Australian Open 2014

Mousewar

I see Nadal is moaning again already.
Unbelievable that guy. Just unbelievable.

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/blogs/tramlines/why-rafael-nadal-incredibly-angry-melbourne-073407443.html

WaterLily.

Just looked at the schedule for tomorrow and I hadn't even realised pretty sure player I like (as far as I can remember) is on that side of the draw! Radwanska, Wozniaki, Murray, Del Potro, Nadal, Tsonga.

Couldn't really give a crap about the other side, except for Wawrinka possibly... and Lisicki if she shows up, which she did today actually good win for her 6-2 6-1

WaterLily.

Mousewar wrote: »

I see Nadal is moaning again already.
Unbelievable that guy. Just unbelievable.

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/blogs/tramlines/why-rafael-nadal-incredibly-angry-melbourne-073407443.html

That headline is ridiculous. He is not 'so angry' or 'furious' as the title suggests. have you actually read the article?

What he says is the court is different and faster so 'it's a pity for me'. Nothing more than that. He doesn't have to rave about everything, if a reporter asked him how the courts felt to him he is entitled to give his opinion.

I think it's good the courts have sped up so if he's right I'm very pleased, they needed to be. But that article has blown a simple answer to a question waay out of proportion.

Mousewar

WaterLily. wrote: »

'it's a pity for me'. .

That alone is more than enough.
This is possibly the luckiest sportsperson in the history of sport. A guy who came along and had court speed and racquet technology all change to completely suit him at the exact time he needed.
And he's pitying himself...AGAIN.

WaterLily.

So going by what you are saying, he has no right to express his opinion.

The court speed was not changed for him and racquet technology has nothing to do with it, things advance, become more modern. Everything changes over time, it has nothing to do with him.

Rafael Nadal has won 13 grand slams, 26 masters, an Olympic gold, he is the only man ever to have won 8 slams at the same event, finished year end no1 3 times and has overcome a serious career-threatening injury.

That is not luck that's talent.

Mousewar

WaterLily. wrote: »

So going by what you are saying, he has no right to express his opinion.

No, I'm criticizing his opinion. Because it's self-pitying nonsense as usual.

WaterLily. wrote: »

The court speed was not changed for him and racquet technology has nothing to do with it, things advance, become more modern. Everything changes over time, it has nothing to do with him.

I didn't say it was changed for him. I said he was insanely lucky that it changed so dramatically at the exact time he came along with a game that was perfectly suited to take advantage of those changes. The luck involved is incredible to be frank.

WaterLily. wrote: »

Rafael Nadal has won 13 grand slams, 26 masters, an Olympic gold, he is the only man ever to have won 8 slams at the same event, finished year end no1 3 times and has overcome a serious career-threatening injury.
That is not luck that's talent.

He deserves everything he got on clay. The organisers of this sport will answer to history for letting a claycourt defensive grinder like him win the rest.

MisterAnarchy

WaterLily. wrote: »

The court speed was not changed for him and racquet technology has nothing to do with it, things advance, become more modern. Everything changes over time, it has nothing to do with him.

Rafael Nadal has won 13 grand slams, 26 masters, an Olympic gold, he is the only man ever to have won 8 slams at the same event, finished year end no1 3 times and has overcome a serious career-threatening injury.

That is not luck that's talent.

Nobody is doubting his talent and his superb temperament but he owes alot of his success due to the homogenisation of court speeds.

There is no way he would have had as much success playing on the faster courts of 10-15 years ago ,no chance.
His style of game and technique isnt suited to faster courts with lower bounce and less reaction time for him to hit his huge top spin.

He has repeatedly banged his drum about the need for slowing the surfaces down and any time the Atp increase the speed or the balls he brings it up.

I havent heard Federer constantly going on about how slow the courts are now ,he has had most to lose due to the reduction in the court speeds .
He rarely mentions it and when he does he doesnt say its a pity for me ,oh woe is me, e.g Atp finals,Madrid blue clay,etc etc .

There were more winners made at the French Open last year than Wimbledon and the Australian Open,that is how messed up the court speeds are now.
Tennis surfaces should reward aggressive play but they dont ,they reward defensive players who can keep the ball in play.
I have no interest in watching 30 shot rallies when 80% of the shots are landing in the service box and the middle of the court .

yerwanthere123

Kvitova :rolleyes:

Just watched the Serena/Barty game, not bad from Barty, all things considered. Played a lot better than a lot do against Serena!

the_monkey

Nadal gets lucky again ....

Tomic retires .... black few years ahead with him winning pretty much 8 slams in 14/15....

Mousewar

I actually think Tomic might have won that without the injury.

Floppybits

Murray was impressive this morning. His serving was excellent. I think he might do well here.

smurfs5

Berdych is really impressive right now. He could meet Ferrer in the QFs which could be close even though he hasn't outdone himself in any Grand Slams recently. Also, he made 2 GS QFs last year, both against Novak, so he could fancy his chances if he keeps playing well.

Also, so nice to see that they've made the courts a bit faster this year. Hopefully Delpo and Stan can capitalise.

Feel so sorry for the players having to play in these conditions. 43 degrees is outrageous.

yerwanthere123

Anyone watch Bencic-Li Na? Bencic recovered from a bagel in first set to force tiebreak in 2nd. My first time ever watching her play, extremely impressed, was able to match Li Na groundstroke for groundstroke. Was a real shame she wasn't able to force a third set, she completely deserved one. Huge potential for the future!

smurfs5

Oh Sabine

flazio

Unfortunately it was always the most likely upset to happen. Too many unforced errors.
I reckon Li Na is probably going to be Serena's biggest threat.

smurfs5

flazio wrote: »

Unfortunately it was always the most likely upset to happen. Too many unforced errors.
I reckon Li Na is probably going to be Serena's biggest threat.

We can live in hope that she acquits herself well at more than 1 Grand Slam.

Agree about Li Na. Can't see anyone other than her or Vika challenging Serena.

flazio

Dare I say it, but I'm not expecting great things from Lisicki at this years Wimbledon either,I think the pressure and attention might still get to her.

yerwanthere123

Not even gonna comment on the Sabine result :rolleyes::rolleyes:

Inexplicably, Mona Barthel has actually managed to win not one but two matches over the last couple of days, through to the 3rd round! If she can find her best, and that's a big if, she should reach the 4th round, and could even give Kerber a run for her money there. Having said that, I fully expect her to bomb out 0-6 0-6 to Puig or whoever :pac:

flazio

Mona Barthel, that name almost sounds familiar :pac:

flazio

Didn't see the match but I see Flipkins went out without much of a flight.

RosyLily

Nice to see Stosur get through Pironkova rather comfortably. Kinda surprised it was a straight victory but then again Tsveta could be feeling the effects from Sydney.

Floppybits

flazio wrote: »

Didn't see the match but I see Flipkins went out without much of a flight.

I thought Flipkins didnt look fit, she seems to be carrying a bit of weight.

WaterLily.

I agree with smurfs, Berdych looks very very good; he looks a lot more relaxed and happier on court as well.

Sabine Lisicki on the other hand :mad:

yerwanthere123

RosyLily wrote: »

Nice to see Stosur get through Pironkova rather comfortably. Kinda surprised it was a straight victory but then again Tsveta could be feeling the effects from Sydney.

I think this is probably the case. After winning Sydney she said she could "barely walk", so I think that had a lot to do with the scoreline. If Stosur can get past Ana, then a Stosur/Serena matchup in the 4R could be interesting.

yerwanthere123

Sharapova/Knapp going to three! First time seeing Knapp play, I like her.. very tenacious player.

yerwanthere123

What an amazing match between Sharapova and Knapp. You'd feel incredibly sorry for Karin, but personally I wasn't ready to lose Sharapova this early.

Extreme heat policy now in affect, Thomasz Belluci getting his blood pressure checked!

WaterLily.

Delpo isn't looking the same player that we saw last week. He's getting annoyed at the umpire, losing his concentration, if he really is serious about getting into the top 3 he needs to keep focused 100% of the time.

Murray also not looking fantastic against Millot. He has taken the first set 6-2 but made around 20 unforced errors and was putting his hand to his back a few times.

Mousewar

WaterLily. wrote: »

putting his hand to his back a few times.

I reckon that's a habit that will take a while to break.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

This heat thing is ridiculous. They know in advance it's going to be hitting 40, they should just have the roof closed on all the stadiums from the start of the day.
I know some people might still have to play on the outside courts but it's crazy that Sharapova and Knapp had to keep going in that heat for as long as they did.

WaterLily.

I know, it's a joke. IMO the matches on the outside courts should be started at 9am and stopped in the middle of the day. And of course the roof should be closed, it is madness that it wasn't at first. The health of the players should come before corporate greed and viewing figures.