Kerber in ‘Aussie history’ victory
It takes ‘one good match’ to make a Tennis event memorable. Angelique Kerber and Serena Williams literally ‘made that match’ to make the Australian-Open of 2016 unforgettable.
It was women’s Tennis ‘at its best’. The world’s number one Serena Williams is known to do the best in Grand-Slam and she did just that. Then it was left to the challenger Kerber of Germany to rise up to the occasion to make a match.
This too happened in the most sensational way. Kerber was not known for this and the world doubted her ability, but Kerber believed in herself.
In a classic match Kerber won the title by not only beating the world’s number one but also by ‘breaking‘ her serve in the final game of the match, which is unmatched. Nobody has broken Serena’s serve in a final in Tennis history.
Matching reaction and strokes
Most of Serena’s opponents succumb to her game plan, delivery of power, speed of movement and high-end body reaction. Unbelievably Kerber matched all of it and that surprised Serena.
Kerber was also able to ‘engage’ Serena in equal terms from the very first moment of the match to extend the rallies to seventh and eighth shots. Serena was not ready for it and went into several ‘unforced errors’.
What more, Serena’s winners also started to come back and it rattled her in the first set. From what I saw, both these players have the best ‘return of service’ in the women’s world. They broke each other’s service games many times.
The aspect that gave Kerber the advantage is her effective all-court game. Her astonishing reaction capability not only matched Serena’s but also permitted variety.
Whenever Kerber was down, she fought back. In fact, in her first round match Misaki Doi of Japan, Kerber had a match-point against her.
Here too, it was her all-court game that saved her. The classic of it came when Kerber lost her serve at 5-3 in the final set, then fought back to break Serena’s serve to win the title.
Goodwill of Serena
Losing in 2015 US-Open Serena went into emotional stress and withdrawal syndrome. It came out as calling off participation the rest of the season.
This time after the finals she showed herself as a generous and a gracious loser and as a person who understood the nature of sports. It reminded me of the interview Roger Federer gave last year after losing a match.
He said ‘having won well so long people expect me to win every match. I myself am to be blamed for creating ‘this monster’ within me.
It is alright to lose a match’. At the players press meeting Serena too expressed a similar sentiment. She seems to have come to terms with the two imposters of winner and loser as an inherent aspect of sport. It is the skill and performance that makes one enjoy the game and which counts in sports.
Milos Raonic’s memorable run
In the men’s singles it was the achievement of the Canadian that stole the show. Raonic was born in Monte Negro and went to Canada. For the past so many years he has kept the Canadian flag flying in the ATP circuit.
Often his good performance is disturbed by injuries. He is unusually tall for a Tennis player. Although it gives him good reach it also gives poor reaction speed.
Last year he took time off to correct this shortcoming. To my memory, this was the best Tennis Raonic has ever played in a grand slam.
This year he has already beaten Federer, Stanislaus Wawrinka and very nearly got past Andy Murray in the semi-finals if not for the injury he seemed to suffer. This is the highest he has reached in the Australian-Open.
Raonic is a service-specialist. Often he sends the ball well over 220-kmph and registers 70 percent efficiency. This is being a superman in Tennis.
His serve and volley game often was too much for his opponents to handle. It was his net game that beat Stanislaus Wawrinka in the quarter-final. He has always shown to be able to play three strong sets and wane in the fourth and fifth. He will probably cope with this as his body matures.
Djokovic’s phenomenal Tennis
Novak Djokovic will achieve what is predicted of him – that is to leave the game as the greatest player. This is the 6th Australian title win for him.
His physical, mental, skill and game is about the best, development Tennis has seen in a decade. What is that he cannot do, will need an astute sports detective to find out. In the semi-final against Federer and in the final against Murray, he simply showed the world how Tennis is played.
Britain, Konta and Zhang
Australian born British girl Johanna Konta was the most promising in skill, game and performance in Melbourne. This year, the ‘Brits’ invaded Australia. Jamie Murray won the doubles, Konta reached the semi-final and Andy Murray reached the final.
China’s Shuai Zhang reached the quarter-final showing a late spring at the age of 27 after being in the circuit for a very long time.
Her statement ‘I now like Tennis’ said it all as to how tough her life has been in the last ten years. She became the Chain’s number one with her performance in Melbourne.
* George Paldano, Former int. player; Accredited Coach of Germany; National, Davis-Cup, Federation Cup coach–. georgepaldano@yahoo.com