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MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - JANUARY 29: Abigail Spears and Juan Sebastian Cabal of Columbia pose with the championship trophy after winning their Mixed Doubles Final against Sania Mirza of India and Ivan Dodig of Croatia on day 14 of the 2017 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on January 29, 2017 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Jack Thomas/Getty Images)

The 35-year-old Spears teamed with Colombia’s Juan Sebastian Cabal to beat second-seeded Sania Mirza and Ivan Dodig 6-2 6-4 in the final Sunday on Rod Laver Arena.

Spears was striving to win her first Grand Slam title in her farewell year. She plans to retire at the end of this season after a career in which she was twice runner-up in mixed doubles finals with Mexican Santiago Gonzalez at the U.S. Open in 2013 and 2014.

The triumph by Spears and the 30-year-old Cabal continued the veteran’s theme of the championships with all players in the men’s and women’s singles finals aged 30 or older. Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal were playing for the men’s championship Sunday night.

The Spirit of Australia

How best to capture the texture of a major tennis tournament such as this year’s Australian Open?  Certainly the enduring excellence of iconic champions has been a major storyline, demonstrated vividly by both singles finals matchups.  But the 2017 tennis year has also been driven forward into new territory, thanks to the efforts of rising stars like first-time semifinalist Coco Vandeweghe, resurgent Grigor Dimitrov and the precocious Alexander Zverev.  Then come the surprises in the form Zverev’s brother Mischa, Denis Istomin and Mirjana Lucic-Baroni.

It’s often a head-scratcher to start the year off with such a major plot propulsion device.  Boom, January, the world barely emerged from the holidays, and here’s a big-time tennis event.  Then, off the circuit scatters – Davis Cup, Fed Cup, tournaments in Europe and South America.

But perhaps the genius of a major tournament kicking off the year lies in the heart and soul of its host nation.  No country better captures the spirit of what tennis should be than Australia.  From work ethic to sportsmanship, from the spirit of hearty competition to looking out for one’s mates, to comporting oneself with grace be it in victory or defeat, this nation is to tennis what the French are to wine-making: exemplary practitioners of the craft.

(Alongside yet another classy Aussie, Roy Emerson — holder of a men’s
record 28 Grand Slam doubles titles. “Emmo” is the only man to have
wonall four singles majors and all four doubles majors)

Her wide legion of admirers hoped for the best, wishing that the 36-year-old Venus could turn back the clock, hoping she might catch Serena off guard, and believing wholeheartedly that perhaps this popular and enduring champion would produce a masterful performance and register a major upset. Short of that, they wanted more than anything else for Venus Williams to make this match suspenseful, electrifying and compelling in every way. They yearned for a memorable clash that would linger for a very long while in their minds.

But it was not to be. This was unreservedly a night for Serena Williams to celebrate her prominence, to impose her will, and to demonstrate once more that the sport’s primary stages are where she belongs. Serena has established herself irrefutably as one of the best big occasion players in the history of tennis, in either the men’s or women’s games. Put a big prize on the line, raise the stakes, place her in a setting of large prestige, and Williams comes through with regularity. To be sure, she lost two of three major finals that she contested in 2016, including the Australian Open final against a burgeoning Angelique Kerber. Tonight, though, she captured her seventh Australian Open title and her 23rd major by prevailing 6-4, 6-4 over Venus. Only six times has Serena come up short in a Grand Slam tournament final: twice against Venus, and once versus Maria Sharapova, Sam Stosur, Kerber, and Garbine Muguruza.

The final this time was lackluster, and at no stage did Venus seem genuinely capable of winning, but from the middle of the first set until the end of the contest, Serena performed with resolve, purpose, controlled aggression and deep intensity. With Serena in that mood, under those circumstances, Venus never had a chance to get on any kind of roll to build a lasting momentum.

The song ” Anything You can Do” (I can do Better) always springs to mind when the sisters meet on a tennis court. Serena’s first serve is more accurate and decidedly more deceptive. Her second serve is consistently deeper and much harder to deal with. Her two-hander is more explosive. Her forehand is more solid. Across the board, Serena Williams is the better tennis player, with the exception of the conventional punch volley. Venus is superior in that department, but that can’t  compensate for her deficiencies in other areas. No wonder she has been beaten eight of the last nine times by her younger sister; unless Serena is off her game or she suffers an anxiety attack, she is going to win. It is not rocket science, but simple physics. Serena has the tools to topple Venus whenever she is anywhere near the top of her game.

In this case, she was not playing particularly well, but Serena did find the magic at opportune times, and there was an air of inevitability about it all. Let’s examine how it all unfolded. Venus started the contest apprehensively, falling behind 0-30 before serving an ace. Then Serena stepped in for a backhand crosscourt return winner. Down 15-40, Venus took a very short return from Serena and went crosscourt with her approach, but they know each other too well. Serena anticipated that move and connected immaculately with a forehand passing shot winner.

With her record seventh Australian title, the 35-year-old Williams moved ahead of Steffi Graf for the most major titles in the Open era. Margaret Court won 24 majors, but collected 13 of those before the Open era.

The victory at Rod Laver Arena also ensured Serena Williams will regain the top ranking, which she lost in September after 186 straight weeks when Angelique Kerber won the U.S. Open.

It was Serena’s seventh win in nine all-Williams Grand Slam finals, and the first since Wimbledon in 2009. It was 36-year-old, No. 13-seeded Venus Williams’ first trip back to a major final in 7 ½ years.

Williams has won 15 majors since last losing to Venus in a Grand Slam final, at Wimbledon in 2008.

Venus walked over to Serena’s side of the net and the sisters hugged.

The second seed got to No. 23 by triumphing over sister Venus Williams in the Australian Open final for her seventh Australian Open. This was the sisters’ ninth meeting in a Grand Slam final, with Serena holding a 7-2 edge in those finals.

Serena Williams, who was not a clear favorite coming into the first Grand Slam of the year, did not lose a set on her way to the finals despite having a tough draw. She faced former No. 7 Belinda Bencic in the first round. 19-year-old  had defeated her in 2015 in Toronto. In the second round, she met Lucie Safarova, a former No. 5 who took Serena to three sets in the final of the 2015 French Open.

After her second round win, Serena Williams was asked if she felt she dodged a bullet.

“Well, honestly, it’s not ideal. But at the end of the day, when I play players like Bencic and Safarova, they force me to play better. It forces my game from the very first day to be at a high level. So I think it’s actually good.

“You know, I needed something to start really fast. I’m not going to complain about it,” said the newly-minted world No. 1.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - JANUARY 28: Marta Kostyuk of the Ukraine poses with the championship trophy after winning her Junior Girls Singles Final match against Rebeka Masarova of Switzerland during the Australian Open 2017 Junior Championships at Melbourne Park on January 28, 2017 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

The 14-year-old from Ukraine broke Masarova’s serve in the ninth game of the final set, then held her serve in the 10th, clinching the match on a forehand.

In an evening match, Serena Williams was scheduled to play her sister Venus in the women’s final. A win by Serena would be her 23rd major title, breaking the Open-era record of 22 that she held with Steffi Graf.

In the men’s doubles final, American twins Bob and Mike Bryan looked to win their seventh Australian title when they played Henri Kontinen of Finland and Australian John Peers.

With Djokovic’s second-round exit at this year’s Australian Open, arguably the biggest upset the men’s game has seen since Georg Bastl shocked Pete Sampras in the second round at Wimbledon in 2002, there is suddenly a lot of conjecture about whether the 12-time major winner is suffering a crisis of motivation. Djokovic’s loss to Denis Istomin in Melbourne followed his third-round defeat at Wimbledon last July to Sam Querrey, a first-round loss at the Olympics to Juan Martin del Potro, a loss to Stan Wawrinka in the US Open final in September, and a loss to Andy Murray in the title match of the Barclays ATP World Finals in November. When Djokovic won the French Open last June, finally claiming the major that had eluded him, it looked as if he was poised to dominate men’s tennis to a degree never before seen. At that point, he held all four major titles and was halfway to a calendar slam, and it seemed entirely reasonable to believe that he would win another six or seven majors before age, the competition, or boredom caught up with him.

Instead, he fell into a rut. Sure, Querrey, del Potro, Wawrinka, Murray, and Istomin are all quality opponents who played exceptionally well to get those wins. However, five consecutive big-event losses is a trend, and there is no denying that Djokovic hasn’t been himself since Paris. After falling to Wawrinka in New York, Djokovic admitted that he’d struggled to “re-engage” following his French Open win but was happy to be back on the court and ready to resume winning. When he beat Murray in Doha a few weeks ago, it appeared he was fully re-engaged.

That turned out not to be the case, and the loss to Istomin has raised questions about his hunger. In his presser following the match, Djokovic politely brushed aside questions about ambition and drive. “It’s not a time now to go so deep into it,” he said. But Boris Becker, his former coach, wasn’t so reticent. He told Christopher Clarey of The New York Times that Djokovic had lacked his normal intensity in the match against Istomin. “I didn’t recognize him today, his mentality,” Becker said. He also claimed that one of the reasons he stopped working with Djokovic—they ended their three-year relationship last month—was because he sensed that tennis was no longer as high a priority for him. When the split was announced, Becker said that Djokovic hadn’t been spending as much time as usual on the practice court since winning Roland Garros and needed to “go back to work…back to the office.”

It is certainly possible that Djokovic has run out of inspiration and desire. He trained harder than probably anyone and led a famously ascetic existence (an oft-repeated story is that he celebrated winning the 2012 Australian, when he outlasted Rafael Nadal in a five-set final that took nearly six hours, by treating himself to a square of chocolate—yes, one tiny square of chocolate). He is now a father, and it could be that, having completed a career slam, he is tired of sacrificing so much for the game. This is purely speculation, but perhaps he has also grown frustrated at his inability to win the thing he seems to covet the most: the affection of tennis fans. For years, he has tried—too hard sometimes—to be a crowd pleaser, to charm spectators and to gain not just their respect, but their love. However, it is clear that he will never command anything like the adoration that his rivals Roger Federer and (to a slightly lesser extent) Nadal enjoy, and maybe this has sapped his enthusiasm.

If motivation is indeed the problem, Djokovic would not be the first tennis superstar to lose his competitive ardor. Former world number one and current Tennis Channel commentator Jim Courier struggled with motivation during the second half of the 1993 season. After unexpectedly winning the French in 1991, Courier went on a 24-month tear in which he successfully defended his French title, won back-to-back Australians, made the finals of three other majors, and soared to the top of the rankings. But after losing in the final of the 93 French and in the Wimbledon final a few weeks later, he lost his drive. He did win Indianapolis later that summer, but lost before the quarterfinals in each of his next six tournaments, including the US Open, and seemed completely checked out. Playing a match in the ATP Tour World Championship that November, he read a novel (Maybe the Moon, by Armistead Maupin) during changeovers. During the same match, he told his box, “You know what’s going through my head? I wonder if Nafta passed.”

Recovery & Redemption

Families, friends, foes – all have come together at this year’s Australian Open. “The Happy Slam,” Roger Federer’s term for the event has panned out marvelously.  But what’s occurred over these last two weeks is more than sheer happiness.  Call the 2017 Australian Open, the Slam of recovery and redemption.

+ A year ago, Lucie Safarova could barely walk, the result of a bacterial infection.  Yesterday, she and Bethanie Mattek-Sands won the women’s doubles, regaining the title they’d won here in 2015.

+ Mike and Bob Bryan haven’t won a major since the 2014 US Open.  Tonight they’re in the finals, keen to take this title for the seventh time.  A Bryan brothers victory would also be their 17th doubles major, tying them for the most ever with Australian icon John Newcombe.

I’ve already written my thoughts about this match on Facebook but I will say a few more things here. This match was a great disappointment to me despite the scoreline. Neither player looked like they wanted to win.

It’s incredible how Stan’s body language changes when he faces Federer. He is unwilling to play the bad guy which is the role assigned to anyone who dares to defeat Federer on a regular basis. At least when it comes to Fedfans.

Stan is not a warrior. He doesn’t want to win at all costs. He would rather be the nice guy that doesn’t spoil the party than the villain who gets what he wants. That is in stark contrast to Djokovic and Nadal who have received endless criticism simply because they dare to defeat Federer on a regular basis.

Take for instance the MTO incident in the first semi-final. Federer took an MTO after Wawrinka took one earlier and afterward he admitted it was a tactical ploy. There was no criticism. But if Djokovic or Nadal does it all hell breaks loose.

#Federer breaks #Wawrinka and it’s back on serve in the 4th set #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/rV6QLT2P34

From the Melbourne, Wertheim talks with Tennis Channel commentator Mary Carillo.

As the final days of the 2017 Australian Open approach, Wertheim talks with Carillo about what has happened in the tournament so far, including Simona Halep’s first round loss, the upsets of Novak Djokovic, Angelique Kerber and Andy Murray and the current remaining players, including Venus and Serena Williams. Wertheim and Carillo breakdown the various storylines of their final matchup, how they are still competing for Grand Slam titles at 35 and 36 years of age and how remarkable their tennis story really is.

Carillo also talks about Roger Federer, his longevity and his run to the Australian Open final, and possible matchup against Rafael Nadal. Wertheim and Carillo also talk about Nick Kyrgios, Grigor Dimitrov and more.

Listen to the latest podcast episode:

Nadal’s 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (5), 6-7 (4), 6-4 win over Grigor Dimitrov in a grueling, 4-hour, 56-minute semifinal match sets up a championship weekend at the Australian Open like no other, with every singles finalist in their 30s.

The all-Williams women’s final Saturday features the record-chasing Serena against Venus – the first decider between the sisters at a major since 2009. The Roger-Rafa final will be Sunday – their first meeting in an Australian Open title match since Nadal won in 2009.

The unexpected pairings already has generated hype that transcends the sport.

“I feel that this rivalry is talked about outside the tennis world, and that is good for our sport,” Nadal said of his ninth Grand Slam final against the 17-time major champion.

The 35-year-old Federer and the Williams sisters – Serena is 35, a year younger than Venus – had already clinched their finals spots on Throwback Thursday.

The second-seeded pair had to scramble from behind to eventually overwhelm Czech Andrea Hlavackova and China’s Peng Shuai 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-3 in a tense final.

It extended the pair’s unbeaten record to 12 matches at Melbourne Park – they won the 2015 doubles title in their debut as a team, but didn’t play together last year because illness forced Safarova to miss the championships.

It was their fourth Grand Slam success after also winning the 2015 French Open and last year’s US Open. Not only did Mattek-Sands strengthen her grip on the No.1 ranking and Safarova rose to a career-high No.2, the pair shared 660,000 Australian dollars ($500,000) in prizemoney.

The victors did a rehearsed dance routine on Rod Laver Arena after being presented with their trophies and held aloft the perpetual cup.

“We were celebrating like 5-year-old kids out there. When we got the trophy and saw our names on it and to know they will be on it again is special,” Mattek-Sands said. “She’s my rock out there. We play aggressive and have fun. We really balance each other out.”

Male players, on the other hand, have lagged behind. Despite increased investment and improved resources at home, a mainland Chinese male player has never broken into the top 100 in the rankings.

This could be about to change. The 17-year-old Wu Yibing is gaining attention for his all-court game and quick rise up the junior rankings, giving China hope it may someday have a male star on par with the two-time major winner Li Na to help grow the sport even further in the country.

Wu’s star has been steadily rising in Asia, but it was his performance at the prestigious Orange Bowl tournament in Florida in December that showed how much promise he has. Wu made it all the way to the final, losing to defending champion Miomir Kecmanovic of Serbia.

Wu’s ranking then shot up to No. 3 and he was the top seed at the Australian Open boys’ championship – his highest seeding at a junior major tournament. He lost Friday in the semifinals to Yshai Oliel of Israel 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.

“I think it’s tough to be top seed,” he told reporters in English at a packed news conference (another first). “I think it’s so many things different and I have to be more focused and more confident.”

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - JANUARY 27: Sania Mirza of India and Ivan Dodig of Croatia talk tactics against Samantha Stosur and Sam Groth of Australia in their mixed doubles semifinal match on day 12 of the 2017 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on January 27, 2017 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

Mirza and Ivan Dodig reached the final after ending the hopes of local pair Sam Groth and Samantha Stosur 6-4, 2-6, 10-5 in Friday’s semifinals on Rod Laver Arena.

Mirza won the 2009 Australian Open mixed doubles title with fellow Indian Maheshi Bhupathi. She reached the 2016 French Open final with Dodig, losing to Martina Hingis and Leander Paes.

Groth and Stosur squandered a 4-2 lead, surrendering four successive games to lose the opening set, but the Australian pair rallied strongly to send the match into a deciding tiebreak set.

Here are five ways Serena and Venus Williams can make history in the 2017 Australian Open final.

1) Serena’s going for her 23rd major, which would be the new Open Era record.

Serena is currently tied with Steffi Graf at 22 majors, the most in the Open Era, male or female. If she wins the Australian Open she’ll separate herself from the German as the new record-holder with 23.

To top that off, she’d be just one away from Australian Margaret Court’s all-time record of 24.

2) Venus would move up in the record books if she wins, too.

Incredibly, it seems that you have to be thirty or older – in some cases a lot older – to reach the semi-final of a Grand Slam. With the shining exceptions of two 25 year olds, Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov and America’s Coco Vandeweghe, all the other six men’s and women’s semi-finalists were of a generation that started their careers more than ten years ago.

In fact, to put it into a social perspective concerning the way our lives have changed so dramatically, when Serena Williams first played Mirjana Lucic in 1998, Google did not exist. That really was a different age.

Tennis stats emphasize just how different as far as our game is concerned. Serena’s coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, showed me some graphs that highlight the ageing of the game. In 2000, Grand Slam men’s singles draws had an average of 9 players over the age of thirty. Today that number has ballooned to 46. Has there ever been such an age-related shift in the history of any sport?  Talk about an ageing population! But does it matter and why is it happening?

Asking people who play, coach or analyze the game does not provide you with clear cut answers. The first reaction is an expression of puzzlement. No one denies that there is a new and exciting generation of talent waiting in the wings, especially amongst the boys, but that is where they remain. In the wings.

The only player of 21 or younger to get as far as the fourth round in either draw was Jenny Brady from Florida who was ranked 116 in the world. She proved herself to be a fighter by outlasting Britain’s Heather Watson 10-8 in the third and then defeated Elena Vesnina, the 14th seed from Russian 7-6, 6-2. But Lucic-Baroni beat her 6-4, 6-2. That was a great effort from Brady but no one is regarding her as a future Grand Slam winner.

(Yours truly on the case during Federer-Wawrinka semi)

Rafael Nadal: Hit the Wall & Start Over

Early Thursday afternoon, Rafael Nadal and his team stood in the rather austere waiting area that lies in between the tournament desk and the player dining area.  The plan had been to head out to practice.  But rain had hit.  The movement towards the court would be halted.  Nadal, killing time seemingly everywhere but on a tennis court, was now in his familiar coiled pace mode.  For others, it would appear a nervous pose.  You could almost imagine Nadal putting one hand in a pants pocket, jiggling a few coins without even knowing what he was doing.  But for Nadal, this was routine, what a delay of time at a tournament was all about.  Time again to kill.  The ball he lived to strike would have to wait.

Or would it?  A tennis ball was placed on the ground.  Another.  Nadal’s new coach, Carlos Moya, took a thoughtful look downward at four tennis balls that now sat on the white linoleum floor.

Like Nadal, Moya was raised in Mallorca.  Nearly a decade older than Nadal, Moya had at one point been a mentor for Rafa.  A longstanding tennis tale: Moya, who had been ranked number one in the world, won the French Open and been runner-up here in Australia, asked the young Rafa if he hoped to have as good a career as Moya had.  Nadal paused, but not for long.  Photos of the young Rafa reveal a rather cute lad, graced with soulful brown eyes and ample hair; but also, the devout, understated confidence of a boy certain his life would be lived as a world class athlete.

The 35-year-old Williams arrived in Australia bidding for a 23rd Grand Slam title, aiming to break the Open-era record she shares with Steffi Graf. By winning, she’d also regain the No. 1 ranking she lost after her U.S. Open semifinal exit.

She doesn’t enjoy the suspense, or talk about the number. Her older sister, Venus, knows that better than anyone after their two decades of competing together in the majors.

Now the 36-year-old Venus is the potential roadblock, back in a major final for the first time since she lost the previous all-Williams Grand Slam final at Wimbledon in 2009.

“I just feel like no matter what happens, we’ve won,” Serena said. “A Williams is going to win this tournament.”

Venus hasn’t added to her seven major titles since Wimbledon in 2008, but is in her best form since being diagnosed with energy-sapping Sjogren’s syndrome in 2011.

It’s time to set some new goals.

The 25-year-old American exceeded even her own expectations at the year’s first Grand Slam, upsetting top-ranked and defending champion Angelique Kerber and French Open champion Garbine Muguruza on her way to the semifinals.

She nearly went yet another step to the final, taking the first set against Venus Williams on Thursday before ultimately falling 6-7 (3), 6-2, 6-3.

“I’m very happy with starting the year this way, putting validation to the hard work that I’ve put in during the off-season, the sacrifices,” she said. “But, you know, at the same time I’m not satisfied. There’s a disappointment factor because I’m not satisfied. I think that’s a good thing.”

Vandeweghe, a former U.S. Open junior champion, has long had the potential to break through at the elite level and compete for majors, but lacked consistency on her booming groundstrokes and the composure to keep her emotions in check.

No. 2-ranked Serena Williams, a six-time Australian Open winner, overwhelmed Mirjana Lucic-Baroni 6-2, 6-1 in just 50 minutes in the second of women’s semifinals on Thursday after Venus Williams beat fellow American CoCo Vandeweghe 6-7 (3), 6-2, 6-3.

“She’s my toughest opponent – nobody has ever beaten me as much as Venus has,” Serena Williams said. “I just feel like no matter what happens, we’ve won.

“She’s been through a lot, I’ve been through a lot. To see her do so well it’s great. I look forward to it. A Williams is going to win this tournament.”

The 36-year-old Venus Williams is back in a Grand Slam final for the first time since Wimbledon in 2009 and her first in Australia since 2003, when she lost the only previous all-Williams final at Melbourne Park.

She tossed her racket after clinching the 2-hour, 26-minute semifinal on her fourth match point and put her hands up to her face, almost in disbelief, before crossing her arms over her heart. She then did a stylish pirouette on the court, smiling broadly, as the crowd gave her a standing ovation.