MELBOURNE — The soon-to-be-anointed greatest player of all time was once again out-fought by his most significant rival, putting a long pause in the discussion of Roger Federer’s place in history.
In a remarkable and gutsy performance, Rafael Nadal shook down Federer 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-2 in the Australian Open final, grabbing his sixth Grand Slam title and becoming the first man since Andre Agassi in ‘99 to win majors on three different surfaces. “It’s a dream to win here, one Grand Slam on hard court,” said Nadal, the first Spaniard to win the Aussie Open. “I worked very hard all my life to improve outside of clay.”
For the fifth straight time, the 22-year-old Spaniard proved that he has become a mentally stronger and physically more resilient player than Federer, beating down the normally cool-headed Swiss when the hours grew long and moments became tenser.
“There’s huge collateral damage from this match,” said Justin Gimelstob. “Now he’s beaten him on grass, clay and hard and there’s no barrier that hasn’t been broken. Hardcourts is the most fair surface and there are harsh realities to be dealt with.”
The WTA Tour has its own harsh realities to contend with, when in yet another devastating display of powerful, all-court tennis, Serena Williams crushed Dinara Safina 6-0, 6-3 to gain the title, proving that when she’s motivated and directed, she’s capable of dominating the game once again.
While Serena doesn’t have an all-court stranglehold over the tour like Nadal now has on Federer (see related Federer-Nadal story), in winning her 10th Slam title with a searing display of hard serves, rocket returns and perfectly placed groundstrokes, Serena looked just as fresh and spry as she did as a raw and ambitious 17-year-old when she won her first Slam title at the ‘99 U.S. Open. “I definitely think it was one of my most dominant performances, especially considering it was a final,” said Serena, who won her 20th overall major, including eight doubles titles with her sister Venus and two mixed doubles crowns. ”I was able to just lift the level of my game.”
This Serena may not be quite as quick as she once was and is a little more adverse to risk taking, but she is a more mature, well-rounded player, who knows how to weave her way through matches when she’s out of rhythm, and understands when her hands and feet are ready to work in concert with her racket, the balls and the court.
After coming back from a set and 5-3 down against Svetlana Kuznetsova in the quarters, she was more than ready to fly to her fourth Aussie title. And soar she did. At the majors, Serena usually scratches herself first with mediocre play, but once she launches herself into a zone, she bears her fingernails and takes deep cuts out of her foes’ arms.
“She has such mental power and puts so much pressure on her opponents with her mental toughness,” said her hitting partner and traveling coach Sasha Bijan. “The court seems so much smaller to them. I don’t know any person who can take so much out of her head.”
In the semis, Serena outran the fleet Elena Dementieva (who had beaten her three times in a row). This time, the Russian could come nowhere close to matching her accuracy or intensity. “Some players have to win to be confident. She’s confident, that’s why she wins,” Mary Joe Fernandez said.
While that may be true, Serena wasn’t cocksure of the title run. One of the boldest and most outspoken athletes on the planet, even she had room for pause.
“I’m human and I have doubt,” said Serena, who regained the No. 1 ranking with the victory. “I thought for a second today that even if I lose, people won’t see it in the U.S. because of the time zone change, and that’s kind of doubting yourself. Everyone has it and it’s how you overcome it that’s how you bring out the champion.”
Serena, the ‘08 U.S. Open champion, hadn’t gone back to back at the majors since ‘02-’03, when she won the U.S. and Australian Opens, the end of her vaunted “Serena Slam,” when she also grabbed the ‘02 French Open and Wimbledon crowns.
From mid-’03, the last time she won Wimbledon, through June ‘08, she had a couple of spectacular runs to major titles, but was far from dominant week in, week out. But from the time she banged her way to the ‘08 Wimbledon final and lost a heartbreaker to Venus, she’s looked focused, hungry and capable of being the world’s top player again.
Without question, the WTA Tour has been stung by the retirements of some of its super elite players over the past two years, most notably, former No. 1s Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin. It also didn’t help the strength of the Australian or U.S. fields that last year’s Aussie champion Maria Sharapova has been out with a shoulder injury since August.
But there’s something to be said for the survival of the fittest theory in women’s tennis and Serena has been on both ends of it — losing when hurt and winning when healthy. Plus, she’s beaten every elite player of note since she came on tour and if anyone deserves plaudits for consistently bringing her “A” game when it matters most, it’s Serena, who is 10-3 in major finals.
“It’s a lot weaker field, but you could put anyone on the other side of the court tonight and Serena would have won the match,” Fernandez said.
With her 10th Slam, Serena is now just two short of one of her heroes, Billie Jean King. The quickest way to get there would be to win the ‘09 calendar-year Slam, a feat that hasn’t been achieved since all-time great Graf accomplished it in ‘88.
Given that she hasn’t performed particularly well at the French Open in the past few years and that many of her closest competitors are excellent clay-courters, it will be more than a tough go, but her chances can’t be easily dismissed. After all, she’s the glorious Ms. Williams, and Serena believes she’s the gold standard in her sport. She just might be.
“I know I can do Wimbledon, but the key is the French,” Serena said. “Last year, I put way too much pressure on myself and I was tight and over-hit. But if I’m fit and more positive, I can do it.”
