Australian Open 2015 Review

If Centre Court belongs to Roger Federer and Court Philippe Chatrier belongs to Rafa Nadal then the Rod Laver Arena rightfully belongs to Novak Djokovic after the Serbian won his fifth Australian Open crown. The World No.1 came through a thrilling contest against Britain's Andy Murray in four sets, 7-6 (7-5), 6-7 (4-7), 6-3, 6-0 and is now joint-eighth on the all-time Grand Slam titles list joining Fred Perry, Ken Rosewall, Jimmy Connors, Ivan Lendl and Andre Agassi with eight slam titles to their name.

Djokovic will duly take all the plaudits for a fantastic tournament but take nothing away from Andy Murray because the Scot has well and truly returned to the upper echelons of the game. The two-time Grand Slam champion will join Djokovic (1), Federer (2) and Nadal (3) as the "Big Four" are once again reunited in the rankings for the first time since early 2013. Murray's form was rather inconsistent last season albeit still impressive, having reached the quarter-finals or better at all four slams, but we all knew the Scot was capable of more. This year's tournament down under saw a rejuvenated Murray, who looked completely fresh with his game having the right balance of attack and defensive qualities. Coach Amelie Mauresmo will be proud to see how his progress has developed over the last eight months that they have worked together, with many tennis experts saying that his performance over the fortnight was reminiscent of his summer 2012 and 2013 seasons when he won Olympic Gold, the US Open and Wimbledon. However there was one vital flaw that was evident in this year's final which has plagued the Scot's career since his junior days and that's his temperament. In the Ivan Lendl period, Murray's attitude on court was excellent as he always held his nerve and anger together really well and it subsequently rewarded him with much success. Even though he took revenge over Grigor Dimitrov whom he lost to at Wimbledon last year and knocked out home favourite Nick Kyrgios in the quarter-finals, it was the semi-finals where Murray seemed a little uneasy. There were moments during the clash with Tomas Berdych that were clearly bothering the Scot and his level dropped ultimately losing the first set on a tie-breaker. Although he managed to get his act together to wrap up the match in four sets with a bagel in the last, it was clear that the media euphoria over the fact that Berdych had Andy's former team member and long-time friend Dani Vallverdu in his corner was playing on the Scot's mind. Add that to the fact that the following day's British papers had Murray's fiancee Kim Sears all over the front pages apparently swearing towards the Berdych camp shows just how the media can make a mountain out of a molehill and give added pressure to a player.

The final was a fascinating affair with the first two sets being of the highest quality and after two and a half hours it was only one set all. When Murray broke in the third set to go 2-0 up it suddenly looked like Britain's No.1 may finally win his first Aussie title, having been runner-up three times previously. Djokovic was wilting at this point and looked very much out of the contest, but when Murray noticed the Serb's antics over the other side of the net that's when Andy's game just literally crumbled all around him. He went on to lose the next 12 of 13 games and the match. It was disappointing to say the least with former Wimbledon Champion Pat Cash being Andy's harshest critic saying, "He melted down, he absolutely collapsed. He will feel he let everyone down, but he has to look at it and say, 'I can't do this again'. I feel sorry for him and he is a seriously good player, but if he is to become a great player he has to fix this. He's got to focus on why he had the meltdown. If he works on that I can see him holding the Wimbledon trophy again". It's hard to argue against the judgement of Pat Cash, although it was also evident that in the third and fourth set Djokovic was suddenly hitting all the lines with his shots and there wasn't a lot that Murray could have done in some of the rallies. But the huge lapse in concentration ultimately lost him the match and the handshake at the end summed it up. There was no warm embrace like there normally is between these two; it was just a simple handshake from Murray as he knew that he let the match slip by.

The other two members of the "Big Four" didn't really affect the tournament draw. Federer lost in the third round to Italian Andreas Seppi ending his 11 year record of advancing to the semi-finals or better of the Australian Open. In the process he lost to Seppi for the first ever time having beaten him the last ten times they had faced each other. This is a worrying statistic for Federer but something that is to be expected at this stage of the Swiss' career, they say that as players become older they are more likely to succumb to opponents they used to so easily defeat. Rafa Nadal's loss to the racquet of Tomas Berdych was a good example of this. The Spaniard had beaten the Czech in the last 18 meetings between the pair but was comprehensively brushed aside by Berdych in straight sets, even claiming a bagel in the second set. Nadal said he didn't expect to win the tournament and was happy with his run to the quarter-finals but he will feel disappointed in the way he bowed out to Berdych. Nadal's tennis credentials have taken a major knock because not since the French Open last year has Nadal tasted sweet success. And yet again in 2015 it seems that a similar story may be developing. He will be looking ahead to the clay-court season to truly kick start his season and hopefully be fully fit and ready for when the French Open begins in May.

One of the biggest stories in Melbourne this year was of home grown player Nick Kyrgios. Having beat Nadal at Wimbledon last year many tennis journalists were keeping their eye on the upcoming Australian to see how his career was going to pan out after that momentous victory. The end of the 2014 season faded for Kyrgios however with a third round loss at the US Open to Tommy Robredo and then he skipped the rest of the season due to injury and fatigue. The beginning of this year didn't bode too well either as he was still complaining of injury, but nonetheless he made giant strides through the draw of his home slam knocking out some names in the process including Ivo Karlovic and Federer's conqueror Andreas Seppi having been two sets down and saving match points against the Italian. Although his run came to an end to the hands of eventual runner-up Andy Murray at the quarter-final stage, the Australian will be very optimistic heading into the first Masters 1000 series of the season at Indian Wells in March. His game has all the right attributes, he isn't afraid to go for his shots, he has a big serve and a powerful forehand and most importantly he seems mentally ready to take on the big names on the tour. A Grand Slam title seems a long, long way off at the moment for Kyrgios, but in five years' time there is no reason not to believe that the Australian will be at the top of the men's game.

With the "Big Four" all back together again in the rankings, I think the question now is, how long will it last for? There are many players immediately below them that are eager to unravel what is possibly the "last stand" from the top four with Kei Nishikori being the most likely candidate to break the mould with a maiden Grand Slam title. It's not a long shot either to suggest that both Djokovic and Murray will contest at least another slam final this year and that Nadal will probably win a tenth French Open title. Federer seems destined to lose grip on his ranking and the five Masters 1000 events leading up to Roland Garros will be pivotal for the Swiss if he is to have any chance of going deep in the French. At the moment Djokovic can savour his eighth Grand Slam title but surely there is someone who can stop the Serb from winning the Career Grand Slam this season? At the moment Novak looks unstoppable.