SPECIAL COOPERATION

What a wonderful moment for the last round of the men as Rafael Nadal triumphs over Daniel Medvedev to beat Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer with the 21st Grand Slam title! Rafa is writing history!

However, this final was full of upsets as the Russian led by 2 sets to 0 before Rafa changed his strategy to become a little more aggressive, while reducing the mistakes that were not forced to go to the next 3 sets. This man is really special. Once again it gives us an incredible lesson in resilience, hard work and great pride. Nadal will always be the competitor I value most because he forgets about fatigue and pain while drawing from the depths of his soul and maintaining an attitude of respect for the opponent and all those who are attracted to an event like the one in Melbourne. IMPRESSIVE!

Among the ladies, the country’s favorite Ashleigh Barty is crowned who shows off her great talent and excellence during the fortnight to win a 3rd Grand Slam title and a first in front of her family. It’s fascinating to see how emotionally Ash has progressed over the years. It flies over its first 6 encounters with the appetite of an experienced veteran. In the final, however, against the mighty American Danielle Collins, she overcame herself from a 1-5 deficit in the second set to triumph without losing a single set throughout the tournament.

I love how the number one in the world plays tennis so much, for a variety of reasons. First, his great flexibility allows him to excel in all phases of the game: attack, counterattack and defense while knowing the value of the rally and the right time to move from one phase of the game to the next. As she has all the shots, she changes to frustrate the opponent sometimes taking the pace with her cut backhand for better continuity with accelerations in cross or uncrossed forehand. But apart from the aspects related to the game, it is even more important to see the beautiful symbiosis that exists with the 4 experts that surround him to help him progress day by day. Ashleigh has transformed over the years to stay grounded in her struggles. This stability allows her to make adequate analyzes and adjust in the middle of a race, which is quite rare in the female circuit.

Note that this is the second consecutive year that we find in the women’s final a lady from Uncle Sam’s country who comes from the university circuit. Last year, Jennifer Brady (national champion with UCLA in 2014) lost in the last round to Naomi Osaka. This proves that there are many ways to achieve its goals and that federations should perhaps encourage this path even further. Just hearing Collins share her experience on the microphone during the awards ceremony, we realize that this lady is educated and interesting to hear. He will be in the top-10 on Monday. Another example: do you remember who won the Drummondville Challenger in February 2020? He is the French Maxime Cressy then 252nd in the world. He also leaves his hometown, Paris, to try his luck at the University of California, Los Angeles, but does not make the team for the first year. In any case, there he meets people who believe in him. During the fortnight, he gave a great match to Medvedev in the round of 16, snatched a set from him in addition to beating John Isner in 5 sets in the first round. Cressy will be 59th on Monday …

You obviously remember how painful it was to live with the pre-tournament as the incredible epic raged around Novak Djokovic. Tournament Director Craig Tilly and his teammates recovered well to carefully prepare for the final with a beautiful pre-match show performing a song entitled “She will rise”. Barty also became the first Australian after Chris O’Neill to win the tournament in 1978. O’Neill beat American Beaty Nagelsen 6-3, 7-6. An amusing joke, Nagelsen recently coached Collins, while his protégé also lost in the final by the same score. The organizers also had a nice surprise in store for Barty, inviting none other than the great champion Evonne Goolagong to give her her trophy. Goolagong, who acts as Ashleigh’s mentor, is also of Aboriginal descent. As there were beautiful emotions on the podium during the closing ceremony. Really, big final …

Let us now turn to some excerpts that were heard during the fortnight. Medvedev did not hesitate to offer us some juicy. In the 2nd round, he defeated Nick Kyrgios with difficulty, while the crowd was unbridled. After the end of the match, in an interview, he tells us his thoughts on the fact that the spectators whistle him between his 1st and 2nd serve ball. Here is his comment: “It is honestly disappointing and proves their low quotient of intelligence. Do you want me to lose? Encourage me. Do you want me to win? Hate me … “. Saint Daniel …

At halftime, Medvedev faces Stefanos Tsitsipas and loses the lead after losing his serve in the second set. The Russian is furious because the referee Jaime Campistol does not punish Stefanos’s father, who speaks non-stop, giving advice to his son. Frustrated that the referee did not pay much attention to his request, Medvedev shouted, “Look at me, you idiot, I’m talking to you.” To end up calling it: “Little cat”. This makes the journalists present at his post-match conference.

Tsitsipas, who receives coaches’ warnings in all tournaments, tells us that when his father is nervous during a match, he speaks without being able to control himself. She does not even listen to him because he is focused on his thing, but leaves him. Personally, I can not believe that Apostolos does not realize that his behavior is unacceptable and decides to watch his son’s match in a box upstairs or in the players’ living room. He hurts his son and goes for a crank. What sensible dad wants to do that? Phew!

Now here is my favorite. It’s not hard to find since I award it to Félix Auger-Aliassime. The Quebecer are fighting so hard against Daniil Medvedev that they could beat him. The FAA level is the top-3 in this match and confirms what we hoped, that it has a great treasure in it and that it has everything it takes to win the biggest titles one day. .

Small news at the close, Djokovic acquired in June 2020 80% of Danish biotechnology Quant Bio Res, which is developing a treatment for the COVID-19 virus. Does that mean we are far from the forest? In a different spirit, the Serb will have to make decisions after the French government has announced that unvaccinated people will be banned in the country from January 24th. Can he defend his title at Roland Garros?