Andy Roddick halted Novak Djokovic from becoming the first player to take home over $1 million USD in prize money from a single edition of the Australian Open. He prematurely ended the Serb’s title defence in 2009, opening the path for Rafael Nadal to win the title. Thus, the Spaniard became the first to win over a million dollars from one AO campaign.
Djokovic lifted the 2008 Australian Open, his maiden Grand Slam title. For his efforts, he received A$1.37 million, roughly equal to $960,000 USD. However, the cumulative prize purse was upped to A$22 million ($16 million USD) for the 2009 edition (via Rediff). A sizeable increase from 2008’s A$20.6 million meant the singles champions would receive A$1.62 million in 2009. This was worth approximately $1.16 million back then, the first time the Australian Open prize money breached the seven-figure mark for singles winners.
Defending his 2008 title, Djokovic was gunning to become the first player to bag a million-dollar payout from the Australian Open. Seeded third, he crossed paths with #7 seed Roddick in the quarter-finals. The current World No.1 was in great touch, not having dropped a set at that point in the tournament. However, he lost the first set of his match against Djokovic. But the 2003 US Open winner found his feet to win the next two sets.
Roddick matched Djokovic stroke for stroke, outperforming him in breakpoints. He was never broken while winning five breaks. Djokovic called for a lengthy medical time-out in the third set as he struggled under the intense Melbourne heat. He resorted to using ice packs and getting massages on the court to cool down and relieve cramps.
The Serb’s issues were evident as he feebly surrendered the third set before pulling out three games into the fourth. The scoreline read 6-7(3), 6-4, 6-2, 2-1 when the fixture officially concluded.
Andy Roddick faced Roger Federer in the semifinals after ending Djokovic’s defence and denied the 24-time Grand Slam champion the chance to be the first winner to earn over $1 million in prize money Down Under. However, the American went on lose the semi-final in straight sets to facilitate another ‘Fedal’ showdown in the final.
Novak Djokovic being eliminated gave way for iconic 2009 Australian Open final
With Novak Djokovic not being able to defend his title, Rafael Nadal won the final of the 2009 Australian Open against Roger Federer. This made him the first AO champion to pocket over $1 million as prize money from a single edition of the tournament. However, the Spaniard had to go through an epic final to get his hands on the treasure chest.
2009 Australian Open marked the first time Nadal reached the final of a hard court slam. Federer, meanwhile, was seeking to equal Pete Sampras’s leading record of 14 Grand Slam titles. After a see-saw opening set that Nadal won, the Swiss legend found his groove to secure the second comprehensively.
An intense third set went to the eventual champion, who had to grind it out hard throughout the set to win it in the tiebreaker. The match had already crossed the three-hour mark by that point. Nadal, however, floundered in the fourth as Federer levelled things back again.
The meek loss in the fourth set seemed to have jolted Rafael Nadal awake. He raced ahead to a 5-2 lead in the decider. Even as Federer tried his best and saved 2 match points, he could not prevent Nadal from winning his first hard court slam, and it was his sixth Grand Slam title overall. After 4 hours and 23 minutes, the Spaniard won 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-2 to bag the 2009 Australian Open title, which will complete its 15th anniversary soon. And as an icing on the cake, the 2-time champion Down Under will mostly be playing in the tournament, although under a Protected Ranking of 9th as the 102nd ranked player in the 128-player draw.
