Aussie Open; Day 14 Recap

The Aussie Open has long since drawn to a close as I type this post, but it will remain fresh in my memory for many weeks to come as tennis goes through a bit of a lull again. The Men's Final was by far the most exciting its been at event for years. With Federer dominating the previous two years against lesser experienced opponents, the two new faces brought a new energy to the court.

From the time the players walked onto the court for pre-match warmup, you just knew that this was going to be a tense battle of two talented men, and the crowd was gonna be a factor too. The Serbs were mad for The Djoker and everyone other Aussie had fallen in love with French Ali. Much as he had done in his other matches against higher seeded players, Tsonga came in and blew The Djoker out his shoes with his speed and power. A convincing first set victory was in hand.

After that it was all downhill. Thanks to the crowd jeering his family and friends, Djokovic was notably out of it in the first set. As tournament officials stepped in mitigated the situation, Djokovic settled into his game of grinding, point controlling and shot making ability. The next two sets would breeze by in favor of the Serbian as French Ali looked sluggish and lost. His sparkle was gone, and his time had run out.

Just as you thought the fat lady was gonna sing, an incredible set was played in the fourth. Neither man was willing to relent and the set would need to be decided by a tiebreaker. Anti-clamatic and all, Djokovic won the set, the match and the Championship. He would become the first Serbian Singles Champion. My previous predictions about 2 Serbian champions was correct, but I wasnt even aware of it. Half of the victorious mixed doubles championship team hails from Serbia as well. Sounds like a pleasant story of the little war torn country that could.

Will these young stars (three of the finalist were 20) continue their dominance through the rest of the season? For more seasons to come? As much as I am annoyed by the Shrieking Princess I think this could be a very big year for her. The younger Serbian Vitch is getting her stuff together and might actually win a set in her next Grand Slam final. There is so much to look forward to this season.

I love this game!