2009 Australian Open – 1, 2, 3 and you’re out!
Gael Monfils was one of three players who had to retire on Monday
Monday at the Aussie Open proved to be a day full of injuries and retirements. A total of three players, two on the ladies side and one on the men’s side, couldn’t finish their matches. It’s not very often that you have this happen in the fourth round of a Grand Slam! Did the Australian sun finally take its toll on the players, or is the early season injury-bug taking effect? No one can be sure, but for the players that advanced I’d bet their not complaining!
Perhaps the luckiest of them all was Serena Williams. She looked sluggish and was clearly not playing her best tennis against Victoria Azarenka, losing the opening set 6-3. Beginning in the second set, Azarenka started to feel woozy and nautious and she couldn’t finish. With Serena up 4-2 in the second, Azarenka was forced to retire. She said later that she had been sick and vomiting all morning, but decided to give it a go. Before she started to feel ill, Azarenka proved that she could hang with anyone. She was hitting bombs from both sides of the court (especially the backhand), was moving well, and serving very aggressively. Sometimes Mother Nature just has other plans for you, and this definitely helped Serena.
The other lady that didn’t have to stay on the court too long was Svetlana Kuznetsova. The former Grand Slam champion moved on after Jie Zheng retired in the first set because of a wrist injury. Kuznetsova was up 4-1 in the first when Zheng decided she couldn’t go any longer. This is a good break for Kuznetsova who will have her work cut out for her in the quarters when she takes on Serena.
Rounding out the quarterfinals will be Elena Dementieva and Carla Suarez Navarro. Both won in straight sets, and will face each other next. I’ll have more on this match in the picks.
On the men’s side, it was Gael Monfils that had to step aside during his match with friend, Gilles Simon. Monfils was down two sets to one, and just couldn’t go anymore. The match was like a cat (Simon) versus a mouse (Monfils). Simon was definitely the aggressor while Monfils was constantly on the run, doing a little bit of everything (including too much slow stuff). Simon will get Rafa Nadal in the quarters, which is unfortunate the way Nadal is playing. He glided past Fernando Gonzalez and still has yet to lose a set. His forehand and serve kept Gonzo on his heels the entire time.
The great match from yesterday was between Fernando Verdasco and the trendy pick to win the tournament, Andy Murray. Verdasco won the match in five sets, and played absolutely fantastic tennis. Verdasco spent time in the off-season with Gil Reyes, the long time trainer of Andre Agassi, and it appears that it really paid off. During his visit, Andre spent time talking with him and just speaking to a legend will help your confidence. When you are physically fit, it helps you mentally as well. Murray was clearly dissapointed to lose, but he battled to the bitter end and Verdasco was just too much.
The timing of the Aussie Open is hard for many of the players because it comes right after their off-seasons. When I was with Andre, he never put aside his physical fitness program, even in the off-season. When the vast majority of players were taking vacations, Gil had Andre spend three to five hours per day running the hills of Vegas and watching what he ate constantly. This relentless training enabled Andre to be a winner not only down under, but all over the world. It seems to have had the same affect on Verdasco!
The last men’s match was between American James Blake and 2008 finalist, Jo-Willy Tsonga. The Frenchmen won the match in straight sets over Blake, and just had way too much firepower on the groundstrokes and his serve made a huge difference as well. In the third set Blake was up 5-3 and serving for the set, but couldn’t close it out and then Tsonga came roaring back to win the set in the tiebreaker. Tsonga’s forehand and serve overpowered Blake, and when he hit the second serve it kicked up above Blake’s shoulder making it very difficult to hit the one-handed backhand return. I thought throughout the match that Blake looked very negative. You cannot do this against a player like Tsonga, especially in a Grand Slam.
Here is a little tip for you that pertains to the Blake-Tsonga match. When returning the serve against a big server (especially if they have a big kicker on their 2nd serve), you have to give them a different look every time. You can move back, come forward, and even move during the server’s motion to try and keep them off balance. Blake never really did this, allowing Tsonga to get into a comfortable rythym.
Stay tuned later today for the rest of the quarterfinal picks!
