This year's Australian Open tennis tournament has been the best one I've ever watched. The new surface seems to be a hit. The tournament has produced a number of great matches--including one that saw Janko Tipsarevic push Roger Federer to 10-8 in the fifth set. And I think I have finally found a new favorite tennis player on the women's side: Ana Ivanovic.
Ivanovic appears to be enjoying every second she's on the court. She smiles during difficult moments of the match. She never seems to quit--even when she's down big. And her style of play reminds me of Martina Hingis. Hingis was known for not having a lot of power, but she knew how to set up points and she knew how to play the angles. Ivanovic hits a bigger ball than Hingis did, but not big enough to blow the top players off the court. She hits a rather flat forehand at difficult to reach angles and it gives her opponents all sorts of fits.
I've never really been one who longs for yesteryear when it comes to sports. Each generation produces great athletes and I enjoy watching many of them. But, as I've talked about before, tennis has been a part of my life since I was 12. It's more than just a sport to me. It's part of who I am. A tennis court is one of the places I feel most comfortable in life--which probably sounds a little odd, but I'm just being honest. As a shy kid, I was always looking for a place where I could just feel comfortable and I found it on the tennis court.
To my delight, tennis is going through a transformation right now and I like what I'm seeing. Lots of players on both the men's and women's side of the game have a fiery passion that I love to see. Many of them seem to have a respect for the game and its history. I love that too. And so many of them are donating time and money for good causes because of the platform that tennis has provided for them. They seem to be more aware of real life. That's a gross generalization and probably a bit unfair, but it's just one man's observation.
So, we're headed for the semi-final matches in Australia in the next couple of days and I'll be watching, even though some of them will probably be on at 2:30 AM. For the record, I'll be rooting for Novak Djokovic on the men's side and Ana Ivanovic on the women's side. But I suspect that Roger Federer will win yet another major and based on the way she's playing right now, I can't see anybody beating Maria Sharapova.
