The Australian Open will start with a bang. Her name is Serena Williams. She and Novak Djokovic will headline the Melbourne Park schedule on the same day as Tom Brady throws his old bones into another Super Bowl. Bang, bang. Some people just know how to win.
Before we dive into the masked major, let’s marvel at the Sydney Sixers’ triumph in the BBL final on Saturday evening and in particular, the success of 37-year-old Dan Christian under appropriately Pink and purple skies at the pretty little thing called the SCG.
Christian is a veritable spring chicken compared to the 43-year-old Brady, and drinking from the fountain of youth compared to the 39-year-old Williams, but he’s still a veteran with a Methuselah-scale beard to prove it. No one knows how to win tournaments like Christian, the Tom Brady of T20, and his fingerprints were all over the Sixers’ 27-run triumph that landed him a ninth career triumph. Bang, bang, bang.
Christian chipped in with 20 runs from 14 balls. He stuck his chest out to take 2-25 on a night that left him roaring like a younger man. After one of his wickets, he had five teammates hanging off him, their arms wrapped around him, piling on top of each other to pile on top of him.
His most meaningful contribution had perhaps come on the bus en route to the ground. He stood in the aisle and spoke about the contribution of every player and staff member who had contributed to the Sixers’ season. That would have meant the world to backroom staffers and fringe players who always feel invisible at glamour and star-laden clubs.
Sixers veteran Steve O’Keefe said of Christian: “He got up in front of the group and went around and made sure he mentioned all 18 players who had played and all their contributions. He just instils belief – the guy just doesn’t know how to lose.”
He just doesn’t know how to lose. What a description. “I just reinforced that everyone had made a brilliant contribution for us to be here today,” Christian said. ”When you‘re under pressure or the game is on the line, just for something to keep you calm and keep you focused and not get too stressed about, that’s all I was trying to say. Having the opportunity to come back and play for my home city was huge, that was something I really wanted to do for a long time. To go on and win the comp – it’s pretty special and means a hell of a lot.”
Put him in Australia’s T20 World Cup squad, for crying out loud. Why? Because the guy just doesn’t know how to lose, which you could say of Brady, of course, before his Tampa Bay Buccaneers host the Kansas City Chiefs at Raymond James Stadium.
Professional athletes used to contemplate retirement in their 30s but now it’s their 40s if they love it enough to want to keep going. It’s Brady’s 10th Super Bowl in a sport where one is a lifetime highlight. He’s chasing his seventh title when one is enough to let you die a happy man. He’s been asked about retirement for the last decade. His most emphatic response has been, “When I suck, I’ll retire. But I don’t plan on sucking for a long time.”
Williams said of Brady on the eve of the Open and Super Bowl LV: “I was actually talking about Brady’s leadership the other day … I said, ‘It must be so inspiring to be either a wide receiver or a lineman for him … or just on the team in general, because it’s like, this guy has won so many rings, he obviously knows what to do.’ And to have that inspiration, they must be so fired up for every game. Especially the postseason, they must be like, ‘Oh, my God, this is our chance, we’re with the greatest …”
Brady just knows how to win. But he’ll probably still lose to the Chiefs and their phenomenal 25-year-old quarterback Patrick Mahomes. At what age are you still good enough to win your way into finals, without going all the way? Is Brady too old to win the big ones? Is Williams? She hasn’t won a major for three years. Has she forgotten how to win? Individual wins will always pour forth for the legends but not necessarily the end trophy. Half the appeal for them is that after a lifetime of the pressure of favouritism, they’re the underdogs again. The thrill of that is genuine.
Williams is on the fourth line of Open betting at $11 behind Naomi Osaka, Ash Barty and Garbine Muguruza. Brady’s Buccaneers are rank $2.40 outsiders against the Chiefs. Williams and Brady have won everything there is to win. It may be the best of the lot if they can win one more. If they prove to us and themselves that they don’t suck yet.
The greatest triumph of Williams’s career? Her next one. If there is one. The greatest of Brady’s career? The next one. If there is one.
Mahomes said of Brady: “He’s someone I truly admire. I’m trying to get to that level … As I continue in my career, I‘m trying to do whatever I can to watch the tape on him because he’s doing it the right way. You can tell by … the rings on his fingers.“
Williams starts her pursuit of a 24th major title against Germany’s Laura Siegemund on Rod Laver Arena at about 1pm, by which time Brady’s fate will be known and Christian will be knee-deep in Mad Monday celebrations. His cups spilleth over. Djokovic has the late-night timeslot against Frenchman Jeremy Chardy in a match the 17-time major winner cannot possibly lose without him succumbing to injury or an angry slog that strikes an onlooker on the noggin.
Brady, Christian, Williams, Djokovic – these wonderful and awe-inspiring athletes just know how to win. Djokovic shoots his detractors down with trophies. He’s gone bang, bang at 17 majors and he’s the raging favourite again at Melbourne Park. The larger-than-life Brady – the Serena Williams of the NFL – and larger-than-life Williams – the Tom Brady of women’s tennis – will have done their shifts by the time the increasingly larger-than-life Djokovic clocks on. He’s asked for private courts for hotel-bound players at the Open but that’s surplus to his own needs. He already has one he can basically call his own: Rod Laver Arena. Loading his revolver for another two-week shootout, Djokovic said on the eve of the masked major: “I will do everything in my power … to win.”
Nadal vs Federer: best rivalry ever? Rafa that!
It was all magical. And it’s all over now. Rafael Nadal has bid farewell after losing in the Davis Cup at home in Spain. I’m so sad. Fed’s gone, and now Rafa’s gone, and they ain’t ever coming back.
‘I have left a legacy’: Rafa bids final farewell
The undisputed ‘King of Clay’, 22-time grand slam winner and all-time great Rafael Nadal has played his final professional tennis match at age 38. His most memorable Grand Slam finals recounted here.