Post Australian Open: Things to look forward in 2016

Published 02/06/2016, 3:43 AM EST

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The first grand slam of 2016 – The Australian open provided us with two champs one the expected – Novak Djokovic and the other unexpected – Angelique Kerber.The two weeks of the grand slam provided us with exhilarating action and was attended by a record crowd.There were many incredible moments Ranging from monfils dive shot to Tsonga helping a ball girl of the court. The Aussie Open has historically served as a test for the work the athletes put in the off season to their game.In this article we look at the road ahead for both the men’s and women’s game ,look at the stars who could make the year their own and players who need to buck up their game to stay at the top.

1.Can anyone stop Djokovic?

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Well the answer to this question seems no for the time being, at least in Grand slams. The Serbians way of winning the Australian Open was a story in itself. Given that he was a 5 time champion and the world no.1 he was expected to have a clear road at least until the semi final where he would meet Roger Federer. But what transpired was an epic fourth round encounter between Djokovic and Simon In which Djokovic committed an unprecedented 100 unforced errors and yet won the match in 5 sets 6-4 6-7 6-4 4-6 6-3. If anyone thought that Djokovic would have his work cut out against Kei Nishikori he quickly dispelled the doubts by defeating him 6-3 6-2 6-4.

But the best was yet to come as against his old time nemesis Roger Federer. He arguably played the best two opening sets of his life (6-1 6-2) which left the maestro dumbfounded as Novak took it to the next level. In the final he comfortably despatched the world no.2 Andy Murray 6-1 7-5 7-6 to win his 6th Australian Open tying him with Roy Emerson.

If anyone has to beat Djokovic this season he has to use variety and change of pace as was illustrated in the Simon match that Djokovic has problem generating his own pace. The best contender to do such a thing would be Roger Federer but since his backhand has been exposed by Djokovic in all most all their meetings it makes him difficult to defeat Nole.

The second way to defeat Djokovic is overpowering him but since nobody has the firepower other than Wawrinka to get through arguably the greatest retriever of all time and since Stan remains inconsistent it is highly unlikely that Djokovic would lose in slams this year.

2. Serena Williams may face tougher opposition

via Imago

 Coming into the final of the Aussie open it seemed close to impossible that Angelique Kerber would defeat the 21 times grand slam champion who had an incredible 21-4 win loss record in finals of grand slams. Serena had done everything in previous Australian Open finals to the extent of saving match points in the 2005 finals.

But Angelique Kerber showed a tremendous bout of mental toughness and physical abilities to come through. At one point in the match when Serena broke the Kerber serve when she was serving for the match to get to 4-5 it seemed like Serena had again clawed out of an almost impossible situation counting on her opponent’s nerves and her extraordinary shots.

But Kerber did not give up and won the match in the best possible way by breaking her opponent to shatter Serena’s hope to win her 22nd grand slam – equalling Steffi Graf’s record. The Kerber playing style is similar to Radwanska’s who Williams dispatched 6-0 6-4 but Angie has two advantages over Aga – She is a lefty player and has a better serve than the diminutive Radwanska.

This was evident by the fact that she won 73% of first serve points won which ultimately propelled her to the title. While this win may have proven that Williams is not immortal, Serena still remains a  huge favourite entering any tournament she participates.

3. New Faces on the horizon

The biggest surprise of the Australian Open 2016 came from 2 ladies – Zhang Shuai and Daniela Gavrilova impressed the crowd with their impressive runs.

Zhang Shuai came into the 2016 Australian open having lost 15 consecutive first round matches. Her first round opponent was the no.2 seeded Simona Halep whom she stunned 6-4 6-3.On her on court interview the 28 year old became emotional and said that if she had lost the match she may well have retired. In the fourth round she defeated No.15 seeded and much fancied Madison Keys. In the quarters she lost to another unheralded star the Aussie born British citizen Johanna Konta ( who had defeated the likes of Venus Williams and Makarova) .We may not see a lot more of her on the tour but her run in the tournament was a one to remember.

Daniela Gavrilova had come into the Aussie Open having led Australia to the Hopman Cup alongside Nick Kyrgios.The 21 year old defeated Petra Kvitova 6-4 6-4 in a second round upset. Then in the 3rd round she played one of the matches of the tournament to defeat Kristina Mladenovic 11-9 in the third in Hisense Arena. In the fourth round she took the first set 6-0 from Carla Suarez Navarro and then got carried away by the emotion to lose the second and third 6-4 6-2 despite leading 2-0 in the third.

We hope that Gavrilova can learn from this experience of playing in arguably the worlds best arena to produce the goods in the upcoming grand slams.

Milos Raonic had a terrible second half of 2015. From being the no.4 ranked player in the world he fell to no.14 in the year end rankings mainly due to the multiple injuries he sustained during the season. He began 2016 with a new coach – Carlos Moya and a new less physically straining technique – the now almost extinct art of serve and volleying.

He won the Brisbane international defeating a cold stricken Federer in the final. But he came into reckoning only after he defeated the no.4 seed and 2014 Australian open champion Stan Wawrinka in a five setter 6-4 6-3 5-7 4-6 6-3 using his aggressive style to take time away from Stan. In the quarters he defeated Gael Monfils in 4 sets. In the semis he faced the ultimate defender 2 time grand slam champion Andy Murray and lead 2 sets to 1 before a leg injury led to a drop in his level of play and he lost 6-2 in the 5th.

Raonic was emotionally broken in his press conference as he realised that the injury took away his chance to enter his first grand slam final. We believe that Raonic will get a lot more opportunities like this if he remains fit and continues to play this brand of tennis.

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5. Is this the end of Rafa?

This was the question which was asked through most of the 2015 season. He failed to reach past the quarterfinals of any slam and lost to names such as Dustin Brown at Wimbledon and Fabio Fognini at US Open, guys he would have easily beaten in his prime. But towards the end of the season it looked like Rafa had again found his mojo defeating the like of Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka in the ATP world tour finals.

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But 2016 started for Rafa on a dreadful note as he lost to his Spaniard counterpart Fernando Verdasco in a first round matchup. It looked like Rafa was just hoping that Verdasco would himself lose the match by committing unforced errors as not once in the match did it look like Rafa would land the killing punch.The decline of Rafa is primarily due to two reasons.The first being that Rafa has become a couple of steps slower in the last year and a half.

The second is that the new gen player takes the ball early and stands at the baseline instead of standing behind it.This makes easier for them to put away the short balls. If Rafa has to come back anywhere near the top it is imperative he puts attacking elements to his play, starts using his off forehand and mix up his service. Also if he could add someone to his coaching staff it could be of immense help. We hope that the gladiator bounces back for the rest of the season, specially with the French Open coming up.

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Written by:

Chaitanya Batra

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