The Week-After Blues

Hitting the blues in Melbourne.

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Oz ’13 – Answers to Questions

The scorching sun has finally set on the first Major of 2013.

So, no one actually died of sunstroke, no one disturbed the established order, though Sloane Stephens made a dashing statement for the teens and Wawrinka came as close as possible to beating Djokovic without actually doing it, and the Slam remained as Happy as it could be. But what about the questions we had decided to ponder over earlier? Did we come any closer to unraveling these profound issues?

Can Murray go higher?

Well, he didn’t go higher in this tournament, but he showed us that he has the appetite to. His run through the draw was impeccable, and his match against Federer in the semis was as convincing as a 5-set victory could get, with the Swiss whiz always playing catch-up. In the process, Murray managed to accomplish something for the first time in his career – defeat Federer in a Grand Slam. All this bodes well for the Scotsman. It shows he is still using the momentum from the US Open to move on to better things. But his running out of steam against Djokovic in the final definitely did not help his cause. He is now getting into the rarefied heights where only more Grand Slam titles will conclusively prove anything. So till then, he remains one step below the Big 3 of Djokovic, Federer and Nadal in terms of big-match achievements.

Does Radwanska belong?

Along with Serena, Radwanska was the woman among the Top 4 who didn’t make it to the semi-finals. But while Serena’s loss to Stephens was easily the upset of the tournament, Radwanska’s loss to Li Na did not even register as a shock among many people. And therein lies her problem. When it comes to challengers, she puts them away with elan, but when it comes to peers and opponents higher up in the pecking order, it has always been a toss-up with her at best. Until she changes that perception with a string of consistent performances against top-ranked players at the Majors, Radwanska, unfortunately, does not belong.

Is the Chennai Open a valid momentum-builder?

This one was always going to be about Tipsarevic, wasn’t it? For all the great Chennai efforts of players like Agut and Paire, it was always going to be someone with established big match credentials against whom this hypothesis could be tested. And it did seem to hold good for a while. Tipsarevic got off to a great start in the first round in a very tricky match-up against Lleyton Hewitt, and then followed that up with two back-to-back 5-set victories. I like to think that this confidence of closing out long-drawn matches comes with the experience of winning recent tournaments. But that same experience of a string of long matches also results in injuries, and it was a sad sight to see him hobble off the court against Almagro in the fourth round. On the whole, I prefer to leave this question still open.

Can Stosur play in Oz?

No she cannot, seems to be the simple answer. In her own words, she choked her second round match away, but I think most people did not expect her to go beyond that stage to begin with. Future prospects at the Australian Open look grim to this sentimental favourite of mine. Each early exit from the Open reinforces the mental block she has, in everyone’s mind, most of all, hers. Maybe she needs to do something drastic to shake things up. Like change her nationality, perhaps.

Will the Big 3 give us more drama?

First, they took their designated spots in the semi-finals without too much fuss, which showed that the concept of the Big 3 remained as relevant as ever. Djokovic had already conjured up his customary Houdini act to get to that stage, and that only seemed to make him stronger for the crunch matches. The first match-up among them, the second semi-final between Federer and Murray, was enthralling without being a classic. The fourth set tie-breaker was vintage Federer, but for the rest of the match, Murray looked tougher, fresher, and younger. The final again, had its moments in the first two sets, before Murray’s wheels came off and Djokovic pulled away. So, no, the Big 3 did not give us the kind of consistent high-octane drama that we’ve unjustly come to expect from their matches, but they still produced tennis of the highest quality to keep the Big 3 storyline very much a subject to be followed this year. We just need Nadal to get back into the fray now and script the next fascinating chapter.