HAVING A GRAND OLD TIME
Aging stars dominate Down Under
The Australian Open may be the Grand Slam that North American tennis fans pay the least attention to, but this year, something special is going on Down Under.
As the sun was rising in parts of Canada early Thursday morning, Roger Federer was in Melbourne punching his ticket to the men’s final, in which he’ll face either longtime rival Rafael Nadal or Grigor Dimitrov. Just a few hours earlier, Serena Williams advanced to the women’s final, where she’ll face her sister Venus. The youngest of the three is Serena at 35, and time and injuries may dictate this is one of the last times we see these matchups in a final round again.
Federer, who returned to tennis after six months off to recover from back and knee injuries, was extended to five sets by Stan Wawrinka. Federer took the first two sets, but Wawrinka stormed back to take the next two sets after an injury timeout. That’s when Federer took a timeout of his own, returning to win the match 7-5, 6-3, 1-6, 4-6, 6-3.
“It’s real now. I can talk about playing a final for the first time. I’ve been dodging that bullet for a while,” Federer, who will play for his 18th Grand Slam singles title, said in an on-court interview after the match. “I’ll leave it out on the court and if I can’t walk for another five months, that’s OK … I think both of us never thought we’d be here potentially playing in a final.”
Serena Williams can’t say the same, but she had extra motivation as she beat Mirjana Lucic-Baroni 6-2, 6-1. Her big sis Venus had already advanced to the final. No matter what, she said, “a Williams is going to win the tournament.”
Venus, as the eldest of the three Aussie finalists, spoke up about her role as a 36-year-old inspiration who has overcome Sjogren’s syndrome to continue playing.
“What I will say about sport, I think why people love sport so much is because you see everything in a line,” she said. “It’s triumph and disaster witnessed in real time. This is why people live and die for sport, because you can’t fake it.”