In a year full of record-breaking and career-making achievements, here’s the first part of a special 32 top-ranked emotional moments of 2017 (presented in chronological order).
1) Sydney: Gilles Muller wins first title of his career at age 33
In the second week of 2017, Muller finally won his maiden ATP title in Sydney. The veteran from Luxembourg was brought to tears, achieving this career milestone in front of his wife and two young sons.
2) Australian Open: Mirjana Lucic-Baroni advances to her first major semifinal in 18 years
Lucic was just 17-years-old when she advanced to the Wimbledon semifinals in 1999. Citing an abusive father as the main cause, Mirjana disappeared from the tennis world for nearly a decade. It’s no wonder she collapsed to the court while sobbing when she upset Karolina Pliskova in the Australian Open quarterfinals. It was hard to not tear up yourself when watching such scenes, as even on-court interviewer Rennae Stubbs struggled to keep it together as she spoke to Mirjana after the match.
3) Australian Open: Venus Williams advances to her first major final since 2009
This was one of the best visuals of 2017: Venus Williams screaming, twirling, and jumping up and down with excitement after defeating CoCo Vandeweghe in the Australian Open semifinals. Seeing the 36-year-old with such joy for the sport was an inspiration: especially as she enters her third decade of professional tennis, and after the medical issues she’s battled in recent years.
4) Australian Open: Rafael Nadal survives nearly five-hour semifinal against Grigor Dimitrov
It’s rare to see such a reaction from Nadal outside of a final, but Rafa exhaustedly collapsed to the court after one of the best matches of 2017.
5) Australian Open: Serena Williams wins the Australian Open while pregnant
Embed from Getty Images
Embed from Getty Images
Of course we did not know Serena was pregnant at the time, or that it would be Serena’s last match of 2017. But it was obvious her 23rd major meant a lot to her, as did sharing the moment with her sister Venus.
