Monday, February 21, 2011

In 48 Hours, Tennis Turned on Its Head

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MELBOURNE, Australia -- The best transitions in sports happen naturally, and by process. A star player gets old, and the next guy slowly overtakes him and becomes the top dog. It happens with teams, too.

And fans have a chance to adjust, get used to the new order.

Tennis is in a transition stage, too. But on Wednesday, it wasn't. Things are happening a little too fast for tennis' own good.

"From a personal point of view," Andy Murray said, "I would rather be in the final than watching Roger and Rafa at home, playing again."

Murray had just beaten David Ferrer 4-6, 7-6 (7-2), 6-1, 7-6 (7-2) Friday to advance to the final of the Australian Open. He'll play Novak Djokovic on Sunday for the year's first major.

Roger and Rafa -- Federer and Nadal -- is your regularly scheduled program for major finals. At least one of them, anyway. And this is part of the change.

Just 48 hours ago, the Federer-Nadal rivalry was as solid as ever. Federer had re-established himself over the past few months on that top tier. Nadal was going for the Rafa Slam, winning all four majors in a row.




On the women's side, while we wait for Serena Williams to recover, Kim Clijsters was dominating the tour. Justine Henin, one of the all-time greats, was struggling some in her comeback with a sore elbow.

Blink.

 

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Source: http://tennis.fanhouse.com/2011/01/28/in-48-hours-tennis-turned-on-its-head/

Matt Kuchar Maxi Rodríguez Michael Ballack Michael Essien Michael Owen

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