Wrapping up the 2014 Australian Open: 11 things we took away from the tournament

Stanislas Wawrinka with his beloved Australian Open trophy

The first Grand Slam of the year ended on a slightly awkward yet promising note last night. The past fortnight offered tennis fans around the globe a lot to chew on – from unexpected early exits to unexpected rising stars, all set against the sweltering heat of Melbourne that pushed players to the extremes of physical endurance and mental fortitude.

Readers will sympathize with me when I say that the end of the Australian Open has left a significant void in my schedule (I have to confess here that my clock was set to the Australian time zone), and that I am experiencing withdrawal symptoms. So what better way to cure our tennis hangovers than to take a trip down the past two weeks of tennis awesomeness. Here’s what I took away from this year’s Australian Open:

1. No matter what the rankings and records state, a Federer-Nadal match is as close to a Superbowl event as tennis can get. The 33rd meeting between the pair ended with the Spaniard winning in straight sets and a lot of Roger fans (including me) going through an emotional roller coaster. But take a moment here to pause and soak in the glory of this rivalry that has benefited tennis in more ways than one can imagine. Even people who do not regularly follow the sport switch on their television sets to see these two champions play. Isn’t that a comforting thought?

2. There is a new Swiss champion in town folks, and his initials aren’t RF. Stanislas Wawrinka shot up the rankings to World No. 3 with his win in the men’s final, and it will be interesting to see how he handles being a Grand Slam champion going forward. He has a brilliant serve and a forehand to beat all forehands. Plus, he defeated both Novak Djokovic and Nadal to lift the trophy, which should put to rest any doubts about the status of his worthiness. Let’s hope he does not go the del Potro way, and instead scales further new heights. On a side note, the bromance between Roger and Stan is pretty cute!

3. Li Na was crowned the women’s champion and it was refreshing to see a champion speak so candidly and uninhibitedly to the crowds. Well done to Dominika Cibulkova as well for playing a fantastic tournament, defeating both Sharapova and Radwanska enroute her maiden Grand Slam final. The icing on the cake, of course, was Li Na’s brilliant, hilarious winner’s speech, which left everyone with a smile on their face.

4. Staying with the women, the curious case of Agnieszka Radwanska continues to haunt me. There are few players who have the intelligence to read the game as well as the Pole and that smartness was on display when she provided a masterclass in tennis to defeat defending champion Victoria Azarenka in the quarterfinals. With no Serena Williams and Sharapova left in the draw, this could have been the moment for Radwanska, but she played a completely zombie-like match against Cibulkova in the semis, winning just three games. Here’s hoping she has her breakthrough moment sooner rather than later.

5. Although I personally do not believe that superstar coaches necessarily lead to superstar results, it was great to see Boris Becker, Stefan Edberg, Ivan Lendl and Magnus Norman in the players’ boxes during the tournament. And for all Rafa fans out there, it is safe to say that Uncle Toni is a superstar coach in his own right, no?

6. From courting photographers to reaching her maiden Slam semis, Eugenie Bouchard was the talk of the town. The Canadian teenager proved that she has the game to go with her glamour, and turned in a fine performance over the fortnight. Apart from the minor Justin Bieber blip, she did nothing wrong and there is no shame in losing to Li Na, who is infinitely more experienced than the youngster. On the plus side, she has managed a collection of stuffed animals courtesy the Genie Army!

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – JANUARY 23: Eugenie Bouchard of Canada serves in her semifinal match against Na Li of China during day 11 of the 2014 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on January 23, 2014 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)

7. The Australian Open has been a happy hunting ground for Novak Djokovic in the past – he has won four titles here. Yet, his quarterfinal exit did not surprise me. He is a phenomenal hard court player and consistently makes it to the semis and finals of most Grand Slams, but he is nowhere close to his 2011 form when he won 3 Grand Slams. He needs to regroup and rework his strategy if he wants to add to his tally.

8. I am sure that both Pete Sampras and Chris Evert were invited to present the singles trophies in the hope that Nadal and Serena would be victors. Ironical then that neither of the two events happened. Nadal and Serena can reach those milestones at the French Open later this year where they are both defending champions. Another eerie similarity between the two – they both had back injuries during their matches.

9. Bulgarian player Grigor Dimitrov finally lived up to his nickname of ‘Baby Fed’ by reaching the first Grand Slam quarterfinal of his career in his 13th attempt. He took a set off Nadal and played a great match for the first two sets. It remains to be seen how well he plays moving forward and how he handles the media scrutiny over his relationship with Maria Sharapova.

10. Nadal’s hand blister became such a huge talking point that there was a Twitter account dedicated to it! The cameras zooming in on his hand whenever he took a medical time out, trying to get a better look at the blister, just added to all the drama.

11. Every player talks about how amazing the facilities are at the Australian Open and how it is the ‘Happy Slam’. Record crowds come to watch the matches and their involvement is fantastic as well. For me, the tournament has become synonymous with Kia Motors and their Australian COO who always speaks after the finals, despite the fact that all the fans want to see is the players talk. It is quite funny. Jokes apart, credit to the tournament organizers and sponsors for a fantastic event and here’s looking forward to a great tennis year!