He's No Joke

Two of the greatest players in tennis history,
made history Sunday night in Melbourne.

It was brutal, gut-wrenching, heartbreaking and triumphant.

In Rod Laver's fortress, two of the greatest professional tennis players of this generation battled it out in not only the longest match in Australian Open history, but the longest for a Grand Slam final.

It took five hours, 53 minutes, but (1) Novak Djovokic continued his recent dominance over (2) Rafael Nadal, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7 (7-5), 7-5, becoming only the fifth player since the Open Era to win three straight Grand Slam finals and four out of the last five.

After Nadal captured the first set with Djovokic still feeling the effects of his marathon match with Andy Murray just two nights earlier, the 2011 Player of the Year found his rhythm and took control of the second and third set, winning them both convincingly.

We'd seen this seen before.

But with the crowd firmly in Nadal's corner, his trademark personality of tenacity and heart turned the tide, at least for the moment.

Facing a two set to one deficit and Djovokic leading the fourth set four games to three, Nadal dug deep. The 10-time Grand Slam champion finned off three straight break points down 40-love to hold serve and knot the set at four games apiece.

The fourth would eventually be decided by a tiebreak with Nadal dropping to his knees after Djovokic's shot went wide, forcing a decisive fifth set. In their previous 29 career meetings with Nadal holding a 16-13 advantage, the both had to play a fifth set.

Nadal imposed his will on the fifth, breaking Djovokic the second chance he got and eventually going up four games to two. But it was a shot that Nadal makes in his sleep that will give hime nightmares for the rest of his life. Leading the game 30-15 and Djovokic on the ropes, the Spaniard missed an easy backhand that would have had him one point away from taking a commanding five games to two lead.

Instead, Djovokic gathered his fifth wind and got the look in eyes that his opponents saw all of 2011. A look that lead him to a 10-1 record against Nadal and Roger Federer last year. The look of a champion.

Djovokic would break Nadal twice in the matches' final six games, seizing the lead and his third career Australian Open. He has now won seven straight matches against Nadal, all coming in finals, 14 straight Australian Open matches and 20 straight Grand Slam matches.

The 24-year-old Serbian had never won back-to-back five-set matches in a major tournament until he thwarted Murray and outran Nadal.

The two have now combined for the last eight Grand Slam titles.

As for Nadal, he becomes first player in the Open Era to lose three straight Grand Slam finals, but has nothing to hang his head about. Wearing his emotions on his sleeves, Nadal's poise and graciousness in defeat is what makes him a true champion and heartbeat of professional tennis.

Usually it was Nadal's high energy and overall physical condition that has enabled him to outlast his opponent. This time is was Djovokic, beating him at his own game.

Seizing Union State Supremacy

Azarenka captured her first major title win
Saturday with many more on the horizon.

Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova may come from the same culture, but on the court they looked like much different players.

In her first ever Grand Slam final appearance, Azarenka, looked like the more experienced player, routing Sharapova, 6-3, 6-0, seizing her first Australian Open title and the No. 1 world ranking. To start the match, Azarenka dropped her first service game before righting the ship and winning 12 of the matches' last 13 games.

Sharapova, who is clearly the more polished player with three Grand Slam titles, is only the ninth woman in Australian Open history to win three or fewer games in the tournament's final.

Azarenka, 22, first turned pro at age 16, but it has taken her more than six years to capture her first Grand Slam title. As for Sharapova, she was just 17 when she won the 2004 Wimbledon tournament as the 13th seed, defeating the top seeded and defending champion Serena Williams.

En route to Azarenka's first major title, she had to over come the tournament's defending champion Kim Clijsters in semifinals. She is now 3-0 against Sharapova in tournament finals and starts the 2012 season with a 12-match winning streak.

Azarenka is a native of Belarus and Sharapova of Russia, both whom are forever linked not only for their unbelievable tennis play, but from where they spent most of their lives. Both countries formed and signed a treaty back in 1996, something we know now as the Union State.

So a rivalry that wrote another chapter Saturday in Melbourne, started long before they met on the court.

One-Sided Rivalry

In a hard-fought win, Nadal holds an 8-2
career record against Federer in Grand
 Slam matches.

It wasn't easy, it never is.

Rafael Nadal continued his dominance, 6-7 (5), 6-2, 7-6 (5), 6-4, over the suddeningly aging Roger Federer on Thursday night.

While many in the United States were unable to watch the match live, after losing the first set in a tiebreaker, Nadal reeled of three straight set wins to earn a berth to play for his second Australian Open title in as many attempts.

Nadal won his first and only Australian Open back in 2009, handing Federer his first ever loss in the final.

It was only the second time these two rivals have met in a Grand Slam semifinal, usually reserving their matches with a title on the line. They have now faced one another 10 times in a Grand Slam with Nadal holding an eight-two advantage, including five consecutive Grand Slam match wins. Federer's last major win against Nadal came in 2007.

The southpaw, who is currently ranked the No. 2 player in the world, has won 10 career Grand Slam titles, six of them have come at the expense of Federer.

Nadal's only two Grand Slam losses against Federer have come in the same tournament, same venue, Wimbledon. Federer has won six Wimbledon titles, giving him the second most all-time. He also co-holds the record for the most consecutive title victories (5) on the legendary grass court with tennis great Bjorn Borg.

However, Nadal captured his only Wimbledon title against Federer, giving him his only final loss there. It was in 2008. And after experiencing numerous rain delays, the two gladiators put together not only one of the greatest matches in the tournament's storied history, but the longest, playing for four hours, 48 minutes.

Prior to that, in 2006, Nadal was responsible for snapping Federer's Open Era record of 56 consecutive victories on hard courts.

Just like Federer, Nadal also dominated a surface, winning 81 straight matches on clay before the Switzerland native ended that in final of Hamburg Masters in '07. And even though it wasn't a Grand Slam final, it still might be one of Federer's greatest accomplishments.

Nadal has won five French Open finals in his young career while Federer's only French Open title didn't come against the Spaniard. Nadal was hampered by injury in the 2009 tournament at Roland Garros and lost to Robin Soderling in four sets.

They have never met in the U.S. Open.

As for the present, Thursday night's loss to Nadal now gives Federer 18 career losses against him, by far the most to any one opponent in his career.

Nadal awaits the winner of the tournament's second semifinal between (1) Novak Djokovic and (4) Andy Murray. Fresh off his fantastic 2011 season, Djokovic is the clear cut favorite to meet Nadal in the final, but don't count out Murray just yet.

Murray has been been to the semifinals in the last five Grand Slams. The 24-year-old has never more a Grand Slam title, but right now, Nadal might be his biggest fan.

Every player has their kryptonite, Nadal's is Djokovic.

Oh Roger!

Federer has mastered the grass court in
England, but has yet to even reach the
 semi-finals the last two years.

For the second straight year Roger Federer will not be playing for his seventh career Wimbledon title. Federer was ousted from the tournament Wednesday in five sets, 3-6, 6-7, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4, by French men Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

It wasn't so much shocking that Federer won't be in the finals once again, like he is seemingly every year at the All England Club, but more how he lost.

The world's former No. 1 had won the first two sets and seemed to coasting to yet another semi-finals appearance. Tsonga never lost faith and fought all the way back, accomplishing something no other player has against Federer in a Grand Slam tournament.

Federer had been 178-0 when holding a commanding two-sets to none lead in a Grand Slam heading into Wednesdays' quarter-final match. That all came to a screaming halt when Tsonga did the impossible defeating a very passive Federer. It was not the first time the twelfth-seeded Tsonga had beaten Federer in dramatic fashion.

In August of 2009, Tsonga rallied from 5-1 down in a third set against Federer and eventually came back to win the set and match. Tsonga is also no stranger being down two-sets to none and make a great comeback. Wednesday marked the second time he had accomplished that feat in his young career.

For Federer, he has now not won a Grand Slam title in his last six chances matching the longest drought of his career before he won the first of his record 16 Grand Slam singles titles in 2003 on this very stage. It is the second straight year the six-time Wimbledon champion has lost in the quarter-finals.

It was the second time Tsonga had defeated
Federer in his career.

With Federer knocked out three of the top four seeds have now reached the semi-finals and are ready to begin battle. Rafael Nadal currently has 19-match winning streak at Wimbledon with him winning two of the last three. The defending champion was unable to defend his title in '09 due to suffering a knee injury causing him to pull out of competition.

Federer doesn't seem far removed from his reign as the world's No. 1 for a record 237 consecutive weeks, but it looks to be a changing of the guard. Move over Switzerland, the Spaniard has taken control.

Six Is Sweet

Nadal is slowly cementing his legacy with
the all-time tennis greats.

Sunday night in Paris, France was a little more magical than usual for the No. 1 tennis player in the world. Rafael Nadal won his record sixth career French Open title defeating his longtime rival Roger Federer in four sets, 7-5, 7-6 (3), 5-7, 6-1.

    The win tied him with tennis legend Bjorn Born for the most career wins at Roland Garros. Born, who many consider to be one of the greatest tennis players of all-time, was also able to win five consecutive Wimbledon titles during his career compared to Nadal's two, which did not happen to come in consecutive years.

    Nadal continues his unbelievable dominance of arguably the greatest tennis player in history. The Spaniard is now 17-8 in his career head-to head matchups against Federer including a 6-2 advantage in Grand Slam finals. Nadal is now 5-0 against Federer at the French Open and 45-1 overall at the event. His only loss came in 2009 when he lost to Robin Soderling in the fourth-round on a court, he had never really been challenged on. Oddly enough that would be the year Federer captured his only French Open title of his career thus far.

    For Nadal, it is tenth major championship of his career tying him with American Bill Tilden for sixth on the all-time list. Federer is the all-time leader with sixteen of his own, but at twenty-nine and ranked as the third best player in the world he might need to increase that total with Nadal just turning twenty-five.

    The question will be if in fact Nadal can stay healthy to achieve those heights. The southpaw has had ongoing knee injuries for quite some time causing him to miss major tournaments, most recently at last years Australian Open. Federer would go on to win that tournament completing his career Grand Slam.

    Injuries might be the only hinder between Nadal and Federer's all-time Grand Slam mark. As for his continued dominance on clay, the record speaks for itself. "He plays better against the better ones and that's what he showed today," said Federer, who ended Nadal's 81-match winning streak on clay back in 2007. "He's a great champion, on clay especially."

    This is a story of man and his surface.

41-1

Djokovic looked lost at times against
Federer.

The streak has finally come to a close and it couldn't have come at a worse time. Novak Djokovic started off the 2011 season with one of the most remarkable streaks in tennis history winning his first forty-one matches, second only to tennis legend John McEnroe's streak of forty-two in a row to start the 1984 season. That all came to a halt Saturday when Djokoic was defeated by the world's former No. 1 Roger Federer in four sets, 7-6 (5), 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (5) in the French Open semi-finals.

    Djokovic had an overall 43-match winning streak before his loss Saturday at Roland Garros dating back to last season. Not only does the loss knock Djokovic out of the French Open, but it also sees him squander a golden opportunity to claim the World's No. 1 ranking from Rafael Nadal.

    Djokovic was vying for his first finals appearance at the French Open and if he would have done just that, Nadal would have ceded his No. 1 ranking to the the native of Serbia.

    As for his match against Federer, Djokovic didn't seem comfortable from the outset, slipping and sliding across the classic clay-court at one of the most historic venues in tennis. The matches first set between the two went to the first of two tiebreakers, both won by Federer, taking the wind out of Djokovic's sail and sending him home earlier than expected.

    For Djokovic it's the third time in the last five years he has lost in the semi-finals at the French Open. He has only been crowned a Grand Slam champion twice in his career, both coming at the Australian Open including one earlier this year as apart of his 41-match winning streak.

    This marks the third time in Federer's career he has ended a prestigious winning streak. At the 2001 Wimbledon tournament and only nineteen years old, he ended tennis great and his idol Pete Sampras's 31-match winning streak at the All England Club. Sampras was the four-time defending champion of the tournament at the time. In 2007, he ended Nadal's 81-match winning on clay at Hamburg and now has taken down Djokovic.

    Federer will now face Nadal in the French Open final on Sunday, it will be the eighth time the two have met in a Grand Slam final, with Nadal currently holding a 5-2 edge over Switzerland sensation. It is a blessing for Nadal that Djokovic was unable to reach the finals as the he has defeated the Spaniard in their last four meetings.
  
    At the young age of twenty-four and his powerful two-handed backhand one of the best in professional tennis, Djokovic may be entering the prime of his career with a new streak waiting in the wings.