Of tennis with old guard’s return?
> This was the first Grand Slam of the Open era to feature four singles finalists over the age of 30. So what happens when the sport’s star names exit stage left?
TRADITIONALLY the tennis landscape can look very different at the end of an Australian Open. The year’s first Grand Slam event is a place where new talents can emerge and where results can regularly surprise as players struggle to find their feet so soon after the beginning of a new season.
In this century alone the men’s singles finalists have included Arnaud Clement, Rainer Schuttler, Marcos Baghdatis and Fernando Gonzalez, even if the women’s events have been more predictable, thanks largely to Serena Williams’ continuing domination.
This year’s tournament produced more than its fair share of surprises – most notably the early defeats of Novak Djokovic, the defending champion, and the two world No 1s, Andy Murray and Angelique Kerber – but what was most notable about the latter stages of both singles competitions was the fact that the shocks were generated by members of the old guard.
It was the first Grand Slam tournament of the Open era in which all four singles finalists were aged 30 or over.
The two champions were both aged 35, Roger Federer beating 30-yearold Rafael Nadal in the men’s final the day after Williams overcame her 36-year-old sister Venus, who was playing in her first Grand Slam final for eight years.
Tournament organisers, who had been concerned about domestic TV ratings, could not have been happier. Roger Federer (left) walks next to Rafael Nadal after his Australian Open victory on Sunday.–
Federer and Nadal have remained the two biggest attractions in men’s tennis, despite having been overtaken in the rankings in recent times by the 29-year-olds Murray and Djokovic, while the return of Venus Williams to the biggest stage captured the public’s imagination.
The Federer-Nadal final gave Channel Seven its highest ratings for a men’s match for a decade.
Similarly encouraging figures will no doubt have been recorded around the world, but while the Australian Open in particular and the tennis authorities in general might bask in the glory of their current crop of great champions, what does this tournament say about the future?
Delaying the changing of the guard at the top of the game may have a short-term benefit given the enduring popularity of the current generation of players, but what will happen when they finally leave the stage?
The Association of Tennis Professionals, which runs the men’s tour (but not the Grand Slam events or Davis Cup), has been doing its best to promote the game’s new talent and in November will launch the Next Gen ATP Finals, featuring the world’s best 21-andunder players, in Milan.
Alexander Zverev, the world No 22, is such an exciting prospect that he might qualify both for the new competition and for the World Tour Finals in London the following week. The 19-year-old German has a star quality about him that suggests he can become a major figure in the sport, but how many of his contemporaries have the same potential?
Much will be expected of the Zverev generation given that those who have had the misfortune to follow the “Big Four” of Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and Murray, as well as 31-year-old Stan Wawrinka, have so far struggled to make their mark.
Milos Raonic (aged 26), Kei Nishikori (27) and Juan Martin del Potro (28) have all been repeatedly thwarted by their physical frailties, while Marin Cilic (27) has not built on his 2014 US Open triumph.
At least Grigor Dimitrov (25) proved with his run to the semifinals here and his thrilling performance against Nadal that he might yet realise the potential that has been talked about for so long.
In the immediate months ahead, therefore, it seems that we can expect more of the same at the top of men’s tennis, though it remains to be seen whether Djokovic can rediscover his mojo after his alarming decline in the last seven months.
Murray, meanwhile, is as committed as ever and has the chance to build a strong lead at the top of the world rankings over the next three months given that he performed so moderately at the same stage last year. His defeat here to Mischa Zverev was surely a oneoff.
When Federer and Nadal both cut their 2016 seasons short because of injury the expectation was that this year would be dominated by Murray and Djokovic, with Wawrinka always an unpredictable joker in the pack.
However, what has happened here has changed all that. Federer must now be considered one of the favourites for Wimbledon, while Nadal will be looking forward to his return to clay and the chance to win his 10th French Open title.
Serena Williams, meanwhile, shows no signs of any decline. By winning her 23rd Grand Slam singles title here she eclipsed the Open era record she had shared with Steffi Graf. Now she needs only one more triumph to equal Margaret Court’s all-time record.
Once again Williams is promising to play a limited schedule so that she can concentrate her efforts on the Grand Slam events. It is a strategy that clearly works.
Having taken a four-month break at the end of last season, Williams returned to competition in New Zealand earlier this month, lost second time out, but came here and was as dominant as ever.
Traditionalists and romantics
All’s well again with Serena – but not Djokovic
After a disappointing 2016, Williams looked physically and mentally refreshed in Melbourne and if those two boxes stay ticked, she can win 30 grand slam titles never mind pass Margaret Court’s all-time best of 24. Djokovic also arrived with a point to prove but left with only more questions to answer, the Serb enduring a shock second-round defeat to Uzbek wildcard Denis Istomin. After winning four grand slams in a row, he is now without a victory in three, as doubts about his commitment continue to fester. For Djokovic, a new season brought the same old problems. Forty the new 30 in the era of the oldies Federer’s vintage five-set victory over Rafael Nadal provided a fitting end to a retro-flavoured Australian Open, in which the Williams sisters reconvened in the women’s final and 35-year-old Mirjana Lucic-Baroni reached the last four at a major tournament for the first time since 1999.
This is the only grand slam in the Open era to have boasted four singles finalists aged 30 or older and it points to a very real shift in tennis’ chronology. Players now stay fitter for longer, manage their schedules better and travel the world more comfortably, making the prospect of playing on far less daunting than it used to be. The game’s old guard may stick around for a good while yet.
Dimitrov has matured, Kyrgios not so much would no doubt love Venus Williams to build on her remarkable achievements here, particularly at the All England Club this summer, but it has to be said that the fivetimes Wimbledon champion had luck on her side over the last fortnight.
With so many of the top names losing early, Venus did not face a top 20 player until she met her sister in the final.
Angelique Kerber’s apparent unease at occupying the No 1 spot in the world rankings always suggested she might struggle here, but now that the 29-year-old German has a target to chase again she might recapture the form that took her to three Grand Slam finals last year.
What of the next generation? Karolina Pliskova (24), who was runner-up to Kerber at last year’s US Open, Garbine Muguruza (23), the French Open champion, and Madison Keys (21) all have the ability to win Grand Slam titles, but there is arguably no greater prospect in the women’s game than Johanna Konta (25), who will have learned much from her quarterfinal defeat here to Serena Williams.
Konta has enjoyed an excellent first month to the year, claiming her second title in Sydney and winning 12 of her first 14 matches of the campaign. Like all her contemporaries, however, she might just need to bide her time so long as a certain 35-year-old American wants to carry on winning Grand Slam titles. – The Independent