By Bill Simons
CHANGING TIMES: The temps drop 40 degrees. Women shiver on St. Kilda street. Fans slip into jackets and hoodies. What a difference a day makes in Melbourne, where they say you can get four seasons in a day.
THE SOUND OF SILENCE: The Melbourne morning rush hour is a collage of silence. Quiet boulevards and tranquil, almost monastic trams, where the only sounds you hear are mellow business commuters turning the pages of The Age, the morning paper.
DON’T FLIP OUT: Craig Willis said, “It never ceases to amaze me that people at sporting events who are there to toss the coin make it seem like they have a tarantula in their hand.”
MARK YOUR CALENDAR: Sunday’s Sloane Stephens vs. Vika Azarenka fourth-round match is a reprise of their controversial Aussie Open semi last year, when, some would argue, the savvy Belarussian used some heady gamesmanship when the match seemed to be slipping away, leaving the court for a medical time out and regaining control of the match. Perhaps wisely, Sloane didn’t take the bait when asked about the rematch: “Last year has nothing to do with this year. It’s a totally different year. A lot of things [have] happened.”
Okay, but we know Sloane really wants this one. BTW: Azarenka won her third-round match, against little-known Austrian trooper,Yvonne Meusburger in an hour, losing just one game. She has to favored, but the Sloane Ranger has to want some payback and has to be itching for this. Plus, she adores the big stage and the big moment.
A THING OF BEAUTY—FEDERER ON FEDERER’S BACKHAND: When broadcaster Richard Evans was asked to reflect on Roger Federer’s backhand, he said, “He hits it the way you are supposed to hit a backhand. It’s Roger being Roger. He sweeps through the backhand. such a lovely arc. It has a stamp of the old school. It always looks like he has so much time. He sees the ball so early, just like Jimmy Connors used to. And if you have that extra fraction of a second, everything thing seems so much easier.”
Inside Tennis then followed up with Federer, noting that many feel his backhand is one of the great strokes of modern tennis, and certainly one of the most beautiful. We told him, “You always seem to have time, and there’s always a fluid rhythm, so much balance.”
Roger explained, “It all starts with footwork. Without footwork, you aren’t going to be able to hit a backhand, or you’re going to be stretched so much [that] you’re not going to be able to hit one.
You’ve got to be able to react. [It’s] important to set yourself up so that you have options and you’re most dangerous for your opponent. It’s important to not always hit it in the same spot … [and to] disguise it … What you want to do is show your opponent that you can hit it all, so he doesn’t know where it’s going.
I can manage with the slice, topspin, and the flat backhand. I try to mix it. At the same time, I also need to be able to make enough in a row, just for consistency and also for my confidence.
So it’s an interesting shot, and it’s one I have worked on a lot throughout my career.”
IT then noted that Federer’s new coach Stefan Edberg had a fabulous backhand, and asked whether the Swede had helped him on that wing.
“Yeah,” replied Roger. “I’m just staying aggressive with the footwork, not leaning back too much, not getting too passive. You can have a tendency to do that with a one-handed backhand, because you can bail out and go to the slice. Everybody can, but a double-hander usually doesn’t. [With] the one-hander, it’s so natural to play the slice that you almost have to tell yourself to always stay on the front foot and play aggressive.”
WHAT A BUNCH OF (LUCKY) LOSERS: For the first time since 1973, two lucky losers, Frenchman Stephane Robert and Slovoakian Martin Klizan, met in the third round of a Slam. Robert won, to become the first lucky loser to reach the Aussie Open round of 16.
HELLO MUTTER, HELLO FATHER: When Caroline Wozniacki was struggling in her match against Spain’s 20-year-old Garbine Muguruza, broadcaster Courtney Nguyen said the Dane’s upset father Piotr was “muttering to no one in particular.” BTW: In her last four Slams, the former No. 1 Woz hasn’t gotten beyond the third round; six months ago, Muguruza had an operation on a broken ankle.
HOW COOL IS THIS? Sania Mirza, the daughter of Indian Muslims, is married to a Pakastani cricket superstar. Her doubles partner Cara Black, the daughter of a Zambabwean avocado farmer, is married to Brett Stephens, her Australian fitness coach.
YOU KNOW IT AIN’T EASY, THEY’RE TRYING TO CRUCIFY ME: Li Na doesn’t have it so easy, being a major role model under constant scrutiny by a huge country. She said, “Now I feeling a lot of pressure, because so many children, they look you up, what you do on the court, off the court. Right now I really … play tennis for myself. I cannot say bad word, otherwise the children will copy. So many bad thing I cannot do.
Even sometimes like we go to a party, we have a drink or something. The next day they put in newspaper, She like drink or something. But they didn’t put the situation. After I read the newspaper, I say, ‘Okay, I cannot even drink when I’m in the party.’ I say, ‘Okay, only water, healthy.'”
BULGARIANS IN BLACK: It was a great battle of next-generation stars at a chilly-but-jammed Margaret Court Arena when Canadian Milos Raonic faced Grigor Dimitrov. Enthusiastic Canadians waving their maple leaf flags were on hand. But they were out-shouted by six deep-voiced Bulgarians in black—especially when Dimitrov unleashed a spectacular down-the-line backhand pass at crunch time to power himself to a 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 win, and a place in the fourth round.
SHARAPOVA’S SERVE: Mary Joe Fernandez said that Sharapova’s serve is “still a question mark in every match she plays—first and second serve.” But then Fernandez claimed that Maria’s return of serve is the shot that has really let her down.
THE FRENCH SOUNDS OF THE GILBERT CLAN: Years ago, goes the tale, Brad Gilbert’s older sister is playing on Court Centrale at the French Open, when the chair umpire decides to pronounce her name with a French flair. So Dana Gilbert became Dana “Jill-berre,” and the local fans promptly presume she is a Parisian, rather then a Californian, and begin to root for her with plenty of hometown zest. Fast forward 32 years to tonight, when an unknown Frenchman, Stephane Robert, reaches the fourth round and—maybe just to even things out—Brad Gilbert pronounces his familial name to sound like the Anglo first name, rather then the French “Row-berre.”
RANDOM TAKE AWAYS FROM THIS DAY: It’s almost mid-way through this Slam, and Spaniards are dominating—what else is new? There are three Serbs still left in the tournament. Gael Monfils got more of a reaction than Nadal when he took off his shirt during a changeover.
