Columnists News
Could it be possible, is it feasible? No – not whether Maria Sharapova could snap that fast-becoming-Berdych-esque losing streak against Serena Williams, but could she get that to that 22nd Slam title to put her level with Steffi Graf?
G'day. Good night. Good something wherever you are. We have spent the night celebrating the ladies doubles win. What a night. Global chick had finally put her nose to the net versus hanging with the Hollywood awards season and global art and fashion shows.
It should have been an epic. It really should have been. This Global Chick has said it before – sometimes you see the best fights in the semi-finals. The Novak Djokovic and Stan Wawrinka show was not. It was, instead, a moody exchange of nerves jangling, racquets flinging, and more by luck than anything else...
One thing we learned during the Australian Open? “Narrative” is the word of the fortnight. And none more so that the semi-final between Andy Murray and Tomas Berdych. Murray’s comeback, Murray’s coaching decisions, Berdych’s determination to make it into the Slam holders circle, and a tale of two coaches.
What makes a star in the making shine? Is it the marketability? The constant hype around “the next best thing” or is it just the opposite and a quiet determination to do the right things and get the job done that marks out Madison Keys as the one to watch this year.
By now we think the “no-one beats [/insert name] [/insert number of times] in a row" has been done to death but it has to be said that Tomas Berdych delivered the performance of his life against an up and down Rafael Nadal to book his place once more in the Australian Open semi-final.
This Global chick won’t lie, we really thought it was time for the Martina Navratilova-powered Agnieszka Radwanska to shine. Her time to make another assault on a Slam final had been and gone, and come back again.
There is something in the air… could it be that the Aussies are about to turn a corner in their tennis fortunes since the glory days of Lleyton Hewitt, Pat Rafter, Mark Philippousis and even Pat Cash?
Roger. Roger. Roger. You are the best tennis player ever. You are the G.O.A.T. ! You are really Betterer. But you are only one guy with a big, big , big , big life. Mirka and her pink hat looked adorable. The girls look beautiful. Leo and Lenny are adorable.
Yes dear readers, hang on to your “bonza” hats, especially if they’re the fancy ones with straws and space for your Aussie beer! We are almost at the first week of skewed body clocks and massive bugs the size of pterodactyls.
What happened? Well ok maybe we’re being a teeny bit sensationalist, of course by now we know what happened. The rock solid favourite for the title exited stage left from the first Slam of the year.
Well thank heavens for that chink in the clouds, a return to the norm … we don’t mind admitting we were properly exhausted after all the drama of Day Three at the Australian Open, and Day Four was a little happier. OK well maybe not for eighth seed Caroline Wozniacki.
It is almost as if the tennis heavenly bodies were reading our observations of the stars feeling jittery on their first time out. The drama was to be had in the iconic Rod Laver Arena as first hot favourite Maria Sharapova, then Roger Federer, and then finally Rafael Nadal all took their turn to broil in the Round Two pressure cooker.
It is always a tricky obstacle course – for those of us who toil over the draw brackets and write the previews working out who meets which seed where, there is always that small moment of doubt – who will fall by the wayside, and thus ruin our painstaking planning!
For those souls not hardy enough to wake up/stay up for the opening day, it was quite a spillage of seeds on the first day. Nay – a quarter of the women’s seeds will be heading for a two week vacation at Bondi Beach. I mean, we know it is an unpredictable Slam just three weeks into the year (gosh is it really only three weeks) but the results threw up some surprising early casualties.
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