Marathon Man

January review

Novak Djokovic, after a semi v Murray lasting nearly five hours , had the iron will to overcome fatigue and take the Australian Open title in the longest Slam final in history (5 hr 53 min). That it was against Nadal, by common consent the fittest player on the Tour, made it even more of a feat . Rafa had also had the luxury of an extra day's rest & a shorter four set semi v Federer.
Djokovic's mental strength was typified for me by the ninth game of the final set. He lost an exhausting 31-shot rally, but went on to win the game.
Some experts have been quick to put the match up there with the all-time great finals, like Wimbledon 2008 (Federer-Nadal) & 1980 (Borg-McEnroe). it was definitely a great match, but the lack of net play is a slight negative. Time will tell whether it deserves to be ranked that highly.

Murray can take heart from coming back from 2-5 down in the fifth set of the semi before eventually succumbing to defeat (7-5). He pushed Djokovic much closer than the straight sets reverse of last year's final.

The womens final was a let down by comparison, turning out to be disappointingly one-sided, as Sharapova won only three games. Azarenka won her first major, & in stark contrast to the men, where the top three players have monopolised the Slams, the last four majors have had first time winners (Stosur, Li Na, Kvitova, Azarenka). I think the latter two will vie for the no.1 ranking over the next few years.

Performance of the Month

There can only be one-Djokovic.

Six Nations Rugby

Before an oval ball was kicked I tipped Wales. They have pace, power & youth in the backs. The Welsh can win the key fixture, home to France, & do the Grand Slam.