New Blood and OldMatt Cronin
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, ratings fell 20 percent from 2010 Federer vs. Murray final, and 40 percent from the Nadal versus Federer 2009 final. (Although attendance at the event set records.) When it comes to drawing world attention, Rafa vs. Roger still rules. The Real Story? But the real news was that three younger men made it to the second week. And two women showed breakthrough potential as well, going even deeper in the draw.
A Ukrainian coach's son, Alex Dolgopolov, had two huge wins, upsetting Jo Tsonga and Robin Soderling to reach the quarters before he fell to Murray. Then Milos Raonic became the first Canadian man since Daniel Nestor to reach the fourth round of a major.
And the tall and tricky Aussie teenager Bernard Tomic upset Jeremy Chardy and Feliciano Lopez before giving Rafa Nadal a brief scare. Tomic's emergence on the world stage was especially interesting, because of the differences in his style, much flatter and with extreme change of pace. The exact style that was supposedly extinct in the era of the huge, heavy topspin. But is it the player or the style that really matters? Then on the woman's side, we had Li Na and Petra Kvitova. But the question is, can any of these players, men or women, follow up with similar or better performances? Top or Drop? Will one or more shoot to the top—or possibly drop and disappear? Fans and the media get excited and then are puzzled when young players appear not to realize the flashes of potential they display. Time and time again players who score an initial success—think Alexandra Stevenson or even Jo Willie Tsonga—have had a difficult time repeating or improving their results. As they say, time will tell.
Dologopolov Dolgopolov's father Oleksandar played of the ATP tour and once coached 1999 French open finalist Andrei Medvedev. Dolgopolov plays like a coach's son, mixing a side-spinning one-handed backhand slice with a bullet of a two hander. He rolls and flattens out his forehand, shows deft touch at the net, moves extremely well, and thinks his way through points. But the 22-year-old is still raw for his age. He can go through mental lapses, and has a less than average second serve. Still he seems to have discovered a love for competing. Much of the credit for his rise goes to his new, eccentric journeyman Aussie coach Jack Reader, who was described by one Aussie paper as "a long-haired, thong-wearing beach bum." Reader took up with him full-time in the off-season and found Dolgopolov lacking respect and out of shape. That's no longer the case.
Then there is the big serving Milos Raonic, who upset Mikhail Youzhny and fell to fell to eventual semifinalist Ferrer in fourth round. Raonic is another example of a player who decided to go train and Spain and quickly reaped the benefits. Raonic once trained in Montreal but a few months back relocated his training base to Barcelona, Spain where he worked with former top-40 player Galo Blanco, and trained with top-15 player Nicolas Almagro. Raonic honed his ground strokes, strengthened his legs and grew in confidence that he could play with big boys. In part this is because, on clay, point construction and court positioning is put at a premium.
And as for US Tennis? That's the same thing that USTA Player Development coach Jose Higueras has been stressing to US players, but they didn't fare well at all. In fact, no American reached the singles quarters for the first time since 1987, which was pretty surprising at least on the men's side, as the Aussie Open is played on outdoor hard courts, which may be slower than the US Open, but are about the same speed as many US tournaments. With defending champ Serena Williams still out with an injury and her sister Venus out of shape after a long layoff, little could be expected out of the US women, but to have only Venus reach the third round and a slew of players 20 years old and under (Lauren Davis, Melanie Oudin, Christina McHale, Irina Falconi and CoCo Vandeweghe) bomb out prior to the second round was a little disheartening. Then on the men's side to have four men -- Andy Roddick, Mardy Fish, Sam Querrey and John Isner - enter the event with top 20 rankings and to have only Roddick reach the fourth round (where he was bullied by Stan Wawrinka) even caused USTA Player Development head Patrick McEnroe to say: "We've got a lot of work to do. We all saw it coming in the last couple of years and that's part of the reason why the USTA put more resources into Player Development."
Roddick, who has been the US's top ranked player since 2003, takes a lot of heat when he suffers straight set losses to men ranked below him (he hasn't reached the quarters of his last four Slams). In some ways he is growing tired of being the go-to guy, saying this after his defeat that: "It's tough. I remember last summer when I was catching all the heat for not having an American guy in the top 10 for the first time in 15 years. Didn't really make sense to me, that I was the one taking heat when I was the only guy that had been there for the last six years. I didn't know how I was catching it for that one." While the US strains to maintain relevance at the top of the game (that is until Serena returns), there were some intriguing story lines on the women's side that keep the sport churning as older, well-liked players with big personalities such as Aussie Open winner Kim Clijsters (who has perhaps become one of the most beloved players ever) and finalist Li Na, who had the crowds roaring with her unique sense of humor and also had China's government issuing official statements on what a good face she puts on for her country to the rest of the world.
While former colorful No.1s Dinara Safina, Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic all lost early, at least Ivanovic has made headway over the past six months and has cracked the top 20 again. But Safina, who was dusted 6-0, 6-0 by Kim Clijsters, is a wreck and seems to have lost her love of the fight. One young player, Czech left-hander Petra Kvitova, really looks like she has top 5 stuff, and rocked Sam Stosur and Flavia Pennetta out of the tournament. Armed with huge serve, a hooking forehand and a fine two handed backhand, the 2010 Wimbledon semifinalist has become a take-charge player, who once she matures a little more, has Slam-winning potential.
While controversy did not rage in the first month of the season, there was more than enough grist for the mill in Melbourne, as Justine Henin shockingly retired once again (allegedly due to her elbow injury) and released the information just hours before her compatriot and rival Kim Clijsters was to play her semifinal, forcing a large Belgian crew of journalists to pull all nighters.
The reunited "Indian Express" team of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi almost came to blows with the Spanish due of Feliciano Lopez and Juan Monaco after the Indians repeatedly taunted the Spanish players by shouting "vamos" after winning points. Maria Sharapova split from her longtime coach and close friend Michael Joyce, right before the tournament began, allegedly because a another coach whom she had hired to work with her , Sweden's Thomas Hogstedt, could no longer bear to sharing coaching duties. Interestingly, Hogstedt coached Li Na last year and was said to have been less than satisfied having her husband and now coach Jiang Shan around.
And then there was No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki. Wozniacki, reacting to criticism from two member of the North American press (myself being one) that her answers in press conferences were too manufactured and boring, decided to try and become an entertainer, delighting some reporters and frustrating others, especially the news wire services which bought into her "I was scratched by a kangaroo" story and sent it out to the world before she came back hours later and revealed it was just a joke. In the end, the joke was on Wozniacki, who despite letting out the full force of her personality failed to let her offensive game flourish and she let go of a match point against Li in the semis. Instead of re-entering her final press conference with a broad smile, she came to tears, as the weight of being a Slam-less No.1 is still too much of a weight for her to carry.
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