2013 Australian Open Diaries: Most memorable moments at Melbourne Park

The first Slam of the season might be over and done with, but some of the events that unfolded during the fortnight still continue to evoke poignant memories. Memories that’ll linger on for quite a long time.

There were many claims to fame en route to the highly-awaited finales, the choicest of which can be documented as such:

Maria Sharapova and her love of Bagels

The Russian may have faltered on her semi-final hurdle, but that lapse certainly doesn’t take any limelight away from the number of bagels she served out to her opponents in the initial rounds. Olga Puchkova and Misaki Doi bore the brunt of the Russian in the initial two rounds, as did Kirsten Flipkens in their pre-quarter final.

And on days where her tennis menu didn’t include a bagel, she mixed it up with breadsticks just to even things out a bit.

Age, no bar

Japanese veteran Kimiko Date-Krumm created history at Melbourne Park when she became the oldest female player in the world – at 42 – to enter into the Australian Open second round. Date-Krumm continued to make great headway till up and coming Serbian Bojana Jovanovski snapped her hot streak in the third round.

‘Crazy’ the world might call Date-Krumm, as she confided in a press conference. But ‘crazy’ or not, age still remains a by-the-by factor in Kimiko’s passion for the sport, rather than the most pressing one.

The new American on the block

Amidst roars of future Australian tennis prodigies taking the court, there were certain American youngsters too who provided immense fodder for global interests. One of whom particularly stood out. Her name, Sloane Stephens. 19 years old and blessed with monumental talent, Stephens continued to sway heads in her direction with impressive performances in her opening rounds. The biggest shocker however came when Sloane overthrew Serena in the quarter-final battle between the Americanos, lending more clamour to the shouts that rang in her honour.

The man that stood tall…well, almost…

Novak Djokovic looked like The Invincible Man, when Stanislas Wawrinka stepped up to face him in their fourth round match. What eventually occurred could have neither been expected nor predicted. The defending champion lost the first set 1-6 and was almost on the verge of losing the second; trailing 1-4. From there on, it was a battle like no other, with the match see-sawing to unimaginable extents. In the end, it took five mammoth sets, and 22 games in the fifth set, for Nole’s incredible stamina and Stan’s wrung-out hamstring muscle to finally tilt the result in the Serb’s favour.

And why do we still remember it? Because of Nole’s guttural growl and T-shirt tearing that came along with Stan’s high-octane backhand. The latter for once, overshadowing Roger Federer’s one-handed spectacle.

A decade on and still there lingers… Roger Federer

Roger Federer first made it to the Australian Open semi-finals in 2003. From there on, the man has never looked back. He might have long-surpassed Ivan Lendl’s record for the most consecutive number of semi-finals reached, but his heroics in the tennis record books continue as brightly as ever. What was his milestone for 2013? Reaching his 10^th consecutive semi-final at Melbourne Park. Who knows, if not for Murray, maybe Roger could’ve indeed taken a stab at winning three majors five times or more.

Andy Murray and the Ivan Lendl effect

Andy Murray was at it again at the 2013 Australian Open. The new Slam winner among the top seeds, he went on about his business as relentlessly as the word could impact. Some called it a chance of the draw, but when Roger Federer clashed against the Brit in their semi-final encounter, the Scotsman proved it beyond doubt that he was a changed professional. He could go toe-to-toe with GOATs and emerge the winner, however lopsided his past majors’ records against them might be. Who is to credit for Murray’s transformation? Ivan Lendl, of course.

Who’s the Champion? It’s Azarenka, Victoria Azarenka

Victoria Azarenka was one defending champion that the Australian Open fans didn’t want defending her title. She was the proverbial bad-penny, and in her final against Li Na, the crowd overwhelmingly came out to root for the witty and funny Chinese player.

Call it fate or call it ill-humoured irony, it wasn’t the Chinese player who won but Azarenka, who defended her title and her ranking. Did the crowds mind? Maybe they did, but as it always happens with crowds and their displeasure; there wasn’t much that they could do about it. Except to talk about what really happened to Li during the match proceedings.

The Djoker’s here to rule…Again

It all started with a name

Them, who called him the Choker;

For choke he did…

Against peers and rivals

Against nemeses and challengers

Breathless and lopsided,

Brash yet endearingly quirky,

Intense yet blowing-cold,

Making turncoats of hard-won loyalists…

Yet some, just shrugged him off

Still some, just wrote him off

Ne’er-do-well, as the rest tagged him

Till he plugged the heedless platitudes…

And showed them all

His might and valour,

His mark and candour…

It then finally came to his name

Only now, there was no Choker

Just a lethally honed Nole Djoker…

Enough said!