The 2025 Australian Open is fast approaching, as the best on the ATP Tour look to take home the trophy in Melbourne.
The stars of the ATP Tour will be hoping to kickstart their seasons in the best possible way by winning the 2025 Australian Open.
Johan Kriek: The man who won two consecutive Australian Open titles under different nationalities
In 1981, Africa’s wait for a Grand Slam champion in the Open Era finally came to an end as South Africa’s Johan Kriek lifted the Australian Open title aloft.
Seeded fourth at the tournament he advanced to the third round without dropping a set before coming up against his toughest test yet against his first-seeded opponent.
Kriek took the first two sets against New Zealand’s Christopher Lewis before the Kiwi battled back to take things to a decider.
His opponent in the final was American Steve Denton, whom he defeated in four sets to claim his and Africa’s first Grand Slam title.
The men’s final actually took place on January 3, 1982, making what happened next all the more extraordinary.
Whilst Kriek was born in Pongola, South Africa, he lived in America for a significant period of time during the 1970s and 80s and became a naturalized American citizen in August 1982.
This meant that when he turned up to defend his title in November’s Australian Open, he was doing so under a different nationality to the one he had won the title with the year prior.