Australian Open 2010: Serena's Battle Cry and Federer On The Sly

A few thoughts on the highlights of Day 10 of the Australian Open:

Serena’s Warrior Moment, No. 385

Never Count Serena Williams Out

It would be hard to pinpoint at exactly what stage in Serena Williams’s career we learned to avoid writing off her chances in any match until the very last shot. I can stretch my mind back to 2003, at this very tournament, when, after being 1-5 down against Kim Clijsters in the semi-final, she ran off with the next 6 games to record an astonishing comeback win. But others may have been witness to their own personal ‘Serena Moment’ at a different time and in a different match, maybe even earlier than 2003. I know that Serena had been slashing through the tour between 2002 and 2003, notching up her famous ‘Serena Slam’ in the process, so it seems conceivable that she staged a few more epic comebacks in that run. And yet, every new stunning fightback that the woman comes up with still continues to amaze me, as though the previous 384 comebacks had never happened at all. I’m not sure how much of that I can put down to her perceived lack of fitness and motivation that everyone seems to call her out for these days. I’m sure of one thing, however – if Serena is physically ‘unfit’, then she’s got the fittest mind ever seen in a tennis player.

Being down 4-6, 0-4 down against an inspired and powerful opponent should be a scary situation for most players, but that’s precisely what sets Serena apart from the rest of the tour. Rather than getting scared or worried, she got ANGRY, and, as is her disposition, she focused all of her rage into her strokes, stepping into the court and belting everything out of her way, letting the ball feel the full force of her fury. The shell-shocked Victoria Azarenka didn’t do too much wrong other than committing a double fault when down a break point towards the closing stages of the second set. But when Serena’s on fire, there’s not much anyone can do to stop her. It’s astounding how everything about her game seems to click when she goes on one of her anger-induced warpaths – her shots get more consistent, her serve acquires more oomph, and most importantly, her footwork takes a quantum leap and becomes efficient and even nimble. She’s a warrior, there are no two ways about that; and if being ‘unsportsmanlike’, as she’s often accused of being, helps her competitive instincts in any way, then I’d gladly take all the unsportsmanship in the world for just those few hours of pure, battling defiance that defines the player that is Serena Williams.

Novak Retires Retirement

When Novak Djokovic asked for a medical time-out after being broken in the 4^th set in his quarterfinal match against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, bets started being placed everywhere about how many more games it would take for Djokovic to call it a day and retire from the match. The man has a rather unfortunate history with mid-match retirements, famously (or infamously, if you must) retiring against Rafael Nadal in two different Grand Slams (and even claiming, after one of those, to have been ‘in control’ of the match, despite being in a 2 sets-to-love hole) and against Andy Roddick in the quarters of the Australian Open last year. Which is why the consternation amongst tennis watchers at his ill-timed time-out today was understandable. But the man hung in there, admirably showing plenty of courage and fight in trying to hold off a charged up Tsonga, who is playing his best tennis since his run to the final here two years ago. Djokovic ultimately lost in a lifeless 5^th set, but the resolve he showed in refusing to quit despite clearly being far from 100% fit would no doubt have helped soften his image in the tennis world. If only he would do something to bolster his stamina and fitness, now that he’s got the mental aspects of a match well and truly covered.

The whims of Lady Luck

It seems every time I’ve written something about Nikolay Davydenko this week, it’s been about one of his press comments. ‘Mr. Personality’, as Serena Williams dubbed him a couple of days ago, had said earlier this year that some of his losses to Roger Federer had occurred because Federer had been ‘lucky’. Well, luck certainly was on Federer’s side today, as he weathered an early Davydenko storm and eked out a 2-6, 6-3, 6-0, 7-5 win. The way Davydenko started the match, it seemed likely that Federer’s bid to reach a record 23^rd consecutive Major semifinal would be wiped out in record time, with Federer not even getting a sniff of a chance in a whirlwind 1^st set. The second set started in much the same vein, with Federer shanking shots left, right and centre and Davydenko clobbering the ball with tremendous consistency and deft placement. The score read 2-6, 1-3 and Federer found himself another 2 break points down, when something in Davydenko’s game snapped. All of a sudden he couldn’t find the court with his shots, wasting away the 2 break points through unforced errors, and then going on an extended slump-cum-meltdown. Federer, sensing the drastic drop in his opponent’s level, struck like a viper, and before you knew it, Davydenko had lost 13 consecutive games and was looking down the barrel of yet another missed opportunity.

Davydenko’s attacking, taking-the-ball-on-the-rise style does lend itself to peaks and troughs in his matches, and Federer should perhaps consider himself lucky that the troughs today were so prolonged and intense. There may have been a little strategic cunning involved too – after the match Federer revealed that he took a bathroom break at the end of the 1^st set because he wanted the waning sun that was apparently wreaking havoc with his eyesight to drop a little lower. The strategy may or may not have worked, but to ascribe responsibility for Davydenko’s sudden waywardness to a piece of trickery on Federer’s part would amount to reducing the game of tennis to an amateur sport played on the streets. Davydenko absolutely HAS to find a way to conquer his inner demons if he wants that Grand Slam title on his resume – even if it comes down to courting Lady Luck with all the flamboyance that he can muster. There are, after all, only so many windows of opportunity that fate throws at you.