Stan Wawrinka is the real deal

If you are a casual tennis fan, you can be forgiven for looking in amazement at the new men's tennis rankings which see one man from Switzerland, Stanislas Wawrinka at World Number Three and his countryman Roger Federer languishing five places below at number eight.

Indeed, you might be such a casual follower of the sport, that today following his Australian Open victory over Rafael Nadal, might have been the first time you've 'properly' heard of Wawrinka.

However for us dedicated lovers of tennis, Wawrinka is somebody that has been threatening to reach the top for a significant period now and whilst today's victory was slightly over shadowed by the injuries suffered to Nadal in the match, it was no more than the 28 year old deserved for the improvements he has brought to his game.

Wawrinka has always been a supremely talented tennis player. In 2009, as he pushed Andy Murray all the way in a five set thriller at Wimbledon, John McEnroe commented that his backhand is one of the most powerful he has ever seen and the best in the game today.

However, for years Wawrinka seemed unable to push the large shadow of Roger Federer out of his way as his countryman collected Grand Slam after Grand Slam on his way to being arguably the greatest man to ever pick up a tennis racket. Wawrinka on the other hand was only producing the odd occasional result that made tennis followers take notice, such as beating Federer in Monte Carlo in 2009 or indeed gaining revenge over Murray by beating him in the third round of the 2010 US Open.

He seemed destined for a career on the fringes of tennis. Between July 2007 and January 2010 he lost in five consecutive finals as he failed to add to his one career tournament victory (which was only achieved in 2006 due to a retirement by Novak Djokovic). His single tournament victories in 2010 and 2011 came over journeymen Victor Hanescu and Xavier Mallise respectively and apart from runs to the quarter finals of the 2010 US Open and 2011 Australian Open, he never contended at the latter stages of the grand slams.

2013 though was when things started to click for Wawrinka. Sportsmen in all disciplines have had breakthrough years and this proved to be Wawrinka's. The signs emerged during an unbelievable fourth round clash with Djokovic at the Australian Open, where after over five hours of absorbing tennis, Wawrinka only just lost 12-10 to one of the finest hard court players ever.

Despite losing, that seemed to give him the confidence to truly believe that he could reach the top of the sport. He subsequently reached a final in Argentina, losing to David Ferrer before gaining revenge for that defeat by winning the Portugal Open in May, his first title since January 2011 before going on to reach the Madrid Masters Final having beaten Jo Wilfried Tsonga and Tomas Berdych, fellow top ten players along the way.

He enjoyed his best performance at the French Open, reaching the quarter finals having come from two sets down to beat Richard Gasquet in a one-handed backhand classic before losing to clay court king Nadal.

A true sign of Wawrinka's growing mental strength was that despite a bad loss to Lleyton Hewitt in the first round of Wimbledon, he produced his best run at a Grand Slam by reaching the semi-finals of the US Open. He knocked out the more fancied Berdych in the fourth round before truly announcing himself on the world stage by beating defending champion and Wimbledon winner Andy Murray in straight sets in the quarter finals.

Once again, Djokovic was his nemesis as he won another five set thriller despite Wawrinka being two sets to one up on him in the semi-finals. But the 2014 Australian Open was to finally give Wawrinka the biggest title of his career.

And boy did he have to do it the hard way. Still seeded only eighth for the tournament despite a superb 2013 when he enjoyed nine victories over top ten players, he finally got the better of Djokovic in a Grand Slam at the quarter final stage, showing incredible resilience to win 9-7 in the fifth set.

Tomas Berdych, the number seven seed was next up in the semi-finals and although this time it was done in four sets, three of those were tie-breaks. Unlike Berdych, Wawrinka had never reached a slam final so his mental strength in winning two of those three tie-breaks has to be greatly applauded.

The sternest test awaited Wawrinka in today's final. That of World Number One Rafael Nadal who had bounced back from a lengthy injury quite superbly in 2013. Few commentators gave Wawrinka much hope. However, he came out of the blocks firing which took Rafa by surprise and he was able to take the first set 6-3.

The second set will forever be remembered as the moment when Nadal broke down on court clearly suffering a back injury and had to take a medical time-out. Now some harsh people might say that because of this Wawrinka's win deserves a star next to it or it was a win by default because for a significant amount of time Nadal couldn't even serve properly.

The newly crowned Australian Open champion shouldn't listen to anyone who says that. In his first slam final, he had to work out how to deal with the injured Nadal, who wanted to carry on out of respect for himself and the crowd. That's hardly a situation himself and coach Magnus Norman could have prepared for over the last few days.

Wawrinka showed superb mental strength to carry on playing his natural game, especially after losing the third set (if anyone could have come back, it would have been Nadal) to hold on in the heat of battle and secure a memorable first Grand Slam title.

Make no doubt about it, over the next few years Stanislas Wawrinka is going to become a much more widely known name in households across the world. With an incredible one handed backhand, a solid serve and a sheer determined will to win, the man they describe as "Stanimal" is the real deal.

Can Andy Murray win the Australian Open?

As Andy Murray prepares for the first grand slam of the season, the 2014 Australian Open which begins at midnight tonight, the man from Dunblane stands at a crossroads.

That may sound like a peculiar thing to say considering Murray became the first British man to win Wimbledon in 77 years last July and he still sits at number four in the world rankings. However, Murray has only just come back after an operation which he hopes will finally cure his pains in his lower back which caused him to miss the rest of last season after helping Britain beat Croatia in the Davis Cup in September.

Due to that lengthy lay off Murray goes into Melbourne horribly short of match fitness and practice. He has only played in three exhibition matches since Boxing Day and only two competitive singles matches proper. In facing 40 degree Australian heat and the potential of five set matches against Federer, Nadal and Djokovic in succession if he is to win the Australian Open for the first time, the odds look stacked against Murray.

The short answer would be to say Murray can't win the Australian Open and should just write it off. He could perhaps get through a few rounds and then lose to perhaps John Isner, the giant American in Round 4. I don't buy this. Murray won't be going into this tournament aiming to lose. He is simply too good mentally nowadays to think like that.

He's hardly favourite considering his lack of matches since the US Open in September, but you cannot rule him out. He is well and truly one of the players in the draw that most other players fear after his exploits of two Grand Slams and Olympic Gold over the last 18 months.

And although the latter stages might be filling Murray with dread, the early rounds on paper do seem to be relatively kind to him. He won't be taking anything for granted considering his lack of match sharpness, but he cannot complain at drawing Go Soeda in round one, who is ranked 112 in the world and has never been beyond the second round of a grand slam. Then comes a qualifier in round two and Feliciano Lopez in theory awaits in round three. 

Lopez can be a tricky customer but Murray has won all seven meetings with him and assuming he gets through to meet him, he would be starting to get more confident in his game.

It's then really a case of how Murray's body and back in particular can cope with the heat. But this is a tournament he loves. He's reached the final three times in the last four years as well as narrowly losing to Novak Djokovic in the semi finals in 2012. He's determined to add this to his Grand Slam collection and despite winning Wimbledon last summer knows all too well that the British public still expect him to deliver down under.

The other big bonus for Murray is that he will have coach Ivan Lendl in his corner for the tournament. Murray isn't suddenly a bad player when Lendl isn't there, but there is no doubting that he is a far better player when Lendl is looking on pensively in the Wimbledon's champions box. Ever since Murray hired him just before the Australian Open of 2012, his career has went on an upward trajectory thanks to Lendl's superb tactics and his ability to make Murray believe.

There is an intriguing sub-plot to Lendl's coaching relationship with Murray as Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic have hired fellow 1980s legends to coach them in terms of Stefan Edberg and Boris Becker respectively. If Murray was to meet one of them or indeed both, Lendl would be very keen to show them who's boss in terms of coaching the best players of this era.

Push come to shove, I'd be very surprised if Andy Murray goes onto win the Australian Open this year. Stranger things have happened though. Like a British man winning Wimbledon after a 77 year absence.

Why the England Cricket team don't need to panic

No sports fan likes to see their team get humiliated. I never found it easy to go into school, work or university on a Monday morning if Rangers had suffered a bad defeat at the weekend.

And I suspect that a few English cricket fans will be feeling that way tomorrow as they head out the door in the morning after Australia completed a 5-0 Ashes whitewash earlier today. However, the obituaries on English cricket shouldn't be written quite yet.

Let's not beat around the bush though. England were absolutely destroyed by the Australians in every department as they struggled to deal with Mitchell Johnson's ferocious bowling and Brad Haddin's counter-hitting in particular. Factor in some dire performances by senior players, Jonathan Trott returning home and Graeme Swann's retirement, then this was an utterly shambolic series from England.

People have been calling for captain Alastair Cook, coach Andy Flower and batting coach Graham Gooch's heads throughout the series but this isn't a time for England to panic. They haven't suddenly become a bad side overnight. It is true that this isn't a great Australian side. Infact, the teams are evenly matched and England had beaten them 3-0 only a few months previously.

From day one Australia looked fitter, hungrier and sharper in every way and Cook was simply out-thought by his Australian counterpart Michael Clarke. However, this England team are now in transition just like they were after a 5-0 humiliation in 2006/2007 down under.

England have lost some massive influences in the dressing room over the last couple of years. Captain Andrew Strauss, Paul Collingwood and now Graeme Swann have departed. Matt Prior looks to be on his way out whilst Kevin Pietersen and Jimmy Anderson aren't getting any younger. But England rose from the Ashes in 2006/07 and can do so again. These senior players will know they have let the team down but they haven't become bad players in this series.

A top order featuring Cook, Pietersen, Bell and hopefully a refreshed Trott is a match for any in world cricket. And with Broad and Anderson leading the attack, England still have a top class line and length bowling double act. And there are a lot of promising youngsters coming through right now.

Andy Flower has already described the 5-0 loss as the "end of an era" and I have to agree with the England head coach, but it shouldn't mean the start of a spell in the doldrums for England. Look at the emergence of Ben Stokes with the bat and ball over the last couple of tests. It's too early to start labelling him the next Flintoff, but he looks a confident player.

Joe Root is still only 23 and has proven he can handle big games in test series against Australia this summer and against India in 2012 on his debut. Gary Ballance replaced him in the last test and whilst hardly setting the world alight, he has averaged over 50 in first class cricket and that isn't to be sniffed at.

Factor in wicket keeper Jos Buttler who will be playing in the One Day internationals and players such as opening batsman Nick Compton and fast bowlers Steven Finn and Boyd Rankin who will be going away to improve on their games, then England can still have a bright future.

Andy Flower has had a shocking Ashes but this is a man who led them to three Ashes victories in a row and to number one in the world. He deserves a chance to reinvent this England team again. 

However, I do agree with former England captain Michael Vaughan who says that Kevin Pietersen should be appointed as vice-captain. Flower and Cook are very much "Yes" men. Pietersen is disliked for obvious reasons (he can be arrogant, he throws his wicket away too much and has fallen out with players in the past) but KP is creative and still the wicket opposition teams prize the most. He should be at the forefront on the field, helping Cook plot and plan. He currently stands out like a spare part.

England didn't panic after losing 5-0 in 2006/07 and went onto become the best test side in the world. With a mixture of experience and exciting young players, they can reach the top again. Call off the hounds.