Why the two Aussie champions are good news for tennis

Nice to see two unexpected players winning respective slams and now both at no.3 in the world. Neither was a complete outsider for sure and I wouldn't bet against either winning at least one more slam.


Li Na shows the value of experience in terms of longevity of her career and taking her chance when Serena and Victoria went out early. She certainly has the game and confidence to go on and do really well in the next year or so rather than being considered a on slam wonder she had been since winning the French. I'd even go as far as suggesting she'll be right up there with both those players in terms of favourites for the coming year's slams.


Warwinka also showed the value of learning from close run losses to Djokovic in the past when he upped his game sufficiently to beat him this year. His final victory was tainted somewhat by Nadal's injury but he looked the more likely winner regardless. Can he win another slam if the big four are all at the peak of their powers?  Either way should make interesting viewing.


Finally isn't it refreshing to see someone outside of the top group win? Everyone was expecting a Williams vs. Azarenka plus Djokovic vs. Nadal final. Tennis is the winner when there's less predictibility and more upsets along the way.

It would be good to see Wawrinka continue at this level. The specter of yet another cycle of Wee Keira theories is too painful an alternative.

I think Li Na has the potential to win more Slams too...and she's a veteran as well, 31 years old. Not bad for the old-timers!

Li Na definitely a big threat at Roland Garros - not sure about Wimbledon and US Open though - she seems to thrive more on a higher bouncing court. Also, as much as I love to watch her when she's on-song, when she has an off day she's an error machine and therefore prone to early slam losses from time to time.

Wawrinka - I expect him to consolidate his new found status by reaching another slam semi this year (outside chance of making Roland Garros final) and possibly taking a Masters. I personally don't expect him to win another slam (he still is vulnerable to early losses in 1st week of slam) but he will consolidate his status near top of the rankings.

Will be interesting to see how the other '2nd tier' players respond now. Will the likes of Tsonga and Berdych also fancy their chances against the 'top 4' and reach a slam final or even better?

Wawrinka has always had some very interesting raw materials in terms of his game - it seems that, like he did with Soderling, Magnus Norman has taught Wawrinka how to get the best out of himself (as well I am sure as a bit of tuning up).

I'd like to see Wawrinka step on, and in the first instance to see him making regular SF's and finals in Masters, perhaps winning one. If he can keep his ranking he'll go into RG seeded to avoid any nasties until the SF - it would be fascinating to see what he can do with that.

The pleasing thing for me is that I'm sure even the players were assuming that every slam would be won by 1 of 4 men. Stan has not only elevated himself, he's shown every player in the top 20 or so that it's possible.

How many times do we hear a player say before a match with the top 4 that they will try their best but it's an almost impossible task unless they play poorly (or words to that effect).

Stan has shown that you can stand up to these guys and impose your game on them and you can beat them, and compete for the big prizes. It will hopefully inspire the second and third tier players, who I sometimed feel go on the court already beaten against the big boys.