Well, firstly, congratulations are due to Djokovic & his fans for winning the title here, and the achievement of the record of a 3rd consecutive AO title, unmatched in recent history. Another excellent start to the season by him.
Commiserations to Murray & his fans for this loss. I’m sorry Murray was unable to make it better contested match.
My initial thoughts are that, in the end, this finals match was somewhat akin to a damp squib. No glorious battle, no breathtaking tennis, no real contest. What a disappointing end to a disappointing tournament, in which the young hopefuls made little impact, other than Tomic, perhaps, and in which the efforts of the non – top 3 players were of little significance. The exceptions were Wawrinka against Djokovic, and to a lesser extent, Tsonga against Federer.
Djokovic looked the favourite coming into the tournament & with his draw, that expectation was sealed. His performance to get past Wawrinka, Berdych & Ferrer underlined both his conviction & superb level of play. He was going to be hard to beat.
Murray had no contest until the SF & even then, playing his best game, needed 5 sets against a tired Federer who had to go to 5 sets to get past Tsonga, and whose best game was only seen against Raonic.
Even then, Federer made more of a match of it then Murray could muster up against Djokovic. I hope the British tennis media & commentators will admit, given their penchant for hyperbole in Murrays favour, that the result of the finals match confirms how hard it was for Federer against Murray after the previous 5 set match. And that the SF win meant little more than that. However, I won’t hold my breath in this regard.
Djokovic got a depleted Murray in the final. Whilst he played superbly in the last 2 sets, he could do so as Murray had little left in his tank to bother him. It is a sobering thought that the champions only real test was in the 4th round match against Wawrinka. Would Djokovic have won, especially this easily, if he had the Wawrinka match in the SF?
So whilst the result is the result, and one accepts it as such, I hope a realistic take of the context will arise in the aftermath. The buffoons commenting in the British coverage consider the coming year to be one between Djokovic & Murray. I’m not sure why, after this match. What exactly did Murray bring to the table? From where I’m sitting, Djokovic has no contest. Let’s see what Nadal shows upon his return.
There is everything to play for, for the top players. No one need lose heart, but no one should swagger about, assuming anything. Other than perhaps Djokovic, each has a lot to prove.
