Today true champions in a real sport won major championships, and they had nothing to do with football. Novak Djokovic won his fifth Australian Open in four sets after falling to the court, exhausted, in the second and third sets, defeating Andy Murray. It was his eighth Grand Slam victory, which puts him in the same league as Andre Agassi, Jimmy Connors, and Ivan Lendl, and he’s right in his prime at 27 years old. Serena Williams won her sixth Australian Open, defeating Maria Sharapova, in two sets. She had her own physical problems; she threw up and had a hacking cough from a lingering cold. It was her 19th Grand Slam, putting her second behind Steffi Graf’s 22. Tennis players don’t get relief from the bench, their matches can last three or four hours, with only short breaks, and they’re going full blast the entire time. Few football players could survive that kind of grueling challenge, certainly not the overweight slabs on the lines.
Djokovic is fluent in four languages, a fierce competitor, and a class act in the Roger Federer mold on the court and off. He’s never deflated tennis balls, beat up a woman, or been charged with even a misdemeanor, much less a felony. From Djokovic:
You could see that I had a crisis end of the second, beginning of the third. I just felt very exhausted and I needed some time to regroup and recharge and get back on track. I try never to give up. Even though I went through that [exhausted] moment, I believed that I’m going to get that necessary strength. I’m going to have to earn it, and that’s what I did. I started hitting the ball more, covering the court better, shortening the points, and allowed myself to come back to the match.
http://espn.go.com/tennis/aus15/story/_/id/12262331/australian-open-move-tom-brady-russell-wilson-novak-djokovic-day
From Ms. Williams, still going strong at 33 years old:
I’m so honored to be here and to hold this 19th trophy, I didn’t think it would happen this fast, to be honest, but it feels really good.”
I would love to get to 22. I mean, 19 was very difficult to get to. But I have to get to 20 first, and then I have to get to 21. It will be a very big task.”
I had a really bad cough, I ended up throwing up, actually. I’ve never done that before. I guess there’s a first time for anything. I think in a way that just helped me — I felt better after that.”
http://espn.go.com/tennis/aus15/story/_/id/12257701/serena-williams-wins-6th-australian-open
Congratulations Mr. Djokovic and Ms. William for superb Australian Open victories. And who won that overhyped football game? SLL officially doesn’t give a s**t.
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