Seriously, you guys. All of the drama has been going down at the Australian Open this year. It’s been a welcome respite from all of the “carnage” (to use Michael Shannon’s word) of the first week of Emperor Baby Fist’s administration. Novak Djokovic crashed out in Round 2. Andy Murray (the world #1) lost to Mischa Zverev (who seems like the nicest guy in the world) in the fourth round. On the women’s side, most of the top seeds were gone by the fourth round too – by the quarterfinals, Serena Williams (currently #2) was the highest rank player still in the tournament on the women’s and men’s sides. We’re currently inching towards a historic men’s final between Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal, which would be a dream come true. Just a short time ago, Federer won his semifinal against Stan Wawrinka in five tense sets:
HE'S DONE IT! #Federer through to the final! His first #AusOpen final in 7 years! pic.twitter.com/sT4qgvW09b
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 26, 2017
And now all that needs to happen is Nadal winning his semifinal against Grigor Dimitrov tonight, which… I think it could happen. Why not? Why not get the first Nadal-Federer final in a Slam since 2011, and the first Nadal-Federer Australian Open final since 2009 (which Federer lost). We want this too much, I know. If we talk about it too much, we might jinx it. So I’ll just say… good luck to Rafa.
Meanwhile, the other feel-good story is that we’re getting a Williams-sisters final!!!!! You don’t know how excited I am for this. This is Venus Williams’ – who is 36 years old – first Slam final since 2009. She won her semi first:
And then Serena won her semifinal just a few hours later, securing the Venus v. Serena final, the first Slam final for the Williams sisters since Wimbledon in 2009.
This Australian Open is magical, I’m telling you. It’s like we’ve gone through the looking glass and all of the legendary fan-favorites are dominating.
Photos courtesy of Getty.
Yaaaay! Go, Guys.
Go…. Williams!
I love a Williams/Williams final, but I wish they could tie!
Nooo. Eye of the tiger, Venus. I want this for her so bad but the beauty of this final is that its got a Win-Win quality. Its like “Heads, we get your favorite ice cream and tails, we get your second favorite ice cream.”
Nadal all the way. I hope he finally got a jock strap that doesnt need digging out in the middle of service.
Hahahaha. Truly, it’s very distracting/off-putting, isn’t it.
I’ve never cheered for Nadal in my life… but I am cheering SO HARD for him to make the final it’s ridiculous!
William / William…. Federed/Nadal…. C’mon 2009 !!!! Hahahahaha,
A Serena/Venus, Roger/Rafa final would be sublime. Finally something to look forward to!
yaaay 🙂
Love Roger Federer. As for Venus and Serena, I’m just going to enjoy watching two great champions.
There is something about Roger I just don’t like. I don’t know why.
He’s extraordinarily arrogant and I loathe the way he makes excuses every time he loses. It’s never ‘I played poorly’ or ‘the other guy played much better’, it’s ‘the sun was in my eyes’ or ‘it was getting dark’ or ‘there was a problem with my racquet (and I inexplicably kept playing with it rather than getting one of my back-ups). Often I feel like people just see his calm demeanour and don’t really take in what he’s actually saying. He’s almost always doing nothing but talking about how great he thinks he is.
I really hated how he acted in 09 when Nadal beat him at the AO. Nadal did something absolutely incredible that night, and instead of celebrating his moment he just had to console a sobbing Federer, who let the whole ceremony become about him.
I don’t dislike Federer at all, but I do think his personality is kind of boring. Usually you become a more interesting person as you get older, but if you were to ask me what I find interesting about him outside of tennis I don’t think I could tell you (maybe his wife is the most interesting thing about him?). I didn’t have these thoughts about him when he was 25 though.
Man, I’m crushed Serena won. Mirjana Lučić Baroni’s life has been so sad and heartbreaking, her winning this would have been a bigger feel good comeback story than Ivanišević winning Wimbeldon on a wild card. Still, even the semifinals is an incredible achievement and I couldn’t be prouder. Everyone here in Croatia is so proud. Well done Mikica!
Yes, her comeback has been a massive story in the press here in Australia. We came to love her and now she’s gone. Boo hoo! What is the heartbreak angle?
She was basically a tennis prodigy. Won the Aus Open in doubles and reached the semis in Wimbledon aged 16. Was hailed as the next Steffi Graf. But, her father was abusive, used to beat her so much she couldn’t comb her hair for days, she ended up in a safe house a couple of times with her mother and siblings until they fled to America. Then her manager ( apparently with her father) sued her, so she ran out of money and couldn’t travel to tournaments anymore. She even worked as a cashier. In the last couple of years she’s been making a comeback ,but she’s riddled with injuries. She doesn’t even have a sponsor, she’s been wearing mismatched gear. If all these things dind’t happen to her maybe she would have had a career similar to the Williams sisters.
Wow, all they really reported was that she was making a comeback after 18 years, although I haven’t followed the back stories. She’s been lovely to watch, been given lots of local coverage and I for one am her new biggest fan. But without being too cynical we love an underdog here. Hate federar too, but think Rafa is a soulless twat so no win there.
One of the sisters said that there will not be a sense of loss as anyway, a Williams will win!
Gotta love them.
And the vintage final Nadal / Federer would be a dream. I love me some Nadal (poor guy has had so many injuries after having been a super star) and I enjoy watching Federer too.
the last time there’s a Williams/Williams final (Doha 2009), Obama was just about to complete his first year of presidency.
the last time we had Roger/Rafa Australian Open finals, the Obama Administration was all of 12 days old…
back then if someone were to tell me Agent Orange would be president, i would slip a disc from too much laughter.
how times have changed… how they remained the same
VAMOS RAFAA!
Totally superficial comment, but those pictures of Venus on the court right after the game? Absolutely stunning!!
I thought that too – she looks absolutely beautiful.
Agree wholeheartedly.
Congrats to them both! Sibling rivalry at its best.
It’s JOYOUS. Loving it. Please pull through, Rafa!!! You’re too fine to go home now 💖🎾🏆
Venus brought me to tears with her joyous celebration after her semifinal win! And her totally gracious on-court interview immediately after shows why she is such a fantastic ambassador for tennis. She has been through so much, and done so much for the game that her win was even more moving.
And Serena? She just dominated like the greatest player ever that she is!
Can’t wait for this final!
I can’t wait! That must be amazing no difficult to play against your sibling.
And I hope Nadal wines the semi and goes on to beat Federer!!!!!
Venus really needs a slam win, but I’m all about Serena breaking records!
Go Serena, Go Roger!
Same here! Really want Serena to take this.
Women’s final is a win win for me. I will be happy for either of them. I’ve grown to really love both Nadal & Federer so I would be thrilled with either of them winning.
Very happy for Venus but I really want Serena to bring it on home. Go on girl!
#TeamSerena
Love Venus, love Serena, but I’m hoping for Venus to win this one.