Tags:
Journalism of Courage
So much for all the pre-tournament talk about how Roger Federer was distracted,aging and vulnerable at the Australian Open,and how there were eight to 10 players here ready to knock him from his throne. After filleting Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in straight sets,now there is only one the scrambling Scotsman Andy Murray.
It took the worlds top player less than 90-minutes to showcase his touch shots,mastery of angles and all around court command and reach his 22nd Grand Slam final,a record,and an eighth in a row. He broke Tsongas serve in the fourth game of the first set,and then toyed with the Frenchman 6-2 6-3 6-2.
Its nice going through a match like that, said Federer. I think against top players,its always positive if you can win the first set.
No break point
Tsonga,a finalist here in 2008,and the No. 10 seed,had played back-to-back five-set thrillers,including a gruelling quarter-final victory over No. 3-seed Novak Djokovic. He was unable to make Federer face a break point,and said the worlds top player was just too much for him.
He was really good,and thats it, said Tsonga,24,who along with Juan Martin del Potro,Rafael Nadal and Djokovic were among the up and coming challengers ready to unseat Federer.
Now,it falls on Murray,who is playing in his 17th Grand Slam,the same attempt that Federer broke through at the 2003 Wimbledon to notch his first of a record 15 major titles. Murray also is carrying the hopes of the British Empire on his thin shoulders,as he tries to take down a Grand Slam title for the first time in 74 years when Fred Perry won the 1936 United States Open.
Federer has already won the Australian Open three times,in 2004,2006 and 2007,and is now through to his fifth final after losing an epic five-set clash with Nadal last year. He was confident,loose and jovial in the moments after the match,making it clear that he is at the top of his game.
I know hed like to win the first for British tennis in,what is it,like 150,000 years? Federer joked in a courtside interview. The poor guy has to go through those moments over and over again. Hes done tremendously. We match up well. Im looking forward to the final.
Paes in mixed final
Leander Paes earned a chance to equal the record for most Grand Slam title wins by an Indian after reaching the final of the mixed doubles event with Cara Black. In their semi-final on Friday,the top-seeded Indo-Zimbawean pair came from behind to edge past seventh seeds Lisa Raymond and Wesley Moodie 6-7 7-6 5 10-7. After losing the first set,Paes and Black were trailing 4-2 in the second set but succeeded in stretching the match to a super tie-breaker.
Paes and Black will take on 10th seeds Ekaterina Makarova of Russia and Jaroslav Levinsky of Czechoslovakia,who beat seventh seeds Flavia Pennetta of Italy and Marcelo Melo of Brazil 6-0 4-6 10-8 in their semi-final.
Paes has so far won 10 Grand Slam titles,including six mens doubles trophies. Mahesh Bhupathi has won the highest number of Grand Slam titles in India 11 with seven mixed doubles and four mens doubles trophies.
Serena-Venus keep crown
Venus and Serena Williams won their fourth Australian Open womens doubles title,beating Cara Black and Liezel Huber 6-4 6-3. The Williams broke Hubers service to open the second set and won the match when they again broke Huber,clinching it on a winning reflex volley by Serena. The Williams sisters won the Australian title for the first time in 2001 and added championships in 2003 and last year.
