Once again on Sunday morning, Britain’s hopes of a major Grand Slam win were burst when Andy Murray fell at the final hurdle. However, Murray can hold his head high at his best-ever career tournament as the two weeks provided us with many surprises, twists and expected outcomes for the ATP & WTA circuits this year.
First of all, can anyone stop Roger Federer? The Swiss maestro was in awesome form, and dropped only two sets in the entire tournament. Despite a very busy couple of years, he still hasn’t lost any zest for the game, and he just seems to get better with every passing year. At 28, he still has a good three/four year period where he can dominate the Men’s circuit and the question is, is there anyone good enough to challenge him on a consistent basis.
Federer’s main rival in recent years, Rafael Nadal is enduring a torrid time at the moment, through loss of form and serious injuries. He pulled out of the Murray quarter-final with what could be a recurrence of the knee injury that plagued his effort last year. Suddenly, the Spaniard is looking at a downward plunge rather than above him. He needs to get on top of these issues, if he wants to become a constant threat to the Federer armoury again.
For Novak Djokovic and Andy Roddick, their time has gone and passed. Djokovic has failed spectacularly to build on his success in Australia two years ago. In fact, he seems to have gone backwards and now is in serious danger of disappearing into obscurity if the Serb isn’t careful. Roddick has been unlucky with injuries and when he has been on top of his game, so have the likes of Nadal and Federer. Both will be extremely disappointed with how their careers have shaped up. The Australian Open was a brief blip in Juan Martin Del Potro’s recent copybook performances. He shouldn’t be too worried by a last 16 exit here, and my money is on him to wrap up the Grand Slam at Roland Garros, bound to favour the Argentine’s type of game. Credit must go to Marin Cilic for his semi-final appearance, knocking Del Potro & Roddick out in the process, with two epic five-set marathons. He even briefly threatened to upset Murray in the semis – Cilic definitely was surprise of the tournament. Jo Wilfred-Tsonga also made the semis, but put in a limp and woeful display against Federer when he might have had the chance to cause a major upset. Tsonga is another player who on his day, provides stunning tennis, then on others, be beaten by random qualifiers. Just ask Robin Soderling, who may have been an on-form player, but made a traditional early exit from his bogey event.
This brings us onto the Murray phenomenon. It was a brilliant tournament from Andy, and it reminded us of his capabilities to perform on the top stage, something of which we only saw flashes of during his 2009 Grand Slam year. He outplayed Nadal with consummate ease in the quarters and his run to the final here showed he is getting ever closer to winning that maiden Grand Slam. Wimbledon might always elude him – due to the fact that grass isn’t his preferred surface, but I am absolutely convinced that he will win something big very soon. In the final against Federer, it was so near, yet so far. Murray had his chances, but failed to capitalize on the odd unenforced error from Roger and you can’t do that against Roger Federer – because you will get punished. It may have been a disappointing final outcome, but Andy Murray can look back at the 2010 Australian Open, because it finally saw him come of age.
In the woman’s game, Serena Williams showed her pure dominance again, with yet another Australian success, her 5th in total. Though sometimes not at her best, Serena is starting to break away from a close group behind her in the women’s game. However, Justine Henin made an almost fairytale return to the Grand Slam circuit after nearly two years away. Beaten in a closer ladies singles final than many would have initially predicted, I would be massively surprised if Henin didn’t at least win a Grand Slam this year. Although Kim Clistjers put in a shocking performance against Nadia Petrova here, I think the Belgians, along with Serena’s sister Venus and the surprise packages from China, Na Li and Jhe Zheng can give Serena some decent competition in the coming months.
So, where does that leave the Russians in tennis? They have flattered to deceive on their initial promise and too many now no longer seen as a major threat in the final outcome. Only Svetlana Kuznetsova has any potential to win more Grand Slams, though her constant inconsistency should be a worry to her backroom team. Jelena Jankovic has lost complete love for the game, has peaked and needs to leave the WTA tour soon. As for Dinara Safina, her career is heading the same way as brother, Marat Safin. She has lots of promise, but constantly fails to deliver. A back injury ended her dreams Down Under in Round 4, maybe Safina is heading for a massive slide down the rankings this year. Meanwhile, Maria Sharapova, once the golden girl of tennis is now down in the dumps, out of form and struggling with confidence – always a bad problem to have in the game. It seems like a century ago since she won Wimbledon in 2004. I have always been a big fan of Sharapova, but I doubt we will see her picking up any major silverware again – due to injury and the increased competition in the woman’s game.
In conclusion, the Australian Open probably answered more questions than anticipated. Tennis in 2010 could be very promising for many, and for others, make-or-break in their efforts to return to the glory days. Federer and Serena may be still on top, but in Murray, Del Potro, Henin & Clistjers especially, their days of dominance may not last as long as many will think.
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