It is Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams - winners of Australian open 2015

At Melbourne, a few minutes back, Novak Djokovic proved too strong for Andy Murray as he won a fifth Australian Open title in a punishing final. The Serb, ranked number one, came through 7-6 (7-5) 6-7 (4-7) 6-3 6-0 in three hours and 39 minutes. It was a third win over British number one Murray in a Melbourne final and brought him an eighth Grand Slam title. 

Age is a certain factor that withers sportspersons ~ generally above 30+ is descending curve in Tennis too.  Some chose to walk away with grace, for some it sounds the deathknell.  These are very different queries from the ones left in the wake of the 2014 Australian Open. A year ago,  Serena  Williams absorbed a fourth-round beating inflicted by the No. 14 seed in Melbourne, Ana Ivanovic. She then went to Paris and suffered an utterly unexpected humiliation, winning just four games in a second-round clash with youngster Garbine Muguruza. At Wimbledon, Williams went just one round further, losing to Alize Cornet. People started writing her off ~ a champion who recently showed such a form that none can beat her other than her own form. 

An year fleeted past, this year (2015) in the finals, Serena Williams came through a rain delay and a coughing fit to show that, at 33, she still reigns supreme in women’s tennis. The world No 1 claimed her second Grand Slam in succession and her nineteenth in all by beating Maria Sharapova 6-3 7-6 (5) in an interrupted and furiously competitive Australian Open final.

This was her 19th Grand Slam title as she continued her unbeaten run in six Australian Open finals by extending her decade-long domination of Maria Sharapova.  The road to finals and the Cup was – Alison Van Uytvanck, Vera Zvonereva, Elina Svitolina, Garbine Muguruza, Dominika Cibulkova, Madison Keys and Maria Sharpova.   Besides the 6 Australian Open titles, she has 2 French Open, 5 Wimbledon and 6 US Open. 

Williams has now beaten the Russian 16 times in a row, a record dating back to 2004.  Not so surprisingly, at the start of the tournament, Sharpova believed that despite Williams struggling to keep her lofty standards, the peerless American remains as tough as ever.  Her prediction did come good – not her game. 

Earlier, Martina Hingis claimed her first Grand Slam title for nine years as the 34-year-old Swiss teamed up with Leander Paes to win the Australian Open mixed doubles. Hingis and Paes did not drop a set on their way to the title as the pair beat defending champions Kristina Mladenovic and Daniel Nestor 6-4, 6-3 in 62 minutes. It is 34-year-old Hingis's sixteenth Grand Slam title and comes 20 years after she made her first appearance at Melbourne Park at the age of 14 in 1995 when she reached the second round of the singles.

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

1^st Feb 2015.@ 18.00 hrs.