Australian Open 2009

cfitz

It seems like not many people read this forum these days, but I'll post regardless.

The Australian Open starts next week and here are my thoughts on it.

Firstly it'll be annoying to follow over here with the matches going on between midnight and 8am. Record the matches and avoid the internet all day or watch the highlights with no real excitement because you already know the results?

I find the Australian Open the most difficult to predict, I suppose a lot of that is because it's the start of the season. Looking at the draws this year I'm afraid to make a prediction.

In the mens I can see Nadal, Murray, Djokovic, and Federer all reaching the semi-finals. I reckon Nadal and Murray are the most vulnerable of those four to fall earlier. Nadal might meet Monfils again after losing to him already this year, and Murray (who is in killer form) could meet Tsonga who got to the final last year and is a class act. I'm gonna pick Murray to beat Djokovic in a good tense final.

In the womens I pick Jankovic, Safina and S. Williams for 3 of the semi-final spots. A quarter final between V. Williams and Elena Dementieva could be the match of the tournament. Very hard to pick an overall winner here, I'm going to say Dementieva to beat Safina in the final. (I've never had any faith in her to win a grand slam before, she always plays crazy tennis, but she's started this year on fire so I'm picking her).

Of the first round matches, the ones I'd like to see are:

Gonzalez v. Hewitt
Mathieu v. Nieminen
Federer v. Seppi
Safina v. Kudryavtseva
Dokic v. Paszek
Vaidisova v. Bremond

Mont

I think the hype about Murray is a bit over the top - Federer for the Aussie Open for me.

And i think i will back Murray not to win a grand slam tournament this year at 10-11 is a great price, he was annihilated in the US Open final last year, Federer for Aussie, Nadal for French, Federer/Nadal for Wimbledon and Federer for US Open this year.

Same as always

juvenal

I just came on to see if you'd started a thread on this cfitz.:)

Looking forward to this, although the time different is a pita. I think it's as wide open as it has been in years, with Federer's form inconsistent, Murray being touted yet again as the great white hope, and no-one really sure what sort of form Nadal and Djokovic are in.

On a personal level I hope Fed comes through, and it would be even sweeter if he could defeat either Nadal or Murray in the Final. I'm here in his hometown of Basel at the moment, so there'll be plenty of interest here, and I'll be hoping to catch his first couple if matches live.

I see Nadal has been playing down his chances, and saying that he's not fully prepared for the opening GS, and while no doubt there's some truth in this assessment, you wonder if he'd playing a little mind games and hoping to come through as a dark horse on what would be his least favourite surface of the four.

Murray is certainly in very good form, and his Masters' wins at the end of 2008 and beating Fed a couple of times have shown how he's really come on as a player and can be counted as one of the favourites here. He had a great run in Flushing in September, but Fed dismantled him in the final when it matter, although I think his semi win over Nadal played a small factor in the manner of the result (but not the actual result itself).

I think Del Potro is a good punt, also perhaps Tsonga, depending on how his back holds up, and even Monfils. Gulbis, Simon, pehaps Gasquet, and even the other Swiss man, Wawrinka are all candidates to go on a run. I also might have a look at young Kei Nishikori, although he apparently aggravated an injury last week.

I'm hoping for a Fed win, but I think Murray has a great chance. Hopefully Djokovic has a decent run, but if he (or his mother!) starts acting the maggot like last year, and in the US Open, he'll lose a lot of support very quickly.

cfitz

Well, I don't play tennis myself, so I wouldn't consider myself much of an authority on the sport. But I do think Murray is the real deal, and he seems to be improving at a very fast rate. If I keep defending him I'll end up cheering him on!

Xavi6

Tomic today became the youngest player to ever win a match at the Open. 16 years and 89 days.

He's definitely going to be a star of the future.

Cathal93

I'm still going for the Williams sisters! Always have, always will!

Dont know wat u think......but i firmly believe no one....past or present....cud beat them on their best day! They'll meet in the semis....hopefully Serena will win...the other half is wide open....i just cant see Jankovic gettin to the final tho...can u?

Federer to win...murray should get to semis....cant see nadal making the final

My pic....a fairly similar semis and final match ups to the us

elmolesto

Federer started his Australian Open campaign with a 6-1 7-6 (7-4) 7-5 victory over Andreas Seppi.

Reigning champion Novak Djokovic began his title defence with a 6-2 6-3 7-5 victory over Andrea Stoppini.

I think Nadal will reach the final.

cfitz

Cathal93 wrote: »

I'm still going for the Williams sisters! Always have, always will!

Dont know wat u think......but i firmly believe no one....past or present....cud beat them on their best day! They'll meet in the semis....hopefully Serena will win...the other half is wide open....i just cant see Jankovic gettin to the final tho...can u?

Federer to win...murray should get to semis....cant see nadal making the final

My pic....a fairly similar semis and final match ups to the us

I think, at the moment, Venus and Serena are better than anyone when they play their best tennis. I reckon Venus is the most complete and talented womens player today. Mauresmo hasn't won that much and it looks like her best days are behind her, but on her best day she is/was fearsome - really top class. You could argue forever about whether or not the Williams sisters would have beaten past players. I definitely think they stepped things up a notch, and players from the past would have difficulty dealing with their power. However, Justine Henin and Martina Hingis both had serious games and their best might well have matched Venus and Serena's best.

I don't expect Jankovic to win, but it wouldn't be a shock if she did. I'd like to see Federer do well, but I don't know what to expect from him anymore. He can be a joy to watch though, he took some unreal shots against Seppi today. Haven't seen much of the action yet. Saw the first set of the Ivanovic game, it was painful to watch, I wouldn't be expecting her to go too much further. She might reach the 4th round or quarters coz of her draw but I could see Safina demolishing her. Maybe she'll be able to up her game.

Cathal93

cfitz wrote: »

I think, at the moment, Venus and Serena are better than anyone when they play their best tennis. I reckon Venus is the most complete and talented womens player today. Mauresmo hasn't won that much and it looks like her best days are behind her, but on her best day she is/was fearsome - really top class. You could argue forever about whether or not the Williams sisters would have beaten past players. I definitely think they stepped things up a notch, and players from the past would have difficulty dealing with their power. However, Justine Henin and Martina Hingis both had serious games and their best might well have matched Venus and Serena's best.

I don't expect Jankovic to win, but it wouldn't be a shock if she did. I'd like to see Federer do well, but I don't know what to expect from him anymore. He can be a joy to watch though, he took some unreal shots against Seppi today. Haven't seen much of the action yet. Saw the first set of the Ivanovic game, it was painful to watch, I wouldn't be expecting her to go too much further. She might reach the 4th round or quarters coz of her draw but I could see Safina demolishing her. Maybe she'll be able to up her game.

I think the perfect example of Serena on her best day...when she was unbeatable was australia 2007, 6-1, 6-2 against the top seed. And then venus at wimbledon the same year. 2005 australian open, 2-6, 6-3, 6-0, and Venus won wimbledon that year again. Mauresmo, Hingis and Henin all have lost more times then they have beaten Serena. I still think williams on their best day will always come out on top.

I dunno about Jankovic....even as no. 1 shes unpredictable. Aswel, dont no bout u, but im not liking the new ranking system. B4 this year, Serena had 250 to defend, while Jankovic had 500, now Serena has 500, but Jankovic only has 900. And the winner of a slam gets 2000? I dunno, i'm just not keen on em...r u?

Aswel as that, Dementieva and Safina have nothing to defend with Ivanovic having 1400, and Sharapova already losing 2000, so the female rankings will dramitically change by the end of January!

Loomis

This year is so much more open than previous years. The fact Federer got to the semi last year was a miracle so it just shows you how strong he is in the Slams. The form player is Murray but Skybet, as Federer essentially put it when quizzed, making him favourite over other players just cause he's in form (or more importantly British) is stupid. And quite disrespectful to the rest. Djokovic is defending champion, Nadal is world number 1 and Federer number 2, so putting Murray ahead of them just isn't right for me no matter how well he's playing. Unless you've been there and done it I don't think it's justified being made favourite.
I don't see Djokovic repeating lsat year though. He didn't get great preparation the past two weeks. Neither did Nadal for that matter and since he hasn't got to the semi of the Australian yet there's still a little bit of doubt over him there. As strange as that sounds given what he's done. Federer always has a chance for me. Obviously last year didn't go too well but that was down to his problems this time last year which took him a long time to recover from. One Slam and a few other titles only looks bad next to his "2 Slams or better" year he'd had for the previous 5 years.
As others said I'd love to see Federer win it to shut up those with short memories. And I don't want Murray to win it because of the way the British media hype him up as they do with any of their own.

The women's is just as open as the men's for me. I'd like to see Jankovic win it because she probably deserves it and certainly has the talent. Ivanovic has the ability too but seems like the pressure gets to her. The Williams sisters are always dangerous but I think they'll be too rusty.

cfitz

I watched a bit of the tennis last night on Eurosport before bed. Murray looked very good until Pavel retired with a back problem. The more I see of him the more I like him - you just have to try and ignore the British commentators talking about his 'glorious shots' etc! That Junqueira guy that lost to Gasquet reminded me of Eric Cantona - didn't look fit enough to be a sports star but was still able to get around the court when he needed to do and had plenty of talent I didn't see the end of the Dementieva match but she was making very hard work of it.

Cathal93

It's hilarious really the way the commentators refer to Murray's shots! I mean sooo many people dislike him, but really its probably down to the commentators! HE's good, but he's not great. Even if he wins here, it has to be said that he's just taking advantage of the lack of points to defend at the start of the season. Can anyone really see him making the open final again, and winning all those other tours toward the end of the year? I suspect his ranking will fall a tad by this time next year. Federer wasnt great yesterday either. He had one amazing point in the first, was great! But still a 6-1, 7-6, 7-5 victory, not exactly dominating! Watching rafa now! 6-0 first set in 19 mins,,, ouch!

Dementieva, unbelievably unpredictable, althogh my version of watching the match was the slamtracker on the aussie open website! So i didnt get a great insight! Biggest shock,,,, Radwanska! She's gone already?? A bit odd, she's generally consistent till R16!

elmolesto

Nadal set the standard at the Australian Open with a devastating 6-0 6-2 6-2 first-round win over Rochus.

Nadal took just 19 minutes to take the opening set!!

cfitz

I probably won't get to see much of Day 3 but I reckon these could be some of the most interesting Round 2 matches:

Gonzalez v. Canas
Karlovic v. Ancic
Andreev v. Gulbis
Tsonga v. Ljubicic
Roddick v. Malisse
Tomic v. Muller
Cilic v. Tipsarevic

Dokic v. Chakvetadze
Bremond v. Bondarenko

That's a lot actually, should be good!

Xavi6

Djokovic comfortably through.

Could be an epic match in Round 3 after Safin won today. He'll most likely play Federer if, as expected, he gets through.

Come on Marat!

Loomis

Federer won 6-2 6-3 6-1 against Evgeny Korolev to set up a 3rd round match with Safin who beat Garcia-Lopez 7-5 6-2 6-2. Tough match to have for a 3rd round. Should be interesting.

Djokovic also through after a 7-5 6-1 6-3 win over Jeremy Chardy.

10th seed Nalbandian out after a 5 set loss to Taipei's Yen-Hsun Lu - 6-4 5-7 4-6 6-4 6-2

Baghdatis beat 16th seed Robin Soderling in four. Nice to see him getting his form back.

Edit:
Roddick came through in 4 sets against Xavier Malisse: 4-6 6-2 7-6 6-2

Good to see Jelena Dokic doing well on her last attempt at a comeback this year. She beat 17th seed Anna Chakvetadze winning in three sets 6-4 6-7 6-3

Superdub2

Where are they showing coverage of this in ireland???? What channel??

and where and when can i get highlights??

thanks very much!

elmolesto

Superdub2 wrote: »

Where are they showing coverage of this in ireland???? What channel??

and where and when can i get highlights??

thanks very much!

I don't know but you can watch it online.

Cathal93

elmolesto wrote: »

I don't know but you can watch it online.

Where can u watch it online??? Is it free??????

Loomis

The BBC are showing it (mostly through interactive) and Eurosport show live coverage and highlights in the evening.
This live stream seems to work and has a choice of courts: http://channelsurfing.net/

Nadal, Simon, Monfils, Gasquet all safely through. Gonzalez had a good win against dangerous player Canas. Tommy Haas is also through and will be a difficult floater for Nadal in the next round. Mario Ancic also knocked out Ivo Karlovic in 5 sets and next plays Simon.

Some tasty ties in the next round:
Nadal v Haas
Gasquet v Gonzalez
Ancic v Simon

5th seed Tsonga is currently in a tough one against Ljubicic leading 6-7 7-6 7-6
Edit: Came through in 4: 6-7 7-6 7-6 6-2

Loomis

James Blake also through in straight sets.
Venus Williams dumped out by Carla Suarez Navarro 2-6 6-3 7-5. Out played.
Next up is the awesome Murray :rolleyes:

Edit: And he's through 6-4 6-2 6-2

Aaron M

cfitz wrote: »

The more I see of him the more I like him - you just have to try and ignore the British commentators talking about his 'glorious shots' etc!

Murray is easy to dislike, but he is top quality. There's no doubt about it. He has all the shots. I like watching him play. Unfortunately for him, the pressure to make the final of another slam (and of course to win one) will probably be unbearable. Literally. I would like to see him do it, but I don't think he will at this tournament.

One Cold Hand

I'm off to this tomorrow. Will see the following games:

Peng vs. Williams[2]
Azarenka[13] vs. Mauresmo[20]
Sela vs. Tsonga[5]

Tbh, a bit disappointed. Was hoping to catch one of the top 4 mens seeds. Ah well, the middle game looks like it could be good!

Xavi6

Absolutely delighted to see one of the Williams Brothers go out. The two most irritating people to listen to in tennis. Venus bottled a match point and was played off the court after that. Brilliant.

One down, one to go.

One Cold Hand

Xavi6 wrote: »

Absolutely delighted to see one of the Williams Brothers go out. The two most irritating people to listen to in tennis. Venus bottled a match point and was played off the court after that. Brilliant.

One down, one to go.

Very entertaining game. Fair play to the Spanish girl.

Djokovic through to 4th round. 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6.
Del Potro also through. 6-7, 7-5, 6-3, 7-5

Loomis

Roddick also in straight sets 6-3 6-4 6-2.

In the women's Jelena Jankovic went through 6-4 6-4 as well as Vera Zvonareva 6-4 6-1. Good to see her return to form last year and is now the 7th seed. Could go far in the tournament.

Loomis

Jelena Dokic's tournament continues after an impressive 3-6 6-1 6-2 over 11th seed Caroline Wozniacki.
The crowd are warming to her brilliantly exemplified by her on court post match interview with Alicia Molik. Good story after a crazy few years for her. Hopefully she gets back to the top of the game this year.

Up next on the same court Federer v Safin. Should be good.

cfitz

One Cold Hand wrote: »

I'm off to this tomorrow. Will see the following games:

Peng vs. Williams[2]
Azarenka[13] vs. Mauresmo[20]
Sela vs. Tsonga[5]

Tbh, a bit disappointed. Was hoping to catch one of the top 4 mens seeds. Ah well, the middle game looks like it could be good!

Stop complaining, you're getting to more than the rest of us here Tsonga is class and the Azarenka/Mauresmo match should be good.

Xavi6 wrote: »

Absolutely delighted to see one of the Williams Brothers go out. The two most irritating people to listen to in tennis. Venus bottled a match point and was played off the court after that. Brilliant.

One down, one to go.

Why all the hate?

Loomis

cfitz wrote: »

Stop complaining, you're getting to more than the rest of us here Tsonga is class and the Azarenka/Mauresmo match should be good.



Why all the hate?

If he's anything like me it'd be because they are so arrogant. The other day was the first time I've ever heard Venus say well done to her opponent for winning rather than blaming the defeat on her not performing.

Federer took the first set against Safin.
Ivanovic is in trouble. Lost first set 5-7, took second 7-6 but is a break down in the third.

juvenal

Federer took the first set 6-3, dropping only two points on his serve. Looking very good so far.

Safin leads on serve 2-1 in the second, and he had a chance on Fed's first service game to perhaps break at 0-30.

Safin is playing well, but his first serve is letting him down so far, if he can increase the percentage on that he can certainly trouble Fed.

Second set is huge, as if Marat loses this one, you can see him throwing in the towel.

Dokic is quickly turning into the big story of this year's Open. Darling of the crowd, media favourite, and by all accounts spoke extremely well in her interviews. Would be great to see her go far after all the bs with her father. Apparently she admitted she suffered from depression earlier in her career, and no longer speaks to her father.

Stayed up for Djokovic's match last night, was kinda hoping it would go to a fifth, but I think Delic's inexperience showed a little towards the end of the fourth. He's a fine player and I think we'll see a lot more of him, he should easily be in the top 100.

juvenal

Fed just picked up the first break of the second set (coupled with Safin's first racquet throw ), and is now serving with a lead of 3-2.

A hold here, and RF the second set, could be the end of Safin.

juvenal

Double-break by RF and he serves out the second set 6-2.

Safin begins service in the third with a hold from 15-30; and early break for Federer and it could have been early night.

juvenal

Fed serves in game eight of the third set, leading 6-3, 6-2, 3-4.

Ana Ivanovic is out. She lost 7-5, 6-7, 6-2 to Alisa Kleybanova

juvenal

There was trouble in Melbourne earlier tonight with violence after the Djokovic - Delic match. Even with both players appealing for calm before the match, the muppets didn't listen.:mad:

bbc.com/sport wrote:

Violence marred Novak Djokovic's match against Amer Delic at the Australian Open as Serbian and Bosnian supporters clashed outside the Rod Laver court.

Two men were arrested and 30 supporters ejected from the grounds as fans threw chairs and traded punches.

Bosnian-born American Delic had pleaded for calm before the match against Serbia's world number three Djokovic.

"As I said a couple days ago, there's absolutely no place for that here. This is a tennis match," said Delic.

One woman was knocked out after being hit with a chair, but was not seriously injured, while fighting continued outside Melbourne Park.

Two men were charged with riotous behaviour and discharging a missile while another man had been fined on the spot.

We will make sure this sort of thing doesn't happen

Police Inspector Chris Duthie
"The matter was dealt with very quickly and effectively by the police and we expect no more problems," said Inspector Chris Duthie.

"We have a very effective police presence here. You can't stop everything happening but we will make sure this sort of thing doesn't happen."

It is the third year running that the Australian Open has been marred by crowd trouble.

Video here

On the court, 15th seed and Federer's Olympic gold medal winning partner Stanislas Wawrinka is out, after losing to Tomas Berdych 4-6, 6-1, 6-3, 6-4.

We're in a third set tie-break between Fed and Safin. 2-1 to Fed on serve.

cfitz

Mr. Anderson wrote: »

If he's anything like me it'd be because they are so arrogant. The other day was the first time I've ever heard Venus say well done to her opponent for winning rather than blaming the defeat on her not performing.

I've heard them in press conference a good few times and I think they're ok. They talk up their chances before tournaments but I think, overall, they live up to their own hype. I wouldn't take too much from what people say in those press conferences after the matches - they're brought in straight after losing the match, the first thing they'll do is question their own performance - that's not a bad thing. Fair enough, they're not the most humble, but they're hardly outrageous. I think they get a lot of unfair criticism.

Mr. Anderson wrote: »

Federer took the first set against Safin.
Ivanovic is in trouble. Lost first set 5-7, took second 7-6 but is a break down in the third.

I wasn't watching the match, but that's an impressive result from Federer. Ivanovic going out like that isn't really a shock, Dokic will fancy her chances to reach the quarter finals.

Loomis

Federer through in three 6-3 6-2 7-6. Finished with a great passing shot. Nice embrace between the two at the net.
Safin got a double fault in the tie-breaker netting his first serve and called foot fault on his second. This lead to him having a 'chat' with the linesperson. Good stuff. Federer looked great at times when he needed to. Very comfortable in the win.

Loomis

cfitz wrote: »

I've heard them in press conference a good few times and I think they're ok. They talk up their chances before tournaments but I think, overall, they live up to their own hype. I wouldn't take too much from what people say in those press conferences after the matches - they're brought in straight after losing the match, the first thing they'll do is question their own performance - that's not a bad thing. Fair enough, they're not the most humble, but they're hardly outrageous. I think they get a lot of unfair criticism.

They just come across very very arrogant and dismissive of other players. I remember seeing Serena being interviewed on court after a match and just as she walked off the speaker said "good luck in your next match". Serena actually turned and came back to her to say "Oh I don't believe in luck. I believe in myself and in Jehova and blah blah blah I'm terrific blah blah".

And ye, Federer was impressive. Like I said he was very comfortable in beating such a good player but when he needed it he was great. Some subtle points, as someone already pointed out, he only lost 2 points on his own serve in the first set and didn't face a break point all match.

juvenal

STUNNING MATCH POINT WINNER from Federer.

6-3, 6-2, 7-6 (7-5).

Tie-break was entertaining, with Safin being called for a foot fault by the line judge. Everyone then waiting to see how Marat would react, and it was hilarious looking at him confront the line judge and seeing him gulping when trying to explain the call.

Fed then lost a hawkeye challenge, but finished the match with a passing backhand down the line. Safin played very well in parts, but was let down by his first serve at times. Fed's looking strong, and faces a Tomas Berdych in the next round.

cfitz

I saw parts of a few of today's matches and here is what I thought of them:

Safina v. Kanepi - Safina looked to be in very good form.
Del Potro v. Muller - Del Potro didn't look too comfortable to me.
Cilic v. Ferrer - I like Cilic's style, his game has more teeth than Ferrer's, glad he won it.
Only saw a tiny bit of Djokovic's match, I think him being in form will make the tournament much more interesting.

Blisterman

Juan Martin del Potro v Marin Cilic should be a good match.
Two up and coming players fighting for a place in the quarter finals. Del Porto seems like the better player, but Cilic's been progressing steadily up the rankings, and he did well in this tournament last year. I could see an upset.

Overall, my money's on Nadal though. I could see him possibly winning a grand slam this year. Well, more so than Federer, who I don't think has much of a chance at Rolland Garros.

Loomis

It's been on the cards a few years now. Safin has said that if things don't improve then he'd leave the game because it was more hurtful than anything. Kinda sad reading this now given how good a player he was and probably should have done more in the game. I remember how he destroyed Sampras in the final of the US Open; the Russian against the American in front of a New York crowd. He said the comments below about Federer last summer after Wimbledon also but him repeating it as he verges on leaving the game makes it a bit more poignant.

From Sky Sports

Marat Safin claims he will not return to the Australian Open following his third round defeat to Roger Federer on Friday.
The mercurial Muscovite suggested retirement is on the agenda after going down 6-3 6-2 7-6 to his old foe, with whom he had some memorable matches down the years. Safin lost to the Swiss legend in straight sets in the 2004 final in Melbourne, but exacted revenge a year later when he won an epic semi-final battle 9-7 in the fifth set before going on to lift his second Grand Slam title.
However, just days before his 29th birthday, Safin implied the end was near as he reflected on his tussles with Federer. "I had some ups and downs here," he said. "One disappointment. Another great year. One final against Roger. And then one title I took here beating also Roger and (Lleyton) Hewitt.
"So I've been playing some great tennis. So just the whole thing, the whole setup. The beautiful city, great people. "It's always nice to come here every year, year after year. Unfortunately, I doubt it's going to ever happen again.
"I've been already too many years. I want to change and do something else. I'm ready for that. "It's been a nice trip. It's enough."

Safin paid tribute to Federer, who won 10 of their 12 clashes over the years. "But anyway, I lost today probably to the better player, one of the greatest ones in the history of tennis," he added. "I really hope for him to be so I can tell the story to my kids that I played with him. I think it's a nice story. "He's the most complete tennis player in the history of tennis, that's for sure. With all due respects to (Andre) Agassi and (Pete) Sampras and the rest of the gang. But I never felt so uncomfortable against any of the players before.
"Unfortunately, I couldn't do better than that, three sets. It's just a sad story. It's not for me. I prefer to leave this way, quietly, nice, with a great match.

Cathal93

Mr. Anderson wrote: »

They just come across very very arrogant and dismissive of other players. I remember seeing Serena being interviewed on court after a match and just as she walked off the speaker said "good luck in your next match". Serena actually turned and came back to her to say "Oh I don't believe in luck. I believe in myself and in Jehova and blah blah blah I'm terrific blah blah".

To be honest, as the greatest players of their generation they have the right to be arrogant and dismissive. Its true what Serena says, u look at their unforced error count when they lose its far higher than their opponent, or most people. It is themsleves why they lose, because when they're on, they're unbeatable. People dont like em because they r arrogant, but theyre not, theyre jus honest. And if ur that good, arrogance comes naturally, 16 single grand slams between them, come on. And the whole brothers thing, kinda sad.

Xavi6

I just can't stand listening to them. Every time they lose it looks like they're going to break down and cry. They aren't the most gracious in defeat, and that is something I don't like to see, no matter how good they may be.

Anyway, very sorry to see Safin go out. He actually played well but Federer was just amazing. I've always been a massive fan of Safin was lucky enough to see him play in the flesh two weeks ago. Gutted that he's retiring at the end of the year but he's provided some really memorable moments.

elmolesto

Gilles Simon defeated Croatian Mario Ancic 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 6-2.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga won against Dudi Sela 6-4 6-2 1-6 6-1

Gael Monfils beat Nicolas Almagro 6-4 6-3 7-5.

Richard Gasquet is due to play shortly against Fernando Gonzales.

elmolesto

F. Gonzales just won in a 5 sets thriller 3-6, 3-6, 7-6 (12-10), 6-2, 12-10

Epic match

Nadal is up 2 sets 6-4 6-2 3-2 in Rod Laver arena against Haas.

ManWithThePlan

Blisterman wrote: »

Overall, my money's on Nadal though. I could see him possibly winning a grand slam this year. Well, more so than Federer, who I don't think has much of a chance at Rolland Garros.

Nadal to possibly win a grand slam this year? Very safe call considering nobody can really touch him at RG unless he gets injured or Fed ups his clay game.

My picks for Aussie Open 09:
Women's: Very hard to pick but I'm backing Safina. Azarenka could also be in with a shout.
Men's: Federer or Murray.

ManWithThePlan

Yes the Del Potro match should be a good one. Del Potro unquestionably one of the hottest new prospects for the men's game but he hasn't been in free flow this tourney.

Expect him to scrape through with a few scares along the way.

Can't see many upsets tonight to be honest. Possibly Djokovic might drop an early set in his game.

juvenal

Del Potro is into the last eight, after beating Cilic 5-7, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2.

He'll face the winner of Federer v Berdych.

juvenal

Safina is in trouble, but just broke Cornet as she was serving for the match at 5-2 in the third.

She's gone all Safin(a) and is beating herself, after cruising the first set 6-2.

So far it's Cornet ahead 2-6, 6-2, 5-4, with another service game to win the match coming up next.

ManWithThePlan wrote: »

Nadal to possibly win a grand slam this year? Very safe call considering nobody can really touch him at RG unless he gets injured or Fed ups his clay game.

I think he meant to win the Grand Slam, i.e. all four Grand Slam tournaments; Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and US Open. Tbh I think at present Nadal is probably the best equipped to do it, as he's better on grass and hard than Fed is on clay. Despite that, I don't think we'll see it happening, as the only player who's come close is RF, and he's arguably the greatest of all time.

Just think, if Nadal wasn't in the picture, Federer would probably have won the Grand Slam at least twice at this stage:eek:

juvenal

Incredible - Safina was on the ropes and has fought back from 2-5 in the third, saving two match points along the way, and now leads 6-5, with Cornet now serving to stay in the match.

Cornet got to 40-30 on her serve, only for Safina to take the next two points and have a match point of her own, Cornet saved match point. Cue deuces, and another unforced error by Cornet gave Safina match point #2. Safina completed a huge turnaround and wins 6-2, 2-6, 7-5. Cornet is gutted and bawling on her chair, knowing she had the match in her hands at 5-2 with serve in the third.

Earlier, Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli stunned #1 seed Jelena Jankovic with a straight sets win 6-1, 6-4.

Federer v Berdych up next.

elmolesto

Federer just won against Berdych 4-6, 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 6-4, 6-2