The first day of play at The
Australian Open was nothing short of extreme. Besides the
Aussie Summer’s annually impudent scheduling of a major
championship barely two weeks into the New Year, the
on-court temperatures on opening day soared above 100
degrees.
The stifling heat alone
carries the risk of extreme dehydration and can be dangerous
to any fan or player who dares prolonged exposure. Moreover,
it causes the rubbery Rebound Ace court surface at Melbourne
Park to become sticky and hazardous to players’ physical
health.
The sauna Down Under nearly
boiled top-seeded Maria Sharapova right out of the
tournament in the first round. Destined to be the eventual
tournament runner-up, Sharapova let a 5-0 third set lead
evaporate against Camille Pin of France before escaping 9-7
and would later describe her on-court state as “delirious.”
It was an omen of things to come for Sharapova.
Officials quickly decided to halt play on outer courts and
close the retractable roof above Rod Laver Arena until the
heat wave subsided a few days later. Ultimately for the
players, however, no court was safe as Roger Federer and
Serena Williams scorched the competition.
Serena Williams’ ranking had fallen out of the Top 100 in
2006, a year in which she played only four tournaments due
to a wide-ranging list of reported and speculative reasons:
injuries and lack of conditioning; disinterest in the grind
of the pro tennis tour; the siren-like call of Hollywood
glamour; distractions stemming from court trials revolving
around father Richard; and the tragic murder of her sister,
Yetunde. Just before the Australian Open was to begin,
Serena lost to unheralded Sybille Bammer in the 3rd round of
a lower-level warm up. It appeared as if the woman who once
held all four major championships simultaneously in crafting
“the Serena Slam” had been forgotten by the game she
formerly dominated. The press, the public, and her peers had
written her off.
Men’s world No. 1 Roger Federer, however, has been writing
his own headlines for the past three years. No matter the
storylines other players attempt to craft for themselves,
Federer refuses to be denied top billing. His extremely rare
losses are such an endangered species on the ATP Tour that
the few men who beat him each year find their moment
overshadowed by the very feat of conquering the almighty
Federer itself. Roger’s grip on the men’s tour is so
all-encompassing that even his losses are “Federer-centric.”
The pair of champions could not be more disparate. Williams
wears a fighting heart on her sleeve; or, in the absence of
a sleeve, on her audaciously lime green shoulder strap.
Over the course of two weeks,
she fought and clawed her way to form, staving off defeat at
the hands of fifth-ranked Nadia Petrova and up-and-comer
Shahar Peer – both of whom served with opportunity to
dismiss Serena from the tournament. Federer, on the other
hand, operates in a more classic tennis mold. He tightened
his death grip on the tour by becoming the first man since
Bjorn Borg at the 1980 French Open to win a Grand Slam title
without dropping a set. Amazingly, given the complete
dominance that Federer has enjoyed over his competition
while appearing in seven consecutive major finals, it seems
that Roger Federer’s game is constantly improving; a thought
as intimidating to the men’s field as Serena William’s
unmatched power and in-your-face fist pumps can be to the
women of the WTA.
The always fluctuating Serena
is a self-defined Renaissance woman who successfully flouts
the establishment with natural gifts, brute force, and an
indomitable will that arises from a peerless self-belief.
Federer is artistic, elegant, and cool under pressure while
being solidly entrenched as the world’s best player. Serena
admitted to looking toward Roger’s dominance as inspiration.
For his part, Federer is inspired by the game’s greatest
champions and the past legends with whom he is now competing
for the title of all-time best. Yet despite their many
differences, Serena and Roger share one key quality: both
are easily the best players of their generation.
Serena’s Torrid Tears
Who knows what is was like to be Serena Williams over the
past two years? After winning the 2005 Australian Open title
in much the same prideful, doggish manner as her run to the
2007 crown, Serena Williams all but disappeared from tennis.
She was already a major champion seven times over and a
former number one who raised the standard by which the best
tennis players on the women’s tour are judged. Not to
mention a multi-millionaire. Could anyone blame her if her
outside interests in fashion and performing began to be more
of a challenge than the mundane routine of professional
tennis. City-to-city and tournament-to-tournament, Williams
was flying the globe only to see the inside of one hotel
after another. A myriad of injuries and the requisite
recovery time they require only served to reinforce
interests away from the sport’s premier stages.
Assessing her potential at the start of the tournament,
Williams candidly admitted that no one believed she could
win outside of her mother and herself. Yet Serena is so
talented that self-confidence is all she needs to jumpstart
a run for any title she truly desires. Witnessing heartfelt
triumph after heartfelt triumph, it was hard to imagine how
anyone could have ever doubted Serena’s chances. Serena was
equally candid when addressing her fitness level and
criticism that she was too out of shape to contend:
“I’m definitely in better shape than I get credit for,” she
stated. “Just because I have large bosoms and I have a big
ass. We’re living in a Mary-Kate Olsen world. I’m just not
built that way. I’m bootylicious and that’s how it’s always
going to be.”
When the 2007 Australian Open championship match was finally
underway, it was Maria Sharapova who had the misfortune of
being Serena’s punching bag for two years of frustration and
devastation. Serena had overcome patchy form throughout the
tournament - the comebacks against Petrova and Peer; the
demolition of Jelena Jankovic, who was the hottest player
entering the event; the roller coaster semifinal against
Nicole Vaidisova – and she was now in fighting form.
Williams showed no mercy and no fear, smashing winner after
winner in a 6-1, 6-2 beat down that left Sharapova delirious
once again.
Serena’s ranking rose from No. 81 to No. 14 as she proved to
the current generation and the new guard that she is not to
be discounted, becoming the first unseeded women’s champion
since Chris O’Neil won the Australian Open in 1978. For
Williams and for tennis fans alike, the victory is a
professional reincarnation. Serena now has the opportunity
to reclaim what should be hers by right, if she so chooses.
There are certainly not thirteen players on the tour who are
Serena’s equal, much less superior to her. Sharapova hardly
looked like the world’s best against Williams and should be
reeling after that defeat; Kim Clijsters is retiring at the
end of the year; Martina Hingis has returned to good form
but plays a style of tennis that wasn’t even good enough to
beat Serena in 2001; and Amelie Mauresmo has lost the form
that brought her two major titles in 2006. Serena’s only
true obstacle may be Justine Henin, the Belgian with a fiery
sense of competition and the variety of shot to trouble
Williams. Henin and Williams are the two players who bring
the most intensity to their battles on the court, and it
will be good for women’s tennis to see both of them battling
for Grand Slam titles again.
Regardless of whether Williams holds true to her promise to
stay committed to tennis or whether she once again becomes
distracted by other endeavors, it is an older and more
world-weary Serena Williams who looks to the future in 2007.
On-court, Serena describes
herself as “the ultimate competitor,” but more opaque
emotions surrounded the murder of her sister, Yetunde Price.
The horrible incident did not go ignored as theorists
searched to explain Williams’ slide from the top of tennis;
however, Serena seemed to get little sympathy from her
detractors for the impact the death had on her psyche.
Rather than see Serena Williams as a human being, one who
had certainly accounted for herself professionally and
needed room to grieve, she was more often than not vilified
as an over-indulgent burnout that was wasting her enormous
potential. Serena played with a purpose to win the 2007
Australian Open and there is little double about her
motivations. How glorious it must have been for Serena
Williams to firmly grasp the champion’s trophy and pay
tribute to the sister she lost:
“Most of all, I would like to dedicate this win to my
sister, who’s not here. Her name is Yetunde. I just love her
so much. Thanks, Tunde.”
Federer’s Hot Streak
Glorious certainly sums up the reign of Roger Federer. In
collecting his 10th Grand Slam championship, he ties Bill
Tilden for fifth-most major titles in history. More
impressive, perhaps, is the fact that Federer is ruling in
the modern era against improved competition and on a variety
of surfaces.
Roger has won 36 consecutive matches and claimed six of the
past seven majors, his only loss coming in the French Open
final to nemesis Rafael Nadal. That elusive French Open
title will now become the center of Federer’s focus; it is
the only obstacle to completing a career Slam (winning each
of the four majors at least once) and seemingly the biggest
stumbling block to the Grand Slam – a sweep of the four
biggest titles in tennis over the course of one calendar
year. Completing The Grand Slam is the ultimate achievement
in tennis and a feat from which he was a mere two sets
removed in 2006.
The records he sets at breakneck pace are astounding:
Federer is the only man in the Open Era to win three
consecutive major championships twice; competing in seven
consecutive major finals ties him for most all-time; his
eleven consecutive Slam semifinals sets the record for
longest streak in history; and he is mathematically assured
of breaking the record for most consecutive weeks at number
one, regardless of the results in his 2007 campaign.
None of his peers come close to challenging him. No other
active player has more than three majors to his credit. That
honor belongs to injury-riddle Gustavo Kuerten, a three-time
French Open winner whose days as a factor in Grand Slam
tournaments is all but over. As he creates tennis history,
Federer simultaneously denies his peers their place in the
record books.
A resurgent Andy Roddick stormed through the tournament to
reach the semis with a form and attitude that suggested he
was finally ready to at least challenge the king, if not
beat him. Many pundits picked Roddick to upset Federer after
Andy demolished Mardy Fish in the quarterfinals, losing only
six games en route to his marquee match-up with the game’s
top-ranked player. Recently, Roddick had beaten Federer in
an exhibition warm-up match and taken him to the brink of
defeat at the 2006 Masters; however, Andy Roddick could not
live up to the hype when the moment arrived. It was a
complete reversal of fortune where A-Rod struggled to win a
mere six games throughout a demoralizing defeat that will
further erode his confidence in matches against Roger.
On the other side of the draw, tenth-seeded Fernando
Gonzalez of Chile was playing the best tennis of his life.
Under the tutelage of renowned coach Larry Stefanki,
Gonzalez tempered his go-for-broke style and constructed
points more thoughtfully without sacrificing his penchant to
hit screaming winners from the baseline. It was a formula
for impressive success as he ousted second-ranked Rafael
Nadal, fifth-seeded James Blake, and three-time Aussie Open
semifinalist Tommy Haas en route to a final round showdown
with Federer. Gonzo’s match against Haas was particularly
savage as he accumulated a ratio of 42 winners to a paltry 3
unforced errors!
Confidence and stellar play carried Gonzalez at the start of
the championship match, elevating him to double set point as
he served for the opener at 5-4, 40-15. Federer, however,
would not concede his history-making run lightly and knocked
off a brilliant volley to save the first set point.
Gonzalez’s chance for a major title may have turned on that
second shot at the set, when he had a defensive Federer at
net and open court aplenty for the pass. But Fernando hit a
tight shot into the middle of the net and suddenly the score
was even at deuce. In these small moments, Roger Federer
separates himself from the other players around him. He
pounced on the opportunity that Gonzalez’s nervous mistake
presented to him, surging forward to win the first set in a
tiebreak. After that, Federer never looked back in ending
the Chilean’s dreams of Grand Slam glory with a 7-6(2), 6-4,
6-4 conquest. The defense of his title complete, Federer
fell flat on his back and momentarily looked towards the
heavens, savoring his ongoing success with the exuberant
passion of a player claiming his first tournament victory
and offering a glimpse into the emotions that drive him
towards greatness.
The Future’s So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades
The precision, passion, and power that Roger Federer and
Serena Williams brought to their title runs at the 2007
Australian Open will not soon be forgotten. The season is
long and surely surprises are in store. Tennis, like life,
is constant only in its need to evolve. Yet there is cause
for excitement in Serena’s return to form and Federer’s
quest for history, and there is certainty in the knowledge
that precious few players are capable of denying the
continuation of their legacies.
