A busy tennis weekend!

It was a busy tennis week this last week I realized as I was trying to find time to watch four different finals on Sunday.  As I digested my disappointment that I wouldn't be watching Roger Federer in either the semifinal or final of Rotterdam I had to remind myself that I am a tennis fan, not just a Fedfan, and that I could still enjoy watching some good tennis even though I wasn't watching my favorite.  So putting my disappointment aside I was able to appreciate the good matches that were still on the docket for the weekend.

In spite of this, though, I admit that none of the matches turned out the way I had hoped.  Though I for the most part like Juan Martin Del Potro and would usually want him to win when he's not playing Roger, I couldn't help but feel the pain for Julien Benneteau for his previous losses in finals and really wanted to see him break through this time.  Almost the whole match though it felt like he was just trying to keep up with the great play of Delpo and in the end there really was nothing he could do against someone playing this well.  JMDP deserved this win, after a poor showing in last year's final, and poor Benneteau once again had to face another disappointment.  Though not one of my favorites, and certainly a threat always now to Federer, I really hope he gets his breakthrough title at some point before he retires.  

In the women's final, though I'm not always one to cheer for Serena, in this case after the emotion shown after regaining #1 I was really hoping she would be holding the trophy at the end to supplement her great accomplishment.  She just didn't seem herself in this match, though, never seeming fully comfortable, and Victoria Azarenka wasn't about to be intimidated.  I'm sure it felt so good to her to prove that she had been the valid #1 by beating her replacement.  It will be interesting to see upcoming matches between the two.

I didn't see the full final between Nadal and Nalbandian, really only some of the second set, but my impression of what I saw was that Rafa still wasn't playing like his normal self, making quite a few errors, but when Nalbandian was in a great position with two breaks in the 2nd set he just folded and gave it away.  I think it will be a test for Nadal in his next tournament where Ferrer will also be playing, so we'll see what his form is by the end of February for his next tournament.  I'm sure he felt very happy to be holding another trophy, though, whether he played his best or not.

In the final match of the day I was really hoping to see Tommy Haas pull it off.  I have liked Tommy for a long time, and I think it's a real inspiration to see him playing great tennis at the age of 34 after a long injury timeout.  He really didn't even have a chance, however, with the way Milos Raonic was playing.  I don't know what it is about the conditions in San Jose, but he wasn't giving an inch on his service games, and the return winners that he was hitting on Tommy's service games were incredible.  I'm sure he wishes he could buy the tournament himself to keep it in San Jose where he has had so much success, winning it three times in a row.  To be honest, though, what I was thinking at the end of the match was that I really hope he's not in Federer's draw for Indian Wells!

And our champions are...

The first major of the year is over.  I find I am feeling a mixture of sadness and relief - sadness because I look so much forward to the Happy Slam every year, relief because I can finally get some sleep again!

The men's final turned out as so many predicted it would - with Novak Djokovic holding his third consecutive Australian Open trophy, fourth overall, and sixth major title.  It was certainly a tight match for the first 2 1/2 hours with, amazingly, no breaks of serve.  Murray had his chances to really get his teeth into it, after winning the first set in a tiebreak, when he had three break point opportunities.  He was not able to capitalize on those, however, and Djokovic ended up winning that set in a tiebreak.  By the third set Murray was being hampered by a foot injury and it certainly started to take its toll in his movement.  Once Novak was able to get the first break of serve in the match there was no turning back.  Andy definitely hung in there but it was inevitable which way things were going to turn out.

I can't help but wonder if things would have turned out differently if Murray wouldn't have played a five set four hour match in his semifinal compared to an incredibly easy hour-and-a-half semi by Djokovic with an extra day of rest.  But each player must deal with what is given them in the draw - it's all just part of the game of tennis.  

As for the women, Victoria Azarenka had to overcome an unsupportive crowd in her victory against Li Na.  It was obvious that the tennis fans in Rod Laver arena hadn't forgiven her for her injury timeout against Sloane Stevens and were in full support of her opponent.  The match was full of drama, with Li Na taking the first set but then having two falls, one twisting her ankle and the other hitting her head on the court.  She really didn't seem too affected by these injuries, however, and it was really Azarenka settling into the match and taking control that won her her second consecutive AO title.  Her reaction at the end of the match was very telling as to the emotions she had been holding back over these difficult days leading up to the final.  Rather than walking back onto the court to receive her congratulatory applause, she instead sat in her chair and began to sob.  Hopefully this will be a real learning experience for her to keep her making these kind of costly mistakes again which tend to turn people against her.

Though there are no more majors for four months now, there is much tennis action coming up with many smaller tournaments.  Roger Federer will be making his next appearance the second week in February in a 500 level tournament in Rotterdam and again in Dubai.  The one I am waiting for is Indian Wells in March, the first Masters tournament of the year, which I will be present at for the third year in a row.  Still so much to look forward to!

 

And the finals are set

For Federer fans it wasn't the result we were hoping for.  It appeared to be a 50-50 match going into it, with reasons to believe either one could pull it off.  It was obvious from the beginning, however, that Murray was very much on his game, pushing Federer in each of his service games, not aided whatsoever by Federer's serve numbers being very low.  It seemed pretty much at all times during the match that Roger was playing from behind and really only for brief moments was he really able to play his game, coming up with flashes of brilliance when he really needed it.  I have to give all credit to Murray.  He, like Djokovic, has an amazing combination of offense and incredible defense, getting back shots that seem impossible.  

I had already resigned myself to a Federer loss when he was broken back in the 4th set and then broken again, so when he surprisingly pulled off a great comeback to win the set in a tiebreak I still wasn't real surprised when he quickly fell behind once again in the 5th set.  It reminded me of the 2010 U.S. Open semi when he had been pushed hard by Djokovic, with Nadal already waiting in the final.  As that match went on in the 5th set I was getting nervous wondering how much energy he would have left for a final.  That was very much in my mind watching this today.  He had never before played two five set matches in a row.  How could he possibly have anything left, at 31 years of age, to challenge a well rested Novak, who only had to play 89 minutes in his ridiculous win over Ferrer?  So when Roger quickly got in a hole in the 5th set I wasn't extremely disappointed.  He showed great heart and resolve to push a very on form Andy Murray to a 5th set.  And to be honest, his win at Wimbledon, claiming another major after a two year drought, did much to calm me down in these situations (well, as long as he keeps his quarter final record going that is!).

So we will be having another Djokovic Murray final.  I am hoping that Murray's five set match won't play into things, but that this match will be one that really shows who the best is at this moment.  With a much more confident Murray this could be a real interesting one.

On a side note, Federer had a few choice words for Andy at a particularly tense time of the match.  Personally I wish he would try to refrain from lowering himself to that level.  I happen to like the squeaky clean Roger image, which is one of the things that makes me such a fan.


On the women's side of things, the final between Li Na, who played a brilliant match to soundly defeat Maria Sharapova, and Victoria Azarenka is being clouded by the great controversy of Vika's actions at 5-4 in the 2nd set semi against Sloane Stephens, choosing to take a 10 minute medical timeout before Sloane had to serve to stay in the match.  Definitely bad taste.  She has tried to smooth things over, but I think for most fans they would much prefer to see a new champion in Li Na this year.  I am real interested to see how this all goes down.  I hope it is a competitive match, as there have been some real duds in the women's major finals, including last year's Australian Open.

After almost two weeks of little sleep, we now know our finalists.  A couple exciting matches to go before the new king and queen are crowned.  Though my favorite will not be holding the trophy, in terms of tennis we still should be in for some great tennis to come.

U.S. Open over and out

Wow, what a match!  When I saw the wind once again and how that was affecting play in the first few games I really didn't know what to expect.  Novak Djokovic was obviously out of sorts from the start, not able to figure out how to overcome this disruption to his style of play.  It turned out to be a see-saw affair, however, as one would take advantage while the other was down, only to see the other turn it around.  Their rallies they had were incredible, with the longest being a 54-shot rally, and several in the 30s.  Even when they ended with an error, often from the wind, it didn't diminish the, dare I say, ridiculousness of what they were accomplishing!

The first set tiebreak was incredible!  I had stupidly scheduled my own tennis match that day, thinking surely there wouldn't be a Monday final for the fifth year in a row.  I needed to leave during the tiebreak but I thought maybe I could get through it and be a couple minutes late.  When Murray hit a fairly easy ball into the net on set point at 6-7 I knew I wasn't going to be able to finish it and had to wait through my own match (walking past the TV in the club with everyone gathered around without looking).  Talk about having problems concentrating on my match with that going on (though I did manage to win our first long set and leave it on serve in the second).  I digress - that tiebreak was very important for Murray's confidence and belief that he could do it.  I won't go through each set, but when he lost the 4th, with Djokovic rallying and taking control in the 3rd and 4th sets, I was getting pretty nervous for him that he was going to go away in the 5th.  He came out with fierce determination, however.  I can almost see his mind working, that he is NOT going to lose again.  He came out the much stronger player and Novak was obviously losing energy, surprising for someone who has played incredible back-to-back matches of endurance in previous majors.  Murray held strong through the whole set, really not showing any nerves, and closed it out at 6-2.  With a very muted celebration, and some hidden tears, Andy Murray finally stopped the drought of Great Britain grand slam winners and became the fourth different man to win a major in 2012.

Though I'm certainly not a big Murray fan, I really wanted him to win this one and get past this huge hurdle in his career.  So now we will have four long months to wonder who is going to emerge in Australia (assuming they get this pay issue worked out) after each of the big 4 winning one this year.  It will be truly fascinating.  And before that, who will end up as #1 at the end of the year?  Will Roger have the energy to defend all those points from last year and hold on to #1?  Or will this loss kick Novak into gear to try to have a strong finish to the year and gain it back?  It all remains to be seen.

 And I would be remiss not to mention Serena's great win on Saturday.  I was so pleased that this wasn't just another blow-out women's final, which gets so boring!  Victoria Azarenka really fought back and made it a great match.  Surely she must have been disappointed that she wasn't able to close things out when she served for it, but she also knew Serena is a fighter and wouldn't let it go easily.  I think they each did themselves proud and gave the New York crowd a great women's final.  Good to see some Americans come through, along with the Bryan Brothers winning their 12th grand slam trophy and breaking the record for the most major wins.

Time to take a bit of a tennis hiatus with some family stuff going on for the next week.  We'll see if I even get any Davis Cup watched or not.  All in all it was a great U.S. Open in spite of the disappointment of Roger losing in the quarters, and looking forward to next month already!