Wellllllll that's the end of another Australian Open ladies campaign as the final concluded today with Victoria Azarenka facing off against the mighty Maria Sharapova, so here's more on that.
In the first set there were a trade of breaks between the two as Sharapova broke early on, only to have Azarenka break back, and then she herself broke Sharapova to win the first set in 6-3. However in the second set, Sharapova didn't even get a look in as Azarenka ruthlessly dominated the play and totally outplayed her opponent, to secure her first ever grand slam title, handing Sharapova an Aussie open cream bagel to take home as a rather inglorious reminder of the set, winning in a crushing 6-3, 6-0. After she won, Azarenka fell to her knees and had a dazed look of disbelief on her face as she got up and looked at the crowd as if to say "did this really just happen????".
So the ladies game now has a new world no.1, Victoria Azarenka, who frankly I always saw as a possible grand slam champion, ever since she won the Sony Ericsson Open last year, where she ruthlessly dismissed Sharapova there too, albeit that was a tougher match despite its scoreline. But if I have one major criticism of the ladies slam finals and that is that they are way too short, usually you find the men's finals are at least three or four times as long! Victoria on court definitely has an intimidating demeanour but off court she is actually quite a nice sweet lass, and despite the rather muted response throughout the tournament she got from the audience (probably because of her ridiculous grunting!), they finally warmed to her in the award ceremony as she gave a fine acceptance speech. And that is already her second title of the year and I'm sure many more will follow and possibly no doubt one or two more slams. Although the ladies game now clearly has two new rivals in Victoria Azarenka and Petra Kvitvoa, both whom are now slam champions, so it could be a fascinating rivalry to follow throughout the year, when they should meet up.
And Azarenka's play throughout the Australian was so impressive it was almost like watching Djokovic at work last year, who ruthlessly cast aside so many players in straight sets, she herself could even go on an invincible winning streak this year. Although the women that have won grand slams last year have failed to capitlise on their wins and went on to struggle badly (except Petra), but I think it would be good for the sport to have one or two dominant players, such as Petra and Victoria to provide the excitement and consistency that the ladies tennis really needs as well as the rivalry. But Azarenka without doubt deserved the title, as she played brilliantly throughout and rarely had a dip, dropping only two sets on her way to the final, so this should give her massive confidence for the rest of the year.
So this leads me on to say a bit about Caroline Wozniacki, who now drops to the No.4 in the womans rankings, which is a bit of a letdown for her, it also now sees her as the equivalent of Andy Murray, a great player who has never yet won a major. But for me Andy is starting to move in the right direction, as he use to be a counterpuncher and a bit too passive, but now he is stepping forward and playing more aggressively, and that's what Caroline needs to do if she is to win a major. If you look at all the players that won majors on the ladies and the men's side of the tour, they have all been aggressive players and that is the key to winning one. Azarenka and Kvitova have both proved to be just that, aggressive powerful hitters who take chances and move forward in their games, but for Wozniacki this remains a problem, as too often I have seen her passively trade blows from the baseline. Wozniacki games also appears to lack variety too, as its mainly forehand/backhand, forehand/backhand. But maybe one day she can step up to the plate and maybe win one herself, as the ladies game for the moment is still wide open, unless Azarenka is about to dominate, but that remains to be seen. Until Wozniacki makes the move herself, the game will always belong to the players like Azarenka and Kvitova, who are willing to take their chances. But it is only the beginning of another season and anything can happen.
Welllllllllllllllll that's my critique for the ladies game over, admittedly the ladies campaign at times, lacked exictement, there has been some terrific matches, but in some ways it could have been better, but I'm plenty of great stuff awaits on WTA tour.
Next up is the men's final between Djokovic and Rafa, so I will post that up once Djokovic has won, ahem!! Or will he????? The stats point towards it, but we shall see, but I think it will be one hellva of a final.
Bye the now.
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