FROM THE AUSTRALIAN OPEN, Jan 27 – On Sunday morning, many people were saying that it was going to be super close, once again, and that Novak Djokovic and Rafa Nadal would go toe-to-toe for many hours. But that didn’t help him at all.
The Serbian Djokovic played wonderfully, while Nadal kept missing a lot, from the baseline, at the net, everywhere. He couldn’t shake him.
Djokovic won 6-3 6-2 6-3. That is seven victories at the Australian Open. He is just so good and even better then last year, when he won Wimbledon and the US Open.
“He was pushing me to every ball. What on other days have been a serve and a ball that I can have in offensive position, today have been in defensive position,” Nadal said. “That’s not nerves. I don’t like to say [Novak] played unbelievable well because looks like you find an excuse for yourself. The real thing is he played so well. He did a lot of things very difficult unbelievable well. He hit so long. His return was fantastic. He was super quick.”
Nadal just came back on court after he stopped for months because he was hurt. He is rising, but not even close toDjokovic. He admitted that.
It took the Serbian six months to get better when he was also injured in 2017/2018. When he is on, Djokovic is so far up there. He is so fast, he can spin around and put it away. He hit the ball so hard, deep and close to the lines. His serve was almost impossible to read him. He is the best player on the planet. Currently, you cannot compete with Djokovic. At least now.
“That was a truly a perfect match,” he said.
Osaka wins her 2nd Slam
Outside of the Williams sisters, it has been a very long time that a woman won two Grand Slams in a row. But not anymore.
Naomi Osaka won the 2019 Australian Open on Saturday, edging Petra Kvitova. At the 2018 US Open, five months before, she won a Slsm for her first time, pushing back Serena Williams.
At the start of 2018, very few people knew who she was. She was ranked around No. 70, she was moving a little bit, but not much. Then in March, she totally changed, it all came together.
She won Indian Wells and the rest is history. Now, legitimately, she is the best player in the world. She is No. 1. Now everyone it.
“For me, every practice and every match that I’ve played, it feels like the year is short and long at the same time. But I’m aware of all the work that I put in,” she said. “I know all the sacrifices that every player does to stay at this level. In my opinion, it didn’t feel fast. It felt kind of long.”
Not too long, given that she still very young. But she has grown, on court. Off court, she says that she is the same person. When she plays, though, she is so good with her huge shots. With her serve, her forehand and her backhand, very deep, and very sharp. It is hard to tell which way she is going, because when she is running, she is thinking, deep in her brain. In the last second, she re-directs her shot. Undoubtably, she is smart.
“I think for everyone, it’s to win Grand Slams and to be No. 1. Of course those were two very big motivating factors. I mean, people were talking about being No. 1 if I win this tournament. I was able to accomplish that. But the ranking was never my real goal, it was just to win this tournament.”