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!
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.
