Djokovic says fatherhood has given him a new perspective

MELBOURNE - Like any new father, Novak Djokovic has quickly developed a new perspective on life and tennis.

The Serbian won his fifth Australian Open title on Sunday, beating Andy Murray 7-6(5) 6-7(4) 6-3 6-0 but his thoughts turned to family, rather than the trophy he had just won.

For Djokovic, the win was all the sweeter because it was his first grand slam title since he and his wife Jelena celebrated the birth of their first child last October.

"I think it has deeper meaning, a more intrinsic value now to my life because I'm a father and a husband," he told a news conference.

"As my life progresses, there are circumstances, situations, events that define these beautiful moments.

"Getting married and becoming a father in the last six months was definitely something that gave me a new energy, something that I never felt before. And right now everything has been going in such a positive direction in my life.

"I'm so grateful for that so I try to live these moments with all my heart."

Djokovic may have become a doting dad but the 27-year-old also showed that he still has all his fighting instincts after surviving a tough scrap with Briton Murray.

Djokovic was showing signs of fatigue in the third set after the first two had taken more than two and a half hours to complete, and later laughed off suggestions he was faking to throw Murray off his game.

"I'm not going to talk bad things about him in the press or find any excuses or something like this," Djokovic said.

"I wasn't cramping. I didn't call a timeout because I had no reason to call it. I was just weak. I went through the physical crisis in the matter of 20 minutes.

"I haven't felt that too many times in my career. But knowing in the back of my mind that it was a similar situation two years ago in the Australian Open final, 2013, where two sets went over two hours, it was a similar battle.

"I felt that I had some physical edge over him in that match. That was in the back of my mind. That was something that kept me going. And obviously the importance of the moment, being in finals of a grand slam. I didn't want to give up. I try never to give up."

"KEEP BELIEVING"

Djokovic now has eight grand slams in total but the Australian Open has been his most successful by far. He has also won Wimbledon twice and the U.S. Open once.

The French Open is the only major to have eluded him and he was reluctant to answer when asked if he would trade one of his wins in Australia for a victory in Paris.

"I've had, thankfully many great moments on the court in grand slams. I think every grand slam win is special in its own way. I can't really compare," he said.

"This tournament by far has been my most successful tournament in my life, in my career. I enjoy playing here, enjoy coming back.

"I strongly believe everything happens for a reason in life. I try not to waste my energy thinking, 'what if, what if,' so forth.

"For a reason I've been playing so well here and winning five titles, and for a reason I haven't won the French Open yet. I'll keep pushing and keep working and keep believing I can make it, at least once, until my career ends." (Editing by Mark Meadows)

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Murray downs Berdych to reach 4th Aussie final

MELBOURNE -- Britain's Andy Murray stormed into his fourth Australian Open final with a commanding four-sets win over Czech Tomas Berdych on Thursday.

The dual Grand Slam champion, seeded six, beat the seventh-seed 6-7 (6/8), 6-0, 6-3, 7-5 and will play either Novak Djokovic or defending champion Stan Wawrinka in Sunday's decider.

The tournament has been a heartbreak Grand Slam for the Scot with three runner-up finishes, but he has given himself another chance to break through and add to his Wimbledon and US Open titles.

The world No. 6 was too strong for Berdych, who wasn't the same player that eliminated Rafael Nadal in the quarter-finals.

After losing a marathon 76-minute opening set in a tiebreaker, Murray finished strongly to clinch the match in 3 hours 26 minutes on Rod Laver Arena.

There was plenty of friction between the two and a few glares at each other at changeovers during the opening set sparked by Berdych's decision to hire former Murray team member Dani Vallverdu as his coach.

"I was disappointed to lose the opening set after I had a couple of chances at the end but I felt I was playing better as the set went on and I was very aggressive at the beginning of the second set," Murray said.

"I got more comfortable with the conditions and with Tomas's ball, in the beginning I was feeling quite rushed and then I got more aggressive and made him do more running."

Murray admitted there was extra tension in the match caused by the attention over Vallverdu in the Berdych camp.

"A lot was made of Dani working with him. Me and Dani have been friends since we were 15 and I felt that was a little bit unfair and unnecessary. There is more to life than sport," he said.

Murray broke Berdych's serve six times and hit 40 winners, while Berdych served more double-faults than aces.

The Czech broke the Scot in the eighth game but was himself broken as he served for the set at 5-3.

Berdych fought off break points in the 11th game but prevailed in the tiebreaker after Murray had set point at 6-5.

It was a psychological lift for the Czech coming out on top after a 76 minute tussle.

There were some sparks when Berdych said 'Good play, Tomas' to himself as he passed by Murray after winning the set to the Scot's displeasure.

But the dual major champion raced through the second set with a triple service break over disengaged Berdych in just 30 minutes.

Murray went on the offensive and broke Berdych after trailing 0-40, hitting a forehand winner to the corner on break point.

Berdych was serving more double faults than aces as the Scot stormed to a two sets to one lead.

Murray's greater variety of shots caused Berdych problems and had the Czech frequently off balance and he got the decisive break of serve in the 11th game, clinching the match with an ace in his next service game.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Serena to face Sharapova in Australian Open final

MELBOURNE - Serena Williams overcame feisty teenage challenger Madison Keys to advance to her sixth Australian Open final on Thursday with a 7-6(5) 6-2 victory.

Williams will now face Maria Sharapova for the title after the Russian second seed beat compatriot Ekaterina Makarova 6-3 6-2 earlier on Rod Laver Arena.

American Williams has won all five of her previous Melbourne Park finals, and while pushed by her clean-hitting compatriot on Thursday she was able to win the critical points to get out of trouble.

"She pushed me hard the first set and I had to dig deep mentally to get through that," Williams said in a courtside interview. "I'm really excited to be in the final again. I didn't come here with that expectation so it's exciting."

Both players had entered the semi-final with injury and illness concerns, with Keys suffering a recurrence of an adductor injury, which ruled her out of Wimbledon last year, during her quarter-final victory over Williams' older sister Venus.

Williams was also battling a cough after a virus swept through the tournament.

Keys continued to demonstrate the clean power-hitting she has shown throughout the tournament, forcing the aggressive Williams behind the baseline and even breaking in the first game to get her first grand slam semi-final off to an explosive start.

However, Williams, bidding for a 19th grand slam title, got the match back on serve in the sixth game when she closed off Keys' options from the net and the 19-year-old sprayed her backhand wide.

Williams, 33, then produced several important serves in the tiebreak, including one down the center line on set point to clinch it in 45 minutes.

Williams put pressure on Keys' serve in the second set, which resulted in two breaks of serve to give her a 5-1 lead, and while Keys saved seven match points in the seventh game and one more in the eighth, she could not stop her compatriot from advancing to the final against Sharapova.

"She came up with some great shots," Williams said of Keys' battle to prolong the match.

"I could have done a little more and been more aggressive, but that's a great sign that she played so well when she was down and didn't give up."

(Editing by Peter Rutherford)

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Vintage Venus Williams rolls back the years

MELBOURNE -- Seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams stormed into the Australian Open quarter-finals Monday, overcoming fatigue to roll back the years and down sixth seed Agnieszka Radwanska in three grueling sets.

The 34-year-old American finished strongly to win 6-3, 2-6, 6-1, sealing match point with an ace to reach the final eight of a major for the first time since the US Open in 2010.

Cheered on from the stands by top-seeded sister Serena, an exhausted Venus somehow found the energy to get past highly rated Radwanska of Poland and set up a quarter-final with unseeded compatriot Madison Keys.

"In the third I think I went into a trance. I just wanted to win," the ecstatic 18th seed said.

The win takes her 2015 record to 9-0, including winning the Auckland Classic lead-up event.

It continues a remarkable comeback from injury and a long battle with the energy-sapping Sjogren's Syndrome, which was diagnosed in 2011.

The lanky American looked like the Venus of old early in the match, covering the court with ease to blast venomous returns and pin-point accurate winners.

She clearly flagged as the match wore on, clocking up 36 unforced errors but hung on grimly as Radwanksa extended the rallies and ran her around.

She moved briskly in the first set, notching a hard-earned break in the seventh game that stretched more than 12 minutes and eventually taking it in just under an hour.

Radwanska hit back in the second set, benefiting from several basic mistakes when her opponent fluffed opportunities with an open court in front of her.

The turning point came after they exchanged breaks early in the third then Venus somehow wrested back momentum to break again in the fourth game.

She went on the bring up three break points but only needed one as she blasted her sixth ace of the match.

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Winning Open starts for Djokovic, Wawrinka, Nishikori

MELBOURNE -- Novak Djokovic led a trail of the top men's seeds into the second round at the Australian Open on Tuesday as Stan Wawrinka made a successful return to his life-changing court.

World number one Djokovic, fighting off the effects of a virus, put paid to Aljaz Bedene in straight sets as he begun his quest for a fifth title at Melbourne Park.

The Serb top seed ousted the 116th-ranked Slovenian 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 in 1hr 49min on Rod Laver Arena and will next play either Russian Andrey Kuznetsov or Spain's Albert Ramos-Vinolas.

Djokovic, who crashed out to eventual winner Wawrinka in the quarter-finals of last year's event, has been dogged by illness in the lead-up to the year's first major tournament.

But after encountering early problems from the 116th-ranked Bedene he went on to secure passage into the next round.

"It's fading away. It hasn't been an ideal couple of weeks in terms of health and preparation," Djokovic said.

"But I fought my way through. Now it's behind me. I'm only looking forward."

The seven-time Grand Slam champion broke Bedene's service four times and only had three break points against his serve in the match.

"For a first round performance it was pretty good, obviously I still need to work on a few things, I'm still developing my game," Djokovic said.

Wawrinka returned to Rod Laver Arena where his life changed completely last year to get his title defence off to the right start.

The Swiss fourth seed, who upset Rafael Nadal in the 2014 final, ripped through Turkey's Marsel Ilhan 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 to safely negotiate the first hurdle.

Wawrinka had few problems breaking the 100th-ranked Ilhan's serve five times and will play Romanian Marius Copil next up.

The big-serving Swiss has now not lost in the first round in 10 appearances at the Australian Open.

"It was great to be back on Rod Laver Arena again, it brings back so many memories from last year," Wawrinka said.

"It was such an amazing two weeks so it was great to come back here and I am pleased with my game in general and I'm excited to start again."

But Wawrinka said he was not getting too far ahead of himself with a potential quarter-final against Japanese star Kei Nishikori and beyond that a semi-final with Djokovic.

- Close to next level -

Nishikori took the first steps he hopes will lead to Grand Slam glory with a hard-fought opening win over Spaniard Nicolas Almagro.

Nishikori, who lost to Marin Cilic in last year's US Open final, won a 2hr 7min dogfight with the former world number nine before prevailing, 6-4, 7-6 (7/1), 6-2 on Margaret Court Arena.

The Japanese fifth seed had a battle with Almagro before winning a pivotal second-set tiebreaker and sweeping through the third and final set for passage into the second round.

"I'm getting close to next level. Obviously, it was a really tough first match," he said.

"Nicolas could be seeded player, and I know he was injured, but I was getting more balls, especially third set, and I played a much better third set."

Another of the new breed, Canada's boom-serving Milos Raonic, was taken to two tiebreak sets before overcoming Ukraine qualifier Illya Marchaneko.

Other seeded winners Tuesday included Spanish pair David Ferrer and Feliciano Lopez, Frenchman Gilles Simon and American John Isner.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Murray wraps up IPTL stint, looks to Australian Open

MANILA, Philippines – World No. 6 Andy Murray ended his stint in the inaugural edition of the International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) by beating up-and-coming Australian Nick Kyrgios, and is now looking forward to his preparations for the 2015 Australian Open.

Murray dragged the big-serving Kyrgios into a five-minute shootout, which ended in dramatic fashion when the Australian's last forehand hit the net seconds before the final buzzer, giving Murray a 7-5 win in the shootout.

"Personally, I hadn't won a match this week," said Murray. "I lost a couple of close ones in the first day."

Murray said he and the rest of the Manila Mavericks "wanted to try and win to finish the weekend."

"I thought everyone performed better," he said. "The attitude of the team was very good throughout."

Murray won't play in any of the other legs of the IPTL, which moves to Singapore, New Delhi, and then Dubai. Instead, he is set to start his preparations for the first Slam of the year, the Australian Open.

"The immediately plan is obviously the Australian Open," Murray said. "I start training for that in about five or six days, I'm going to Miami. I've got about six weeks before the beginning of the tournament, so that's the immediate goal."

Murray won the Wimbledon in 2013 but had an up-and-down season in 2014 as he struggled to recover from his back injury. He failed to defend his Wimbledon title but saw his form improved late in the season, making it to the ATP World Tour Finals.

"It was tough. There were some good moments and some bad moments," Murray said of his 2014 campaign. "You go through that in sport. It's not always perfect, not always how you want it."

"You need to accept that, you need to respect that as well," he said. "In the beginning of the year, I was finding that difficult to handle, coming back from the back surgery. But as the year went on, I started to deal with it better, and my form improved."

"I hope next year, I can play my best tennis again."

Murray reached the finals of the Australian Open in 2013, losing to Novak Djokovic.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com