Sweet 16

So in the end it was another victory for Roger Federer. He now has won the Australian Open four times to go with his six Wimbledons, five US Opens and one French. It was a happy ending for him after the tears of last year.

He only dropped one set on his way to the quarter-finals. He dropped the first set against Nikolay Davydenko and then wouldn’t lose another one. Davydenko had the best chance of defeating him when he served at 5-3 up in the fourth set but then lost four straight games and that was that.

Andrew Murray had his chances in the final especially in the third set but Federer was just too good. Up until that point Murray was playing flawless winner and would have been a deserved champion. Still he isn’t that far away from winning his first Grand Slam title.

On the ladies’ side, it was Serena Williams and Justine Henin in the final. It was crazy that this was the first Grand Slam final between the two giving how they had been in 25 finals between them.

Henin did well to make the final on her return to tennis but in the end Williams had too much firepower. Williams only lost two sets on her way to her 12th Grand Slam singles title. It was her fifth Australian Open title and tennis betting already has her as favourite to pick up her second French Open title.

Henin only lost two sets on her way to the final. She now has to wait for another Australian Open title to go with the one she won in 2004.

The locals wouldn’t be so happy about how they fared. Lleyton Hewitt again had to carry the flag for the locals and he had no chance against Roger Federer. Even less so when it was revealed that he has a hip injury.

So now the tour heads into the regular season. Should be exciting between now and the next Grand Slam in Paris. How will Rafael Nadal fare? Will he be able to come back to his best? What about Kim Clijsters and Justin Henin? Will they able to maintain the lofty standards they set for themselves on their return. Both made the final in their first Grand Slam back.

As usual, should be very exciting.

David Wiseman writes for this blog. He also covers AFL betting.