| Australian Open 2008 + 2006 |

Those events have something in common: spectacular run to the finals of little experienced players at the time:
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Marcos Baghdatis – the former was just playing 16th main level tournament, the latter 17th of this type…

The blue dislodges the green as the new Plexicushion surface replaced the Rebound Ace, which had served since the Melbourne inception 20 years before. Roger “self-created monster” Federer’s record of 10 consecutive Grand Slam finals was finally snapped by a new power in men’s tennis embodied by Novak Djokovic. The tournament featured fascinating third round, consisted of five 5-setters, including the latest finish of a match in history, between Lleyton Hewitt and Marcos Baghdatis. Read more…

The last Australian Open without the hawk-eye system, and extremely emotional one… An unheralded Marcos Baghdatis, stunned four seeded players, including three Top 10ers in a row during night sessions at Rod Laver Arena! ‘Baggy’ delivered an inspired tennis with a grin, which generated for him an enormous support from the Australian crowd (especially the Greek colony). He was stopped in the final by Roger Federer, who collected third consecutive major and cried like a child as he received the trophy from the legendary Rod Laver. Dominik Hrbaty became the fourth man to play four consecutive 5-setters in a Grand Slam event. Read more…