Well, well, the AO is turning out to be the tournament of the unexpected. Sharapova prevailing today was probably the most (only?) expected thing in the past few days.
And I'm not just talking about this year. After 2004, when Justine and Federer rather expectedly won their respective titles, there were Justine and her stomach conceding the final to Mauresmo in 06, and Serena crushing Sharapova last year. Then there was Safin defeating Federer in the semi-final and winning the thing in 05, Baghdatis reaching the 06 final and Gonzalez last year's final.
No need to go into all of this year's surprises but I think it is significant that Justine, Federer and Nadal were gone before the final. I wonder if this bodes well for the rest of the year, in that there may be more colour in the tapestry. We'll see...
Anyway, there can be only one (man and one woman), of course, and much as I do like to see fresh faces and strokes, I have to say that one of the last two men left endears himself to me more than the other. No prizes for guessing which and which.
My non-expert opinion: if Djokovic wants too much to win, he might just lose. Ha ha, is that profound or what. Now that he's a top player, he seems to be losing his 'free spirit-ness', what with the expectations that come with being the world #3 -- his own and everyone else's. So, although he says that both he and Tsonga have nothing to lose, he's got more to lose than Tsonga and he will be less able than Tsonga to play with wild abandon, etc.
So, anyway, we shall see, too...
Cute picture from the AO site.
And I'm not just talking about this year. After 2004, when Justine and Federer rather expectedly won their respective titles, there were Justine and her stomach conceding the final to Mauresmo in 06, and Serena crushing Sharapova last year. Then there was Safin defeating Federer in the semi-final and winning the thing in 05, Baghdatis reaching the 06 final and Gonzalez last year's final.
No need to go into all of this year's surprises but I think it is significant that Justine, Federer and Nadal were gone before the final. I wonder if this bodes well for the rest of the year, in that there may be more colour in the tapestry. We'll see...
Anyway, there can be only one (man and one woman), of course, and much as I do like to see fresh faces and strokes, I have to say that one of the last two men left endears himself to me more than the other. No prizes for guessing which and which.
My non-expert opinion: if Djokovic wants too much to win, he might just lose. Ha ha, is that profound or what. Now that he's a top player, he seems to be losing his 'free spirit-ness', what with the expectations that come with being the world #3 -- his own and everyone else's. So, although he says that both he and Tsonga have nothing to lose, he's got more to lose than Tsonga and he will be less able than Tsonga to play with wild abandon, etc.
So, anyway, we shall see, too...
Cute picture from the AO site.
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