The Kooyong Classic, which celebrated its 33rd year, took place last week from January 10-12 and featured some scintillating tennis.
An impressive 10 players who featured at Kooyong were triumphant in the opening round of the Australian Open.
The list of victors were headlined by Aussies Alex de Minaur, Rinky Hijikata, Kimberly Birrell and Alexei Popyrin, along with stars Andy Murray, Taylor Fritz, Frances Tiafoe, Grigor Dimitrov, Donna Vekic and Linda Fruhvirtova.
For Murray, Kooyong wins over de Minaur and Zhang Zhizhen proved the ideal preparation for his 15th Australian Open as the Brit stunned 13th seed and Netflix star Matteo Berrettini in five gruelling sets.
The five-time Australian Open finalist saved match point in the fifth set and paid tribute to his preparation.
"I’ve put a lot of work into the past few months with my team here to give me the opportunity to perform on stadiums like this and in matches like this against players like Matteo, and it paid off tonight,” Murray said after his victory in four hours and 49 minutes.
Along with Murray, Aussies Birrell and Hijikata have benefitted from their appearance at Kooyong - with the duo upsetting their more-fancied first round Australian Open opponents.
167th-ranked Birrell produced some inspired tennis to fight back from a set down to shock last year’s AO quarter-finalist and 31st seed Kaia Kanepi.
Birrell only received a wildcard into the main draw at Melbourne Park following the late withdrawal of former world number 1 Venus Williams, and the Aussie took full advantage.
“I cried like a baby, and it was such a nice moment,” Birrell said after learning of her wildcard entry.
In an ironic twist, Birrell will now face Fruhvirtova, who also played Kooyong – with the duo both falling to Vekic last week.
Meanwhile, 169th-ranked Hijikata displayed exceptional tenacity to overcome a two-sets-to-love deficit to defeat Yannick Hanfmann and send the Court 8 crowd at Melbourne Park into raptures.
“I was just trying to find any kind of hope I had in the match,” said Hijikata, who faces third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in the second round.
“And the crowd really started to get me going and I just tried to really ride that wave for as long as I could.”
Along with the Australian Open surprise packets so far, seeded players Fritz, Frances Tiafoe, Dimitrov and main local hope de Minaur are set for a deep run at the first grand slam of the year – with the Kooyong Classic certainly holding them in good stead for the battle ahead.
A reminder that you catch up on all the best action from the 2023 Kooyong Classic right .
