2014 Australian Open Preview

Page 9

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Roger Federer Wins Grand Slam No. 18

Can he do it? Well, opinions vary, but we sure as heck want him to do it. Why? Well, why not? He’s one of the greatest to ever play the game, and he could have retired after Wimbledon in 2012, leaving his legacy relatively untarnished for all of us to ponder. Instead, Federer has continued to play the sport he loves, undaunted by the fact that he now has to scratch and claw for victories against many of the rivals that he used to dominate. Yes, age is catching up to Federer and his greatness is proving more difficult to summon on a consistent basis, but his willingness to lace ‘em up and keep questing for glory has impressed us almost as much as his regal domination of the sport and gentlemanly respect for its traditions and decorum over the years have.

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Kimiko Date-Krumm Becomes the Oldest WTA Title Winner

Is it too much to ask that the ageless wonder notch a recordsmashing title before the season is done? That’s what we’re hoping for Japan’s Kimiko Date-Krumm, a former world No. 4 who returned to tennis in 2008 after a 10-year hiatus. In doing so, she wowed fans with her determination and anachronistic yet divine strokes, which have made her a fan favorite everywhere from Tokyo to Timbuktu. Krumm is already the WTA’s second-oldest title winner (she did that in Seoul in 2009), in addition to being the second-oldest player to reach the third-round of a Grand Slam (she did that in 2013 at the age of 42), but we’re hoping that her best and brightest age-related achievements lie ahead of her. Fingers crossed.

2014 Australian Open Preview

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