Alcaraz, Rune, Garcia, Serena-Federer: Our 2022 overview and our predictions for 2023 – Match Points #41
After an amazing year in 2022, the Match Points panel look back to pick out their stars of the season and their ones to watch next year
The 2022 season ended on November 27 with Canada’s Davis Cup victory. It was an emotional year with the retirement of two tennis legends, Roger Federer and Serena Williams, the Grand Slam domination of Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic on the men’s side and the confirmation that the WTA has found a new boss in the person of Iga Swiatek.
The tennis world was also struck by the phenomenon of 19-year-old Carlos Alcaraz, who became the youngest men’s world No 1 in tennis history in September after winning the US Open. In the latest episode of Match Points, our panel of experts look back at what has been an exceptional year for tennis, and give their predictions for 2023.
Match Points highlights:
- 2’15: Marion Bartoli explains that the biggest surprise of the 2022 season was Casper Ruud, who played the French Open final in June and the US Open final in September. Thanks to him, “more and more Norwegians are playing tennis.”
- 6’40 : On the women’s side, Simon Cambers believes that Caroline Garcia has been a nice surprise in 2022, fulfilling the long-held expectations of her.
- 7’56: For our experts, the biggest disappointment of the year is Naomi Osaka, who didn’t get a great result in 2022 and may be feeling lost amidst her collaborations. Marion Bartoli adds that her poor performances are also linked to her mental health.
- 17′: For Carole Bouchard and Marion Bartoli, Holger Rune is the player to watch in 2023. The Dane has everything he needs to succeed and go even higher, as he has shown with an exceptional year-end performance.
- 24′ : In the women’s game, Caroline Garcia can also aim high in 2023 if she maintains her level of play, according to Marion Bartoli.
- 25’30 : Our experts are unanimous about the best match of the season. Alcaraz – Sinner at the US Open in 2022 was according to them a great moment of this year.
- 33′: Marion Bartoli explains that she “cried like a baby” when Roger Federer retired at the Laver Cup.
- 36′: For Carole Bouchard, Serena Williams’ retirement at the US Open was worthy of a Hollywood movie.