Stanislaus Wawrinka winner of the Australian Open
Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Everybody thought that Rafa Nadal, ranked number one in the tennis world, would be an easy winner against Stan Wawrinka, ranked number eight, in the final.
What an amazing and attention riveting final it turned out to be.
Rafa cramped up in the second set and his game faltered as he weakened.
He ran with his trainer into the tunnel presumably for pain killers as Stan complained vehemently to the chair umpire that he wanted to know what rule allowed him to just run off the court without tournament referee approval. Stan insisted on speaking with the latter to no avail.
Clearly, Nadal was not going to walk off the court and simply default as that would be too humiliating.
Meanwhile 8 minutes had passed with Stan continuing his futile protest and finally Nadal emerged.......
AS THE CROWD BOOED.
An AMAZING DRAMA was unfolding at about 4:15 AM and I felt rescued from the humdrum power-unleashed, predictable five-set five hour final-like semi-finals featuring Djokovic and Nadal that seemed to have been standard fare of the finals menu, oh oh , so often.
It was clear to me from the start of the match that Stan had raised his level above that of Nadal.
I had the impression that he was hitting the ball ON THE RISE indicating that at age 28, never having made it to a Grand Slam final or had ever taken a single set from Nadal, he had elevated his game to near perfection. His cross court backhands found incredible angles and his down- the- line shots were deep, crisp, powerful and precise.
Mercury/Hermes, the messenger of the gods
Here was a Mercury rising. (Click here for my blog on Dr. Reginald Weir, a nearly forgotten black tennis star, another Winged Mercury- a man way ahead of his time)
Nadal was off balance most of the first set.
Leading 5-3 and on serve in the first set, Stan fell behind 0-40 and he appeared to be faltering.
To my absolute amazement, Stan rallied back to rattle Rafa by taking the next 5 points with the latter unable
to return a serve successfully on the court!!!! (suddenly...the tail was wagging the dog).
To start the second set, with Rafa serving, Stan continued his unbelievable forward momentum by breaking a near exasperated Rafa at love--extending his consecutive point streak to nine. (it finally ended at 12!)
Awesome is the only word to describe what I was witnessing...
There was no doubt in my mind that Stan was poised to win this match for the ages.
Rafa never really recovered from his injury and though he temporarily rattled his opponent to win the third set, Stan held firm to take the fourth set, the match and his march into glory.
Congratulations to Stan Wawrinka who is now number 3 in the WTA rankings behind Djokovic at number 2 and Nadal, who maintains the number one position.
Kudos also to thirty-one year old Li Na who after making it to the Australian finals for the third time since 2011, finally clinched the title by beating the less experienced Dominika Cibulkova easily in two sets, 7-6 (3), 6-0.
She now rises to number 3 in WTA rankings passing Sharapova and landing just behind Azarenka. Serena Williams still retains her number one position though she exited in the fourth round.
Congratulations Li Na.
Finally, many thanks to ESPN for their excellent early morning live coverage, to IBM for their superb techno-graphics for analysis and to ausopen.com, the official website for the open, for their free live coverage of both singles and doubles matches.
It was a pleasure to watch live streaming the mixed doubles team of American Scott Lipsky and Chinese Zheng Jie advance to the semi-finals, by upsetting Groenfeld /Peya, the number one seeded team, 2-6, 7-6 (5) {10-5}
She plays with all the poise and maturity of an accomplished player and has an Open Future on her horizon.
Next, onward and upward to the French Open and then, of course Wimbledon and then finally the US Open.
Hey tennis fans, can the amazing Stan Wawrinka defend his new found status?
to return a serve successfully on the court!!!! (suddenly...the tail was wagging the dog).
To start the second set, with Rafa serving, Stan continued his unbelievable forward momentum by breaking a near exasperated Rafa at love--extending his consecutive point streak to nine. (it finally ended at 12!)
Awesome is the only word to describe what I was witnessing...
There was no doubt in my mind that Stan was poised to win this match for the ages.
Rafa never really recovered from his injury and though he temporarily rattled his opponent to win the third set, Stan held firm to take the fourth set, the match and his march into glory.
Congratulations to Stan Wawrinka who is now number 3 in the WTA rankings behind Djokovic at number 2 and Nadal, who maintains the number one position.
Li Na advances to number 3 in WTA rankings after winning the Australian Open
Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images
She now rises to number 3 in WTA rankings passing Sharapova and landing just behind Azarenka. Serena Williams still retains her number one position though she exited in the fourth round.
Congratulations Li Na.
Finally, many thanks to ESPN for their excellent early morning live coverage, to IBM for their superb techno-graphics for analysis and to ausopen.com, the official website for the open, for their free live coverage of both singles and doubles matches.
It was a pleasure to watch live streaming the mixed doubles team of American Scott Lipsky and Chinese Zheng Jie advance to the semi-finals, by upsetting Groenfeld /Peya, the number one seeded team, 2-6, 7-6 (5) {10-5}
Eugenie Bouchard at the US Open 2013
Courtesy of Wikipedia
Last but not least, it was a delightful surprise to behold a future female top star in the making, the Canadian teenager Eugenie Bouchard. This talented lady beat the 2008 French Open winner Ana Ivanovic in the quarters only to be bested by a much more experienced Li Na in the the semis.
She plays with all the poise and maturity of an accomplished player and has an Open Future on her horizon.
Next, onward and upward to the French Open and then, of course Wimbledon and then finally the US Open.
Hey tennis fans, can the amazing Stan Wawrinka defend his new found status?
No comments:
Post a Comment