Setting Up Saturday: Melbourne must wait for these six pros; Gasquet's 33rd final; Kasatkina, Bencic both benefit from walkovers

MATCH POINT: Roberto Bautista Agut ousts home favorite Thanasi Kokkinakis in three sets

When it comes to scheduling, life is much more complicated for tennis players than other athletes. Start the year and—presto—two weeks into it there comes a Grand Slam event, located thousands of miles away from home for the majority, in potentially sweltering conditions. Amid such looming significance, competitors scramble to find their best form. How much competition is enough? No question, any kind of victory—several matches or even the entire tournament—can be a valuable confidence boost.

Yet to play a tournament final just before the start of a major can be tricky. One morning you’re zeroed in on a high-stakes match in one city. Then, either late that night or early the next morning, it’s off to Melbourne and the rapid adjustments to new accommodations, weather, practice and imminent Slam-level competition.

For the six players discussed below, Melbourne must wait a day. Come Saturday, an ATP final will be played in Auckland, New Zealand, just over 1,600 miles east of Melbourne across the Tasman Sea. That same day, Adelaide, located 450 miles west of Melbourne, is the site for WTA and ATP singles finals.

ATP Auckland: Richard Gasquet vs. Cam Norrie

This intriguing first-time matchup is a great example of tennis’ power as an individual sport, one where a single person possesses, reveals and builds his own set of talents—at various stages, in differing ways.

Consider first how the word “talent” and its implied assumption of elegance has long defined 36-year-old Richard Gasquet—he of the one-handed backhand that has captivated the world as far back as the 1990s. At age 9, Gasquet was featured on the cover of a French tennis magazine. The headline asked: “The champion France is waiting for?” So it’s gone that instead of the major titles the cover suggested were possibilities, Gasquet’s career has been marked by reasonably solid performances and those sublime moments when that lovely backhand lights up the court. This week in Auckland, imagine the fireworks that attended Gasquet’s 1-6, 6-1, 6-1 quarterfinal win over David Goffin. Currently, Gasquet is ranked 67th, 60 spots below his career-high, back in 2007. This is his 33rd career final (15-17), with his last title coming more than four years ago. Win or lose, it’s all familiar territory for the flashy prodigy who’s become an enduring veteran.

But there are other ways talent surfaces. Just ask world No. 12 Cam Norrie. Not a single one of his strokes would trigger rapture the way Gasquet’s backhand has. Precocious? More like the opposite, Norrie sharpening his game in the college ranks. But to see how Norrie has bootstrapped himself into elite levels of the game has been impressive, testimony to the power of persistence as a talent. Even more, Norrie’s work ethic propels a playing style that is keenly disruptive, his lefthanded game an array of flat, low drives and nimble forward movement. Notable results over the last two years include a title at Indian Wells a run to the Wimbledon semis. Repeatedly over his rise, Norrie has succeeded at making his opponents vaguely and increasingly uncomfortable. Surely, that too is a talent—just ask all those men Roger Federer carved to ribbons. At age 27, now playing his 12th singles final (4-7), Norrie differs from Gasquet in that he’s certain there are even better days ahead of him. And so it’s likely that victory in this ASB Classic final would mean even more for Norrie than Gasquet.

WTA Adelaide: Daria Kasatkina vs. Belinda Bencic

Rare indeed is it the case that both finalists earn semifinal walkover wins. Such happened Friday at the Adelaide International. First came world No. 11 Paula Badosa, withdrawing from her semi versus Daria Kasatkina with a right thigh injury. The eighth-ranked Kasatkina will now play her 12th WTA singles final (6-5).

Hours later, a left hip injury forced ninth-ranked Veronika Kudermetova out of the tournament, leaving world No. 13 Belinda Bencic to advance to her 16th career singles final (6-9). Disappointing as these two withdrawals were for attendees and viewers, one understands how cautious players choose to be just days before a major.

Born within two months of one another in 1997, Kasatkina and Bencic have a rivalry that goes back to the juniors. As pros, Kasatkina has won three of their five matches, including their most recent, a 6-2, 6-2 victory in the second round of the 2021 French Open.

The big picture storyline for each of these 25-year-olds: Generate sustained excellence at the majors. Having dropped from tenth in the world at the end of 2019 to 66th a year later, Kasatkina regained her magic last season. Can she go even further in this one?

The same question applies to Bencic. Her career has been marked by brilliant flurries—a dazzling run to the Toronto title in 2015, the US Open semis in 2019, Olympic gold in 2021, and leading Switzerland to victory last fall at the Billie Jean King Cup. But then there come rollercoaster moments. Ranked as high as fourth in 2020, by the end of the next season, Bencic was No. 23.

These are two of the most compelling stylists in tennis, each in different ways inspired by Hall of Famer Martina Hingis Kasatkina’s tactical array draws on Hingis’ range of power and touch, guile and misdirection. Bencic, coached in her formative years by Hingis’ mother, Melanie Molitor, shares the ability to hit the ball on the rise and take away time in a way that’s both subtle and cumulative. That mix of styles—similar roots yet different branches—could make for a compelling final.

ATP Adelaide: Roberto Bautista Agut vs. Soonwoo Kwon

Soonwoo Kwon, ranked 84th in the world, got into the main draw of this event as a lucky loser. His run has been highlighted by wins over second-seeded Pablo Carreno Busta and rising Australian lefthander, Jack Draper. Just a week earlier, also in Adelaide, Draper had beaten Kwon, 6-2, 6-1. But Friday, in a match that lasted nearly three hours, Kwon earned the victory in the return match, 7-6 (6), 6-7 (2), 6-3. The 25-year-old is playing an ATP final for the second time, having won his first at Nur-Sultan in 2021.

As taxing as his semi was, Kwon knows he’ll need to put in every bit as much labor if he’s to get past one of the sturdiest players of recent years, Roberto Bautista Agut. Armed with penetrating groundstrokes and the no-nonsense mindset that defines contemporary Spaniards, the 34-year-old has been a Top 30 mainstay since 2014, rising as high as ninth in the world back in 2019. Currently in a familiar No. 26 in the rankings, Bautista Agut went one step further than his number seeding when he beat an unseeded wild card, Thanasi Kokkinakis, in the semis, 7-6 (4), 3-6, 6-3. He’ll now play his 22nd career singles final (11-10).

The dynamic of this first-time matchup intrigues. Bautista Agut is surely the favorite. Yet while he and Kwon each won rugged semis, it was business as usual for Bautista Agut. On the other hand, there’s Kwon, playing with house money as a lucky loser, grinding his way through tough matches, including one versus someone who’d easily beaten him very recently. Might Kwon feel exceptionally confident, an Adelaide title his destiny? Or is he worn out?