Rob McLean - Murray and Federer will take some stopping
Will Britain come to a standstill next Sunday if Andy Murray reaches the final of the Australian Open and plays Roger Federer?
Certainly these 8am British time starts are playing havoc with tennis fans' family routines and the school runs have been in chaos.
Maybe it won't reach the national fever pitch of England v Germany World Cup matches when roads are empty and pubs are packed, but at the very least you know no one will be on the tennis courts.
It is tempting fate. However, only a super-human performance by the other contenders, who include an increasingly dangerous Nikolay Davydenko, will see off these two outstanding performers in Melbourne.
After Andy cut the giant American John Isner down to size, it was a case of anything you can do, Roger normally does it slightly better as he showed with his victory over Lleyton Hewitt.
Whatever happens to Murray, he has at least again improved on his Slam record with a first appearance in the quarter-finals in Australia. There have also been kind words from respected figures in the game about how he can win several Slams but he won't be listening until he gets the first one under wraps.
The very hard bit starts with his battle with holder Rafael Nadal in a repeat of their epic match three years ago when Murray ran out of steam in the fifth set. No chance of that happening now to the remodelled fitter Scot who will be the slight favourite to win as the Spaniard has not beaten a top 10 player for months.
Federer produced a magnificent display to beat Hewitt for the 15th time in succession and it may just be enough to make the never-say-die Aussie start thinking about retirement.
Although the Swiss hasn't won a tournament since August, he is clearly saving himself for the big ones and appears to be hitting the ball slightly earlier on his forehand, perhaps in an attempt to end rallies quicker and conserve energy.
The British women finally raised their game as two managed first round victories, Elena Baltacha going one better when she got to the third round before losing to Dinara Safina, the former world No 1. Safina let us in on the open secret that the pressure of trying to break her duck in Slams gives her the jitters.
On a much more encouraging note Laura Robson's progress in the women's doubles, coming on the back of her Hopman Cup displays, show that at only just 16 she is the most likely British contender for future prizes.
It was marvellous to see the early exits of Maria Sharapova and Ana Ivanovic, who appear to take their photo shoots more seriously than their shots on court.
Just as Sharapova signed another multi-million dollar sponsorship deal off court she fell short again, losing to Maria Kirilenko, one of her few friends on the tour. Ivanovic, whose face is also never far from the pages of women's and men's magazines, suffered a similar fate.
The recent successful returns of Belgian duo Justine Henin and Kim Clijsters have exposed the lack of depth on the women's tour as has the longevity of Serena and Venus Williams. Seeded to meet in the semi-finals, one of the sisters will surely reach another final.
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Date published :
26 Jan 2010 - 07:15:27
