Australian Open features drama

A PROUD MOMENT— Roger Federer celebrated his 18th Grand Slam title last Saturday with a victory over long-time rival. (AP Images)

Federer downs Nadal, Serena beats sister Venus, Bryan brothers take a loss

The Australian Open has come to a close, and it is safe to say that this was a finals round to remember. The Williams sisters faced-off once again with Serena taking home her 23rd Grand Slam title. S. Williams holds the highest number of Grand Slam titles of current players with Federer being the leading male holder and claiming his 18th this past weekend. In men’s doubles, the American Bryan brothers lost (5-7, 5-7).

Although Venus has her own seven Grand Slam titles and has had a great career, Serena is a dominating force in the world of women’s tennis. She is on her way to holding the most titles ever. After claiming her 23rd this past weekend, Serena is only one away from being tied with Margaret Court, the Australian woman who holds 24 titles and retired from the sport in 1977. Additionally, Court believes Serena is well on her way to breaking her record, but it is likely no one will ever break her 64 title holding record (earning 19 from doubles and 21 from mixed doubles).

Serena’s fierce competitive nature has not always made her the most gracious loser. However, Saturday she was all smiles and grace after her win. Serena gave thanks and praise to her older sister Venus and to her team for getting her to where she is. However, Venus always loses with grace. This is one of the qualities of Venus that can be highly respected. She spent her time celebrating her sister’s accomplishments despite having played a great comeback game herself. She spent most of her runner-up speech praising her sister for being as successful as she has been. Venus said, “some of them I lost right there against you…your win has always been my win…all the times I couldn’t be there, wouldn’t be there, didn’t get there, you were there.” Venus represents humility on and off the court.

Serena took home the win 6-4, 6-4. Venus fought her way through the competition and remains a great player despite injuries. It may be the last time in history we will witness the two in a final showdown.

On the men’s side of things, Roger Federer took down Rafael Nadal to give Federer his 18th Grand Slam as well as his 12th win of the 35 matches over Nadal. However, Nadal gave Federer a tough match (6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 3-6 and 6-3). Luckily for Federer, he came up on the winning side in the last match when it counted most. The victory moves Federer back up to top 10 in the world with Nadal moving to the number six position.

This was a competition tennis fans loved. Federer said in his speech, “I would’ve been happy to lose to you, too.”

Both players hit shots that seemed impossible. These men are high-class players, not just in how they play, but how they act off the court. Both spoke highly of the other, and Federer showed modesty when he spoke of his comeback. He clearly was thankful for how far he made it in the tournament and did not expect the win he earned. Hopefully we see this rivalry again in the future after the match played last weekend.