Australian Open 2013

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Thought I'd get this one up and running (hope that's okay?) as we're only a few days away and the qualifiers have started already.

Not a lot of recognisable names in the Men's Qualifiers Draw. Donald Young and James Blake perhaps the most recognisable will play each other in R2.

More familiar names in the
Women's Qualifiers Draw. 2012 junior Wimbledon Champ Genie Bouchard in there along with Aussie turned Brit Johanna Konta and the magnificently named Storm Sanders!

The Aus Open this year gave everyone an extra $1000 towards their expenses, even to those playing in the qualifiers. Nice gesture from them especially considering how much it costs to just get to Australia, never mind accommodation, food etc. etc.
They also stream a few courts on youtube during the qualifiers so if you're at a loose end at 2am you can watch some of them

The main draw is on Friday in Melbourne, which is probably Thursday night here. Seeds are as expected, think Rafa is the only big name missing. Mardy Fish isn't playing either and John Isner is a doubt with a bone bruise on his knee.

Will put a link to the draw when it's out.

And....... discuss!

p.s. As I am now a mod all talk of Andy Murray winning things will be punished with a banning!

RosyLily

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Thought I'd get this one up and running (hope that's okay?) as we're only a few days away and the qualifiers have started already.

Not a lot of recognisable names in the Men's Qualifiers Draw. Donald Young and James Blake perhaps the most recognisable will play each other in R2.

More familiar names in the
Women's Qualifiers Draw. 2012 junior Wimbledon Champ Genie Bouchard in there along with Aussie turned Brit Johanna Konta and the magnificently named Storm Sanders!

Dustin Brown's in it...possibly the best hair in tennis. Can't believe Jill Craybas is still tipping away in the singles! Not bad for a 38 year old! Storm Sanders....sounds like she should be in the X-Men!

The Aus Open this year gave everyone an extra $1000 towards their expenses, even to those playing in the qualifiers. Nice gesture from them especially considering how much it costs to just get to Australia, never mind accommodation, food etc. etc.

Nice touch from Tennis Australia. I doubt many players on small money would make the long trek out to play quallies. Good incentive to get more players out there. Would they like to give me $1000 to go??:D

The main draw is on Friday in Melbourne, which is probably Thursday night here. Seeds are as expected, think Rafa is the only big name missing. Mardy Fish isn't playing either and John Isner is a doubt with a bone bruise on his knee.

Pretty sure Rafa is the main casualty. Big loss as well I'd say...very popular wherever he goes.

p.s. As I am now a mod all talk of Andy Murray winning things will be punished with a banning!

Psssft, already abusing your modly powers!!!

I'm so proud!! *sniff*:pac:

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Isner officially out now. Doctors told him to continue to play on the knee could result in much more serious injury. Lindsey Davenport had a similar thing once, ignored it, ended up missing 8 months with it. Don't like Isner's game much, can't say I'll miss him.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Draw happening right now.

Women

Serena and Vika in the same half. Masha and Aga in the other.

Some interesting 1st round matches:

Lisicki v Wozniacki - Pick of R1 really, very much looking at a 3rd straight R1 exit for Woz.

Kvitova v Schiavone - Could be a tough one for Petra, will have to come out on top form from the first point.

Laura Robson v Melanie Oudin

Cibulkova v Ash Barty - tough one for Barty.

Possibility of Sharapova v Venus in R3. Eeek! Also possible all Serbian clash between Ivanovic and Jankovic in R3.

Projected QF's going by seeds:

Azarenka vs Errani, Serena vs Kvitova, Li Na vs Radwanska, Kerber vs Sharapova

MEN

Murray in Federer's half. Djokovic has Ferrer.

Djokovic opens against Paul-Henri Matieu, possible Ryan Harrison in R2 (gutted, Harrison gets such **** draws!)

Some interesting R1 mathces:

Tipsarevic v Hewitt

Federer v Paire

Dolgopolov v Monfils - Fun!

Projected QF's going by seed:
Djokovic-Berdych, Ferrer-Tipsarevic, del Potro-Murray, Tsonga-Federer.

Federer has a very tough draw (for once!) Potential route: Paire, Davydenko, Tomic/Raonic, Klizan, Tsonga, Murray, Djokovic

RosyLily

The draws are being made at the minute. Not uploaded to the Australian Open website but according to Twitter the women's draw is first and.....

Defending women's champion Victoria Azarenka will face Monica Niculescu in 1R; Serena will play Edina Gallovits-Hall. Aza & Serena are drawn in the same half; Radwanska & Sharapova are in the other.

Women's Possible QFS: Azarenka-Errani, Serena-Kvitova, Li-Radwanska, Kerber-Sharapova. Some intriguing matches there, particularly Kerb-Masha imo. Can't see Errani or Kvitova reaching this far but we'll see! Aga already beat Li in straights this year so here's hoping for a better match at Aussie.

Maria-Venus is a potential 3R clash. A lot of long limbs in this match-up.:p

Caroline Wozniacki vs. Sabine Lisicki in 1R!! Interesting....let's go Sab!!:)

Melanie Oudin vs. Laura Robson in 1R. Winner will play Schiavone/Kvitova

Dominika Cibulkova vs. Ashleigh Barty in 1R. This could be good if Barty brings it like she did at Hopman. Ivanovic vs. Czink (1R).

RosyLily

Roger & Andy in same half. Novak gets Ferrrrerrrrr.

Roger beging against Benoit Paire. Murray vs. Haase.

RosyLily

A potential Murray-del Potro QF??? :D

Other possible QFs: Djokovic-Berdych, Ferrer-Tipsarevic, Tsonga-Federer

RosyLily

Is it me or is this draw really impressive?? There's potential for some cracking matches!

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

RosyLily wrote: »

Is it me or is this draw really impressive?? There's potential for some cracking matches!

Yes! I'm quite neutral about the men's side. I have a few favourites of course but they're not really contenders, maybe Delpo, but then again maybe not. But there looks like there could be some cracking matches there.

Women's side, of course Masha is my favourite but I've been so much more relaxed about her winning things since she won RG last year. She got lucky with Vika/Serena being on the other side of the draw but it'll still be tough going for her to win it. It's hard to see past Vika/Serena for the title to be honest, so I'm just hoping for some great matches here too. Only bad part about Serena/Vika SF is that the final could possibly be a very one sided thing, again!

yerwanthere123

Poor aul Woz will be out in R1 again alright. That part of the draw is actually very easy, Lisicki has a great chance to get to the QF's. I don't Sara Errani is going to replicate what she did last year.

RosyLily

A fit and healthy Lisicki is no match for Woz imo. Especially this Wozniacki who's had a rotten start to 2013. I would be shocked if the Dane came through this one.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

^ Interesting to see where Lisicki is fitness wise though. She pulled out of Sydney (?) with some sort of virus? Or that's what she said anyway, lots of withdrawals from big players from this week's tournaments.

yerwanthere123

Robson should face Kvitova in the 2nd round. Tough on paper, but given Petra's erratic start to the season I wouldn't completely rule out a Robson victory here. Although Petra does tend to bring her best to the slams. We'll see.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Just noticed Bartolli got Anabel Medina Garrigues in R1. That's tough, AMG pretty much won Hopman Cup single handadly last week, she was in great form. I can't stand Bartoli so fingers crossed that AMG's fine form continues.

This could be the best GS in a while. Cannot wait!

Floppybits

I think Murray is going to win this. I feel that now he has got the monkey off his back he is going to kick on and win a few more. I predict a Djokovic/Murray final.

In the Womens well at the moment I think Serena is unbeatable and I cant look any further than her as the winner probably beating Sharapova in the final.

Floppybits

Floppybits wrote: »

I think Murray is going to win this. I feel that now he has got the monkey off his back he is going to kick on and win a few more. I predict a Djokovic/Murray final.

It's been YEARS since someone followed up their 1st GS win with another immediately after.

Djokovic all the way IMO.

yerwanthere123

Didn't see the Aga/Cibulkova match but wow! Double bagel! Unfortunately for Aga though, I don't think this means anything for her AO chances, we can't possibly see what kind of level she's at until she faces the big 3.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Floppybits wrote: »

I think Murray is going to win this. I feel that now he has got the monkey off his back he is going to kick on and win a few more. I predict a Djokovic/Murray final.

I warned you in the first post, any talk of Murray winning things will be punished with a lifetime ban!

Seriously though, it'll be interesting to see how he follows up his US performance. The high temperatures will make the courts very fast, hopefully, so it could help some, it could hamper others.

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

Didn't see the Aga/Cibulkova match but wow! Double bagel! Unfortunately for Aga though, I don't think this means anything for her AO chances, we can't possibly see what kind of level she's at until she faces the big 3.

Aga's won 2 tournaments now in 2013 but if you look at the line ups of the ones she's played it doesn't really mean anything for the Aus Open other than getting her a bit of confidence going. Where was she last week, Auckland? While the rest of the top 10 was in Brisbane. This week in Sydney was a pretty shoddy line up too, other than Petra and Woz who both got taken out early. Sure she's probably capable of winning a slam but I wouldn't put money on her based solely on these past few weeks.

John.Icy

Courts should be pretty fast this tourney with the heat. Will suit Federer down to the ground.

Watched highlights from the US open final yesterday. My god, when you put two players who base the majority of there game on being so fit and defensive, it creates some absolutely snorefest tennis. Rallies lasting forever, with repeated shots over and over and over and over again just don't do it for me. In fairness to Novak his game is more expansive than a while ack, but Andy...puts me to sleep, and I find it strange how much he's gotten away with roaring F-bombs all over the court. Some people love watching that type of tennis, but I don't, and its a credit to the likes of Federer that he can make quality matches out of it.

Would love Federer to win this, give a certain fingered salute to those yet again saying preaching he's too old, even after his tour finals display. His game is the best to watch, although that's down to preference.

With the heat though, it does look like it's a tourney for the fitness junkies, who can last 5 hours better. Murray seems to be the one for this, I say he's been running around all winter and pumping iron, heck maybe he even played some tennis.

/end rant on sucky boring tennis taking over.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

^ Yep, I'm inclined to agree with you about the boring side of it all. I mean last years Aus Open final was lauded as "the best match ever" but it was far from it. Sure it was dramatic and what not but the quality of tennis was pretty poor. Some of the more "modern" players don't seem to know how to mix it up at all.

That said some of the match ups look like they could be quite exciting, and you never know, Rafa's already out, and there's always some sort of upset with the top seeds, we could be in for an exciting fortnight.

RosyLily

Agreed! Last year's final was dramatic in the sense that you really don't know who was going to win and it was very topsy-turvy. But it lacked the quality imo; many of those rallies could have been won in the early stages if Rafa or Djoko suddenly rushed the net and threw in some volleys. I think these modern players should look at the likes of Federer and see how he plays, mixes it up and how he wins the point. It's a mixed bag with him.

Looking forward to the Aussie Open tonight! Sneaky feeling that there might be a surprise champion in a fortnight's time. Schedule of Play is out. I thought they might have had Djokovic on first in the day or night session since he's defending champion. Most excited about Hewitt-Tipsy.

Rjd2

RosyLily wrote: »

. Most excited about Hewitt-Tipsy.

In a perfect world both would lose:(

Not to excited about tonight's play, Verdasco v Goffin would be my highlight.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

^ A few of the younger guys look like they might bring a bit of style back to the game, probably the ones that grew up watching Fed

Whether or not they'll be able to get to the top of the game with that style over the guys who are already at the top with their more physical style, I don't know. I was watching Ryan Harrison't presser at Sydney after he beat Isner and he was talking about his off season and how he had worked a lot on his fitness because he wanted to be able to actually play for 5 hours, not just stay on the court for 5 hours. That kind of implied that the younger guys are trying to match the likes of Djokovic & Nadal now rather than Federer.

Tonight's OOP is great for me. I can watch Masha and Harrison, then have a nap before Hewitt v Tipsy. I think Wimbledon is the only one that starts the OOP with the reigning champions. Most others tend to favour their own.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Rjd2 wrote: »

In a perfect world both would lose:(

Not to excited about tonight's play, Verdasco v Goffin would be my highlight.

I've never liked Hewitt, but I'll be cheering for him over Tipsy for sure.

The best matches in the early rounds never involve the top players. They should just leave them out until the 3rd round like they do in the FA Cup

Rjd2

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

I've never liked Hewitt, but I'll be cheering for him over Tipsy for sure.

The best matches in the early rounds never involve the top players. They should just leave them out until the 3rd round like they do in the FA Cup

Oh yeah, the early rounds with the big names are normally a blowout, but still can't get to excited about tonight's play.

I backed Mona Barthel at 200/1 ages ago for this, I didn't expect her to win but out of all the girls at that price, I figured she had the best chance, she went on a run, bookies shortened her up, but then she gets a horror draw:(

May actually have a flutter on Pervak to beat her later as well.:P

yerwanthere123

I'm glad there's others who didn't agree with the appraisal that last years Nadal-Djokovic final was one of the best matches of all time. I though it was horrible
It didn't help that I was tired and hungover watching it.. but still! Six hours of grinding is just too much.

RosyLily

It was fun that it was "oooooh, Nadal has it.....no.....it's Djokovic...actually......". Other than that- meh! Hoping for a better men's final this year. I would be a bit apprehensive if it was Djoko-Murray final- both physical, baseline players. I can imagine myself screaming "RUSH THE FCUKIN NET!!!" at the tv if that final happens.:p

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Easy wins for Sharapova and Venus. Their 3rd round meeting could be fun, although I kind of hope Venus doesn't make it that far

manafana

Some fast courts by looks so.

Laying some of woman at low prices laid goerges a set up at 1.14 the heat and mental side gets to players like her.

Some value in chan. pervak or gacon causing upsets later.

Match of 1st round got be hewitt up against tipsarevic

Cavehill Red

Dunno if anyone can help, but if someone could PM me a stream for this I'd be v. grateful (want to watch the Djoker!)