Updated throughout the day with quick takes from staff.
The men's game is being dominated by one male - Novak Djokovic. Yet all anyone can do is bash the women's circuit. And this bashing goes beyond the grunts.
From The Australian:
FOR a game that is so rich in shot-making, women's tennis takes an awful lot of cheap shots.
Not even Saturday night's final, which presented Victoria Azarenka as the new No 1 player in the world, has escaped a clip about the ears.
Azarenka's 6-3 6-0 win has not been described by some critics as compelling but rather a one-sided affair that short-changed the spectators and TV audience once again. You get no easy marks in Melbourne town. Not women athletes anyway.
If Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal or Novak Djokovic won a final in such a stunning manner it would have been labelled a master class, a display of tennis perfection. But alas for the females, it is a case of "we wuz robbed".
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We should stop the women's tennis bashing - except for the grunting, that just has to be stopped - and appreciate it for the wonderful sport that it is.
Azarenka heads an exciting list of stars and countries on the burst. Li Na has ignited China, Sam Stosur carries a reinvigorated Australia on her strings, Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova is just 21 and a thrilling player to watch and Sabine Lisicki will trouble the lot of them. Former No 1 Ana Ivanovic is rising again and is only 24, the same age as Sharapova.
It would be a mistake to think that Azarenka is a Victoria come lately. She has been highly ranked and regarded for years. The Belarusian was rated as high as 15 in 2008. Her game has been improved, her mind strengthened and game style matured. The same will happen to Kvitova. Maybe that will be the next great rivalry in tennis.
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