Quarterfinal Surprise- Radwanska beats Azarenka

The odds that Radwanska would beat Azarenka were very low indeed.  I thought so too.  Radwanska would simply be no match for the power and sullen aggression of Azarenka.  But, I am going to hang my soothsayer boots and stick to commentating in retrospect.  Radwanska made Azrenka run from one corner to another, made her come to the net to meet her impossibly low and close to the net drop shots, made her scurry back to the baseline for lobs.  Radwanska moved like a demon and she could do no wrong.  She makes it to her first semifinal  of the Australian Open 2014 and awaits the winner of Bouchard V/s Na Li match.  Radwanska plays Cibulkova also called the pocket rocket as she stands at a mere 5”3in she would still be way shorter than Radwanska who is 5”8 in. But watching Cibulkova overcome Sharapova the Russian amazon who packs frightful aggression with her banshee-like screams and her sheer physicality was a spectacle in itself.  There is a gap of 23 ranks and 11 inches between the player and the when Cibulkova plays the backhand, her left knee almost touches the ground.  It was literally and figuratively a David V/s Goliath battle.  Dominika ultimately won the match 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, progressively getting better with every set. 

All my equations are going haywire and as a lover of sports, I couldn't have hoped for a better result and more thrilling entertainment- a more than enough return on my investment in expensive tour tickets and time.  No more predictable outcomes and every match throws up a new player who is a delight for sore eyes. Cibulkova now battles Radwanska and I have absolutely no idea of who will win given the sudden crest and tide in fortunes over three sets.  This ‘inspired play’ throws all my predictions off.  One moment everything is looking great for the usual culprit but then she makes unforced errors and couple with inspired play which is more to do with mental fortitude, the ranked player throws the gauntlet.  The term- play is more apt for the Cibulkova- Sharapova match.  Whereas I would credit Bouchard’s play without any inspired play bit to defeat Ivanovic.  Her composure was remarkable for a mere 19 year old who has no experience playing in such a big theater.  As it has been happening in women’s tennis these days, bigger ranked players who are everybody’s favourite to win matches just self-destruct.

 This year, the ouster of Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova in round 4 and Victoria Azarenka in the quarter finals has really brought in the diversity factor in the semifinals.  Of the four players, we now have Bouchard  who is all of 19 years and has never progressed beyond 3^rd round in a slam, Cibulkova who hasn’t made it beyond quarterfinals just once and only Na Li who won at Roland Garros.  Radwanska even though she hasn’t won a grand slam event yet is the only one who have held the no.1 spot and has made it as a runner up and into the semis at Wimbledon in 2012 and 2013 and quarterfinals in 2011, 2012 and 2013 in Australian Open.

Even though I have hung up my boots, old habits die hard and I say that Bouchard will beat Na Li, Radwanska will beat Cilbulkova.  It will be a Agniszka Radwanska V/s Melanie Bouchard Finals.

NEVER GIVE UP!

I always felt that Wawrinka chokes at the pearly gates.  He works all the five setters only to lose and being denied entry inside the golden gates of the slams. Case in point being his epic  battles with Djokovic at Us Open and Australian Open last, year.  A year and a tattoo -Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail Better- later, Wawrinka has announced his arrival on the big stage and demanded attention. The back hand that demonstrates elegance of a ballerina and the lethality of a knife made of German Solingen steel.  I thought Wawrinka will fall at the Djokovic hurdle and the first set Stan lost only served to fuel my anxiety- 2-6.  Thereafter he won the next two sets, lost the fourth set and I felt the match as well because experience tells me that anything that stretched beyond three sets against Djokovic is out the opponent’s bag and into Novak’s.  Except of course if he is playing Rafa. And the decider is always at the fag end of the game when it is a question of who blinks first.  But once you blink, then there is no creeping back out of that hole as today’s quarter finals proved. 

Both were evenly poised till the 7^th game of the final set.  Stan lead with seven games to six. Djokovic served to level at seven games each.  Wawrinka served in the 15^th game and held to lead at eight games.  Djokovic was now serving to stay in the match.  He took his time to serve, bounced the ball at least 12 times, that clearly was a sign that something had changed.  I think Novak fired an ace and then lost the first serve but managed to score a 15-30.  Then Wawrinka leveled score at 30-30 and suddenly it looked like Stan can make it after all.  And he did win the next two points to defeat Djokovic in the 5-set epic at the Australian Open. I felt that whatever was going on inside Djokovic’s heat during the dying moments of the match which was when the score was 30-30, ultimately lost him the match.  It is a break from the past where Djokovic has literally climbed out of the coffin, dusted the soil off his clothes and resurrected himself to stay in the match and wrestle it away from his opponent. 

This time however it was a different story.  The man with that perfect hyperbola of a backhand had won.  I might go so far as to equate it with the Beckham Bender.  Now the Swiss meets Berdych in the semifinals.  Berdych is another dangerous player but has languished in rankings albeit of the top ten variety.  Keeping him company is Del Po, Tsonga, Federer, Gasquet and Wawrinka.  Gasquet and Wawrinka have been recent entrants in the top 10 club as is Federer! As he won the the last set and the match, he smiled, truly the happy smile of a person who knows what he has achieved. He kept smiling and said “I am really, really, really, really, really happy” and I guess that says it all.  Stan admitted that when Novak plays well, Djokovic is a better player than himself. I interpret that as -Novak plays that level of tennis 'consistently' whereas Stan's brand of tennis is 'inspired' or the superb tennis happens in bursts. But whatever it was in the past, something has changed in Stan's play and demeanour. 

And now time for a long, long ice bath where he might contemplate the next player- Tomas Berdych.