Australian Open Updates

Serbia's Novak Djokovid About midway through the second set of the Australian Open final, I had a thought no doubt shared by many of you: “I set my alarm clock to 3:15 am for…this?” It was ugly. Andy Murray started weak and just got worse in his third Grand Slam final, especially when you consider the magnitude of the opportunity; this time it wasn’t Roger Federer but Novak Djokovic across the net. Not everyone expected Murray to win, not the way Djokovic has been pounding opponents into oblivion. But everyone expected Murray to fight, compete, contend—to work some of his patented, defensive, anti-tennis magic. It was not to be; Murray yielded a pro-forma break at 4-5 in the first set, while he was still playing a solid if not superior game based on defense and quick counter-thrusts. But once Djokovic won the set, almost all resistance vanished. The theme throughout the United Kingdom tomorrow will be, “Murray has issues…” Judging by his evening’s work, those issues could be technical, oedipal, mental, physical, emotional. Or who knows what else? This is too bad, because Murray’s lethargic, dispassionate, cranky performance was so striking that it obscured the paramount fact and distinction of the match—Djokovic’s excellence. Even if Murray had been at his best, full of energy and guile, Djokovic would have been extremely tough to beat. For on this night the No. 3 seed from Serbia, who’s had to wait for 12 majors to lock up his second Grand Slam title, relied on a beautifully modulated and precisely calibrated game. He played offense early on, taking the game to Murray and then, as the frustration of the No. 5 seed became manifest, he fell back on defense with an edge—the edge being his eagerness as well as willingness to pounce on any opportunity to attack. Djokovic was at his best, making the transition from solid defense and great court coverage to offense in the blink of an eye. The most surprising thing about the straight-sets win was that Murray was unable to drag Djokovic’s game down and thereby rob him of some well-earned praise. It doesn’t make much sense to get into the blow-by-blow; this one was over after the first set. But here are some relevant stats: Murray made 47 unforced errors (more than double his 21 winners) and, serving a mediocre 53 percent, he won just 31 percent of his second-serve points, a tribute to Djokovic’s return proficiency and aggression. Djokovic, by contrast, converted nearly 70 percent of his first serves and won 60 percent of his second serve points.  It wasn’t as much a case of Murray returning poorly as of Djokovic stepping into those returns to take the initiative. Murray has now played three major finals against two different opponents, and he hasn’t even won a set in any of them. Djokovic has won two majors (both in Melbourne), and has dropped just one total set in his two finals (to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga). Djokovic has reached out to grab his opportunities, but once again tonight Murray looked as if he were waiting around for opportunities to reach out and grab him.  Monday, Jan 24  Australian Open  Australian Open   Melbourne, Australia  Type: Men's    Surface: Hard  Quarterfinals  Roger Federer (2) vs. Stanislas Wawrinka (19) 6-1, 1-1  Fourth Round  Rafael Nadal (1) def. Marin Cilic (15) 6-2, 6-4, 6-3  Alexandr Dolgopolov def. Robin Soderling (4) 1-6, 6-3, 6-1, 4-6, 6-2  Andy Murray (5) def. Jurgen Melzer (11) 6-3, 6-1, 6-1  David Ferrer (7) def. Milos Raonic 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4  Stanislas Wawrinka (19) def. Andy Roddick (8) 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 Australian Open  Australian Open   Melbourne, Australia  Type: Women's    Surface: Hard  Quarterfinals  Caroline Wozniacki (1) vs. Francesca Schiavone (6)  Na Li (9) def. Andrea Petkovic (30) 6-2, 6-4  Fourth Round  Vera Zvonareva (2) def. Iveta Benesova 6-4, 6-1  Kim Clijsters (3) def. Ekaterina Makarova 7-6 (7-3), 6-2  Agnieszka Radwanska (12) def. Shuai Peng 7-5, 3-6, 7-5  Andrea Petkovic (30) def. Maria Sharapova (14) 6-2, 6-3  Petra Kvitova (25) def. Flavia Pennetta (22) 3-6, 6-3, 6-3  Sunday, Jan 23

Australian Open  Australian Open   Melbourne, Australia  Type: Men's    Surface: Hard

Fourth Round  Roger Federer (2) def. Tommy Robredo 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2  Novak Djokovic (3) def. Nicolas Almagro (14) 6-3, 6-4, 6-0  Robin Soderling (4) vs. Alexandr Dolgopolov  Andy Murray (5) vs. Jurgen Melzer (11)  Tomas Berdych (6) def. Fernando Verdasco (9) 6-4, 6-2, 6-3  David Ferrer (7) vs. Milos Raonic  Andy Roddick (8) vs. Stanislas Wawrinka (19) 3-4  Third Round  Rafael Nadal (1) def. Bernard Tomic 6-2, 7-5, 6-3  Jurgen Melzer (11) def. Marcos Baghdatis (21) 6-7 (5-7), 6-2, 6-1, 4-3 retired

Australian Open  Australian Open   Melbourne, Australia  Type: Women's    Surface: Hard

Fourth Round  Caroline Wozniacki (1) def. Anastasija Sevastova 6-3, 6-4  Vera Zvonareva (2) vs. Iveta Benesova  Francesca Schiavone (6) def. Svetlana Kuznetsova (23) 6-4, 1-6, 16-14  Na Li (9) def. Victoria Azarenka (8) 6-3, 6-3  Agnieszka Radwanska (12) vs. Shuai Peng  Andrea Petkovic (30) def. Maria Sharapova (14) 6-2, 6-3  Flavia Pennetta (22) vs. Petra Kvitova (25)  Third Round  Petra Kvitova (25) def. Samantha Stosur (5) 7-6 (7-5), 6-3