AUSTRALIAN OPEN 2015

The first Grand Slam of the year Australian Open is one of my favorite tournaments of all time.  Big tournaments always open for big surprises, creating new stars for tennis world and this year is no different.

As Semi finals are on the way for both Men and Women singles, lets see a quick look what happened last ten days in Melbourne Park.

First of all i want to say that young Aussies Thanasi Kokkinas and Nick Krygios impressed me a lot during this tournament. Especially Krygios, i love his passion, his fire and confidence. He made it till the Quarterfinals at age of 19 and his matches were very entertaining and exciting. At QF match against Andy Murray (6) was full of lessons for him. But most important thing about that match was that young Krygios made us think that he could beat Murray. I think that is the key of being successful. Because also he said in an interview that he believes himself to beat Murray. I really like that way of thinking.

Andy Murray is a super talented player, he can do anything on court. For me the best returner in tour, crafty, smart, quick, class A. But he has a constant problem, when he loses focus, he starts to fight with everything around and this cause trouble for him. When he started to work with Lendl, it was a great impact on him that he stopped being arguing himself or crowd or referee, but for the past six months – sure he has injuries over again- i can see that he is again very close to lose his control which is bad for him. Mauresmo , new coach of Murray, is a mystery for now. Every player has a transition time to adapt to be with a new coach on his/her box but i expect him to be better and win another Grand Slam this year.

To sum up briefly the QF match with Krygios, Murray cleared all hesitations in our minds and used his all experience in a very effective way , beating his opponent in 3 sets. Krygios did a good job but of course was not enough to beat such a player like Murray. There are things to learn and improve for young Aussie but it is equally important that he looks like walking in a right path to be a champion.

As Federer is out of tournament by cold blooded Italian Seppi, my favourite player for the Championship is Stan the Man! Last night he showed a very strong and solid performance against Kei Nishikori (5) and defeated him in 3 sets. Very impressive victory! He was in a total beast mode!

Semifinals are looking great! Women’s side; two Russians: Sharapova (2) vs Makarova (10), two Americans Serena Williams vs unseeded  Madison Keys.  S. Williams has a health issue here, so maybe a surprise happen and Keys may go to the final. Otherwise my only prediction is Serena Williams will win her 19th Major Title here.

For men’s side: World number one Novak Djokovic passed Canadian Milos Raonic (8) today and will play against Stan Wawrinka (4). I m looking forward to watch this one!!

On the other hand, Tomas Berdych (7) who could finally beat Rafa Nadal (3) after 17 consecutive defeat, will face to Murray. Interesting part is, Dani Vallverdu who was a hitting partner of Murray , now is a couch for Berdych. It sounds very interesting, too. But I want to see Andy at the final, sorry Tomas :(

*Photos taken from Australian Open Facebook Page.