Thursday, January 29, 2009

Federer and Williams On Familiar Ground

The women's final at the Australian Open is going to be close to my prediction several days ago: Serena Williams vs Dinara Safina. Both women are playing a very high level of tennis as they pushed through some tough conditions and really tough opponents in the semis. No question they deserve to be there, no other women have been able to match their consistency and tenacity throughout the tournament. Wilting violets like Elena Dementieva and Svetlana Kuznetsova (who actually served for the match against Serena and folded) really had no business getting as far as they did, while upstarts like Vera Zvonareva and Jelena Dokic made inspired runs, but need to show they can do it again.
Roger Federer pressed forward into yet another Grand Slam final with his convincing 3-set victory over Andy Roddick. Federer is definitely back in his dominant form, cracking just silly forehands all over the court, while taking his opponent's strength, in this case Roddick's serve, and using it against him. Time and again, Fed hit chip returns of serving, which pulled Roddick into the net where he made easy pickings for passing shot upon passing shot.
His opponent has yet to be determined, but Federer clearly has Grand Slam title number 14 in his sights, which would tie the all-time record. Healthy, fit, and focused, he really is starting to look like the dominant player we missed in 2008

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