The Australian Open perennially suffers from poor timing and time zones. It falls in the middle of the NFL playoffs and NBA and college basketball seasons, with matches happening while most people in North America are asleep. And recent complaints on the ATP tour about overscheduling, tennis’ best attempt at controversy, barely cause a ripple in the sports landscape.
But turning the cause into a personal attack could help. At the very least, it makes Rafael Nadal getting paired on the same side of the draw as Roger Federer for the first time since the 2005 French Open a lot more interesting. Both were outpaced in 2011 by Novak Djokovic’s three major titles.
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In a pre-tournament interview last weekend, Nadal, who has been outspoken about the scheduling problem, called out Federer for remaining silent to preserve his gentlemanly reputation.
The two have a combined 26 Grand Slams, and they never have been Chris Evert-Martina Navratilova friendly. Should they meet in the semifinals in Melbourne, there will be one extra reason to set the alarm clock.
– Craig Stouffer