End of Roger Federer era?
Roger Federer
Greek, Stefanos Tsitsipas is the first New-Generation (New-Gen) player to beat Roger Federer in two successive encounters this year. This week, beating Federer in the pre-quarters of the Australian-Open has immortalised his name in Tennis. He has been registering his presence for a while. Now he is matured enough to win. Aging Federer showed signs of giving up in the fourth Set, which was not expected of him.
Tsitsipas’ game is like no other. He is not built like Hercules. He is lanky, mobile and flexible. The signature aspect of his Tennis is his ‘speed’. He has tremendous speed in stroke making, speed in court coverage, it looks like he has canny anticipation and a ‘never say die’ attitude. Like the dance of Zorba the Greek, his Tennis exhibits emotion, defiance and the vibrancy of youth. A player changing rhythm easily and sustaining efficiency against Roger Federer is not something one would see every day. Towards the end the match, in the fourth Set, Federer could not accommodate the speed of Tsitsipas.
Giant killers – Ashleigh Barty
The slice backhand went out of fashion on hard courts and ‘top spin’ was the name of the game that won. This lasted well over two decades. Ashleigh Barty, ranked 15 in the world, was the last Australian standing in the draw. She got to the quarterfinal using the slice backhand effectively, when she beat Maria Sharapova in 3 Sets. Many have started to use the slice backhand which produces the under spin on the ball, slowing the pace of the rally and keeping the ball low. I believe the trend will stay.
Daniel Medvedev
At one stage, the all-weather hard courts were fast and not popular. The subsequent generation of hard courts are slower. It has made Tennis appealing to play and watch. Russian Daniel Medvedev is 6’5” in height, 22 years old and ranked 16 in the world. He nearly beat Novak Djokovic in the pre quarterfinals. Only a miracle saved Djokovic from Medvedev. The rallies averaged 20-over shots while some went to 41 shots. The match clock hit closer to 4 hours, it was a thriller. Slower courts in Melbourne made the match fascinating to watch. Medvedev, before losing to Djokovic, beat David Goffin of Belgium in a big win.
Danielle Collins
USA’s 25-year-old Danielle Collins is the other giant killer. She is a well-known American college player. Achieved her quarterfinal berth of the Australian draw beating German Julia Goerges ranked 14, French Caroline Garcia ranked 19 and again a German Angelique Kerber ranked 2. She is poised for the best Grand Slam performance yet and will play 8th seed Petra Kvitova. Collins performance already assures her close to AUS$ 1 million in prize money. Australian Open has a total prize money of US$ 60 million.
Naomi Osaka
Japan’s Osaka, winner of last year’s US-Open is the 4th Seed. In the quarterfinals, she will play seasoned campaigner, 6th seed Ukraine Elina Svitolina. This will be her real big test. In recent times, Ukraine has put out some of the strongest players. This nation has a strong sporting history. In the ’60s, Alex Metreveli reached the Wimbledon finals. Young Osaka will probably mature into a ‘world beater’ this year. She is already ranked 4 in the world.
Injuries and right training
Not all players could go at full steam. Dominic Thiem of Austria withdrew from the event with injuries. Nadal, up to last year, is known to have had 4 surgeries. He will have to take care. Halep is still nursing her back. She could not sustain the pressure on Serena Williams in the third Set, and went down.
ATP and WTA will put many stiff regulations to keep the game of Tennis appealing to the people. Some matches demand great deal of ‘work rate’. Like the match between Djokovic and Medvedev. The rest period after such encounters will need consideration to avoid breakdown.
Tennis has to entertain people present at courtside and the TV audience. Competition demands execution of shots with ‘tactical value’ during a match. This entertains sports spectators. To develop it, playing ‘Sets’ in training is the best known method. Players do not add tactical value to shots in any other way.
Refreshing Tennis
Although there are some exciting matches from the Men’s draw, it is the Women’s draw which is stealing the show at the Australian Open. If Tsitsipas can reach the final or, even win the title, then the Men’s events, will have more interest for the rest of the year .
Tennis, at present, is to accommodate professional Tennis, adjusting the scoring system and so forth. On the other hand, they are also making it tougher, bringing limits to time permitted between rallies. The Australian Open had two clocks running, indicating the time available between rallies, 25 secs. and 90 secs. between side change. Good many players received warnings for violation. These warnings will reduce players’ prize money.
Tennis Australia came up with a refreshing exhibition of Tennis. It blew away some grey clouds that hung over global Tennis administration. Players carry the game through in turbulent times, the Australian Open reiterated it. Fresh from recess, players looked fit and physically trim and provided a youthful presence.
George Paldano, Former int. player; Accredited Coach of German Federation; National coach Sri Lanka & Brunei, Davis-Cup, Federation Cup captain/coach– contact 94 77 544 8880 geodano2015@gmail.com -