Monday, February 9, 2009

Aussie Open Wrap-up

Federer v Nadal. One of the greatest sporting rivalries in not only tennis history but sporting history in general. The Australian Open finally got to witness these two players face-off in the final.

Federer was the favourite almost entirely because of the fact that Nadal had been involved in the longest match in Australian Open history in defeating Fernando Verdasco. It would take a mighty effort from Nadal to recover 2 days later and defeat Federer but he managed to do it. He didn't do it easy either.

It went over 5 sets and the pure athleticism and endurance of Nadal was a sight to see. It now seems that Nadal has got Federer's measure. Perhaps we may be seeing a new era in which Nadal begins to take over from Federer as the greatest to play the game. He has a long way to go yet but it certainly seems as though he has Federer all worked out. It will be interesting to see how many other slams Federer can win this year given that he is one away from equalling Pete Sampras' record of 14.

The reaction of Federer was quite amazing as he broke down in tears in making his runner-up speech. Uncoincidently Rod Laver was on stage both times he has done this at the Australian Open but the agony of coming so close to equalling a marvelous record would have played the larger part. I'm sure he'll comfortably beat Sampras' record but he will have to get past Nadal if he wants to take the record and re-establish his no.1 position in the sport.

Meanwhile i can't wait for the footy season to start. The cowboys and bulldogs have recruited well in the off-season so they will be teams to watch. The biggest question is how the Storm bounce back after losing their 2nd grand final in 3 years. They have been on top for so long so when will they come crashing down? Time will tell if its this year or not.

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