Stanislas Wawrinka (8th seed, Switzerland) is the Australian Open champion. There shall be no asterisk. He was dominating the final match even before Nadal's back problems. Stan played the tournament of his life, the first man in 20 years to beat both of the top two seeds at a Major. For the first time in over four years, a man outside the Big Four has won a Slam. Perhaps most amazingly of all, on Monday, Roger Federer will be only the second-ranked Swiss player in the world. Tennis has a new story.
Nadal missed this chance to catch Pete Sampras on the all-time Slams list but he seems likely to take care of that in Paris in June. He missed last year's Aussie entirely so his trip to the final secures the top ranking for the foreseeable future. Hopefully, the back situation isn't serious and he'll be ready to go in time for Indian Wells in March.
All famous athletes, perhaps all famous people, should be like Na Li (4th seed, China), the women's champion. Please enjoy her post-final speech
here. She is the most likeable player on tour, no contest. This was her second Slam title, virtually ensuring her enshrinement in the Hall of Fame one day. Tennis is booming in Asia and the sport could not ask for a more charismatic ambassador.
Aww she is a cutie -pie, what a fun speech. Plus super talented !
ReplyDeleteDid you have fun watching the Australian Open this year ?
cheers, parsnip
Unfortunately, I didn't get to watch any of it live. The time difference is partly to blame but it's mostly because we no longer have satellite or cable. French Open finals are on NBC so online coverage should be more accommodating.
DeleteI was thrilled for both Stanislas and Li Na. They've long been two of my favorites on the tour.
ReplyDeleteI missed most of the Open because of time differences, but I did catch most of each championship match on ESPN.
Our Internet provider doesn't carry ESPN3 so I was out of luck this time. With the time difference, it wasn't much of an issue. Now, if I can't watch the French, with the final on NBC, we'll have problems.
DeleteI was able to watch both finals live - the women's final was played with great spirit and sportsmanship and the two finalists chatted together whilst waiting for the presentation and I agree Li Na is a very humorous lady. The men's final after the first set was rather a let down as Nadal was injured but I think Stan was on fire. Both were very gracious in their acceptance speeches. Roll on Roland Garos in Paris.
ReplyDeleteA lot of good stories came out of this tournament. I'm right there with you: next chapter, please!
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