Tennis Time

Last week was spent in watching the Australian Open anytime I could, else listening to commentary if possible. And surprisingly this year, I enjoyed the Women’s matches far more than the Men’s Singles (talking about only the QF, SF and Finals). Only one match among the Men’s draw was thrilling to watch – Federer vs Joker was an awesome match. Apart from that this tournament I preferred watching Li Na and Clijsters play some awesome tennis.

It was bad that Li Na lost in the Finals but at least, Kim Clijsters won a hard fought match. All the three sets were equally watchable, and thrilling – both of them produced exceptional tennis regularly. After a long time – post the Serena and Venus era – there were some other players who were playing awesome tennis. Caroline Wozniacki played wonderfully till the semis and then she lost her cool in a pressure match – how can she justify being the world number 1?

I was looking forward to the Men’s Final but it was a letdown. Novak Djokovic was playing a game that reminded me of the way Federer used to toy with his opponents before crushing them. I did not even feel Murray turned up for the Final, rather he sent a clone of his who played passable tennis. There were flashes of brilliance from Murray, but one cannot win a Championship with just a few flashes – there has to be sustained brilliance which was produced by Novak Djokovic. I enjoyed his defensive tennis, when he would be running from one corner to another and then out of nowhere would produce either an exceptional lob or a sizzling cross-court winner while off-balance.

I was hoping for a Rafa-Fed encore, but I think that can wait till Wimbledon This Australian Open was only the 3rd in last 24 Grand Slams that has not been won by either Federer or Nadal – that is an exceptional statistic! And not a good read for players ranked 3 or more.