Tough Talkers
Australian Open 2010
By Beth Rifkin
The start of a new season and the first Slam of the year! The moment the calendar turns to January 1st the excitement starts to build, we feel the anticipation, the tension, the hopes, the dreams...that’s what the Australian Open does – it gets our hearts pumping, with both energy and passion.
The Australian Open has earned its place among the top echelon of tennis tournaments for reasons much different from the others – the players are fresh, rested and hungry – all anxious to mark their territory and send a message that will hopefully carry out through the rest of the year. While taking us to the other side of the world, the Australian Open gives us surprise opponents, shocking finalists, matches that go late into the night and usually there are a few extreme heat issues with which to contend. Here in the States fans even gladly sacrifice two weeks of sleep in order watch live, despite DVR’s, online viewing and numerous broadcasted repeats.
This year was no different; the excitement of Justine Henin’s run to the final and defeating many worthy opponents along the way, Sharapova’s first round exit, Nadal’s disappointing injury and Marin Cilic establishing himself in the top 10.
But still, the biggest surprise – even more than Maria’s dress – had to be the trash talk that took place between Roger Federer and Andy Murray leading up to the men’s final…executed in a very gentlemanly-passive-aggressive-this-is-tennis-after-all style.
After defeating Tsonga in the semi-finals, Federer wasted no time during the on-court interview in taking advantage of the immense pressure and hopes of an entire nation that were on his next opponent, with a little exaggeration, saying that Murray will be attempting to win Britain’s first grand slam singles title “for 150,000 years” and “The pressure is big on him.”
He continued, obviously with Murray’s winning record against him on his mind, “He’s in his second grand slam final now; I think the first one is always a bit tougher than the second one. But as he didn’t win the first one, I think that doesn’t help him, you know, for the second one. Plus he’s playing, you know, me, who has won so many grand slam titles before, and who has won here three times before so I know what it takes to do it, which is definitely an advantage.“
And during his presser Federer went on to say, "I don’t feel like the pressure is really on me having to do it again, because I’ve done it before. I think he really needs it more than I do. So I think the pressure’s big on him. But we’ll see how he’s going to handle it. It’s not going to be easy for him, that’s for sure.” Federer then discounted Murray’s 6-4 record against him by saying, "in Grand Slam play, it can be different". And one last twist of the knife, "I hope he tries too hard to win the first set and lets his head hang.”
Murray’s response came during a press conference the day before the final; feeling forced to still be defending his loss to Federer in the ’08 US Open final, “…physically I'm going to be a lot fresher. And, yeah, just play better. I have a game that can cause Roger problems. I need to play my best tennis for five sets to beat him.”
And that Federer was the favorite to win in Melbourne, Murray took the opportunity to remind everyone, including Roger, that he had come in as runner-up at the last Grand Slam, “Well, I mean, against Del Potro at the US Open last year, he was up a set and serving for the set, and Del Potro came back. You know, guys have come back against him in the past.”
Regarding that elusive first set that Federer said would be imperative for Andy to win in order to have a chance in the match, “Obviously, it would be nice to start well, but I don't think it's the end of the match if the start doesn't go my way. Five set matches, so much can happen. A lot can change in just a few points, like my match the other night against Cilic. It's not the end of the world if the start doesn't go to plan.”
But alas it was Federer’s plan that prevailed as he defeated Murray in straight sets for his 16th Grand Slam title, two more than any other man in the world. No more innuendos, just a tearful Murray humbly expressing, “I can cry like Roger, just a shame I can’t play like him”.
As we all know, Federer is one of the few that can talk the talk and walk the walk.
January 2010
