Nadal, Federer, Djokovic all three at Australian Open 2019!
Bonanza for tennis fans - all these three great, exemplary players who have entertained tennis fans for a decade and half are at Melbourne, overcoming all injuries. So too are the new kids on the block Dominic Thiem, Alexander Zverev, Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, raring to oust the greats.
First three unsuccessful, but the twenty year old from Greece, Tsitsipas with his entire family - parents and younger brother and adorable little sister Elizabeth cheering on, defeats Roger Federer to utter disbelief and grief of us Federer fans. No doubt he played well, has a very strong serve, athleticism and young energy, but his win was compounded by an unusually distracted Federer making unexpectedly high number of unforced errors, especially on his backhand and at the net. Well, when Federer burst on the scene he did defeat the giant Pete Sampras. So the old must make way for the young. We tennis fans hope that the tradition of new genius emerging has happened. However, its not going to be so soon.
As Nadal expressed "maybe they can wait another year"
And Nadal fructifies that by decimating Tsitsipas in the Semi-finals! Not just in straight sets, but allowing only a handful of points to Tsitsipas on his (Nadal's) serve.
So tomorrow its Nadal versus Djokovic in the finals - will it be a repeat of the 5 hours and 53 minutes duel they engaged in, a few years earlier here at the Australian Open. Both are in top form, probably it will be a five setter, but as Djokovic says, after the enforcement of the super tiebreak (the fifth set will also have a tiebreak) it wont stretch for that long.
What way will the Ladies go
Womens tennis remains, as it has for so many years, wonderfully mysterious. The days are over when it was a toss between the artistry of just two players - Stefi Garf and the ruggedness of Monica Seles with the Spaniard Arantxa Sánchez Vicario relegated mostly to being third, and being allowed to win only once in a while, along with others like Maritina Hingis. Before the start of the Australian Open, as many as eleven possible contenders were projected for the crown. Sans Serena Williams with 23 Slam titles the various winners of Slam titles have rotated between young and old, newcomers and mothers. So we saw the Italian prime minister flying down to the the US especially to watch two comparatively lesser known Italians competing in a US Open final. Some stunned by entering the Australian Open early on...e.g. Anna Ivanovic, who lost and cried on losing in the finals. As a child she practised with Djokovic in a deserted swimming pool in their war torn country. Maria Sharapova won the Wimbledon in 2004, displayed great talent and tenacity yet turned out to be taciturn. Similar case of Victoria Azarenka. In recent years the imposingly tall Spaniard Garbine Muguruza on losing to Serena Williams in a final, was applauded and consoled by Serena "you will win next year". Serena withdrew to have a baby, but Muguruza did not fulfill that prophecy.
Kvitova and the tenacious Naomi Osaka clash in the finals today. Kvitova has battled injury caused by being knifed in the arm by an intruder in her home, which also led to fear of being alone in closed spaces. She shared that talking to Monica Seles who was knifed while in a match, helped her overcome her fears, making her emerge stronger. Naomi Osaka's unsmiling, implacable, samurai like countenance, belies the nervous energy she packs in, evidenced by her constant twirling of the racquet, banging her clenched fist on her thigh and the cries of "come on". A short lack of concentration cost her the second set against. Pliskova in the the semi-final. If she can stay focused and channel her energy into her playing, my bet is on Osaka
As to the men, Nadal is raring like a raging bull!!!
Recovering from injury and sensibly playing in less competitions he is insistent to add at least one more AO title to his solitary one win. Even in that win his glory and adulation from the audience was stolen by the losing finalist Federer weeping at the crowning ceremony, forcing Nadal to spend most of his time consoling him. Nadal has strategized with tutelage from his coach and "improved" his forehand (is that possible??). How, he's not giving away that secret, maybe he'll cough up after wining. Both Djokovic and Federer have won the AO title, 6 times each, 2019 may well belong to Rafael Nadal.
Fashion anyone
As always the king of clay Rafael Nadal also remains trendy, adorning the colours of the spring summer 2019 - sunshine, mango and turmeric. Fashion conscious Sharapova and many others donned hues of blues, while several sported the subtle charcoal grey brushed denim look
"Come On".....
German or Spanish, Serbian or Japanese, Russian or Belgian, and of course American....when it comes to self encouragement all players seem to favour the same takiya kalam (oft repeated word or phrase) - "Come on"
