Federer Wins AO

In what must b e considered the greatest achievement of the open era, Roger Federer defeated Rafa Nadal in five sets to win the Australian Open.  At age 35, after six months off the tour, Federer came back to defeat Thomas Berdych, ranked 10, Kei Nishikori, ranked 5, Stan Wawrinka, ranked 4, and finally Nadal, ranked 9 in the world.  This victory is up there with LeBron James’ performance in the 2016 NBA finals and Tiger Woods’ 2008 US open victory in 91 holes while playing with a hairline fracture in his leg and torn ligaments in his knee. 

How did Federer do it?  First of all, as Roger continued to do what he has done over their last few matches – taking shots to his backhand on the rise before Nadal’s awesome topspin could make the ball climb up on him.  To execute such a backhand requires unreal timing and hand-eye coordination, and Federer has those skills at a level never before seen in tennis.  Second, this match was played on a fast hard court, which allowed Federer, by taking balls early, to rob Nadal of time.  Nadal plays a bit like Dominic Thiem in that he hits the ball much better when he is able to set is feet and gather himself for the shot.  He is a better “wrist” player than Thiem, but Federer is the best of all time at wristing the ball.  Third, Federer was calm and cool throughout.  It must be understood that Federer is a very emotional player.  Witness the numerous times he has shed tears after matches, even when he won.  Earlier in their careers, when Roger was trying to figure out how to deal with Rafa’s topspin, I believe he made nervous shots on key points.  If you go back over their matches, it is startling how many break points Federer had that he was unable to convert.  In this match, Federer’s maturity and realistic expectations allowed him to remain on an even keel and deal with adversity quite well. 

What ever else happens in 2017, this Australian Open has sent three important messages:

1) Federer is a tennis “natural” like no one has ever seen.

2) Nadal is back.  Rafa played some really outstanding tennis in this tournament, and he will pose a serious threat to Novak and Andy Murray, particularly in the clay court swing.

3) Dimitrov has arrived.  Grigor Dimitrov put on a performance in the semis that was truly remarkable, with an amazing display of physical skills and psychological fortitude.  He will be a force for the very top players to reckon with.

Overall this was a very interesting tournament, with the older players showing that they can still dominate the youngsters.  A provocative and stimulating start to the 2017 grand slam season.

Serena Wins AO

In a match reminiscent of their early days, Venus and Serena Williams played for a grand slam title.  As was the case for many of their early matches, this one was something of an anticlimax, with many unforced errors and only a few good rallies.  The best server in the game, Serena Williams, actually double faulted three times in one game.  Venus showed some of the signs of play that allowed her to reach the final.  In particular, her cross court forehand was very strong, and her serve gave Serena more difficulty than that of most other players.

            Those desperate to have an American considered the GOAT (Greatest Of All Time) can breathe a sigh of relief now that Serena has one more major title than Steffi Graf.   Of course, debate over this trivial and objectively unresolvable issue will continue, but regardless of one’s point of view, we all acknowledge the overwhelming dominance Serena has had over what is in my view the deepest field in the history of women’s tennis.  With this debate settled in most minds, we can now relax and enjoy great tennis, regardless of who produces it. 

Gratz to Serena and to Venus as well, who had a truly terrific run here. 

AO Finals Are Set

Women’s final

            In a throwback, the women’s final will have Venus and Serena Williams.  The semifinal matches for these two were notable only in the play of Venus Williams, who looked a lot younger than 36 in beating Coco Vandewegh, who had a really great tournament.  If Vandewegh can keep up that level of play she will really make some noise this year.  The Williams sisters haven’t always had the best matches when playing against each other.  I predict a pretty good one with Serena prevailing.

Men’s Final

            In another throwback, Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer will go at it for the men’s title(!).  The semifinal between Federer and Wawrinka has already been discussed, but something should be said about the other semi between Nadal and Grigor Dimitrov.  This match will surely go down as one of the best of 2017, with Nadal ultimately prevailing by 6-3, 5-7, 7-6, 6-7, 6-4.  This match was so close that one might say it came down to a let cord by Dimitrov in the 4-4 game of the 5^th set that caused his ball to travel long, and make a break of serve possible for Nadal. 

            Nadal played the kind of tennis we were used to seeing from him when he dominated the tour.  The fact that Dimitrov was able to push him this hard testifies to the tremendous tennis Dimitrov was able to produce, and to the dogged competitive spirit shown by the Bulgarian.  How Dimitrov was able to transform himself from a rather tame competitor who played aimless tennis to the force he was today is a mystery, but one thing is for sure: if Dimitrov can play this way consistently he will reach the top 5 and win a major.

            Presuming Nadal recovers well from this five hour match and plays at the same level he attained against Dimitrov, he will win the match against Federer.  For Federer to come back from a six month absence at age 35 to beat four top ten players in a row and win the title is asking a lot.  If Federer is able to beat Nadal, this major win will go down as one of the greatest achievements by any player in the open era.  As Federer is fond of pointing out though:  the great thing about sports is that you can never know until the match is played. 

Oldies but goodies

            The final four players in this tournament are so old by tennis standards (Venus 36, Serena 35, Federer 35, Nadal 30), that we might ask if this tournament being played in Melbourne Park or Jurassic Park!  Why are older players doing so well these days?  A post on that later. 

Tennis Time Outs

Medical time outs and bathroom breaks must be permitted in tennis, as they protect the players’ health and contribute to better play.  But time outs can have an impact on matches that, in my view should be addressed.  Consider the following incidents at this year’s Australian Open:

In the first round against Marina Erakovic, Garbine Muguruza struggled to win the first set, 7-5.  She then took a lengthy medical time out that left Erakovic on the court with nothing to do but wait.  When she came back, Muguruza dominated play and won the second set easily.

In the quarterfinals against Karolina Pliskova, Mirjana Lucic-Baroni took a medical tine out when down a break, 3-4, in the second set.  Pliskova had nothing to do but wait for her, and upon her return, Lucic-Barone blitzed Pliskova to win in straight sets.

In the semifinal between Federer and Wawrinka, Stan took a medical time out after dropping the first two sets, which left Federer with nothing to do but wait.  When he came back, Wawrinka won the next set 6-1 and won the fourth set as well.  After the fourth set, Federer took a medical time out, leaving Stan on the court with nothing to do but wait.  When he returned Roger won the fifth set.

So, while time outs must be permitted, I still believe measures should be taken to lessen the “freeze-out effect” that such interruptions of play can have on the other player.  On the women’s side I think the player who is waiting should be allowed to visit with her coach.  Coaching visits are not currently permitted on the men’s tour right now, so in that case, I think the waiting player should be provided with a hitting partner to stay loose with some light hitting.

Let’s be honest:  Time outs, though they must be permitted, can be used for gamesmanship.  Even when players are not taking a break to freeze out their opponents, the interruption can compromise the play of the person who simply must wait without knowing how long the break will be, what the exact reason is for the break, etc.  We need to do something to lessen this effect, whether or not it is deliberate. 

AO – Semis are set

The Men:

Dimitrov beats Goffin.  David Goffin, with his amazing timing and hand-eye abilities likes to use the pace of his opponents to produce stinging redirected shots.  That is exactly what he did to Dominic Thiem, who eventually started to overhit.  As a result Thiem pretty much beat himself.   Not so with Grigor Dimitrov, who supplemented his amazing court coverage and racquet handling abilities with a lot of variety on his shots.  He varied the topspin and location of his forehand, hit lot of backhand slices, and approached the net opportunistically.  He prevailed in straight sets in this tactically fascinating match.

Wawrinka beats Tsonga.  Stan and Joe play similar styles, but Tsonga likes to come into the net just a bit more than Wawrinka.  At this stage of their careers, though Stan Wawrinka is just more consistent.  He prevailed pretty easily in this game of power ball.

Federer beats Zverev.  Mischa Zverev served too hard to get close to the net before the ball was back at his feet, but not hard enough to prevent Federer from placing the returns where he wanted.  To serve and volley that way against Roger is to have no chance to win.  And, as several commentators pointed out, Zverev has no plan B.  So, Roger demolished him in the first set and spent the rest of the match experimenting with things like the SABR attack etc.  Federer faces Stan Wawrinka next, and although he’s never lost to Stan on a hard court, I predict that Roger will have his hands full.  Wawrinka is playing very good tennis, and Federer must still be at least a little bit rusty.

Nadal beats Raonic.  Nadal got revenge for his loss to Raonic in Brisbane with a straight sets victory here.  Raonic was bothered by a recurrent thigh injury, and he also served uncharacteristically poorly.  He actually double faulted when serving for the second set in the tiebreaker (remember the earlier post – double faulting in tiebreakers is a no-no!).  The real story of this match was Nadal, though.  He moved very well and plied his favorite trade – passing people who dare to approach the net against him.  Rafa has a real chance to win this tournament.  If he gets by Dimitrov and faces Wawrinka I  believe he will win it.

The Women:

            Serena Williams beats Konta.  Johanna Konta played very well in this tournament, but simply couldn’t handle Serena’s power.  With her somewhat strange outfit and bulging muscles, Serena looked a bit like an 18-wheeler with legs.  No surprise in this one, but kudos to Konta for a great tournament. 

            Coco beats Garbine.  Coco Vandewhegh is playing really good tennis.  She is harnessing her power, which is prodigious, and not losing her concentration.  She dominated Garbine Muguruza, with a straight sets victory that included a 6-0 second set.  No shame to Garbine, she just got outplayed.  Coco will play the 36-year-old Venus Williams in the semis.  What an amazing run for Venus, who beat Anastasia Pavlyuchencova in an expected victory.  I pick Coco in this semi if she holds her nerve.

            Lucic-Baroni beats Pliskova.  In a story that will be remembered for a long time, Mirjana Lucic-Baroni beat the #5 seed, Karolina Pliskova, and moved on to the semis.  The last time she made the semis was in the last century!  This result speaks to the great talent of Lucic-Baroni, and to the great loss we all suffered when she was taken out of the game for so long.  She will play Serena in the semis and is likely to lose, but she certainly captured the hearts of tennis fans with this great run.  Mirjana, we know you haven’t always felt loved, but we love you!