MELBOURNE—After the fireworks, there is . . . the sleep. Last night was as late as I’ve filed an article, 3:00 A.M. or so Aussie time. Part of it was waiting for Roger Federer and then Rafael Nadal to come to the interview room, but part of it was also just time spent coming down from a great match with a hair-raising ending, and an event-filled day of tennis. Noise complaints aside, this has been a good women’s tournament. The new top tier did what they were supposed to do, and we got a pair of chaotically entertaining semifinals yesterday. Still, that story has been drowned out, literally, by the squawk talk. The Herald-Sun's article on the upcoming women's final comes with this headline: "Azarenka-Sharapova is the squeal deal." As I said the other day, the best reason to do something about shrieking is to stop the stories about why nothing is being done about shrieking.
The first men’s semi wasn’t bad, either. Nadal talked in his presser about how unlucky Federer has been at the Grand Slams lately, and Federer must feel snake-bit again after this one. He had a break point at 4-5 in the fourth and played it perfectly, until Nadal ran out of his shoes and dropped a lob smack on the baseline. Before that shot, as Rafa was starting to tighten up on serve, I had begun to think: What if it’s Nadal’s turn to lose after having match points? A few minutes later, it was over.
The upshot is that I opened the hotel curtains this morning to be greeted by the Melbourne sun at noon. I had no idea what time it was—amazing what hotel curtains can do. Which means I better get to my Grounds Pass.
Links: *The Australian*; *The Age*; *Herald-Sun*
Not So Fast
We’ll go off-court, and nearly off-road, to start. It seems that Bernie Tomic’s vaunted new maturity has hit a speed bump. The 19-year-old was pulled over yesterday for the second time in recent months for driving a tad rapidly in his bright orange BMW. This time, Tomic kept driving, straight to his house, where he reportedly locked himself inside while the police waited on the front lawn in what was termed a "stand-off." Tomic claimed the cops have it in for him: “The police officer wanted to hit me,” Bernie claimed. “I don’t know what I am doing. It’s like I killed someone.”
All of which didn’t make Aussie Davis Cup captain Pat Rafter look too good. Even as Tomic was burning up the road near his Gold Coast home, Rafter was talking to interviewers about how much his new star had matured in recent months.
“I was very critical of him last year,” said Rafter, who wasn’t happy when Bernie, against team rules, brought his girlfriend along to team functions during the September tie against Switzerland. “He wasn’t in the right head space. The improvement he’s made, he’s gone in the right direction and he impressed me over the summer.”
Tomic: Still confounding. Fair or not, entitlement has always been part of his persona, and it still is.
Puncher’s Chance
Andy Murray is back with another column for The Australian today, a day of reckoning for him. Despite the constant references to boxing and sushi, his articles have been fairly revealing. It's obvious that Ivan Lendl has had a significant effect on him already.
Murray talks about how he hung out with Novak Djokovic last year in Oz and organized football friendlies with him. Not this time. Lendl has taught him to distance himself from his rivals, and that something like football on the side is a waste of energy.
“You have to make sure you put all that to one side,” Murray writes. “I’ll be doing whatever it takes to win tonight. If that means hitting Novak to win a point . . . that is what I’ll do.”
Interesting that Murray wouldn’t just make this shift in his mind, but that he would announce it in print as well.
Then he goes to say what he’ll do if he beats Djokovic tonight: “You can bet on one thing," Murray informs us, "I’ll be tucking into some spicy tuna again tomorrow night.”
Ivan the Engine Driver
In other Murray-Lendl news, according to the Age, Rafter believes that just having Lendl in his camp has had an effect on the rest of the tour.
“It makes a psychological difference to the opponents,” Rafter said. “You know, they all talk about Lendl being in the box. So that obviously helps.”
Another Aussie legend, Fiery Fred Stolle, is even more impressed by what Lendl has pulled off. “He’s made a difference in two or three days,” Stolle says. “Lendl’s got him doing things that he didn’t do, and one of them is he doesn’t look up to the box when Lendl’s there. He gets the job done . . . [Murray’s] done it all his life [look up]. But he hasn’t had a coach that’s told him not to. Now he has one.”
Roger on the Run . . . Again
As of yesterday afternoon, the tennis world was once more Roger Federer’s for the taking. Most pundits thought his form was too good to be derailed, even by the great derailer, Nadal. Today, Federer wakes up to this headline in the Herald-Sun:
COULD ROGER BE PAST THE FIREWORKS?
“As outrageous as it might sound,” Scott Gullan writes, “it’s increasingly unlikely Roger Federer will win another Grand Slam title.”
I saw it differently yesterday. It may turn out that Federer won’t win another major, but I’m still surprised and impressed by his desire and ability to remain as committed as ever, even after everything he's won. His career, Slam wins or not, now looks like it will stretch longer than I would have guessed two years ago.
Credit Federer also for not rationalizing his losses by acting as if he’s in the twilight of his tennis life. He expects as much from himself as he did five years ago; anything else would be a rip-off to fans of the sport.
Muzz Buzz
Now, finally, we’ll see how far Andy Murray has progressed. Muzz’s ex-coach, Brad Gilbert, likes what he sees from the new partnership so far in the *Daily Mail*:
WHY MEATBALLS AND MELTDOWNS ARE OFF THE MENU
BG says he sees a technical change in Murray’s forehand: “There appears to be a greater shoulder turn to get more side on. It gives him greater power on the forehand to smack anything short away.”
I haven’t noticed this personally, but it’s one more thing to look for tonight.
So does Gilbert believe Murray has a shot? After a thousand or so words on why he’s improving, BG renders his verdict:
No. He’s going with the Djoker.