So, I had to get up at 4:20 AM on Sunday morning to let our dog outside to 'answer nature's call'. Being the tennis addict that I am, I knew that the Australian Open men's final was being broadcast on ESPN. I flipped on the television and watched the middle of the first set for about 15 minutes. When I went back to bed I was secure in knowing that when I got up later in the morning I would be able to watch the re-broadcast starting at 9:00 EST. At 8:00 AM, I got up to make a pot of coffee, toast a bagel, and read some of the New York Times before the 9:00 deadline. I instinctively turned on the tv, which was still on ESPN from the night before, and the men's final was on. At first I thought that I had read the cable guide wrong and that the re-broadcast started at 8:00 instead of 9:00. It took me a few moments to realize this was the same live match that I turned off about 4 hours earlier. The fifth set had just started I was treated to one of the most dramatic sets of tennis that I can remember.
Back and forth between Nadal and Djokovic. Nadal was hitting the ball harder in the fifth set than he had in the first set. Both men were staggering around the court from exhaustion (think of the end of Rocky, and Rocky II for that matter) When Nadal broke Djokovic I thought that it was curtains for 'The Joker.' But, he broke right back and it was nip and tuck until Djokovic put away the wining forehand. At one point Djokovic fell down after a 26 shot rally. I thought that he was close to throwing in the towel, except he played on. Nadal was also looking spent and for the first time that I can remember, he actually looked frail at the end of the match. It was great theatre and a great performance from two great players.
The woman's final had none of the suspense or drama and was fitting for a less than memorable women's Australian Open. A one-sided affair that was notable more for the level of the grunting than the level of tennis. The biggest thing that I got from the final was that it took Azarenka 25 tries to win her first major. Like it is a sin to mature at your craft rather than be an instant phenon. So, I did some research......
Azarenka is far from the woman who waited the longest to win her first major. In the Open Era, on the women's side the award for perseverance goes to Jana Novotna who won the 1998 Wimbledon final in her 45th major tournament. I remember seeing that final and it was it very gratifying to see her win after being devastated the year earlier.
For the men the award goes to Goran Ivanisevic who won the 2001 Wimbledon final in his 48th major. That match was played on a Monday after the event was decimated by two weeks of rain delays. I was pulling for Goran to beat Pat Rafter, if only because I thought that Goran would throw himself into the Themes if he lost the final for the 4th time. Ivanisevic could not even get into Wimbledon based on his ranking and needed a wild card just to get through the front gate.
The minimum number of attempts to win a major award for the women goes to Monica Seles and Barbara Jordan, each winning a major on their 4th try. Barbara Jordan is an interesting story. Her sister, Kathy, was a top ten player in the 1980's and by rights Kathy should have been the sister who captured a major. But, Barbara was lucky enough to play the Australian Open during it's down period and she capitalized on her opportunity by playing the legendary Sharon Walsh in the final. She reached a career high of #78 and never advanced past the 3rd round of any other major she played.
For the men the the award is shared between Mats Wilander (1982 French Open) and Gustavo Kuerten (1997 French Open) who each won in their 3rd major. I saw both of those finals on tv and they were both great. Wilander at 17 years old was very monumental coming on the heals of Borg's retirement from tennis in 1981. It started the 2nd generation of Swedish players to be be inspired by Borg. (Edberg, Nystrom, Sundstrom, Jarryd, and my idol Mikeal Pernfors)
That is it for this week. Hopefully I can post more in 2012 than in the past. Happy New Year to all.
