Best player

Having listened to Serena’s coughing first-hand all week, it’s incredible how she fought through each match, raising her level with each round, to win a 19th grand slam title.

Her draw was a tough one too. Elina Svitolina, Garbine Muguruza, Dominika Cibulkova, Maria Sharapova… Great stuff from the world No1 to survive both the young guns and the veterans and she was a worthy champion.

Best match
Novak Djokovic v Andy Murray

The ending was not pretty but the first two sets of the men’s singles final, which both went to tiebreaks, were a pure animalistic war. They both knew it would be a physical battle and it was Djokovic who survived it. He is now the most successful player in the Open Era at the Australian Open.

Best breakthrough
Madison Keys

There are so many reasons to get excited over the rise of Keys. She hits a massive ball (her average groundstroke speed is faster than many players on the men’s tour), she is extremely likeable, and isn’t fazed bythe big occasion.

The 19-year-old American made her first grand slam semi-final, taking out Venus Williams en route and played a solid first set against Serena Williams, while playing injured. Keep an eye out for her.

Best veteran
Venus Williams

It is 2015. Venus is 34 and is the secondhighest ranked American at No11 in the world. She beat sixth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska to make her first major quarter-final in over four years. She played three great back-to-back three-setters. Timeless talent!

Biggest upset
Tomas Berdych

While a No7 seed beating a No3 seed doesn’t look like much, Berdych ended a 17-match losing streak to Rafael Nadal and no one expected him to defeat the Spaniard in the quarter-finals – let alone in straight sets, including a bagel.

Best sense of humour
Kim Sears

After getting caught swearing on camera during the Murray-Berdych match, the Scot’s fiancée wore a sweatshirt for the final with the following
printed on it: “Parental Advisory. Explicit Content”. Fantastic.

Best point
Leander Paes

During his semi-final alongside Martina Hingis in mixed doubles against Pablo Cuevas and Hsieh Su-Wei, the Indian doubles star pulled off a magical behind the back volley at the net and finished off the point with a volley winner.

Hingis’ backhand responding to a huge Cuevas overhead just early in the point was also sensational.

Biggest surprise
Fabio Fognini

Who would have thought that in the first month of 2015, the Italian would become a grand slam champion? Granted, the trophy came in doubles, alongside Simone Bolelli, but still, this was beyond unexpected.

Their only two previous doubles titles had come on clay. For someone who is more focused on singles, it’s surprising Fognini now has the same number of titles in singles and in doubles – three.

Feel-good story
Bethanie Mattek-Sands

Returning from hip surgery, the American won the women’s doubles title with Lucie Safarova without them even having a single practice session together prior to teaming up. It marked the first time a new pairing has won a grand slam since Nathalie Dechy of France and Russia’s Dinara Safina at the 2007 US Open.

Best speech
Andy Murray

Murray paying tribute to Amelie Mauresmo after beating Berdych won him many hearts. “Women can be good coaches too, I think we showed that this tournament,” he said, also referring to Lindsay Davenport, Keys’ coach. A great moment to make a point.

Biggest question mark
Scheduling

It’s incomprehensible why organisers wouldn’t schedule Nick Kyrgios or Bernard Tomic on Rod Laver Arena until the former faced Murray in the quarter-finals. It also made no sense to put Victoria Azarenka and Caroline Wozniacki’s second round on Margaret Court – the second stadium. The scheduling was a bit farcical.