Australian Open Round Up

So for many of you out there who don't follow too much tennis, a men's final in a Grand Slam that doesn't include Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal/Andy Roddick means nothing. I can understand that without a doubt. Here at No Owens, we are big Federer fans. But as this year's Australian Open comes to a close, it may be the best thing for Federer, and tennis.

Federer wasn't as dominant last year as he was in years past. Part of that had to do with the emergence of Nadal. Even in the Wimbledon final, it became hard to believe that Nadal wasn't winning. I mean, he out played Roger. But Federer has that grit, the ability to grind it out that gets him the big points when he needs them, while his opponent goes for big shots. He forces you into playing hard shots to beat him, and Federer knows that percentages are on his side.

Novak Djokovic beat up on Federer. Federer didn't have his dominant shot making ability, nor did he have his grit. And it was because Djokovic took it away from him. Federer didn't look good. I don't know how many unforced errors Federer had, but all of those backhands that he missed were awful. For years it looked like people didn't belong on the court with Federer...whereas it seemed like Federer didn't belong on the court with Djokovic.

So what does this mean? Nadal went further into a hard court slam than ever before. Now Djokovic is a serious contender with a Slam on his resume and can't yet drink legally in the United States. Everyone is catching up to Roger Federer, and it's great for Men's Tennis. I spoke once of the argument I had with someone trying to demerit Federer for the lack of talent. As much as I disagree with that argument, it seems that the world has caught up to the great Roger Federer.

Roger Federer hasn't been pushed like this before. He's faced the Nadal dominance on clay and everyone has come to accept that. But this is different. This is unexpected to us, and to him the most. Now Federer is mad. I bet he is absolutely furious. Is he going to hire a coach? I don't know. But expect him to come ready to play in Paris. In fact, in lieu of this loss, I expect Federer to win his first French this year. Never before have we seen him on a mission like this. Keep in mind, if he doesn't win in Paris, it will be the first time in how many years that he has gone winless in two straight slams?

All of this Federer talk aside, Djokovic was amazing. He was without a doubt the best player in Melbourne. He's going to be around for a long, long time.