By DPA
Melbourne : French television has suddenly taken notice of the Australian Open now that new hero Jo-Wilfried Tsonga has reached the final.
Australian media report that the TF1 network has been negotiating at the last minute for rights to air the Sunday final against Serb Novak Djokovic, an unprecedented event in France when it comes to the first major of the season.
But in the middle of winter and with skiing and football taking the lion’s share of coverage, tennis has suddenly struck a popular nerve.
Australian great Roy Emerson, who held the record of 12 Grand Slam singles title until Pete Sampras raised the bar to 14, had travelled across the Pacific from his California home to see what he thought would be Roger Federer claiming a 13th.
But instead, the Swiss superstar was upset in straight sets by surging Serb Djokovic in their semi-final.
“If he can produce that tennis and play that high a standard for three sets without a blemish – it was incredible,” said the Aussie great of the Tsonga win over Rafael Nadal in the semis.
“In the second and third sets poor Nadal tried everything, and the kid just teed off. He was loose as a goose, and every shot that he tried came off. He came to the net, and he played those stop-volleys that were not only perfect, they barely cleared the net. It was an eye-opener.”
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Tennis mainly a memory for Rafter these days
Seven years after last lifting a racket in anger, Patrick Rafter doesn’t spend much time watching the sport where he once briefly stood number one.
“I don’t really follow it throughout the year,” said the 35-year- old, inducted into the Australian Tennis Hall of Fame a few years after achieving that status at the International Hall.
“You read in the papers what’s going on and that type of thing, but you don’t actually really follow it.”
The nominal publisher of an Australian tennis magazine said he watches some of the US Open due to time zone convenience and checks out the action in Melbourne because it’s the Aussie Open. But for the rest of the season he doesn’t bother.
“I see the names again I haven’t seen in so long, and so many new names I’ve got no idea. It’s sort of interesting to see what sort of players and what’s happening with the game and how it’s changed,” Rafter said. “It’s just changed so much since I retired.”
While he has spent the majority of his sporting interest on honing his golf game, the double US Open winner and two-time Wimbledon finalist says he might be tempted to play in the seniors at some point.
“There was a couple years there where I tried to play for a bit of fun in America. But since then I only hit a couple balls last year for a little bit.”