2014 Super Bowl and Australian Open
The Grand Slams of tennis are located around key parts of the calendar for my other two favorite sports, football and basketball. The French Open and Wimbledon coincide with the NBA Playoffs and Finals, the U.S. Open happens right around the start of the NFL season, and the Australian Open takes place during the NFL Playoffs. Both of those latter events have now finished up, so let's see how they went! Stay tuned next week for a review of The Monuments Men.
Australian Open
It was a historic tournament in at least one way: the temperatures during the first week (and a little into the second) soared into the 100s just about every day. How (and why) someone could play tennis in those kind of conditions astounds me, but I guess that's why they're professionals. Beyond the weather, there were also surprising result on both sides of the draw. Here's a recap of the tourney.
Men: First of all, it was a shock to see Federer seeded outside the top 5, allowing Ferrer to sneak into the top 3. Now, the top 4+Federer all made the quarterfinals, but that's where the &*(^ hit the fan. Federer defeated Murray; not a huge surprise, given Fed's history and Murray coming off a back injury, but still unexpected. Ferrer lost to Berdych, and, in the biggest shock, #2 seed and two-time defending champion Djokovic lost in five sets to Wawrinka. In the semis, Nadal showed that he still owns Federer, and Wawrinka bested Berdych in a tough match. Then the finals: Wawrinka came out looking spectacular, taking the first set easily. Nadal injured his back in the second set, but kept playing. I recorded this match, and honestly started fast forwarding after the injury; somehow Nadal won a set, but the end result was inevitable. It was the first time since the 2009 U.S. Open that someone other than Nadal, Djokovic, Murray or Federer had won a Grand Slam tournament.
Women: There was very little shake up in the top ranks of the women's game in 2013, and so the top 10 looked pretty much the same for this tourney. A few top seeds were upset early, but things went pretty smoothly overall - until the 4th round. That was when former world #1 Ana Ivanovic shocked Serena Williams (I still can't believe it happened); Cibulkova knocked off Sharapova, and several other top 10 players lost as well. Azarenka, Li Na, and Radwanska remained as the favorites surviving in the quarterfinals. Azarenka, the most heavily favored, bowed out there in humiliating fashion to Radwanska, while some lower ranked players like Cibulkova and Canadian teen Bouchard managed to advance. It was Li Na and Cibulkova in the finals, and the Chinese veteran put on one of the most impressive performances on the women's side that I've seen in a long time. She went for her shots constantly and hit the mark; despite not having a trace of Serena's overwhelming firepower, she just blew Cibulkova off the court (who, I should add, competed hard the whole time).
A look at some of the top players after this tournament:
(1) Rafael Nadal: a nasty blister on his hand slowed Nadal a bit in Australia, and he struggled against some of the top players. Still, he dominated Federer again and made the finals. Considering his extraordinary return from injury last year, he will likely stay #1 most of the year and almost certainly win the French Open for the ninth time.
(2) Novak Djokovic: the Djoker came into Australia with a nice winning streak, and cruised through the opening rounds. Unfortunately, he ran into the red-hot Wawrinka in the semis, didn't have his best stuff, and went down in five sets. As long as he stays focused and hungry (retaking the #1 seed could be a nice goal), Djokovic's fitness and phenomenal return game will make him one of the favorites on every surface.
(3) Stan Wawrinka: coming out of nowhere is the guy who makes Federer the second best Swiss player in tennis right now. Wawrinka has been a good but not great player for years; somehow he's boosted himself into the elite ranks - at least for the moment - at the age of 28. Whether he can maintain this or not might be the most interesting story in tennis this year.
(6) Andy Murray: from the second half of 2012 through Wimbledon 2013, it seemed like Murray was going to be the new Djokovic - a player having such incredible improvement to lift them to the level of all-time legends Federer and Nadal. A back injury may or may not have cut that rise short. He's playing with the confidence he lacked in years prior - but how soon can he get back to the top 3?
(8) Roger Federer: 2013 was the first year that reports of Federer's decline could be backed up by his results. It was no longer just the other top players who could beat Fed - he was losing to inferior players somewhat consistently as well. With a new coach and new racket, he hopes to rebound in 2014, and the semifinal showing seemed to bode well. It may just delay the inevitable a bit longer, though.
(1) Serena Williams: even at age 32, Serena is dominating the women's game right now. Although her fourth round loss in Australia raises questions, an even bigger question is who is ready to replace her as the top player. I don't have the answer.
(2) Victoria Azarenka: Azarenka had a golden opportunity to win a third straight Australian Open when Serena went down early. But she choked badly against Radwanska (admittedly a very solid player). She has great talent and confidence, but are they both good enough to make her the next women's superstar?
(3) Li Na: although she's now won "just" two Grand Slam tournaments, Li Na is perhaps the most important player in tennis right now - man or woman - as she brings attention to the game to the largest audience in the world, China. From what I know of her, she's an exemplary representative; she may not win anymore Grand Slams (now 31 years old), but her influence could go on for many more years.
(5) Maria Sharapova: many believed that Maria would be the first "bombshell" women's player to rise to the top of the women's game. I give her a lot of credit for how hard she works and competes on the tennis court, but it looks like her ceiling might be "very good" rather than "great".
Super Bowl
It was another fun year for the NFL. Sadly, the Steelers did not make the playoffs but at least they improved through the season to give hope for 2014. But most importantly, TTSNBN was defeated before reaching the Super Bowl! Looking back at my playoff projections from before the season started, I had some very good and very bad guesses. My "bold" pick of the Broncos playing the Seahawks in the Super Bowl came true (although I picked Denver to win). On the other hand, I had Houston (2-14), Washington (3-13) and Atlanta (4-12) making the playoffs - ouch! But that's a big part of what makes the NFL so interesting to follow: you never know which expected favorites are going to fold, and which expected cellar dwellers will rise to the top.
The playoffs produced quite a few close, competitive games. By far the most entertaining was the Colt's crazy comeback win over the Chiefs in the wildcard round. But two other games that weekend were also quite close, decided by field goals at the end of the game (NO over Philly, SF over GB). I became rather worried after TTSNBN crushed the Colts in round 2, while the Broncos snuck past the Chargers. Fortunately, the Broncos ended up dominating TTSNBN in the conference championship - doubly good since I'm a fan of Peyton Manning. In the NFC, Seattle scored 23 points in each of two home games to defeat New Orleans - an explosive offense - and San Francisco - a smash-mouth team - to reach the Super Bowl.
The trend of wildcard teams getting on a hot streak and going to the Super Bowl hit a wall this year, as we got the strangely rare occurrence of the #1 seeds from both conferences. The game itself doesn't merit much discussion: the Seahawks destroyed the Broncos. I do object to, after the fact, to the many analysts claiming the result was inevitable (despite most saying the Broncos were the favorites beforehand). Seattle probably did have the better team, but I think the result had more to do with football's "any given Sunday" variability than a truly significant disparity between the teams.
Two great sports tournaments complete - now to turn attention to the NBA and winter Olympics!
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