Australian Open Recap – Serena And Federer Cement Their Place As Tennis Immortals
The 2017 Australian Open ended with a fabulous five set classic between Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal, with Federer prevailing 6-3 in the fifth set. Federer got off to a quick start and took the first set, which is always critical for him, especially against Rafa. They traded the next three sets with each raising their level at the same time the other’s dropped off. Federer played a sloppy opening game in the fifth and was broken. Rafa struggled in his next two service games, facing break points in each, but held on while Federer held serve handily. Down 3-2 with Rafa serving, Federer finally broke back, capitalizing on his sixth break point of the set as Rafa’s forehand started to beak down just a bit. Fed held serve easily again to go ahead 4-3 and Rafa again fell behind on his serve 15-40. But, ever the fighter, Rafa fought back to deuce. Fed got a break point after an incredible point filled with both men hitting with unbelievable power and precision but he couldn’t convert. But he got another break chance and didn’t let this one get away. Fed, who had no trouble on serve since the first game of the set, fell behind 15-40 as Nadal was not going to go quietly into the night. But, like Rafa in the prior game, he was able to come back and level the game at deuce with a big serve and a big forehand. I believe Rafa then got a break point but Fed served his way out of it. Fed then won the next two points to close out the match, winning match point on a ball that caught the sideline as Nadal’s challenge failed, and won the 18th and most improbable major of his career.
Federer was able to win this match because his cross-court backhand could penetrate Nadal and he won some big points with big first serves. Both those shots were aided by the faster hard court surface here at the Aussie Open. In addition, Fed did not seem to tire in the fifth set as has happened in the past and went for his shots as though he had nothing to lose. The six month layoff porbably helped with both those aspects. Nadal was clearly devastated by the loss as this was the second Australian Open that he had been up a break in the fifth set and was unable to close it out. But he has everything to be proud of in this match and the tournament showed that he will again, barring another injury, be a contender this year.
In the women’s final, Serena was unstoppable and took care of Venus 6-4, 6-4. With her 23rd major title Serena surpasses Steffi Graf and is only chasing Margaret Court for the most majors ever. Both Federer and Serena cemented their legacies as the greatest of all time with these wins.
In men’s doubles, the Bryan brothers were trying to win their 17th Grand Slam title but came up short, losing 7-5, 7-5 to the team of Henri Kontinen of Finland and John Peers of Australia. The team of Kontinen/Peers seem to have the Bryan’s number, having won all three matches they have played against them.
In the junior girl’s final, 14 year old Marta Kostyuk from the Ukraine won a 3 set thriller over Rebeka Masarova from Switzerland. Kostyuk won a tight first set but seemed to lose her way in the second, losing that set 6-1. But she held her poise in the third and won the big points to take the set 6-4 and win the title. It’s always hard to equate junior success to the pros (just ask some American men) but this young girl is a true phenom. She has a lot going for besides her talented game. Her mother is her coach and that combo has been shown to be a bit more fruitful than having a father as a coach. In addition, she is managed by Federer’s current coach, Ivan Ljubicic, who was a longtime tour pro and will know how to prepare her and her team for the rigors of the tour. She is certainly a name to watch for in the future.