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SPORT
The Rock | Thursday 7 February 2013
Standing Novation
Novak Djokovic secured his third successive Australian Open title at the misfortune of Andy Murray, who he overcame in four sets MBEVIS
Marcin Bryszak
BALOTELLI The Enigma
25
Cherries The Ginger Zidane
31
TRIVIA Which three former Premier League players played in the 1994 world cup final? See if you’re right in the next issue, out Feb 21
LAST ISSUE’S ANSWER: Just ONE! Mario Balotelli (Man City)
jonnybyrnerocks@gmail.com
The first Grand Slam of the year always promises an electrifying atmosphere, high-octane dose of emotions and unexpected results. The Australian Open 2013 was always going to be a fascinating tournament, where clarity – at least temporarily, could be established on who is the dominant force in both men’s and women’s tennis. Novak Djokovic and Victoria Azarenka triumphed in this year’s tournament. They both had ups and downs along the way, both had to dig themselves out of trouble on numerous occasions, but at the end of the fortnight, it was the Serb and the Belarusian who were the last ones standing. Djokovic ended Andy Murray’s impressive run with a 6-7(2), 7-6(3),
6-3, 6-2 win and claimed his third consecutive, and fourth overall, Australian Open title. Over the course of the two weeks, the world number one lived up to his ‘tennis contortionist’ status – not just for his ability to twist and stretch his body to hit seemingly unplayable shots, but more to the way he wins his tennis matches. At times, we were not quite sure he would be able to straighten back up again. Against both Wawrinka in the fourth round and Murray in the final, Djokovic fell behind a set and was on course to lose the second set before he chose to stop being out of sorts, using his speed, agility and the ‘number one player’ aura to prevail. With the win, he has assured the doubters that he - not the rising star of Andy Murray - is the dominant player in the competitive men’s game. On the women’s side, the ladies’ champion, Victoria Azarenka, will not be remembered solely for her triumph in Melbourne, but,
more importantly, for the style in which she achieved the feat. She had to overcome the jeers, which came after she took a ten-minute medical timeout in her semifinal against American teenager Sloane Stephens. Azarenka came back after ten minutes and broke Stephens to win the match. Afterwards, The Belarusian was accused of bad sportsmanship and bending the rules to allow time to regain her composure. In her defence, the world number one said she was having breathing difficulties, as a result of a rib injury that needed to be fixed. Looking at the other main players, the tournament offered a few surprises along the way, but in general, there were no major upsets on the men’s side. The top four seeds reached the semi-finals in a major once again, despite the absence of Rafael Nadal. In fact, seven of the eight quarterfinalists on the men’s side were all top ten players – the only upset being Juan Martin del
Potro’s third-round loss to Jeremy Chardy; the Frenchman became the only non-top-ten player in the last eight of the tournament. Amongst the women, there were more surprising results. The biggest upset was the quarterfinalexit of Serena Williams, who was the favourite to win in Melbourne. Another slight surprise is the run of Li Na, who reached the final after defeating two top-four players – Agnieszka Radwańska and then Maria Sharapova, but came up short at the last hurdle, in the final against Azarenka at Melbourne Park. The most anticipated story is the comeback of Rafael Nadal, who is playing in a clay-court tournament in Chile at the beginning of February. He is hoping to gain momentum to carry on to the remainder of the hard court season and to the European clay courts. If Nadal is fully healthy, he shall be back to his best soon, joining Djokovic, Murray and Federer again at the top of the game.
Odds are against him He ain’t no Tim Henman Jonny Byrne
SPORTS EDITOR We live in an amazing decade for tennis. Not only have we been witness to Roger Federer, the greatest player ever to grace the game, but we have also seen the likes of Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, who would be successful in any era of the game. So, with Fed starting to fade a little and Nadal out through injury, you’d have to assume that the 2013
season is Murray’s best chance to add another slam to his US win last year. Well I’m not so sure. Call me a Murray pessimist but Djokovic looks better than ever right now, and I definitely see him snatching both the US and French Open from the grasp of the rest of the pack, (unless Nadal’s knee can hold up in France). As for Wimbledon, I’d never write off Federer on grass, whether he’s starting to age a little or not. Novak is 12/1 to complete the golden slam this year and I’d personally love to see him do it. It’s just a shame that it’ll most likely be Murray who feels the familiar sting of being oh-so-close because of it. Chuck into the mixer players such as Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, David Ferrer and Tomas Berdych and suddenly Murray’s chances look slim. I hope he proves me wrong.
Ash Hover
ASSISTANT SPORTS ED. Andy Murray - the Brit when he wins, the Scot when he loses. But with the backing of the United Kingdom, Murray can surely add to what I’m sure will be a long list of major titles, in years to come. After such an amazing 2012, he can only be looking onwards and upwards, and despite losing out on the Australian Open title to Novak
Djokovic, his epic five-set semi-final demolition of the legend that is Roger Federer must give him some well-needed inspiration. Murray is plying his trade in the most competitive era of tennis in decades, maybe even history. It seemed a lifetime before he finally got his hands on a major trophy, but let me tell you - Murray will be showering using the soap of titles over the next few years. The Brit called upon the nation’s Olympic spirit to propel his way to a tear-jerking Gold medal after Wimbledon heartbreak just a few weeks beforehand - And with the backing of a nation once more, Murray can surely emulate this form once more. His US Open title placed him amongst the best of the best - the so called ‘big four’, Murray’s odds are only getting better.