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The “Rafa Slam” wasn’t the story.
The 2011 Australian Open did not represent a massive changing of the guard, but what it did show is that there is new blood on the horizon with the potential to rise to the top. For the first time in many years a handful of new players appeared who may have the potential—may–to go near the top of the game.
The year began with much excited talk about Rafael Nadal’s chance to achieve the “Rafa Slam,” which would have been four consecutive major titles. But sadly, the great Spaniard’s body failed him again and he never had a true shot at the feat, tearing a thigh muscle in the second game of his quarterfinal loss to David Ferrer. In a rare show of irritability, Nadal later chided a Spanish journalist who intimated that humble Nadal himself had named his quest “the Rafa Slam.”
Two familiar names reached the men’s final – winner Novak Djokovic and runner-up Andy Murray. But it was only the second time in the last 23 majors that neither Federer or Nadal weren’t part of a final day. That clearly too juice out of the occasion.
On Australian TV,…
