AUSTRALIAN OPEN 2012

[Liv]

Jelenu izgleda svi gledaju kao cudo nevidjeno (u pozitivnom smislu).
A Rafu ce potpuno otpisati ako ga Novak dobije na RG.

[Liv]

Novak Djokovic v Rafael Nadal: Players & pundits hail 'greatest' match

Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal left millions of tennis fans across the world mesmerised by their enthralling five-set Australian Open final.
World number one Djokovic cemented his place at the top of men's tennis by outlasting his Spanish rival 5-7 6-4 6-2 6-7 (5-7) 7-5 to edge a gripping battle which lasted a record five hours and 53 minutes.
BBC Sport looks at the reaction of current players, ex-professionals, pundits and fans to the Serbian's victory, the "super-human" efforts of both players and whether the match can be ranked alongside the greatest of all-time.
Players

BBC tennis analyst and 1977 Australian Open finalist, John Lloyd: "Djokovic will think of this as the greatest achievement of his tennis career because of the way he won. He now knows there's no match he can't come back from.
"It wasn't that long ago a lot of top players were doubting his guts. He's showed he's as brave as any of them.
"I don't see any reason why he can't win the French Open. Why can't he beat Rafa on clay? I see no reason why not. He might win the Grand Slam this year.
"It wouldn't surprise me the way he's playing right now. We've got three more Grand Slams left and if they're anything like this we're going to be lucky and with the 'fab four' around we've got a great summer coming up."
Former world number one Pat Cash: "It was an absolutely super-human effort by Djokovic. At the end an exhausted Djokovic just had more power and it was able to get him home. And as tired as he was he had a little bit more sting in his game to hit the winner.

"Nadal has got to almost think 'if I can't beat this guy now when am I going to beat him? After all that time this guy is exhausted and I can't finish him off'. It just goes to show how good he is. It's mind-blowing."
Jeremy Bates, a former British Davis Cup captain: "It was a gladiatorial performance from both men. We've witnessed some history - one of the greatest tennis matches you will ever see. It was a phenomenal standard of tennis.
"You've got to feel sorry for Nadal. Having had that chance in the fifth set, being on the receiving end for so long, getting back into the match and in the end coming a little bit short.
"A lot of people are looking at how Djokovic will get on this year after the phenomenal year he had last year. But there's no doubting he is the real deal. He's the genuine world number one and he deserves all the accolades and titles he is getting."
Former British number one and BBC commentator Andrew Castle: "What a spectacle this match was. What a great advert for the sport."
Recently-deposed women's world number one Caroline Wozniacki on Twitter: "Unbelievable win Novak had. Truly unbelievable match."
Boris Becker, a six-time Grand Slam winner: "What a match between Djoker and Rafa..."
Current British women's number two Anne Keothavong: "What a match! Well done Djokovic but Nadal is still my favourite."
Nino Severino, who coaches British women's number one Elena Baltacha: "Redefining the mental and physical limits. Insane, you can only do this in cartoons! Thank you Djokovic and Nadal."
Pundits

BBC tennis commentator Jonathan Overend: "What an effort. Two matches together - the semi-final of four hours 50 minutes and the final of five hours 53 minutes - that's verging on super-human from the world number one and top seed Djokovic.
"You have to revisit this whole debate about the greatest players. You talk about Federer, and Nadal joining him after his 10 Slams and overtaking Federer. Now you look at Djokovic.
"The season he had last year was incredible but people were wondering, quite naturally, was that a fluke, a one-off? I think we can safely say now it wasn't. This guy surely now has a genuine claim to be labelled as one of the all-time greats."
Barry Flatman, tennis correspondent for the Sunday Times: "Game, set, match Djokovic and that was the greatest tennis victory of all time. Will any of us ever see a match like that again?"

The Times' tennis correspondent Neil Harman : "Five hours and 53 minutes. I thought I had seen a lot in tennis but this is something quite extraordinary. Nole rules. Covering tennis these days is a rare privilege."
Former Daily Mirror editor and celebrity chatshow host Piers Morgan : "How can anyone hit the ball as hard as these two are after five-and-a-half hours? Ridiculous. Puts a footballer's need to be 'rested' after two 90-min games in a week into perspective, doesn't it?"
Des Kelly , Daily Mail sports columnist : "I'm amazed at Djokovic. The man is super-human. I expect he was bitten by a radioactive spider or something a couple of years back."
BBC Radio 5 live pundit and journalist Ian McGarry : "One of the greatest sporting contests I've been privileged to witness. Congrats to Djokovic. Awesome. Respect to both players."
BBC Football Focus presenter Dan Walker: "I know he lost but Nadal might be the ultimate sportsman. Outrageous talent, physically immaculate and gracious in defeat or victory.
Sports stars and fans

Everton and Australian footballer Tim Cahill on Twitter: "Take a bow both men. Ultimate athletes and professionals - credit to sport. Mental and physical strength tested to the max."
Manchester United and England footballer Rio Ferdinand: "Djokovic take a bow..WOW! What a player and the guy's stamina is a joke. Two back-to-back five-setters is punishing but he produced!"
World number one golfer Luke Donald: "They are going to have to come up with a six-hour energy drink, five just ain't going to cut it!"

Former England rugby union World Cup winner Matt Dawson: "Novak and Nadal - that was one of my favourite sporting matches of all time. Words fail me to imagine how exhausted they must be."
Melanie Law: "Epic!! Massive respect to two of the best players in the world!"
Sheila Sides: "Up there at the top along with Borg and McEnroe's five-setter many years ago. Endurance, stamina and breathtaking tennis."
Steve Punter: "Not the biggest tennis fan but couldn't take my eyes off that match. Unbelievable skill, aggression and belief."

[Liv]

Djokovic is super-human

I assure you I'm not, but I feel hungover.

You find me demolishing a takeaway, watching a re-run of the final set and wondering, in that hazy, morning-after way, what on earth happened and was it for real?!

My head feels like the opening scenes from "The Hangover" movies. Something pretty major happened last night. I think.

Yes it did, the TV tells me so. It's just a case of piecing it all together to establish how.

So, apart from half a chicken, doused in reality-awakening hot sauce, the only thing that can save me is my trusty notepad.

At the end of most major finals these days, this looks like the dossier of a maths whizz, or crazed computer programmer - all numbers, circles, marks and scrawls.

It tells me this was one of the greatest matches of all time. The longest Grand Slam final by almost an hour, the longest match in Australian Open history and, most importantly, an era-defining epic in the same way the Federer-Nadal Wimbledon final from 2008 was.

That, I still believe, having paused for some contemplation and sweetcorn between last sentence and this, was a better match.

The level of both men that afternoon and gloomy evening at SW19 was so consistently high throughout and it remains the most memorable contest I have seen or commentated on.

Last night the first set was cagey and not great quality. Sets two and three were dominated by Djokovic. Nadal was too deep and dropping too many balls short. At that stage it was not a classic.

But what made the Australian Open final of 2012 so remarkable was the intensity, the rage, the rebellion, the sheer quality, so late in the match.

Remember both Novak Djokovic and Rafa Nadal had been severely tested in the second week of this tournament.

Novak by Lleyton Hewitt, David Ferrer and Andy Murray, Rafa by Berdych and Federer.

Both were running on fumes towards the end of the final but, in the sixth hour of their furious fight, they produced some of the best tennis of the fortnight. Some of the best tennis we've ever seen.

And I thought Djokovic was gone. Three times.

I thought he was gone at the end of the fourth set when Nadal levelled the match and fell to his knees.

What an image, that will stay with me forever.

And who could blame him? It was an incredible recovery having trailed 3-4 0-40 in that fourth set. His serve had more bite, his depth was greater and his flashing forehand came out to play.

I've never seen someone celebrate like that with a match still in progress.

I thought Djokovic was all but gone in the seventh game of the decider. Nadal led 4-2 and, at 30-15, had a relatively straightforward backhand pass up the line. But he put it wide, lost his serve and Novak was suddenly back in it.

And then, after the first point of the ninth game, I thought Djokovic really had gone. After five-and-a-half hours, a 31-shot rally played out on the Nadal serve saw fierce hitting, unerring accuracy, intensity rising with every blow. Djokovic finally missed and collapsed to the floor.

The magnificent Nadal bounced and snarled. Game over? It felt like it.

But a final twist remained in the script as Djokovic, somehow, found first-serve after first-serve, deep forehand after deep forehand, thunderous return after thunderous return. He won the last three games with skill, guts and total self-belief.

And so this amazing era just keeps pushing boundaries and moving the sport to unknown, uncharted territories.

From now on it's all about match-ups. Djokovic has Nadal's number, just as Nadal dominates Federer. Federer enjoys playing Novak more than Rafa and Andy Murray plays his best against Nadal, although got so close to Djokovic.

We are nearing the point where we need to start awarding draws in tennis. Get them back for a replay in midweek. Djokovic won that final but it felt like a point apiece.

And I get the impression the players - the leading quartet - are becoming increasing philosophical in defeat. Murray sounded positive and relaxed after losing to Djokovic, while Nadal dealt with defeat with his customary humour and graciousness.

Federer also seemed at peace despite losing in the semis.

Yes, a loss hurts but that's offset by the enjoyment and reward of playing in the greatest era. The knowledge that, some day soon, each will have his day against someone else in this golden group.

For now, Djokovic is the undisputed number one. He has won three consecutive majors, four of the last five, and at Roland Garros will try to hold all four at the same time.

Over a 54-hour period, from 7.30pm Friday to 1.30am Monday local time, he spent almost 11 hours playing incredible tennis against two of the best players in the world.

He won both matches 7-5 in the fifth set. He is super-human.

Djokovic really is a true champion of modern day sport.

Moram da se ne slozim da Endi igra najbolje protiv Nadala. Ne moze mu nista.

[alcesta]

+ sa sve debatom o Jeleni i njenom aktivnom pracenju meca i uticaju na Noleta

Meni danas u glavi samo JJ i ovo me potpuno zbunilo, pobrljavila sam skroz
Žao mi što ne mogu da pohvatam ko je tu ko od učesnika, ali svakako zanimljivo.

[alcesta]

Još jedan prilog riznici sudijskih bisera na AO

[Milutinov Tata]

Pobednici AO 2012:

Muskarci singl: Novak Djokovic - Rafael Nadal 5-7 6-4 6-2 6-7 (5-7) 7-5



Zene singl: Viktorija Azarenka - Marija Sarapova 6-3 6-0



Muskarci dubl: Leander Paes i Radek Stepank - Bob i Majk Brajan 7-6 (7-1) 6-2



Zene dubl: Svetlana Kuznjecova i Vera Zvonareva - Sara Erani i Roberta Vinci 5-7 6-4 6-3



Miks: Betani Matek-Sands i Horia Tekau - Elena Vesnina i Leander Paes 6-3 5-7 10-3



Juniorski pobednici:

Decaci singl: Luke Saville (AUS)

Devojcice singl: Taylor Townsend (USA)

Decaci dubl: Liam Broady (GBR) Joshua Ward-Hibbert (GBR)

Devojcice dubl: Gabrielle Andrews (USA) Taylor Townsend (USA)