Australian Open 2011

Rjd2

I expected Murray to win last night, but wow Garcia - Lopez was dirt. Murray has a very tricky match with Melzer on the horizon. The Austrian is very dangerous when he clicks and he has claimed some very impressive scalps in the last year, the most notable would be defeating Novak when 2-0 down in the French. Murray has stumbled in this stage before so I may be tempted to have a few pound on Melzer.


Good result for Dopologopov earlier, the lad is a definite top ten player in the next few years,,. Soderling next which should be interesting. Robin has coasted through the draw but this is his first real test, if the Russian gets off to a flyer, it could be a corker.

Rafa got the job done today, I can't get on the Tomic bandwagon yet, he has talent but their is tons of young players on the circuit with ability and few really push through and challenge the top guys. Ernest Guilbis and Richard Gasquest would be examples of this sadly.
Cilic is a step up for Rafa but I expect the Spaniard to get through and then he should annihilate Ferrer in the quarter finals.

Two men’s games stick out later, the first is Wawrinka v Roddick. The American was totally outclassed by another boy wonder Haase for the first set of their encounter last night, but once Roddick got it level, his experience got the job done. Wawrinka is someone I have opposed all competition, I backed Gabishvilli, Dimitrov and Monfils to beat him and neither could win a set! I don’t know if I can oppose him again!


The other game is Berdych v Verdasco. Berdych has been very poor since Wimbledon and he is someone I expected to go out early, but he has been superb so far. He was class against the dangerous Kohlschriber when he went a set down and some of his hitting against Gasquet was absolutely terrifying. I haven’t seen any of Verdaso yet but his results have been impressive. Its hard to call it as both can be flaky and can implode when the pressure is on, but if I had to bet it would be Verdasco because his betting odds are bigger :pac:

RosyLily

Johnmb wrote: »

Commitment could be a problem for him. He pulled out of the pre Australian Open tournament to get a wildcard, and didn't enter the qualifiers, instead relying on being handed a free wildcard by Tennis Australia. You'd have to question just how much work he is willing to do when he would make a decision like that. TA were quite annoyed with him over it, and it would not have been a huge shock if they had decided to not give him one to make an example of him and let their other players know "if you're not willing to make a bit of an effort, we're not willing to give you a free ride".

Yes, that decision was foolish and presumptuous of him. Although, it might not have been his decision to pull of the pre-tournament and bypass qualifiers....or was it? I'm not really sure of the specifics of the issue. Either way- it was reckless. Maybe he'll learn from this.

Johnmb

RosyLily wrote: »

Yes, that decision was foolish and presumptuous of him. Although, it might not have been his decision to pull of the pre-tournament and bypass qualifiers....or was it? I'm not really sure of the specifics of the issue. Either way- it was reckless. Maybe he'll learn from this.

It was because he pulled out citing an "illness" and then showed up in Brisbane the next day playing a practice with nothing wrong with him at all. He got the last wildcard place (well, one of the last two, they were both announced at the same time), and it was made clear that he was only getting it because he did so well in Sydney. Had he gone out in the first round there, like he did in Brisbane, they wouldn't have given him the wildcard. Even getting as far as he did in Sydney wasn't enough, TA said it was because of the high ranking of the people he beat that convinced them to give him the wildcard, so if he'd come up against lower ranking players in the draw he'd never have got to play Nadal in the AO.

bing3

Great match between Schiavone and Kuzi. Quality tennis in the third.

RosyLily

Really wish I got to see the entire Schiavone-Kuznetsova match!! Damn time difference!!! Is there anywhere online I could watch highlights of it??

Wawrinka just beat Roddick in straight sets 6-3, 6-4, 6-4. Great match from Stan, returned well against the Andy serve. He plays Federer next!

Rob2D

RosyLily wrote: »

Is there anywhere online I could watch highlights of it??

I'm sure there'll be something up on youtube in a while.

Poor old Roddick's time is up though, and has been for a while. Shame, I do like him. Even if he won there was no way he'd beat Federer anyway.

Should be an interesting match between the Swiss. You'd have to go with Federer but Stan is on quite the tear at the moment.

I was glad to hear Petrovic got through, I have a bit of a soft spot for her!

RosyLily

Djokovic played a great game against Berdych. Returned serve really well and groundstrokes were solid. His SF against Federer should be a good one!
Kinda disappointed Petkovic didn't get through to SFs. Really like her game and think she can do well in the future.
Wozniacki still on track for maiden GS title. She plays Na Li in SF. Think she could win this and reach the final.

Tonight matches- the last of the men and women QFs.

Alexandr Dolgopolov v. Andy Murray
This could be a good one. Dolgopolov is looking great this tournament. Really made Soderling look average at times during the match. Murray is in top form- looking dangerous.
Murray in 4 sets

Rafael Nadal v. David Ferrer
Nadal leads this head-to-head. Ferrer has moved silently through the draw. Quite likely that Nadal will win this one.
Nadal in 4

Petra Kvitova v. Vera Zvonareva
This is interesting. They have only met once before back in 2009 and both players have matured significantly since then. The way they are playing this time- the match could very well be a cracker.
Zvonareva in 3

Agnieszka Radwanska v. Kim Clijsters
Radwanska has been in great form during the tournament. Clijsters has also been crashing her way through the womens draw. It will be intriguig to see how Radwanska copes in the spotlight.
Clijsters in 3

cfitz

RosyLily wrote: »

Djokovic played a great game against Berdych. Returned serve really well and groundstrokes were solid. His SF against Federer should be a good one!
Kinda disappointed Petkovic didn't get through to SFs. Really like her game and think she can do well in the future.
Wozniacki still on track for maiden GS title. She plays Na Li in SF. Think she could win this and reach the final.

Tonight matches- the last of the men and women QFs.

Alexandr Dolgopolov v. Andy Murray
This could be a good one. Dolgopolov is looking great this tournament. Really made Soderling look average at times during the match. Murray is in top form- looking dangerous.
Murray in 4 sets

Rafael Nadal v. David Ferrer
Nadal leads this head-to-head. Ferrer has moved silently through the draw. Quite likely that Nadal will win this one.
Nadal in 4

Petra Kvitova v. Vera Zvonareva
This is interesting. They have only met once before back in 2009 and both players have matured significantly since then. The way they are playing this time- the match could very well be a cracker.
Zvonareva in 3

Agnieszka Radwanska v. Kim Clijsters
Radwanska has been in great form during the tournament. Clijsters has also been crashing her way through the womens draw. It will be intriguig to see how Radwanska copes in the spotlight.
Clijsters in 3

Nice preview. Murray and Dolgopolov is an interesting one - Dolgopolov looks like he could almost beat anyone at the moment but I wouldn't be shocked if Murray comes out with a straight sets victory either. Ferrer seems to keep a lower profile than he deserves but can't see him stopping Nadal. I didn't rate Kvitova at all last year, so unless she's improved a lot, I hope Zvonareva makes short work of her. I don't think Radwanska will put it up to Clijsters, even if it goes to 3 sets I reckon Clijsters will take the final set easily.

Loomis

The last of the 1/4 finals on now; Nadal v Ferrer.

Ferrer held serve easily to open and then broke Nadal in a game lasting near 30 minutes. Nadal asked the umpire to call for the trainer before breaking back.
He actually left the court to receive the medical timeout which lasted a considerable time.
Since returning to court he's looked very uncomfortable despite not showing any obvious signs of an injury. It's written all over his face that he's struggling with something and it's clearly distracting him - constantly looking to his coach etc
Ferrer broke back then and consolidated the break for a 4-1 lead.

This is gonna be interesting.

Loomis

Ferrer served for the set at 5-3 but lost serve quite easily. Serving at 4-5 Nadal saved two set points but was unable to save a third and Ferrer takes the opening set 6-4.
Despite being injured Nadal is still giving a good account of himself. Ferrer while playing well certainly isn't running away with it. The thing that now becomes the main factor I think is having lost the set Nadal has to play another 3 sets minimum. And that can only be advantageous to Ferrer given Nadal's injury.

The injury still isn't obvious but appears to be his left leg from what I can tell - he isn't fully extending himself on the backhand side. Doesn't seem to be his knee this time cause there's no tape or strapping so I'd go for his thigh or hip being the problem.

We shall see after the match I guess.

Loomis

Nadal looked bright at the start of the second breaking Ferrer to go 2-1 up. Ferrer broke back and broke a further two more times to take the second set 6-2.

I'm a Federer fan but you have to feel for Nadal. Poor guy.

Loomis

Ferrer finished the match off winning 6-4 6-2 6-3. Was quite gracious in his comments during his on court interview with Jim Courier.

I know it's not the way you'd wanna win but Ferrer must be buzzing with confidence now heading into the semi-final with Murray.

RosyLily

Mr. Anderson wrote: »

Ferrer finished the match off winning 6-4 6-2 6-3. Was quite gracious in his comments during his on court interview with Jim Courier.

I know it's not the way you'd wanna win but Ferrer must be buzzing with confidence now heading into the semi-final with Murray.

I was actually shocked when I read Ferrer beat Nadal in straight sets...no offence to Ferrer!!

Any word on what injury Nadal has? Is it the tendinitis again?

MisterAnarchy

RosyLily wrote: »

I was actually shocked when I read Ferrer beat Nadal in straight sets...no offence to Ferrer!!

Any word on what injury Nadal has? Is it the tendinitis again?

Its a hamstring injury ,so he could be out for a few months.

missingtime

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/tennis/australianopen/8283218/Australian-Open-2011-Rafael-Nadal-denied-Rafa-Slam-dream-by-injury-and-David-Ferrer-at-Melbourne-Park.html

The world No 1 suffered a straight sets 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 defeat to David Ferrer in the quarter-finals at Melbourne Park after sustaining a hamstring injury in the second game of the opening set.

Nadal left the court during the first set so that his left thigh could be treated and continued to have medical time-outs throughout his defeat.

Despite battling on through the pain, Nadal's movement was visibly hampered and he was not able to mount a comeback against his compatriot.

A knee injury forced Nadal to retire during his quarter-final clash with Andy Murray at two sets and a break down at last year's Australian Open.

Victory over Ferrer today would have set-up a rematch with the British No 1 who earlier today defeated Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov to book his place in the last four.

Ferrer said afterwards that it was not the way he wanted to progress and that it was unlikely he would have won so easily had it not been for the Spaniard's injury.

"Rafa is a gentleman and played on after being injured in the first set," he said.

"I fought a lot and it was still not easy. I played aggressively and tried to go to the net but if Rafael was not injured I would not have won in three sets. It is a win but not how I wanted to win."

Nadal, meanwhile, did not want to discuss his injury out of respect for his friend Ferrer and believes he has a good chance of upsetting Murray in Friday's semi-final.

"I can say nothing about the injury. Seriously, I would prefer that I don't talk a lot about the injury. In respect to the winner and to a friend, I prefer to talk about the match.

"I think he played at a very high level. I congratulate him and wish him all the best for the semi-final. I think he's having a fantastic tournament.

"If he keeps playing like this, he is going to have a good chance."

Sickened for Rafael.

the_monkey

Amazingly I feel really bad for Nadal, It's a shame, I wanted records to be set ...

Loomis

It's unusual to have someone at the top of a sport, or any discipline really, who soar so far above the rest of the pigeons yet exude so much class, respect and humility. And in tennis there's two; Federer and Nadal.

Federer would be my favoured player but it's impossible not to like this guy and respect how he carries himself.

Nadal refuses to make excuses for defeat

Rafael Nadal had already broken every tennis heart around the world when he soldiered through his quarterfinal match against David Ferrer, clearly injured, clearly in pain, but refusing to do himself or his opponent the ignominy of retiring. And the Spaniard clambered even further into the public's affections when he sat in front of the world's tennis media to explain the reasons behind that decision.

"I had a problem during the match, in the very beginning," said Nadal. "After that, the match was almost over. So that's what I can say. But you know what, for me is difficult come here and speak about. In Doha I wasn't healthy. Today I have another problem. Seems like I always have problems when I lose, and I don't want to have this image, no? I prefer don't talk about that today. If you can respect that, will be a very nice thing for me. Thank you."

Refusing to make excuses for the loss, and heaping praise on friend and compatriot Ferrer, Nadal explained that in his mind the nature of tennis is that there are positive and negative moments, and today's defeat, although devastating, was one of the many peaks and troughs that go hand in hand with being a professional tennis player.

"The tennis career, you have higher moments and lower moments. I had almost all the time very, very happy moments and very nice moments in my career. That's part of the sport. Last year I was very lucky. I was healthy most of the year. I was playing unbelievable during all the year. This year I did I think all the right things to start the season playing really well. And, seriously, I was playing like this in the first exhibition in Abu Dhabi. After that starts the problem. Was a difficult month for me, no? That's part of the sport. Accept; keep working; try my best in the next tournament. That's what I can do."

The cruel irony is that Nadal had finally recovered from the virus that cut short his season opener in Doha, and was feeling better than he had done since arriving in Melbourne. But the after-effects of that virus, the weakening of his body, no doubt played a part in the injury he sustained in the opening games of the match against Ferrer.

"I felt fantastic the last couple days. I practiced very good yesterday. I had a fantastic warmup today before the match. Only feeling that I can say was very positive. I started the second week, and when the second week started, everything was better and better for me: the health, sweat, the level of tennis. Everything was better and better."

"The only problem was a little bit of unlucky. In general, I had a virus. When you have a virus, your body goes down and you have more risk of everything. That's probably what happened. That's the simple thing."

But Nadal was adamant that at no point did he consider retiring from the match, having been forced into that situation against Andy Murray at the same juncture at Australian Open 2010.

"I hate the retirements, so this wasn't the day. I did last year. I hate that moment. I didn't want to repeat that."

Nadal will fully assess his injury, believed to be to his left thigh, over the coming weeks before deciding when he will be able to return to the court.

http://www.australianopen.com/en_AU/news/articles/2011-01-26/201101261296046008378.html

RosyLily

Mr. Anderson wrote: »

It's unusual to have someone at the top of a sport, or any discipline really, who soar so far above the rest of the pigeons yet exude so much class, respect and humility. And in tennis there's two; Federer and Nadal.

Federer would be my favoured player but it's impossible not to like this guy and respect how he carries himself.

Same here. Find it so hard to dislike Nadal these days; the guy is a class act and a great role model for everyone- as is Federer. Being the fierce competitor that he is, I'm sure Nadal is gutted that he lost but is probably relieved that he hasn't injured his knees.

I expect him to come out in the clay season, esp. Roland Garros, all guns blazing.

frostie500

MisterAnarchy wrote: »

Its a hamstring injury ,so he could be out for a few months.

Not the end of the world if he misses a few months with the injury. The tennis season is so long that some solid rest will do him well before the French Open.

Rjd2

Impressed with Nadal's courage today, but something has to be done about him having full blown conversations with his uncle on the court all the bloody time. Rafa does get away with quite a bit on the court these days.

Murray has to be pleased to avoid Soderling and Rafa now.

He was patchy against the Dopologopov and was lucky his opponent was very erratic all match. I can't see him beating either Roger or Novak with such a negative game.

MisterAnarchy

frostie500 wrote: »

Not the end of the world if he misses a few months with the injury. The tennis season is so long that some solid rest will do him well before the French Open.

True ,he has 3 months to recuperate before the clay court season.
Mid May to Mid September is the main tennis season so a rest now will help Nadal especially considering how physically demanding his style of play is on the body.

Johnmb

MisterAnarchy wrote: »

True ,he has 3 months to recuperate before the clay court season.
Mid May to Mid September is the main tennis season so a rest now will help Nadal especially considering how physically demanding his style of play is on the body.

Plus he's not defending too many points between now and the start of the clay court season, two semis I think from Indian Wells and Miami, which would total just 720 points. When you consider that he is over 3,000 points clear, and Federer can't gain any on him in Australia (although could gain 1,730 points if he were to win both Indian Wells and Miami), he has room to rest and recover.

Loomis

Djokovic beat Federer in straight sets 7-6 7-5 6-4
He played really well and served brilliantly but it has to be said Federer was very disappointing. He had a lot of break points and didn't take them and came close to breaking serve most of the time. But he served poorly and struggled to hold serve himself all match.

He came from a break down in the second set and converted a break of his own. Serving for the set he was broken and then broken again for Djokovic to take a two set lead and it looked all over.

That was compounded by him losing serve at the start of the third. He did up his game slightly and got the break back for 4-4 and once again lost his serve immediately after. Djokovic served out the match comfortably.

Matts Wilander said Federer would lose if he went in playing a baseline game and didn't change if it wasn't working. It really wasn't and he didn't try anything new. He threw in the odd drop shot and serve volley when he played well to take a lead in the second set but rarely deviated from baseline rallies most of which he lost. His serve hurt him today I think because if that isn't going well then it's tough. His backhand was very weak today too - tons of errors off that side.

Djokovic played a great match - his groundstrokes were solid on a foundation of serving immaculately. He attacked the backhand again and again. He'll be brimming with confidence for the final no matter who he plays; but Murray is by far the likely opponent. A final between them should be very interesting. Both have lost a few finals but both will have confidence as Djokovic has already won here and it would be Murray's second final in a row.

Great to see Na Li beat Wozniacki to reach the final in three sets. Like her a lot as a player. Really great shot maker with plenty of power despite her size. Once again Wozniacki showed she's a bit lightweight when it comes to the second week of a Grand Slam despite being world number one. Served for the match in the second set and had match point but couldn't convert.
Li faces Clijsters who beat Zvonereva comfortably in straight sets; Zvonereva another one who doesn't match up despite making the semi and final of the last few Grand Slams.
Clijsters and Li will be well matched but Clijsters power and experience should see her win in three. Would love to see Li win though.

MisterAnarchy

Good display by Djokovic but Federers old faults came back to haunt him.
Federer is a shadow of his former self especially against players he fears,Nadal and Djokovic where his game is going to pieces.
His once majestic serve yet again failed him when the chips were down.
His first serve % in the second set was 47% and he won only 35% of points on his second serve in that set.
Federer only managed 5 aces in the whole match .In years gone by he won an awful lot of easy points on his serve ,thats not the case anymore.

I realise Djokovic is one of the best returners on tour but Federers' serve is erratic now and putting pressure on the rest of his game.

I dont know if he will be able to beat Nadal or Djokovic in a Grand Slam anymore,I think mentally they have the beating of him.

the_monkey

Could be the case, and what was it with Nadal in this AO ? it was more then a leg injury that cramped him yesterday, he has been sweating profusely all his matches (like his shirt was dipped in a swimming pool) , He has a virus or something ? plus no interviews have been published since ?

(apart from the post match transcript)

Loomis

the_monkey wrote: »

Could be the case, and what was it with Nadal in this AO ? it was more then a leg injury that cramped him yesterday, he has been sweating profusely all his matches (like his shirt was dipped in a swimming pool) , He has a virus or something ? plus no interviews have been published since ?

(apart from the post match transcript)

He had a virus for a couple weeks before the Australian Open started and contributed to his loss to Davydenko at the Qatar Open. He was getting over it in Australia but during a couple of matches he poured with sweat; just an after-effect of being ill really. I'd say it contributed to his getting the injury in such an easy manner.

The thing with Federer is he's always feared Nadal. He never ever looks happy or comfortable out there and that stress clearly effects his thinking and his game. Yet the last couple of times they played he's played really well. His backhand was immense when he beat him in the final of the World Tour Final London last year. He really got over his backhand and hit lots of them really short for clean angled winners where Nadal just couldn't get to them. Federer has always had tons of break points against Nadal but lost matches because he's passive during those break points. Nadal simply attacks and always saved them. During this match Federer went after it and it was definitely the difference. His slice serve out wide to Nadal's backhand was also brilliant that match - got lots of aces and unreturned serves. Just have a look at the highlights

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Bs1CDKirXE

Similarly, in the semi of US Open last year against Djokovic, Federer should really have won. He had match points and actually played the better for most of the match. It's pretty unanimously thought that Djokovic got lucky in that one.

All of that just makes his performance here all the more confusing and frustrating.

Loomis

Final semi-final - One set all between Murray and Ferrer. And Murray is lucky at that.

Ferrer is playing out of his skin. Took the opening set and in a tight second had set point at 4-5 with Murray serving. Murray held and then broke to go 6-5 up before losing his own serve when serving for the set. Tie-breaker and Ferrer fell apart - his serve deserted him when up til then it was Murray who was struggling and hit unforced error after unforced error to give Murray and 6-0 lead. He pulled a couple points back before losing it 7-2.
As I said, Murray has struggled on serve. His first serve % points won is good but on his second serve it's abysmal and he's being pushed close each time on serve. He should feel lucky to be one set a piece and Ferrer can feel unlucky not to be two sets up.

Loomis

Murray through to the final to face Djokovic after a 4-6 7-6 6-1 7-6 victory. Apart from the third set, hardly a convincing win. I know it's the semi final so it'll be a tough match but he should (and normally does) put away a player like Ferrer far easier.
He could easily have lost the second set and only took the 4th after a fall off in quality in the tie breaker again from Ferrer. Djokovic won't be kaking himself after watching it - put it that way.

He's made the final though for a second year running and that's a great achievement. He'll fancy his chances having been there before and try to forget this performance and hopefully play better in the final - he'll have to if he wants to win.

Ferrer has had a great tournament but this match shows he's in that group just beyond the top 5 players who only get so far in tournaments before falling to the quality guys. Having said that, the odd point here and there (especially in the breakers) and he could have won this match.

The final should be good. Two evenly matched players. And we'll have a Grand Slam winner that is not Nadal or Federer for only the 6th time in almost 8 years (31 Grand Slams) since 2003 when Federer won his first Wimbledon. Incredible.

Pauleta

Great game. Murray looked pretty mediocre in the 1st 2 sets but battled through well. Dont understand why Djokovic got an extra days rest for the final. I think Djokovic will take the final.

the_monkey

Good to see Murray in the final, but I still hope Djokovic wins it, I like him -
then again if Murray wins it, it'll be good for that long draught to be broken so im happy either way.