2014 Australian Open: the tournament that was

What has been described as one of the most thrilling and notable Australian Opens in recent history has finally come to a close, and in the end the tournament was left with not only two brand new champions, but also two well-deserving champions.

Stanislas Wawrinka and Li Na will leave Melbourne Park with very fond memories, as both leave with the men’s and women’s trophies for the very first time. And they leave as well-deserved champions considering the contrasting hardships they endured at this tournament twelve months ago.

Wawrinka entered the Australian Open having suffered a heartbreaking five-set loss to Novak Djokovic in the fourth round last year (he would gain his revenge in the quarter-finals, as we are about to discover), while Li had endured not only the pain of a second championship match defeat, but also two serious injuries, against Victoria Azarenka in last year’s decider.

To win their titles, they defeated opposition of varying difficulty: Wawrinka had to overcome not just an opponent who was chasing unprecedented history, but also a lopsided 0-12 record and without a set won, while Li faced a much easier opponent who made history by becoming the first man or woman from Slovakia to reach a Grand Slam final.

More on that soon, but first let’s take a look at some of the eight key moments that made this Australian Open worth enjoying (or enduring):

1. The Aussies
Most of the Australian contingent waited nervously as the draw was unveiled on 10 January, and there were some unfavourable and ugly results to come out of it.

The ones who copped it the hardest were Bernard Tomic and Ashleigh Barty, both drawn to face the top seeds in both the men’s and women’s draws respectively. Not surprisingly, both lost, but the nature of Tomic’s retirement after one set to Rafael Nadal would remain a major talking point in the first week of the tournament.

The crowd booed him after dropping the first set to the Spaniard, giving the impression that the 21-year-old Gold Coaster, whose below-par performances have belied his junior achievements, simply gave up.

But the man himself would front a press conference the following day to unearth the truth – that he had suffered a hip injury, which would ultimately sideline him for up to three months and see him miss the first of the Masters 1000 tournaments at Indian Wells and Miami.

Lleyton Hewitt, fresh off defeating Roger Federer to win the Brisbane International in the first week of the season, also didn’t fare well at the draw, being drawn against 24th seed Andreas Seppi, to whom he would lose in the first round in a five-set thriller, thereby nullifying his recent victories over Federer and Andy Murray in a exhibtion match in Kooyong.

Samantha Stosur also endured a disappointing Australian Open campaign, her bid for a maiden Australian Open title being ended by Ana Ivanovic in round three when a win would have pitted her against Serena Williams in round four. As we are about to discover later, she would be left to curse her luck once again.

However, the one that stood out the most was Casey Dellacqua, who justified her wildcard entrance to reach the fourth round at Melbourne Park for the first time since 2008.

Her road to the fourth round was tough, as she had to face opponents who have reached at least one Grand Slam semi-final, starting with Russian Vera Zvonareva, who was on the comeback trail following 18 months out with a serious shoulder injury, followed by Wimbledon semi-finalist Kirsten Flipkens and then 2010 semi-finalist Zheng Jie.

But she made it look all too easy, as she passed each test in straight sets en route to a fourth round showdown against Eugenie Bouchard, who, ironically, would eventually reach her first Grand Slam semi-final after ending the dream run of Dellacqua in three sets.

Having been ranked 120 entering the tournament, Dellacqua is now guaranteed to return to the world’s top 100 when the rankings are updated this week.

2. Kvitova, del Potro and Wozniacki flop
No three players disappointed at this year’s Australian Open more than former Grand Slam champions Petra Kvitova and Juan Martin del Potro, as well as former world number one Caroline Wozniacki.

Kvitova, the 2011 Wimbledon champion whose results have suffered since that glorious Saturday afternoon at the All England Club 30 months ago entered the Australian Open on the back of a strong finish to 2013, whereby she captured the prestigious Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo and also reached the semi-finals of the WTA Tour Championships in Istanbul.

This form carried on early into 2014, going undefeated in singles at the Hopman Cup and reaching the semi-finals in Sydney, losing to the eventual champion, Tsvetana Pironkova, in straight sets.

But her recent Grand Slam struggles would continue with a first round loss to unheralded Luksika Kumkhum – this continuing a streak of seven consecutive Grand Slams in which she has not reached the final four.

Then, on Thursday night (or, precisely, the early hours of Friday morning), 2009 US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro suffered yet another early exit from a hard court Grand Slam tournament when he fell to Spaniard Roberto Bautista-Agut.

Like Kvitova, del Potro arrived at Melbourne Park on the back of very impressive form, capturing the Sydney International title to guarantee himself a return to the top four when the new rankings come out this morning, no matter what.

But his disappointing exit will leave questions being asked as to whether he can add to his lone triumph at Flushing Meadows from 2009 and whether he can mount a challenge to the Big Four.

And finally, Caroline Wozniacki, whose third round exit to another Spaniard, Garbine Muguruza, marked the eighth consecutive Grand Slam tournament in which she has failed to reach the quarter-finals.

Her shock loss to the rising Ana Ivanovic look-a-like will also have serious ramifications in regards to her place in the world’s top ten, which she will relinquish to Simona Halep when the new rankings are ratified this week.

It continues her dramatic fall from grace which saw her lose the world number one ranking (seemingly, for good) two years ago and will leave her in the “pretenders” section at future major tournaments to come.

3. The heat
The first week of the Australian Open was dominated by the heatwave which spread across the southern states of Australia – and it’s not just the players who suffered, but also the tournament as a whole.

The first Thursday of the tournament saw the Extreme Heat Policy implemented for the first time since 2009, as players and fans wilted under the 40-degree heat.

No one copped it harder than Maria Sharapova, who was forced to play out a marathon final set lasting 18 games against Karin Knapp on Rod Laver Arena under the unrelenting sun while the others got to cool off.

Andy Murray and Victoria Azarenka were also two players to struggle during the heat on the first Tuesday of the tournament, such that they were scheduled as the double-act on Rod Laver Arena for Thursday night.

There were others as well, such as Canada’s Frank Dancevic, who described the conditions as being “inhumane”, Peng Shuai, who threw up during her first round loss to Kurumi Nara, and Zheng Jie, who experienced breathing difficulties during her third round loss to Casey Dellacqua.

But at least the fans got to see the lighter side of things – they coined this nickname: “The Australian Oven”, which eventually did the rounds on social media and led to calls for the year’s first Grand Slam to be rescheduled.

4. Ana Ivanovic upsets Serena Williams
Serena Williams entered this Australian Open on the back of what can only be described as one of the most dominant seasons ever by anyone over the age of 30, netting eleven titles including the French and US Opens, banking over $12 million in prize money and reclaiming the world number one ranking from Victoria Azarenka.

So it came as no surprise that she was installed as the shortest-priced favourite in the tournament’s recent history, and when faced against Ana Ivanovic, who had never even won a single set from Williams in four previous meetings, in the fourth round, she was short-priced at $1.04 to win the match in straight sets.

But nobody would have predicted what would transpire on that bright, beautiful Sunday afternoon under the sky on Rod Laver Arena, as Ivanovic produced the performance of her career to send the 17-time Grand Slam champion and five-time champion here crashing out of the tournament in three sets.

To make this upset victory all the more believable, you have to think about the endless struggles she has endured since winning the French Open in 2008.

The glamorous and popular Serbian suffered as a result of her major breakthrough at Paris six years ago, with only five further titles and her ranking plummeting down to 65 by July 2010.

Further, she was only able to reach one Grand Slam quarter-final, that coming at the 2012 US Open where she was then crushed by Williams – so there’s no denying that her victory over the American to reach her second final eight at a major since then was the perfect payback.

It was also the perfect way to destroy the fourth-round curse at the Grand Slams, and it came two weeks after she defeated Venus Williams to win her 12th career title in Auckland, ending a 26-month spell from the winners list.

But there was a story that had to be told on the Williams side – the 32-year-old was hampered by a back injury, which many say prevented her from playing at her intimidating best.

Without a doubt, Ivanovic’s victory will go down as the greatest of her career, even if she lost in the following round, and will serve as notice to Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova, and to a lesser extent, Li Na and Agnieszka Radwanska, as to how to not just challenge, but beat Williams, at a major.

The key to Ivanovic’s victory was to forget about who she was opposing and execute her normal game plan as she would against other opponents.

And as we are about to find out later, this defeat would have a domino effect which would continue into the quarter-finals.

5. Eugenie Bouchard and the “Genie Army”
This time last year, young Canadian Eugenie Bouchard failed to qualify for the Australian Open main draw, but flash forward 12 months and she leaves Australia not only having made her mark on the tournament with a semi-final appearance but also with a growing army of fans called the “Genie Army”.

Following her second round win over French veteran Virginie Razzano, her loud legion of fans, formed by several unknown Australians who wanted to follow someone new, serenaded her with the Canadian national anthem and threw her a stuffed koala, the first of many souvenirs the 19-year-old will leave Melbourne with.

After reaching the fourth round, her match against Casey Dellacqua was to be scheduled for Rod Laver Arena on Sunday night, and it would lead to the army creating the sign saying: “Started on Court 15 now we’re here”.

As Bouchard then entered the quarter-finals, her support instantly spiked, even to the point where Sydney Swans ruckman, Canadian native and now Australian citizen, Mike Pyke, jumped on board.

In the final eight, Bouchard faced off against Ana Ivanovic, who had just come off beating Serena Williams, in a match-up that had “beautiful” and “glamorous” written all over it.

And not only did the Canadian repeat the dose on the Serb at Grand Slam level, she may have also usurped her as the new glamour queen of tennis, a title which Ivanovic had held for the better part of the last six-or-so years.

It was during a court-side interview after that match in which, when asked by Sam Smith who she would date, she caused a minor controversy by revealing that she would date Justin Bieber – an answer that earned the ire of the crowd.

Unfortunately, Bouchard’s dream run would come to an end in the semi-finals as she struggled to handle the occasion of playing such a big match against such a big name in China’s Li Na, who would eventually go on to win the tournament.

The Canadian’s run to the semi-finals revived memories of Sloane Stephens’ run to this stage last year and will remain as one of the feel-good stories of the tournament.

Who would have thought it possible that Bouchard would go deeper than the “Big Three” of Serena Williams, Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova?

6. The domino effect continues
Twenty-four hours after Serena Williams was unexpectedly shown the door by Ana Ivanovic on Rod Laver Arena, feuding rival Maria Sharapova had her plane tickets booked by Dominika Cibulkova by virtue of an error-strewn three-set defeat.

The Russian started well, winning the first set before poor serving and a massive number of double-faults, most in the final set, proved to be her downfall as she exited Melbourne Park before the quarter-finals for the first time since 2011.

And as a result of that defeat, the Russian will vacate her place in the top four to Agnieszka Radwanska, who on Wednesday sent defending champion Victoria Azarenka packing by virtue of an excellent three-set victory.

The Pole had lost her last seven meetings against the Belarussian but played controlled tennis from the outset to frustrate Azarenka and trap her into making over 40 unforced errors.

Sandwiched in between Azarenka and Sharapova’s exits were that of men’s defending champion Novak Djokovic, who for the past three years had proven to be unbeatable at Melbourne Park.

Well, that was until he ran into Stanislas Wawrinka in what was a rematch of last year’s gripping fourth round encounter, which Djokovic won 12-10 in the final set.

This year’s sequel followed a very similar script, but this time it would be Wawrinka who would capture the victory, 9-7 in the final set, en route to claiming a well deserved maiden Grand Slam title, which will be recapped below.

Same-age rival Andy Murray also fell to another Swiss, Roger Federer, 24 hours later, ensuring that the final would not feature either Murray or Djokovic for the first time since 2009.

And finally, Radwanska would fail to follow up the victory over Azarenka by blowing her best chance yet to reach a Grand Slam final when she put in a listless performance against Dominika Cibulkova, who then became the first Slovak of either sex to reach a Grand Slam final since the country assumed independence in 1993.

7. Third time lucky for Li Na
After the aforementioned exits of Williams, Azarenka and Sharapova from the tournament in the second week of the tournament, Li Na assumed favouritism status and justified it in her third Australian Open final appearance, defeating first-time Grand Slam finalist Dominika Cibulkova in straight sets.

The Chinese had the experience of not only having lost two previous Australian Open finals, but also that of having won the French Open in 2011, when she dethroned defending champion Francesca Schiavone to become the first Asian to win a Grand Slam singles title.

But to capture the Australian Open at the third time of asking, she had to quell the big threat that was the giant killing pocket-rocket, who entered the final on the back of wins over Schiavone, Sharapova, Simona Halep and Agnieszka Radwanska.

And after a nervy first set tiebreak won by Li, Cibulkova would run out of steam in the second set, losing it to love as the Chinese finally buried the demons of two past failures at Melbourne Park to become the oldest champion here since Margaret Court in 1973.

8. Stan the Man denies Rafa his place in history
And finally, who could get past Stanislas Wawrinka and his fighting effort to win his first Grand Slam title at the expense of Rafael Nadal?

The Swiss second-in-waiting to Roger Federer for the better part of the past decade entered his maiden Grand Slam championship match looking to continue his impressive run through the tournament which included defeating defending champion Novak Djokovic and former Wimbledon finalist Tomas Berdych in the quarter-finals and semi-finals respectively.

No one gave him a chance in the final against the Spaniard, who had won all twelve of their previous meetings in straight sets and was looking to become the first man in the Open Era to achieve a double Career Grand Slam and equal Pete Sampras on 14 Grand Slam titles.

But Wawrinka would produce yet another stunning performance as the Spaniard fell victim to a back injury, the same problem which also ruined the Australian Open hopes of his WTA rankings counterpart, Serena Williams.

Although Nadal would fight back to take the third set after dropping the first two sets, the task of having to come from two sets to love down to win a Grand Slam championship match, which has not been achieved since Gaston Gaudio at the 2004 French Open, ultimately proved too much and Wawrinka walked away a deserved four-set victor.

And so the Spaniard will have to wait another 12 months to complete the double Career Grand Slam, but won’t have to wait long to equal Sampras’ mark as he will start a hot favourite to claim title number nine at Roland Garros in May.

So those were the eight moments that made the 2014 Australian Open the tournament that was. Congratulations to Stanislas Wawrinka and Li Na, the singles champions, and commiserations to Rafael Nadal and Dominika Cibulkova, who tried their hearts out but couldn’t finish the job.

And so that wraps up my coverage of the Australian Open for 2014, which I hope that you have enjoyed every step of the way. Now, there’s the Formula One and the beginning of the AFL and NRL seasons to look forward to, as the footy seasons start to kick into gear in March.

No doubt the fans will now be counting down to the 2015 Australian Open, which is now a matter of 51 weeks away.