As I was thinking about the fact that Roger Federer's Australian Open 2014 is over and processing his semifinal loss to Nadal, I was remembering back to two weeks ago. The draw had come out and Federer fans were reacting with dismay about the "draw from hell." In order to win the title he would have to go through, most likely, four top 10 players. It seemed impossible, especially given that we still weren't quite sure what to expect with his form, and to be honest were still a bit gun shy from the previous 12 months.
Now here we are two weeks later and, sure, we would have loved to see him find a way to get through Nadal for the first time in quite a while and get to an all-Swiss final with his compatriot and friend Stan Wawrinka, who reached his first grand slam final after an intense battle with Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinal. But look at what Roger did accomplish in the last two weeks! He played some absolutely brilliant and beautiful tennis in several of his matches, looking confident once again, being aggressive and coming forward, presumably helped by the influence of new part-time coach Stefan Edberg. He took out Jo Wilfred Tsonga in straight sets, who much of the time just looked rather confused as to what he could possibly do against someone playing so well, and he also got past Wimbledon winner Andy Murray. Though there was a little blip in the confidence and level of play to drop a set in that one, he still closed it out in four.
Of course, the complication came when he had to face his nemesis once again, the kryptonite that he just can't seem to figure out, Rafael Nadal. I thought he might have what it took to find a way to get it done this time, given his recent aggressive play and new found confidence. But Nadal knows the formula he needs to continue to beat him, along with raising his game to an incredible level every time he plays Roger. It definitely is discouraging while watching it, hoping he can turn the tide and then seeing hope slip away. In fact, once the second set was done and I knew it was virtually impossible, I didn't finish watching the match since it was the middle of the night for me But even though it always hurts to see that head-to-head continue to get even more lopsided, the depressing thoughts didn't last for long. Here's why.
As I noted above, two weeks ago it looked impossible. I didn't even know if he would get past the 4th round, and here he was in the semis with the possibility of getting to the final and winning the whole thing. Plus, as mentioned, he beat top 10 players and he made massive improvements in his level of play. Last year I would often watch in fear because so often the ball sailed crazily long, or was shanked, or some other such error that was so uncharacteristic. But in the last two weeks that has been so much improved. Instead his shots were often finding their mark, many times with sounds of awe from the spectators as the magician once again came up with something truly special. He seems to be adjusting well to his new larger racquet, and it will only improve as he continues to get used to it and find out all that it can do. And Roger himself said that he didn't expect to be playing his best until March or April.
While we can greedily wish that he had won the title in Brisbane and that he could have beaten Nadal to have a chance at another AO title, the fact of the matter is that he has started out 2014 very, very well. And it looks to only be improving from here. Though he will drop to #8 in the rankings, he has little points to defend until the end of the year and can thus play without a lot of pressure, just continuing to improve his level of confidence with the racquet and his own form with a (hopefully) healthy back. I think there is much to look forward to in the next months for the fans of Roger Federer.
For tennis fans we look forward with much anticipation to the grand slams. We plan our schedules around them, we deprive ourselves of sleep, and our lives become crazy for two weeks at a time - at least that's what happens to me. My TV is on at least 12 hours a day, and I am frantically trying to keep up with all the tweets on the computer. Oh, and you mean I still have to work, cook and grocery shop too, not to mention try to get enough sleep to function? But these are the things we do for tennis because we love it.
For me the Australian Open is my favorite slam - the Happy Slam as Roger calls it. For those not living in the southern hemisphere it comes during dreary January, always a letdown after the busy holidays and still a long ways off till spring and summer. What could be better than watching amazing tennis in brilliant sunshine and hot temperatures?
Ok, let's get to what's really important - Roger Federer! He has now successfully completed two rounds with straight set wins in each (giving him a record 70 wins at the AO). In his first match against Duckworth he played reasonably well but still with a few bugs to work out, I thought. But in his 2nd round match against Blaz Kavcic, wow did he give his fans a treat!. These are the matches that those who love him, those who sacrifice sleep and watch him in the middle of the night, totally live for. The first two sets were vintage Federer at his absolute best. The winners he was hitting out of nowhere were breathtaking. Several times Kavic watched the ball go by with disbelief. How can a mere mortal come up with those shots?
Those who went through the difficult 2013 season with him know that he would sometimes play a great match giving his fans hope and then turn around and play a puzzling and disappointing match in the next round. Given this fact I was very aware while watching the match that we have to completely appreciate these matches where he is playing in god mode. At the same time, though, it felt like this was a very positive and encouraging sign of what's to come this year, as he is now healthy, he has had a lot of time to practice, and he is adjusting to his new bigger racquet.
At this point it's one match at a time, but I plan to appreciate every moment that I get to watch Roger play his beautiful, graceful and jaw-dropping tennis.
You know it's a very hot day when Roger Federer is sweating that much. Still 104 degrees in the first evening match, they at least didn't have to deal with the intense sunshine that the daytime matches had to contend with. It was a fairly easy, though definitely not epic win for the world #2 against someone who has beaten him a couple times before. I'm sure he felt cautious about this one, knowing Davydenko had really stretched him in Oz a couple years ago, plus had recently been a finalist in Doha a couple weeks ago. However, Davy certainly wasn't up to form, making many, many unforced errors and really making it pretty easy for Roger.
Of course, this sets up what has been getting a lot of attention in the media - Fed vs. Tomic at the AO. Tomic is taking full advantage of the situation and saying things that frankly I hope get him into some trouble. Yes he has turned his game around from the depths it had fallen to the second half of last year, and yes he beat Novak Djokovic in an exhibition match, meaning he obviously is playing some good tennis, but it seems he may be setting himself up to be made a bit of a fool of if he isn't able to live up to his own expectations, after making comments implying Federer may not even make it to the 3rd round - even though it hasn't happened in over eight years. It all remains to be seen how this match will go, but I hope that Roger teaches his young opponent that he is still the master.
I am finding that I had already forgotten, in the 4-5 months since the last major, how much of the action we don't get to see,. especially in the first couple rounds. There is just so much tennis going on, and I feel like I have seen just a tiny fraction of it, in spite of watching hours and hours a day. But one thing that does seem evident is that the top players for both the men and women are in tip top form, with some of the women hardly losing any games in their first two rounds. Things will start heating up more now for some of them and we have some good matches to look forward to, like Maria Sharaova vs Venus in third round action.
And
I have to make mention of the sad situation that happened for Sam
Stosur the other night. She has always struggled to play in her home
country and once again her nerves got the best of her. It was heart
wrenching to watch. After dropping the first set and looking like the
same old - same old, she managed to get things together, won the second set and was up 5-2 in the third. Then
the demons attacked again. She got broken serving for it the first
time. Oh well, she has another insurance break, she can do it the next
time. Not so. Errors, tentative play, and aggression from her opponent
caused her to lose her serve again. Then discouragement took over and
her opponent took advantage. Soon the match was over with her losing
the last five games of the match. I have major sympathy for her. All
the advice in the world doesn't seem to help. I really hope for her
sake she can find a new way to wrestle through this incredibly
frustrating malady.
For those who are still alive in the tournament, though, on to the third round. And many of us are needing to adopt the hash tag the AO twitter page is using - sleepisfortheweak!
Anticipation is high with predictions abounding as we inch ever closer to the first major of the year. The predictions, however, are almost all the same - Djokovic and Serena holding the trophies in two weeks time. While I believe this is very likely myself, what's the fun of the build-up to the final if we already know the result?
With the draw being so heavily favored to Djokovic, having pretty much of a cake-walk most of the time, and being the lucky one to get Ferrer in his half (although Ferrer has already won two titles this year, just winning his second this weekend, to beat Djokovic in the semi would be a bit of a miracle), he pretty much has a shoe-in to the final. Federer by far has the hardest draw, with one of the biggest concerns, in my mind, being his second round most probably against Davydenko. He really struggled against him here a couple years ago, and anyone who saw Davydenko play against Ferrer knows that he still has the capability to play amazing tennis. Then, of course, there is Bernard Tomic, the tanker and troublemaker from last season who seems to have gotten his life together with a new focus on tennis. He just won his first ATP title in Sydney and could face Fed in the third round. Aussie support will be strongly in Tomic's favor, but Roger is used to those moments. Roger could also see Raonic in the fourth round, who he has lost a set to every time they have played. However, I think in a best of five format that he will come through. My hope is that he won't come out looking rusty from lack of match play but will be mentally prepared for the onslaught and that these challenging matches will toughen him up for later in the tournament. I definitely think he has a chance to win it this year.
As for the women, Serena most certainly is the very heavy favorite, but there are definitely others who have a shot - Azarenka, Sharapova, and I am even going to throw in Radwanska, who is on a roll, not having lost a set yet this year in two tournaments, and actually posting a double bagel in the final in Sydney, something that hasn't been done in a final since 2006. I really feel for Caroline Wozniacki, who is drawn to face Sabine Lisicki in her first round match, a very challenging hard hitting player. I really hope Caro can figure out a way to get through this one or I'm afraid to see what will happen with her year.
And on the fun side of things, the Australian Open Kids Day saw some of the top players having a good time on the court, along with some characters like Sponge Bob. I had to watch it with no sound but it was enjoyable to see them relaxed before the serious stuff starts. The part I have most enjoyed, though, is seeing a few pictures of the Federer twins. Here are a few to show how cute and grown up they are getting:
The next post I write will be about the real action at the Aussie Open. Let the tournament begin!
