Weekly Lesson: A reversal of fortune plays out

Usually when Serena Williams is absent from a Grand Slam, utter chaos ensues in the women’s game. Top seeds crash out early. Draws open up; newcomers and obscure names come to the fore; big-match experience goes out the window. It’s anyone’s game.

On the men’s side, the top seeds usually do what they always do: survive early tests, extend lopsided records over their peers and end up in the semifinals.

Not so much the case this fortnight in Melbourne.

With Rafael Nadal’s quarterfinal exit at the hands of injury and Marin Cilic, 36-year-old Federer is the last of the Top 5 men’s seeds standing.

For the second major in a row, half of the men’s semifinalists will be making their first trip, as newer names like Kyle Edmund and Hyeon Chung both contend.

Now, it is the men’s game teetering on uncertainty as every major finalist since 2007 not named Federer is either dealing with some form of injury or loss of form. Speaking of Federer, he's doing his part by making his way into the semifinals.

As for the women, the draw is as stable as it's been in years. Simona Halep and Caroline Wozniacki, the No. 1 and 2 seeds respectively, are playing like it. They look battle-hardened after years of disappointments at the majors. Is this the tournament where one of them breaks through to their first Slam?

After hearing for years that the quality and depth of competition in the women’s game was worlds removed from the Golden Era of men’s tennis, the WTA may be turning the tables.