Federer Waltzes to 16th Career Slam Victory

PETE ZIEBRON

 

Upon learning of his difficult quarter when the draw for the 2010 Australian Open was announced, even Roger Federer seemed uncertain if he would be able to add to his phenomenal run of 22 consecutive Semifinal appearances in Grand Slam play.  After all, he would open the tournament against Igor Andreev, a crafty veteran who took Federer to 5 sets at the 2008 US Open.  Also looming in the quarter were either Lleyton Hewitt or Marcos Baghdatis in the 3^rd round and the hottest player on the ATP tour, Nickolay Davydenko in the Quarterfinal match.

 

Andreev tested Federer immediately and held a set point in the third set which would have given him a 2-1 lead.  However Federer denied Andreev, broke him, won the third set and proceeded to win the 4^th set 6-0.  Lleyton Hewitt benefited from an injury to Marcos Baghdatis and advanced to play Federer in the 3^rd round and once again, Federer dashed the hopes of the Australian crowd by defeating Hewitt in straight sets.

 

After dropping the first set in the Quarterfinal match against Nickolay Davydenko and down 1-3, 15-40 in the second set, Federer steadied his game, turned the match completely and rolled to a four set victory over the man who defeated him the last two times they played over the past two months.  With the victory, Federer advanced to his 23^rd consecutive Grand Slam Semifnal.

 

Indeed, the Andreev and Davydenko matches would prove to be the sternest tests for Federer in the tournament as he blitzed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in 88 minutes in the Semi and defeated former nemesis Andy Murray in straight sets in the Final to claim his 4^th Australian Open and 16^th Grand Slam.

 

Despite losing in the Quarterfinals to Marin Cilic, Novak Djokovic achieved a career high ranking of 2, primarily due to the fact that Rafael Nadal was not able to defend his title.  Nadal is expected to be out of action for at least 4 weeks due to the injury he sustained in his Quarterfinal against Andy Murray.  

 

Nadal falls to #4 in the latest ATP rankings released today and will most likely fall even further in the next few months as he has several tournament titles to defend including: Masters 1000 tourneys at Indian Wells, Monte Carlo and Rome and a Masters 500 in Barcelona.

 

Although players are spending extra time getting into the shape of their lives and have fitness coaches who travel with them, several players retired from action at the Australian Open including: Nadal, Marcos Baghdatis and Mikhail Youzhny.  Meanwhile, several other top players showed signs of injury or ill effects during play, especially: Novak Djokovic, Andy Roddick, Marin Cilic and Juan Martin del Potro.  Finally, Lleyton Hewitt will have hip surgery and will be out of action until May.  All of these injuries occurred despite the fact that the players enjoyed temperatures in the 70's F compared to temperatures in 90's and 100's that have been known to accompany the tournament for much of the last decade in Melbourne.

 

For years, Roger Federer has been relentless in his off-court fitness program and has been spared of even minor injuries.  Shortly after receiving the Australian Open trophy, Federer acknowledged the fact that this was the first Grand Slam tile he won as a Father and suggested that his twin daughters may appear in the players box on Finals Day at next year’s Australian Open.  Few will doubt that Federer will play in the 2011 Australian Open Final however will he be facing a healthy, injury-free player on the other side of the net?