It's a jungle out there

I am an aficianado of tennis, I watch it religiously, and I have been richly rewarded by the recent Australian Open. I suppose I like tennis because it is an individual clash where survivial is at stake. I watched the two men's semi-finals, and although Rafa Nadal (Spanish, ranked no. 2) versus Roger Federer (Swiss, #.3) is a fascinating on-going rivalry that Nadal won again, however the 5 hr match between Novak Djokovic (Serbia, #1) and Andy Murray (British, #4) was a more fascinating match, that Djokovic won by a whisker. Then the final between Djokovic and Nadal, that the former won 5-7 6-4 6-2 6-7 7-5 after nearly 6 hours, was the longest Grand Slam final in history. It went back and forth with each player visibly tiring and then recovering, what an epic struggle.

The women's game was more open with Serena Williams, Caroline Wozniaki (#1) and Kim Clijsters, last year's winner, being knocked out so that the final involved the beautiful and talented Russian Maria Sharapova and the Belorussian Victoria Azarenka who was in her first final. Azarenka won 6-3 6-0 with an outstanding performance in less than 1.5 hours, but so slight compared to the men's game. In watching so many players in so many matches I have come to the conclusion that each player has a different character that is matched by a specific animal:

Serena Williams is like an elephant, large and bossy and does what she likes, sweeping all before her
Novak Djokovic is like an eagle, with great wing span and searching gaze, majestic, powerful and impressive
Maria Sharapova is like a cheetah, fast, sleek and beautiful to behold in motion
Roger Federer is quick like a fox, clever and astute
Rafa Nadal is like a lion, king of all he surveys, with an enormous appetite and a powerful will
Andy Murray is like a wolf, always hungry yet edgy
Caroline Wozniaki is like a gazelle, fast on her feet but fodder for more powerful beasts
Kim Clijsters is like a rhinoceros, large and impermeable
Victoria Azarenka is like a fast filly, beautiful but skittish