These are the Glory Days of Men's Tennis

The Australian Open has been really, really good.

On the men's side.

The women's side... eh.  Even a match like last night's Serena Williams/Victoria Azarenka three-setter was lacking a... certain 'crispness,' shall we say.  It wasn't quality tennis.  There were double faults and missed slams and a torrent of unforced errors.

So, okay, the women's side is not compelling.

The men's side is very compelling.

The depth is sensational.  Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray, Andy Roddick, Juan Martin Del Potro, Novak Djokovic, Nikolay Davydenko, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Marin Cilic.

That's nine compelling championship-worthy players, not even including such dangerous talents as Marcos Baghdatis, Fernando Verdasco, Fernando Gonzalez, and the towering John Isner (6'9) and Ivo Karlovic (6'10).

Not only that, that's nine compelling championship-worthy players... from nine different countries.

In order:  Switzerland, Spain, Scotland, United States, Argentina, Serbia, Ukraine, France, and Croatia.  That's the Olympics right there.  (And if Lleyton Hewitt ever returned to contendership, we could add in Australia.)

Unfortunately we can't watch the matches!


With the Australian Open, you know, in Australia, the men's matches are held well past the witching hour.  If we're lucky, they'll be concluded around 7 or 8 am... because they keep providing classics night after night.

Roddick vs. Cilic?  Five-setter.
Tsonga vs. Djokovic?  Five-setter.
Del Potro vs. Cilic?  Five-setter.
Verdasco vs. Davydenko?  Five-setter.

Classics.

Now we've got Tsonga vs. Federer and Murray vs. Cilic in the semifinals.

I'm pumped.

And tired.

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