Djokivic Finally Wins

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The Australian Open came to an end earlier today with a stunning smackdown of Andy Murray by Novak Djokovic in straight sets. Murray looked mentally absent for most of the match, and in the end, it wasn't even close.
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This is Djokovic's second Grand Slam win; he won his first in 2008, also at The Aussie Open.
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Djokovic is hoping to finally shake-off that long-time #3 World Ranking and move into the Top Two, but it's going to be tough. So dominant have Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal been in tennis in the past decade that this final today marked only the seventh Grand Slam final since 2002, (33 championships), that had neither Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal as a competitor. And Djokovic is now only the first man since Lleyton Hewitt in 2002, other than Federer or Nadal, to win more than one Grand Slam title.

The Comeback Continues

It's all over but the icing on the cake. The 2011 Australian Open, the first of the year's four major Grand Slam championships in tennis, is almost over. Earlier today, Kim Clijsters continued her remarkable comeback in tennis by taking her first-ever Australian Open, her fourth Grand Slam overall, and her second in a row. She defeated Li Na of China in three sets. Kim's win is especially sweet considering that she first played for the Aussie title seven years ago, in 2004, but was defeated by Justine Henin.
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Clijsters wore a signature green dress which she selected to honor Aussie legend, 1980 Wimbledon Champ, Evonne Goolagong Cawley, who before Clijsters, was the last mother to win a Grand Slam tournament and who once wore a similar green dress.
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Clijsters' story is amazing because she retired from tennis in 2007, having won only one major tournament, the 2005 U.S. Open. But since returning to the game in 2009, she's won three majors, two U.S. Opens and now the Aussie title. She's hinted that 2011 will be her last year on the tour, but who knows? She's only 27.
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(the bryan brothers)

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The shocker of the tournament was a couple of days ago, when after only one day since the tournament completely opened up for him with Nadal's loss, Roger Federer went out in straight sets in the semi-finals to Novak Djokavic. It will be the first time in eight years that Federer will not hold a major title, and the first time in three years that neither Federer nor Nadal will be in a major final. Is it the changing of the guard. At his post-match press conference, Federer answered that question with an emphatic, "No." He told reporters, "Come back and see where I am six months from now."
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And speaking of the changing of the guard, Justine Henin retired from tennis, again, when she disclosed after her loss this week that an aggravated elbow injury will keep her from continuing play. Her exit, coupled with the Williams' sisters advanced ages and complicated injuries certainly signals a major new dawn for women's tennis.
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The American Bryan Brothers, Mike and Bob, won the men's doubles, marking their 10th Grand Slam title, and making them one of the most successful mens doubles teams of all time.
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The men's final tonight between Novak Djokavic and Andy Murray should be a good one; Djokavic is going for his second Grand Slam title, and Murray is hungry to prove he can win one. But for now, we'd like to savor Kim Clisters' fantastic win just a little bit longer.

And Roger Federer Breathes a Huge Sigh of Relief

Shocker at the Australian Open yesterday! And no we're not talking about #1 Caroline Wozniacki's tale of attack kangaroos or Kim Clijsters' public smack-down of Todd Woodbridge for twittering that Clijsters looked pregnant. No the shock of the tournament was that Rafael Nadal went out in the quarterfinals in straight sets to fellow Spaniard, David Ferrer. Nadal was going for his fourth Grand Slam tournament win a row, having won the 2010 French Open, Wimbledon and U.S. Open. No man has won four Grand Slams in a row since Rod Laver last did it in 1969.
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We're disappointed for Rafa, but we're more disappointed for ourselves, and the rest of the sports world who were practically salivating for a Nadal-Federer final. Now the door is wide open for Roger Federer to take his 17th Grand Slam championship overall, which would put him three ahead of the previous record-holder, Pete Sampras, who ended his career with 14.
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Interestingly enough, almost no one doubts that the Rafael Nadal-Roger Federer rivalry is one of the greatest of all time in sports, yet they've only played each other 22 times. This pales in comparison to the other great tennis rivalry of Chris Evert-Martina Navratilova who played each other 80 times.

A Star is Born

We stayed up late last night watching the Australian Open, and even though we've been bemoaning the fall of American tennis, it's exciting to watch a match, and out of nowhere, know that you're seeing the future of the sport. And such a new star emerged last night: Bernard Tomic. Tomic, who was born in Germany and whose family is Croatian, but who lives in and competes for Australia, took on the world's #1, Rafael Nadal, last night in the third round. Nadal ended up winning in straight sets, but Tomic gave him all he could handle. With a little more experience, Tomic, who is just 18, will surely take his place as one of the world's top players.
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And just in case you think we're being too hard on how disastrous is the state of American tennis, consider this fact. Since the Open Era of tennis began in 1968, only twice has any American, man or woman, failed to make the quarterfinals of one of the four major Grand Slam tournaments. Excluding three of the early years of the Australian Open in which no Americans even competed, only twice have Americans completely flamed out before the quarters, 2006 Wimbledon and the 2008 French Open. In this current Australian Open, as of today, Andy Roddick is the only American left in the tournament, and if he loses tonight, then we'll have the third time since 1968 in which no American, man or woman made at least the quarters of a Grand Slam. We don't know what we're going to have to do to start growing some new tennis champions, but we need to do it soon. It's bad enough that American youth can't read or do math as well as the rest of the industrialized world, but up until now, we could at least kick their asses in sports.

Thank You, Mr. Armani!

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We just wrote a couple of days ago about the pathetic state of American men's tennis, and in the past two days, it's gotten worse. This year's Aussie championship started with only eight American men making the cut, and now, in the Third Round, it's already down to two, Andy Roddick and John Isner. And no one seriously considers either of those two a threat to win. At least we've still got the possibility of another Federer-Nadal final. But if watching Rafael Nadal play tennis doesn't float your boat, maybe you'd rather just stare at his, uh... jeans in his new ad for Armani Jeans. Game, set, match.

Is It Too Late For a John McEnroe Comeback?

The first major tennis tournament of 2011 is underway, The Australian Open. At left is player Alicia Molik and 1989 and 1990 Australian Open Champion, Ivan Lendl, who assisted a few days ago with the tournament draw.
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We've bemoaned for a few years now the disastrous state of American men's tennis, and this year's Aussie Open is no exception to that sad state. Only eight American men are in this year's championship, and three of them have already exited in the first round, including the 18th Seed, Sam Querrey, and next generation hopefuls, Donald Young and Ryan Harrison. Perennial disappointments Andy Roddick, Mardy Fish and John Isner are the best American hopes for a win left in the championship, and frankly, depending on one of those three for a major win is like hoping for Sarah Palin to win a Nobel Prize. It just ain't gonna happen.
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But despite the fact that American tennis is pathetic, and doesn't look like it's going to get any better anytime soon, we still have one of the greatest sports rivalries of all time to look forward to next week, a hopeful match-up between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. And then, there's always the easy-on-the-eyes 31st Seed and part-time model, Feliciano Lopez, who's still in the tournament.