedural grounds, ordered his release from detention and directed the federal government to pay his legal expenses. The reason for the ruling was that when Djokovic was in immigration holding before his visa was cancelled, Australian officials reneged on an agreement to give Djokovic sufficient time to contact his lawyers and tennis authorities before his official interview; this led the Australian government to concede they treated Djokovic unreasonably.
Djokovic's travel declaration on entry to Australia erroneously stated that he had not travelled anywhere else in the previous 14 days. There was additional controversy due to his meetings with a photographer and children after he claimed to have tested positive, and discrepancies discovered in his COVID test documents, which he had hoped to use to obtain an exemption.