AP Photo
FEDERER versus Nadal has been superseded. Another, less sexy rivalry has quietly supplanted it between a Spaniard and a Serb, a lefty and righty, a baseliner and a baseliner.
Tomorrow, a weary Novak Djokovic will play Rafael Nadal in a third consecutive grand slam final. Same combatants, different venue. Nadal has never played Federer in three straight finals. Djokovic and Nadal have won the past seven slams. A new order that has almost gone unnoticed.
In the new order, the baseline rules. Forehands and the second serve are huge, and mental hardness matters more than variety, as Djokovic's laborious five set, almost five-hour escape from a tougher Andy Murray attested. And as in most team sports, it is the better defence that tends to prevail.
WHILE Andy Murray had a nasty first-round match against a talented youngster that lasted more than three hours in the furnace of Hisense Arena, Novak Djokovic spent less than half that time on centre court in a 6-2, 6-0, 6-0... more »
DEFENDING champion Novak Djokovic last night ensured a reprisal of last year's final against Andy Murray when eliminating David Ferrer but the scoreline is not an accurate portrayal of the drama that unfolded at Melbourne... more »
“Yeah, I know, Serena lost the first set to Makarova, I saw that. She was down in the second, too. You know this is how she does it. She’s not moving well, she’s shanking everything in sight, she’s about to bust her... more »
It's not that she didn't try, because she did. It's not that she wasn't fit enough to play, because she was. But Serena Williams, a five-time champion at the Australian Open, put in a performance Monday that she described as... more »
Email
Print
Share