FINALLY PERFECT

Despite a sharp showing in my men's bracket for the 2010 Australian Open, it took until the final round to finally achieve perfection.  Andy Murray vs. Roger Federer was the final I saw in my head when I made my predictions, and that is the final we will see on Sunday (3:30 AM on the East Coast, 12:30 AM Pacific).  Murray seeks the first Grand Slam title of his career, while Roger Federer goes after his sixteenth.  Murray will also attempt to capture the first Grand Slam title by a British man in 74 years!

My bracket record was 27-5 in the second round, 14-2 in the third round, 7-1 in the fourth round, 3-1 in the quarterfinals, and 2-0 in the semis.  I had Djokovic over Tsonga, but Djokovic once again manifested physical symptoms no doubt eminating from inner turmoil, preventing me from accurately forecasting the Final Four.  Even though he's on the Grand Slam board with an Aussie Open victory two years ago, Chokovic has now proven to be the weakest mentally amongst the top players in the world.  He held a two sets to one lead before throwing up and coming back out to lose the next two sets without putting up much of a fight.  Disappointing, but I like Tsonga and was happy to see him move on to play Federer.


Unfortunately, Tsonga didn't play Federer well.  The Mighty Fed smoked the flailing Frenchmen in straight sets to earn his rightful spot in the finals.  Tsonga moved sluggishly from the start, looking severely weakened by five-setters in the previous two rounds (Djokovic and Almagro).  Roger sensed Jo-Willy's vulnerability, played nearly flawless tennis, and never let him into the match.  Frankly, it was one of the few boring matches on the men's side.

For a set and a half, Andy Murray resembled a Scottish deer caught in Croatian headlights.  Marin Cilic came out firing and Murray didn't seem to have any answers.  But one electrifying point turned the lights on for Murray.  From that point on, the superior Scot dominated the fading Cilic and booked a spot in his second Grand Slam final.  I picked Murray at the beginning of the tourney and I'm sticking with him.  I'm not alone in believing he's going to vanquish the Swiss master to make history.

Watching an abundance of men's and women's matches at the year's first major confirmed for me the old adage, "It's not how you start, it's how you finish."  So many times, a player would dominate the first set and in an apparent upset bid, only  to lose the plot and the match. The most glaring example was Serena, down a set and 4-0 in the second to Azarenka, storming back to bounce the Belarusian.  So, if any of you out there feel like Vamos! has gotten off to a sluggish start, let me remind you -- it's only the first set.  Plenty of time to turn things around.  I only pray I have the stamina to make it to the fifth set.