Our favorite moments from AO2015

As a parting gift to our legions of readers, we've been keeping a running list of our favorite moments from the 2015 Australian Open. Here they are, in no particular order. 

Please do enjoy...

DAVE'S FAVORITE MOMENTS:

I'll start with snark. My favorite moment of the Australian Open? The last time I had to see the Forever Melbourne ad. You know, the one that goes, "Like (inaudible) leads into another world, like an oyster holds a secret, holds a pearl..." How many hundreds of times did this same spot air in a two-week span? Seriously?! If ever there was a reason to produce a SERIES of ads, rather than a standalone spot, this was it. Take note, advertisers.

On to tennis. Unfortunately, Google has failed me. I've searched several dozen variations of the following phrase, to no avail:

"serena williams getting knocked over by madison keys forehand" 

Not the moment, but same expression.

If you missed the moment, toward the end of the Keys-Serena semifinal, Madison hit a forehand directly at Serena, which knocked the champion backward and nearly to the ground. My joy in this moment was more about Madison generating such incredible power, not Serena getting embarrassed. It's just fun to see another woman hit as hard -- or even harder -- than Serena. Amazing stuff to watch.

Absolutely loved Sharapova's gracious concession speech, following her loss in the women's final. Read my post, and watch the video here.

Hingis is a Grand Slam champion once again, winning the mixed doubles title with Leander Paes. Didn't get to see any of the action, which is annoying. But, I'm happy for both of them.

This is silly, I suppose, but I loved Wawrinka's photo shoot with the puppies -- puppies! -- of Guide Dogs Victoria. (This was right before his semifinal loss to Djokovic.) Stan seems like such an affable guy. I just wish I found his brand of tennis as charming. Maybe his game will grow on me?

Honestly, I have very little to say about the men's draw, and certainly few, if any moments, that stand out as spectacular. I honestly found most of the matches to be incredibly dull and uninspiring. And, of course, my heart sank when Nadal and Federer both lost early. I'm not sure what the men's game needs. But, at least for me, I'm currently bored by the ATP.  

Drying the court with towels? What?!

My absolute favorite moment of the Australian Open? There's just no doubt about this one. How about the army of ball kids drying the court with towels? Right?! If you missed this moment during the women's final, you missed a classic. The whole absurdity and antiquity of this situation still makes me laugh. Invest in some drying equipment, already!

Let's see what Bess found to be memorable...



BESS'S FAVORITE MOMENTS: 

That pre-tournament interview with Hewitt/Federer, after a Fast4 exhibition match. The whole thing is pretty entertaining, but it's 14+ minutes long. For the highlight, FF to the 9:52 mark and hear Roger pause as he's asked to think of a loss that really hurt him. Love how Lleyton interjects, "You couldn't come up with one! That is a real problem! That's what happens if you have 1,000 wins!" Great fun.

Tim Smyczek's sportsmanship, and Rafa's reaction. I blogged about it here, but this brief video shows what went down...

The crowd and Rafa laughing during his match against Kevin Anderson as the ball kid is instructed to pick up Rafa's toppled water bottle. Everyone knows how finicky Rafa is about the placement of the water bottles. I love how careful the ballkid is... and the crowd's reaction... and Rafa's genuine smile and laugh--rare to see on court!: 

 
The clip of Chris Evert looking askance at something one of her co-commentators said. This is me half the time when I read Dave's blog posts.  ;-) Kidding, D!

Hat tip to Courtney Nguyen who linked to this hilarious Vine video featuring Maria Sharapova. Painful!

One of my favorite writers, Anne Lamott, frequently tweets about grand slam tennis. While her Aussie Open tweets were too few and far between this year, they still make me laugh. And I just like knowing she and I share this common interest:

I get that there are different dynamics in the Serena/Keys relationship compared to the Maria/Bouchard relationship (especially because Serena and Keys are both Americans and therefore likely more familiar with one another) but... this image contrasting the warm Serena/Keys hug at net and the icy Sharapova/Bouchard barely-a-handshake at net was striking. After all, Keys and Bouchard are up-and-comers who were both playing (and losing to) their former idols. Sheesh. Lighten up, Genie!

(As I was Googling for the Sharapova/Bouchard image below, I came across this short piece on the topic.)

After being caught on camera cursing during the Murray/Berdych match (and subsequently Gif'd and Vine'd to death--see Dave's post on the matter), Murray's fiancee Kim Sears showed up to the men's final wearing this shirt. Sears for the win!

We could go on, but... it's time to wrap this up. Admittedly, we see a fraction of the coverage, so likely have missed some key highlights!

TENNIS FANS: Are some of our favorite moments also yours? What did we miss that stands out for you?

Djok prevails; is anyone surprised?

POSTED BY DAVE: Novak (and Andy, too, I suppose)... my apologies. I didn't stay up overnight (like Bess did) to watch your final live. Nor did I watch the replay in its entirety this morning. Actually, I only watched the first two sets, and then most of the final set. And all of that while making chili and baking brownies for the Super Bowl later today. Worst fan ever?

Maybe next year, Andy. (Photo: IBI Times)

The truth is that I knew exactly how this match would go. Djokovic would win in less than five sets, and Murray would fade after a strong start. I'm not being critical, just realistic. Djok has won two-thirds of their head-to-head matches, most of which have been on hard courts. So, the outcome was easy to predict, and not surprising to see when I fast-forwarded to the end this morning.

I'm a big Novak fan for many reasons, including his cockiness, charisma and bravado (all of which Bess can't stand). I'm not as into Murray, mostly because he reminds me of an early-day Lindsay Davenport -- schlumping around the court when the chips are down, and having too much of a negative, self-defeating attitude. Lindsay turned this around eventually, and maybe Andy will, too. For now, give me Novak and his larger-than-life confidence.

That said, I do admire Murray, and for three specific reasons: (1) he boldly hired a female coach, in Amelie Mauresmo, who I have always thought to be terrific, anyway; (2) he has recovered from back surgery, which is not easy at all to do, and something with which I still struggle; and, (3) he publicly treats his mom with such great respect and love, far more than any other player, man or woman. I get the sense that Andy is a pretty innovative, resilient and good-hearted bloke. Now, if he could just consistently display more of these qualities on court, and all the way through to the finish of these big events.

Before I close, let me share my favorite tweet from this weekend, which happens to be from my friend and former colleague, Lori. No explanation or caption needed. Enjoy!

BESS REPLIES: I guess you'd have to color me surprised at the outcome of the match. To back up a sec, I didn't have either Djok or Murray in my bracket picks for the finals! And after watching the semis, I was pretty sure Murray was going to win the championship. He looked really impressive, while Djok appeared to struggle physically in his win over Wawrinka. 

So I was surprised, and I was not delighted. As Dave mentioned, I'm not a Novak fan.  I try to edit my comments to take out that personal bias, but it's hard! Just as I admire Serena's ability to win in almost any scenario, I have to admire that in Djokovic. But since i don't want either of them to win, I simultaneously admire that skill and am ridiculously annoyed by it. 

I'm not a huge Murray fan, but - like Dave - I'm coming around a bit, which I'll get to in a minute. But first, I found it somewhat entertaining that Murray was thrown off by Djokovic's really odd and inexplicable "wounded bird" routine, when Murray has been accused of doing just that in many previous matches--acting like he's struggling to catch his breath and like one or both of his legs are in terrible pain--only to go sprinting full-out toward an unreturnable shot and returning it for a winner. Like, Andy is KNOWN for this.

So when Djokovic started stumbling around after every point, seemingly unable to get his balance - think Serena at that infamous Wimbledon doubles match - yet he continued to hit winners at a moment's notice, well, Andy should have recognized that routine. Instead, he allowed himself to get truly distracted by it (reportedly with the help of his camp who apparently fell for it.) So I just can't feel that sorry for Andy. Beaten at his own dubious game.

Murray and Mauresmo, putting in the work

But what I would like to address is what Dave mentioned above - something I'd been thinking we should blog about, which is Andy Murray's subtle and not so subtle appreciation of women in sport. 

Andy comes by this honestly. Raised by a single mom who is also a tennis coach (current captain of the British Fed Cup Team) and who acted in that capacity for Andy to some extent in the early years, Andy is clearly comfortable with strong female role models. 

His choice of Amelie Mauresmo as his latest coach has been met with a lot of raised eyebrows in multiple circles--players (I'm sure), the press, the public. So I give him much credit for making that decision and sticking with it. While the end of 2014 was nothing to write home about, Murray has looked great so far in 2015. Credit to Mauresmo, Murray and the whole team.

After his drama-filled, testosterone-laden semi-final clash with Berdych, people remarked how funny it was that Andy's post-match, on-court interview was essentially a commercial for feminism. Take a gander:

But one more subtle way Andy has impressed me lately is how often he Tweets about women players and/or coaches in a very genuine way. The first couple of times I saw those tweets I was surprised--sad, isn't it? But it's just rare among the top men. 

This was his Tweet after the semi-final referenced above:

And here are some other Tweets:

Among the male players I follow on Twitter, Andy remains the most vocal male player in support of the women's game. I hope he influences others on the ATP tour to more vocally support their female counterparts (or, you know, to even pay attention to the WTA.) It would be a welcome change.

TENNIS FANS: Were you team Murray or team Djokovic? What stood out for you in this final? Let us know...

Ready for the men's final!

POSTED BY DAVE: Let's be honest. It was definitely sad to see Nadal and Federer exit so early. On the other hand, though, the premature departure of those two great champions kept the men's draw at least semi-fresh. So, let's keep looking forward, not back. (Are you with me, Bess?)


Photo: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

Good for Murray, I say. He took out Berdych to make it to his fourth Australian Open final -- and his first Slam final since winning Wimbledon two years ago. Murray is looking fit and confident, much like that historic run back in 2013. 

I don't think he'll win the final, but please don't tell his girlfriend, Kim Sears, that. (If you missed the news, Kim trended on Twitter after being caught using multiple expletives to describe Berdych. Me-ow. To be fair, Murray cussed his fair share, too.)

The likely men's champ. I hope. (Photo: abc.net.au)

Murray meets Djokovic in the final. A formidable challenge, to say the least. Yes, Djok needed a full five sets to take out Wawrinka, but he won going away, taking the final set without losing a game.

My prediction for the men's final? Disregard what Bess says below. Djok will win. 

BESS REPLIES: I'm trying to look forward, Dave, but I'm still a bit bummed about Fed and Rafa. Since I haven't discussed Rafa's loss on the blog, allow me just a moment...

For all the superstitious fans of Rafa who say he should never wear pink again (after losing early at the French(?) while also wearing pink)... I say, I'm not sure it was the pink. I think it was the fact that Nadal's metallic-pink-striped shorts were described... by Nadal... as his "party pants." What? Just, what? 

Party pants, defined

I don't think you win tennis matches wearing party pants. I think you win fans at the bar wearing party pants, but tennis matches? At any rate, I'm bummed about that loss in particular, especially because I really don't like Berdych.

Speaking of which, it sounds like that Berdych/Murray match was a doozie of a drama-fest. In the words of SNL's Stefon:

Despite that last, very funny Tweet, this was my favorite Tweet related to that match:

Twitter perfection

I'm not sure I understand Berdych, and I'm not sure I care to. So I was thrilled that Murray won. He is looking really unstoppable this tournament. I feel like he has the edge on whomever he plays in the final. Especially since, as I type this, Djokovic is leading Wawrinka, but hasn't looked up to his usual quality. 

TENNIS FANS: Who's your pick to win it all on the men's side? And what should Dave and Bess wager on the final? Weigh in now...

A love letter to Maria (and Alexandra)

Sharapova after a tough win.

POSTED BY DAVE: My Australian Open is complete, thanks to a gutsy second round match between Maria Sharapova and Alexandra Panova. Sharapova pulled off a victory, by coming back from way down in the third set -- and also by holding off two match points near the end. This is why I love tennis! Thank you, Maria, and thank you, as well, Alexandra.

Both of these women played such high-caliber tennis, including on crucial points. It truly is a shame, especially for Panova, that there couldn't be two winners. I have a hard time imagining that the final will be as exciting or close as this match was. However, if it is, and if Sharapova is in the mix, my money is on her. (But that should come as no surprise to Bess.)

Who else will earn aces from me in the second round? Read on.

Women

• Excited about the Keys/Dellacqua match-up! Should be high-intensity, and, I hope, high-drama.
• Excited about Wozniacki/Azarenka, too. For obvious reasons.
• Koukalova has the best shot in her quarter of the draw, now that Ivanovic has made an early exit. Expecting good things from her in 2R.
• Would love to see all of the American women move forward to 3R. I'm especially pulling for Venus, my sentimental favorite, and McHale, who I believe will ultimately make it to at least the round of 16.

Men

• Really liking the looks of Nieminen, Karlovic and Wawrinka. Something tells me all three will breeze through to 3R.
• Looking forward to Young-Raonic. Hoping for a highly athletic and extremely close match.
• My sentimental favorite is Hewitt. Wasn't his biggest fan years ago, and, to be honest, wasn't really a fan, at all. But, I've enjoyed watching him the past few years, and admire how well he is playing at this late stage in his career. I also like how he carries himself now in interviews -- mature, gracious, grateful.

BESS REPLIES: Despite a barrage of texts from Dave (barrage = seven), I slept through that third set of Sharapova/Panova. Drat! Clearly I missed a(nother) great Maria comeback. Just when all hope is lost, Maria wills it back into existence. Congrats to Maria!

A few aces and faults from me:

Aces

Dave had to complete his brackets on
(wait for it...) paper! Hence my abacus joke.
Also, please note that the purple eggplant is our
chosen emoji to signify goodness/happiness.
Not sure why.

• Baghdatis won again! In the process, he took out the 20th seed, David Goffin. Nice work, Marcos.
• An ace to Andy Murray's barber. The closer-cropped cut is a definite plus.
• At the risk of self-promotion and conceit, I'm going to give myself an ace for my 50 correct predictions in the first round of the ATP bracket challenge. Pretty sure that's one of my best first rounds ever. Feelin' pretty good... for the time being. 
• Upcoming matches I'm excited to see:
• Looking forward to seeing Rafa in action again tonight to make sure that first round performance wasn't a fluke. Yes, I'm still reining in my optimism a bit. Protective measures and whatnot.
• Tomorrow night there's a host of U.S. women in action - looking forward to seeing all of them. And while I appreciate the up-and-coming among them, I'm rooting for Venus most of all (sadly she would have to beat American Lauren Davis to advance... )
• Tomorrow's Jerzy Janowicz/Gael Monfils match could make for an entertaining highlight reel.

Faults

• Sorry to burst Dave's bubble and totally bummed to report that Christina McHale already lost her second round match. That 12-10 third set victory in the first round may have taken too much out of her.
• An XL, rosy-hued fault to that Pepto Bismal pink Nike dress worn by so. many. women. in round one. More on that in a subsequent post, but I am not a fan.
• A definite fault to me for snoozing while Maria willed herself to win her second round match. If only I could channel her sheer will and dogged determination into staying awake. As it is, I'm just channeling #tired. And it's only day three! Fault, fault, fault.

TENNIS FANS: Who are you keeping your eyes on, during 2R?

It's all over Down Under

Posted by BESS: Several days, by which I mean nights, have passed, and the 2013 Aussie Open is now complete.  I missed talking about a lot of matches, and I also missed a lot of matches.

I did, however, see a good portion of the Murray/Federer five-set semi-final. Was really rooting for Fed in that one. But, alas.

I did NOT see the MTO heard 'round the world... Azarenka's questionable medical time out right after choking away five match points in her semi-final against Sloane Stephens.  After leaving the court and seemingly regrouping, Aza went on to win the match and lose just about any support she might have had. The fans, the media, commentators, other players, the Twitterverse... everyone was in an uproar.

By all accounts it was a rough two days for Azarenka, preparing for the final while dealing with the fallout of that questionable sportsmanship. So tension was high as she and Li Na took the court for the women's championship. What then transpired was riveting TV. 

Three sets complete with a heavily partisan crowd (seemingly all supporting Li), strong play, two medical time outs (unquestionably legit) by Li for rolling her ankle--one combined with slamming her head on the court and being assessed for a concussion, a 10-minute break for Australia Day fireworks outside the stadium, and frequent shots of Aza's box where LMFAO's Redfoo, her friend/perhaps boyfriend, wore a neon, leopard print ensemble with a T-shirt proclaiming "Get your grunt on."

In a word (or three), it was bizarre and unexpected and entertaining, and I enjoyed every moment of it. Until the very end, when Azarenka won.

It marked one of the oddest winning moments I can remember in a grand slam final. She won, and the crowd barely reacted. Here she is, your women's champion, and... tepid applause at best. Reluctant.

Her celebration was, to her credit, muted. She sobbed heavily into her towel, then jogged over to celebrate with her team--getting reassurance from them more than anything else.

So Aza leaves Melbourne with another trophy, and Li Na leaves with a kabillion more fans (conservative estimate.) She's a clearly improved player, and her unending popularity stems as much from her impressive play as for her humorous candor during every single interview. Simply charming.

Well done, Li Na. Hoping the rest of 2013 is just a little bit better than this tournament ended up for you.
 
As for the men's final. Well, I was frankly bored by Murray/Djokovic. And tired. So I took a break after the first two sets (which they split) and then just couldn't be bothered. Something like 28 straight games without a break of serve? Oy.

It was a final between two players I don't really care for, so I wasn't so much rooting for someone as I was rooting against the Djoker. And when it seemed he had taken control of the match, my heart wasn't in it. Especially at 5 a.m.

I'll just say that it wasn't the best match from either of them. And had Murray not played a tough five-set semi just the day before, the result might have been much different.

I did see the end and the trophy presentation (had to wake up for Andre!). The upside: Djokovic didn't rip his shirt off while staggering around court screaming like the Hulk. So there's that.

Also, perhaps my second-favorite tweet from the tournament: SI/CNN/Tennis Channel's Jon Wertheim's random observation and stellar verb usage last night:  "Murray really sausaged his body into his clothes this event."  Hahaha. Nice. (And true.)

Housekeeping
So... it's been fun. But I've missed Dave arguing with me over my dislike of Djokovic or Venus's fashion choices. Perhaps when the French Open rolls around Dave won't find himself quite so busy/sick/out of the country (a bad combination as far as blogging goes.)

I look forward to putting the "mixed" and the "doubles" back into Mixed Doubles.

For those keeping score, both Dave and I picked DelPotro and Sharapova as singles' champions. So clearly, we failed.  Better luck next time, Juan Martin and Maria. Also, Dave and me.

Until Paris... (and, God willing, Rafa...) A bientot!

Early morning stunner

Posted by BESS: So Baghdatis is out. Tipsarevic is out. Del Potro (my pick to win it all) is out. It seems my favorites on the men's side are dropping like flies.

Two people decidedly not dropping like flies?  Djokovic and Wawrinka.

I woke up at 6 a.m. this morning to find quite a match going on. It was the beginning of the fourth set, Djokovic up 2 sets to 1 and a battle ensuing for the fourth set. The match ended up running another 2+ hours... until it ended with Djokovic winning 12-10 in the fifth.  A match full of intense points, tension galore and the previously unheard of (for me) hope that Wawrinka might end Djokovic's Aussie Open run before the quarterfinals. (C'moooooooon, Stan!)

As you may recall, I'm not a Djokovic fan. And while I have been rather "meh" about Wawrinka overall, I have been impressed with him in the past. I tend to put him in the Ferrer camp--two athletes making perhaps more than the most of their talents in an era that relentlessly rewards only the giants of the sport.  But while Ferrer has established himself as a legitimate threat to the top men, Wawrinka doesn't tend to get that serious a consideration when the draw comes out.  My thought process is--he'll do well until he runs into a top 10 player.

He certainly proved me wrong today. What a gutsy performance. Another 5+ hour epic for Djokovic, but this time I really felt like he didn't have enough to pull it off. I was rooting for and truly believing in Stan's ability to stun the tennis world. Time and again Stan had the answers and Djokovic couldn't summon a response. 

In the end, it really was anyone's game. They were both fatigued and playing to survive. Stan had his chances, and finally Djokovic got his.  On his third match point opportunity (after Stan declined to challenge a call he clearly should have), Djok went for broke, and the match was over.  Devastating for Wawrinka. And for me.

How is it that Djokovic keeps ending up on the winning end of these matches? Last year's final with Nadal left me in tears. The six-hour unfairness of it all! The futile rooting on behalf of my fave! The obnoxious winner ripping off his shirt in celebration!

I wasn't in tears this morning, but it was not my ideal way to start the day... rooting intensely for someone who comes up *just* *this* short.  Ugh! 

And seriously. Again with the ripping off of the shirt, Djokovic?

No.
Stop that.
Just stop it.

Stan played with racquets that read "Stan" and shoes that read "The man." He was all that and more today. And he should have won. Gosh darnit.

My only hope is that the Djoker is unable to bounce back in time for his next round opponent--the well-rested and always dangerous Tomas Berdych.

Although it's a battle of two of my least favorite players, so there really will be no winner in my book.

Can they both lose? Let's work on that.

Updates and whatnot

Posted by Bess: Last night offered some uncomfortable viewing at the AO. Did Mardy Fish and Marcos Baghdatis make a negativity pact? I'm not used to seeing them in such prolonged states of anger, frustration and grousing, showing such negative emotions and emitting such clear profanities (ahem, Mardy).

Those matches aren't fun to watch (especially when they're the guys you're rooting for), which is why I've never really enjoyed watching Andy Murray (although he was much less negative in his first round match, which the commentators attribute to having Ivan Lendl as his coach/in his box.)

But I'm guessing those matches are even less fun if you're one of Marcos's racquets, which took quite a beating! I believe he was down to just two racquets toward the end; the other four lying mangled, still in their plastic wraps from the stringer. They never even had a chance to fulfill their destiny.

All that negativity paid off for their opponents. Alejandro Falla and Stan Wawrinka rode it all the way to the third round.

In other news:

• Way to go, Christina McHale!


• Nadal's freak knee injury happened while he was sitting in a chair!? Okaaaay. This seems like something that happens to me now that I'm 40. Not to a professional athlete in the prime of his life! Regardless, he seemed great out there last night and won in straight sets.


• I read somewhere that Ryan Harrison admitted to faking exhaustion in the third set of his match with Verdasco, betting that Verdasco would feel he had the match in the bag and let up. Which is exactly what happened. Harrison came from two sets down to beat Verdasco.
  
  Sort of colors Harrison's win in my mind. And I'm sure Verdasco is none too pleased to hear that, as well. I mean, gamesmanship is a part of many matches, but... rarely does it seem to be so openly admitted. Odd.


• On opening day I witnessed an exchange by many of the ESPN2 commentators, killing time before the tournament began by making bold predictions for the year. I enjoyed their exchange and was hoping to find a clip online. There may be a video clip, but I was also happy to see the exchange appear in Bruce Jenkins's column.
  
  Fun stuff. We can add those to the lists of predictions Dave and I made and tally up the winners at the end of the year.

That's it for now. But we MUST discuss tonight's match up between Lleyton Hewitt and Andy Roddick. That's a four alarm match, for sure! (Meaning, of course, that I will have to set four alarms to make sure I wake up for it at whatever late hour it will be on.)

Maria, I know exactly how you feel

Posted by DAVE: Last night, I was down for the count with a massive headache. Tonight, it's Sharapova's turn. Knocked out, 4-6 in the third, by Pennetta. Such a disappointment, once again. But I will not give up hope! Maria will win at least one more Slam before she retires. You heard it here first. (Does that make me a tennis analyst, Roddick?! LOL)

So, yeah, I'm left with Stosur on the bottom half of the women's. (shrug) As for the men, the only head-to-head match-up left in my draw is Tsonga/Fish. I guess that's interesting. Sort of. Maybe?

One thing is for certain. I need my friend, Stace, to stop texting me results during the day. That's how I heard about Maria. And about Young taking out Wawrinka. Who needs DVR?! Actually, I would be happy with cable tonight. Mine's out, so I'm watching Roddick/Sock via live stream. It's like watching with a strobe light on. I might turn off the commentators (who needs analysts anyway, right, Roddick?!) and switch on some dance tracks from my iTunes library. Anything to make this Open more exciting.

(c) Joe Klamar / Getty Images