The 2013 In Between Grand Slam Thread

RosyLily

New year, new thread. No point in looking through 40+ pages to find out the latest news and views.

RosyLily

Loads of tournaments going on at the moment, Doha, Chennai & Brisbane on the ATP side and Brisbane and Auckland on the WTA. Doesn't feel that long ago that I was watching Murray and Djokovic at Flushing.:)

Hopman Cup also in full swing in Perth. Tatjana Malek has replaced Petko for the remainder of the tournament. Earlier, United States beat France 2-1; Tsonga defeated Isner in straights, 3 & 2 but Venus evened it up after beating Mathilde Johansson 3-6, 7-5, 6-4. The Americans came through in the Mixed Doubles in a championship tiebreak. Tomorrow's matches are Italy vs. Germany in the day and Serbia vs. Australia in the night session.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Anybody been watching Hopman Cup? Brilliant doubles match between Serbia and Australia just now. Serbia had MP in the second set and the point that followed was amazing!!
It's only an exho tournament but some really entertaining matches so far. Tomic beat Djokovic earlier too.

Ash Barty looks a real talent too, she could do with growing a few inches though, or feet

The women have been pulling the men through in nearly all the match ups. AMG for Spain, Ana for Serbia, Isner has been shocking, Venus doing all the work there. In a weird twist Tomic The Tank Engine has been pretty much the only male player getting the job done, although Barty was by far the better player in the doubles. Djokovic couldn't even read her serve.

Tomic says he was working on the mental side of his game a lot lately. It'll be interesting to see where he is at come the AO. I've always felt that he had the potential but wouldn't fulfill it.

One win over Novak in a glorified exhibition tournament isn't very significant IMO. 2013 is a huge year for him, IMO it's make or break due to the attitudes he has shown in the past. He needs to make at least a QF or SF at a Slam to show progress.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Deleted User wrote: »

Tomic says he was working on the mental side of his game a lot lately. It'll be interesting to see where he is at come the AO. I've always felt that he had the potential but wouldn't fulfill it.

He's said that his goal is to be Top 10 this year, which was met with a lot of mocking on twitter. I don't see why he couldn't be. He's got the talent, and if people like Isner can make the Top 10 it's not impossible that Tomic could.

Obviously it's the mental side of things he needs to sort out. I know HC is only a exho but he's shown a lot of fight in his matches so far which was non existent in his matches the latter part of 2012. I think second week of a slam is more realistic for him than QF or SF this year, and would be an improvement on last year anyway.

yerwanthere123

Really enjoyed the Sloane-Serena match. Sloane has a fantastic future ahead of her, without a doubt the most promising youngster on tour now. However, she got a little bit upset with Serena during the match!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=YtbnZviyRjw

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

^ She said after that it was just a joke with her coach because she thought she was being too serious during the match? Dunno. They're quite good friends off court apparently, or as good friends as Serena is with any of the players.

yerwanthere123

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

^ She said after that it was just a joke with her coach because she thought she was being too serious during the match? Dunno. They're quite good friends off court apparently, or as good friends as Serena is with any of the players.

Hmm I dunno, after watching that video I think Sloane was being completely serious... I don't really see any indication that she was joking, more so that she was pissed off! Regardless, Sloane has backtracked now so it's all good.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Mmmhmmm. It seemed like she meant it, maybe she forgot her coach was mic'd up.

Sometimes it's obvious that Serena's "come on!!" is aimed at the opponent rather than at herself, but then I think it's the same with all the players with their various pump up noises.

Maybe she thought Serena shouldn't do it to her they way she'd do it to any other random.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Vika pulled out of her Brisbane SF. Got a bad pedicure apparently and now her big toe is infected. Had it removed by doctors and is on antibiotics. Should be fine for AO.

Means we didn't get the first Vika/Serena clash of the year. Serena will play Pavlyuchenkova in the final. She's been training at the same academy as Serena in the off season and is looking pretty trim compared to last season where it took her until RG to string back to back wins together. Could be an interesting match. Money would still be on Serena, unfortunately.

Lisicki has pulled out of Sydney qualifiers with a viral infection, that girl is constantly ill. Tsonga has pulled out too with a hamstring injury he picked up in Hopman Cup doubles.

Davydenko just thrashed Ferrer in Qatar. Plays Gasquet in the finals, who has also pulled out of Sydney, presumably because he is in the final here and didn't expect to be.

Hopman Cup final will be between Serbia and Spain. The USA had to forfeit their last match against Spain because Isner pulled out last minute and they had no US replacement. So Spain got the walk over even though they still played the ties with some 16 year old Aussie kid subbing for Isner.

Looking forward to seeing Ivanovic and Verdasco reunited on court

RosyLily

I was really impressed with the Australian team at the Hopman Cup. When I heard Tomic was participating I was a bit apprehensive considering what happened with him last year but he seems to have mellowed a bit. He's a great talent so hopefully it's the beginning of a new improved Tomic. Ashleigh Barty has a lot of potential! It'll be interesting to see how she progresses over the next few years.

Ivanovic & Verdasco were too ridiculously good-looking to work out anyway!!:p

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

RosyLily wrote: »

I was really impressed with the Australian team at the Hopman Cup. When I heard Tomic was participating I was a bit apprehensive considering what happened with him last year but he seems to have mellowed a bit. He's a great talent so hopefully it's the beginning of a new improved Tomic. Ashleigh Barty has a lot of potential! It'll be interesting to see how she progresses over the next few years.

Ivanovic & Verdasco were too ridiculously good-looking to work out anyway!!:p

Barty was in the stands watching the Serbia/Germany tie today (yesterday? tomorrow?) and the camera zoomed in on her. She was sitting with her agent and it looked like she was signing contracts. They said later it was maths homework but it did not look one bit like maths homework. It was loads of pages with different logos on them and she was just signing them, not doing long division.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Andy Murray won Brisbane today. Beat Dimitrov easily enough. After he was a bit weepy and dedicated it to his friend at home saying "you'll pull through." All very mysterious until Ross Hutchins took to his twitter a little while ago to announce he's been diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma!

Probably also explains why his usual doubles partner Colin Flemming lost 6-0 6-0 in about 25 minutes yesterday.

RosyLily

Such sad news! Hope Hutchins gets better soon. I was wondering why Jamie Murray was playing with Fleming in Brisbane.

Aga beat Yanina Wickmayer in Auckland 6-4, 6-4. Good start to the year for the Pole; hope she get get better in 2013. Petra Kvitova was beaten in straight sets by Dominika Cibulkova, 6-1, 6-1, in Sydney. Not a good sign for Petra.

yerwanthere123

RosyLily wrote: »

Such sad news! Hope Hutchins gets better soon. I was wondering why Jamie Murray was playing with Fleming in Brisbane.

Aga beat Yanina Wickmayer in Auckland 6-4, 6-4. Good start to the year for the Pole; hope she get get better in 2013. Petra Kvitova was beaten in straight sets by Dominika Cibulkova, 6-1, 6-1, in Sydney. Not a good sign for Petra.

Indeed. Makes you wonder if she did any work in the off-season. It's early days yet of course, and I'll feel pretty stupid if she takes the title in Melbourne

Does anybody else think she lacks the hunger to make her game better? Like she's happy enough to stay near the top of the rankings, but losses to the likes of Pavlyuchenkova and Cibulkova don't particularly bother her?

Rjd2

Is she still carrying the pupppyfat?

Any other walk of life it wouldn't be a problem, but in tennis where quick movement is essential it does hurt her, even Maria who was as mobile as a tank a few years ago has drastically improved her court coverage.

RosyLily

I hope Petra's "Meh, it's just one match" approach is just an on-court thing, and off it she's more feisty and annoyed by losing. After winning Wimbledon, she was hotly tipped to win multiple GSs but I just don't see it now. I'd love to be proved wrong as I think she's a great game and there's not enough female lefties.

Judging by recent pics, I would say she has lost some weight in the off-season.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Wozniacki lost again. 2nd round at Sydney to Svetlana Kuznetsova. Nearly 4 hours in 40degree heat!
Granted Sveta is a very talented multiple slam winner, but let's be honest, that Sveta hasn't been seen for quite some time. I don't know what goes on in Woz's head to be honest. She's been flopping hard for a full year now and doesn't seem to want to address that fact or change anything about her game. I don't know if she did a single thing tennis wise in the off season. It certainly doesn't look like she has.

Rjd2

I actually had a small bet on her to win the Aussie Open, after she won her last competition, she beat Stosur in the final and played really well. Sadly looking at her recent form, it does look like money poorly spent. She has regressed and she doesn't even have the consistency when it comes to beating the lesser players anymore which sadly is what Kuzy is these days.

She's more into being a bloody celebrity is her problem. The next Anna Kournikova, only less attractive.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Deleted User wrote: »

She's more into being a bloody celebrity is her problem. The next Anna Kournikova, only less attractive.

At least Kournikova pretty much admitted that outright and buggered off relatively young. Woz still talks like she want to be a tennis player but I really question it. Her dad has far too much influence over her still. That's fine when a player is 17 or so, but at this stage she should be on her own. They've hired two or three coaches over the past year and sacked them all in a few weeks. I'm no expert on how to coach someone but it's obvious she's not able to compete with the top players now and that they need to change something, and yet they don't.

yerwanthere123

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Wozniacki lost again. 2nd round at Sydney to Svetlana Kuznetsova. Nearly 4 hours in 40degree heat!
Granted Sveta is a very talented multiple slam winner, but let's be honest, that Sveta hasn't been seen for quite some time. I don't know what goes on in Woz's head to be honest. She's been flopping hard for a full year now and doesn't seem to want to address that fact or change anything about her game. I don't know if she did a single thing tennis wise in the off season. It certainly doesn't look like she has.

Agree 100%. Her loss to Kuznetsova looks even worse when you consider that this is only Kuznetsova's second tournament back after being away for over 6 months. It seems Caroline is more content living the high life than competing for major titles. On her Facebook page she's often posting about her and Rory and what they've been getting up to. I think her biggest problem is simple: tennis is secondary in her life.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

Agree 100%. Her loss to Kuznetsova looks even worse when you consider that this is only Kuznetsova's second tournament back after being away for over 6 months. It seems Caroline is more content living the high life than competing for major titles. On her Facebook page she's often posting about her and Rory and what they've been getting up to. I think her biggest problem is simple: tennis is secondary in her life.

Yep, now maybe she just didn't mention it but over the off season it seemed she was just hanging with Rory all the time. All the other players were tweeting about being back in the gym, or working on this or that, lots of pictures of them being all sweaty and gross. I don't remember any of that from her.

She's still trying to play the way she did when she was #1, which is just to defend all the time and wait for the opponent to make a mistake. That doesn't work anymore and it's telling, she'll be out of the top 20 before long if she keeps like this.

yerwanthere123

Does anybody else think that Sloane Stephens has a genuine chance of winning her first title this week? She's reached the quarters of Hobart, she's the second highest seed left, the highest is Zakapalova. I think she can do it! Perhaps her biggest threat is Mona Barthel, but she's so streaky you never know what to expect.

RosyLily

RE: Wozniacki. I think she has to get rid of her dad as coach. It's all good having him around in the early years of her career but if she wants to step up and get that GS then she needs a proper coach. I wouldn't be surprised if Caroline was the first seeded player to get dumped out of the Australian Open.

With the golf & tennis seasons in full swing now, I'm hoping that we'll see less of 'Wozilroy'. Strange that he has won la good few tournaments since they began seeing each other yet she has kinda of plateaued.

yerwanthere123

Looks like Wozniacki could be facing another early exit! Lisicki in R1.
Interestingly enough, they haven't actually played each other since Wimbledon 2009.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

There's an Aus Open thread up and running for all the Slam chat. http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=82625671#post82625671

yerwanthere123

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

There's an Aus Open thread up and running for all the Slam chat. http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=82625671#post82625671

Thanks, I didn't know :o

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

Thanks, I didn't know :o

That's okay, my bad really, should have mentioned it in here when I did it

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Great win for Bernie in Sydney. He's like a completely different player this year. Kept his cool, didn't show any signs of nerves. Lost 2nd set TB but came out in the 3rd calm as you like. Hope he keeps it up for the whole year. I know he's a bit of a tit off court but he plays some good tennis.

_Bella_

Wow did anyone read about the Czech Republic v Switzerland Davis Cup match? Second longest match in history and was played over three days. It lasted over 11 hours with a final score of 6-4 5-7 6-4 6-7 24-22!