Melbourne Miscellany

Emptying the notebook for some final thoughts from the Australian Open.

The 2025 Australian Open ended with an unexpected news event after the final ball had been hit, and changing tacks to pursue that story—and to illuminate the woman at its center as a follow-up—felt like the right thing to do for Bounces at the end of the tournament.

Echoes of a Voice

But that detour meant I didn’t get to put a bow on the year’s first major in the way that I had been planning, and I have a few loose ends that I’d like to tie up here before the tour carousel spins too far onward.

Before emptying my notebook below, a couple Bounces housekeeping notes:

First and foremost, thanks to all of you who subscribed (and upgraded subscriptions) in January. The total number of subscribers increased by almost 50 percent, and the number of paid subscribers more than doubled. That’s hugely encouraging and gratifying, and definitely makes me think it’s worth sticking at this newfangled venture, hopefully traveling to more big tournaments to come this year.

If you haven’t yet subscribed (or upgraded) to Bounces and have thought about doing so, please do so!

Secondly, after doing a couple fun mailbag columns back in December, I want to open the Bounces mailbag up again for February. Whatever your queries are, directly related to tennis or not, happy to field them here. To send them in, email me at benrothenberg1+bounces@gmail.com , or use the button below to message me here. All paid subscribers will have their questions answered, and depending on volume, some of the rest as well.

And now, onto my 2025 Australian Open notebook. This is somewhat inspired by Jon Wertheim’s traditional post-major “parting shots” columns, though with deeper dives into fewer items than the 50 he hits quarterly.

Topics covered include the cloud hanging over Jannik Sinner’s win, Taylor Townsend, Novak Djokovic’s proof of injury, a poignant Hsieh Su-wei, the final fines list, a junior star, if I ever sleep, a farewell to a Czech mensch, and more.

How Happy is the Happy Slam?:

Let’s start with one reader question I got late in the tournament, from reader Alise Shaughnessy, which I think is a good way to get into my overall feelings about the tournament:

“Ben, I’m loving Bounces! My question to you is this: whatever happened to the “Happy Slam?” The 2025 AO has been anything but happy. The constant booing, the Tony Jones fiasco, the horrible on court interview after the Monfils/Shelton match all lead up to Alexander Zverev, of all people, having to plead with the crowd to NOT boo Novak Djokovic after retiring. I may be 10,000 miles away but I’m picking up a vibe of racism and bigotry. What’s going on?”

To read the response to this question and the rest of the 3,000+ words in this Melbourne Miscellany post, please become a paid Bounces subscriber. Thank you! -Ben