Djokovic and Nadal - againWhat a great men's final it was to end the 2012 Australian Open.
It will doubtless be forgotten that the two weren't at their best in the first couple of hours, still shaking the fatigue off — I thought that they had played their best tennis earlier in the tournament — but sure enough it sprung into life, full of incident, and it will rightly be remembered as a classic encounter. It turned into a thrilling match between two fighters, and Djokovic — just — was the last man standing.
I thought this year we would reach the point where the phrase 'top four' might soon be outdated as others stepped up, but the Australian Open completely changed my mind on that.
There's an argument that Bernard Tomic or Gregor Dimitrov might break through, but I think that's a couple of years away. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga had a strong end to last year, but does he have the consistency? And as for Juan Martin del Potro, while it's amazing how he's closed the gap after his injury, can he take the final step?
So if it's these four in the semi-finals and finals every time, will it all get a bit stale?
I don't think we've reached that point yet, but there's only so many times we can carry on talking about 'was it the greatest final of all-time?' — as we have for Wimbledon 2008, Australian Open 2009 and this match — not to mention some classic semi-finals between the big four.
There's a danger that we'll feel like we've read the book and bought the T-shirt — we've seen the show. We know the stories and personalities all too well, and they will doubtless meet each other several times again at the various Masters Series events before the French Open.
If these four keep playing against each other so often, it slightly lessens the impact it has.
There's a risk it could become a bit repetitive.
But whether you agree or not, we have an interesting story brewing for Roland Garros.
Djokovic will be aiming to win his fourth Grand Slam in a row, while Nadal remains the King of Clay.
I think Nadal is a better player so far this year than he was in 2011. He lost again to Djokovic, and I really thought he would wrap up the match having led 4-2 in the fifth set.
Whether losing from that position has a psychological effect on him or not remains to be seen — but knowing Nadal's attitude I think he'll take encouragement from the way he played as he prepares to defend the only Grand Slam title he currently holds.
I make Nadal a slight favourite for Paris, but Djokovic is capable of anything.
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