Australian Open 2014

yerwanthere123

Can't believe what I'm watching! Aga is unreal!!

MisterAnarchy

Mousewar wrote: »

As usual, a lot depends on Federer. If they both play poorly, Murray wins. If they both play average, Murray wins. But if Fed plays great, he wins - won't matter as much what Murray does.

If Federer wins the first set I think he will beat Murray .

Will Federer be able to take his break points ,something he has been bottling against the top players the last few years and can he stop having the odd service game where he cant buy a first serve.

Radwanska won that first set with 2 winners and 3 unforced errors in 7 games ,bizarre.
Azarenka had 17 unforced errors ,brutal.She looks like she ate a bit too much over Christmas.

yerwanthere123

What a wonderful, wonderful display from Radwanska. Who on Earth would have thought she could possibly upset Vika? How many consecutive matches had she lost to her, 7 or 8? Unbelievable.

Also, who would have thought that after letting Wimbledon slip from her hands last Summer, another slam would present itself where Serena, Sharapova and now Vika are out of the picture. This is, as was Wimbledon, a massive, massive opportunity and one she really needs to take. Will she? Who knows!

Li Na will obviously be the favourite now, but having seen how unpredictable the women's side has been, it's hard to tell. I think I'll be rooting for Aga from here on. She'll have her hands full against Cibulkova anyway.

the_monkey

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

The only thing I can think of that Becker might be able to teach anyone is how to serve and volley properly. I don't know that that is something someone would look to add to their game really, especially when there's only 1 or 2 players that you might struggle against.
It could explain why he tried to serve and volley on the last 2 points of this match though?

Serving and volleying is dead in the game, its why Hewitt went west, had Hewitt been in the game 10 years earlier he would have won so much more slams, but back to Becker - what does Marion Vajda (sp?) think of all this ?
he is still there, surely he can't be happy.

Its the beginning of the end I think, I wonder what odds a bookmaker would give me on Djokovic never winning a slam again - might be well worth a long term flutter ..

Mousewar

the_monkey wrote: »

Serving and volleying is dead in the game,

Tell that to Federer right now.

the_monkey

Mousewar wrote: »

Tell that to Federer right now.

hehe ... not watching but I assume he's doing well with it then ...

the_monkey

Wow he's 2-0 up, shame to think even if he gets through he'll turn into a great big girl on the court against Nadal and meekly surrender 3-0...

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

I'd be happy with 3 of the 4 SFists winning on the women's side. I don't like Cibulkova, at all, her beating Sharapova didn't help either.
Probably a LiNa v Aga final would be more interesting to watch than any of the other combinations we should have gotten, Serena v Anyone, or Vika v Sharapova.

Roger is looking good. I've never in my life rooted for him but since everyone and their mother had written him off since last year I'd love to see him win another one. Although, I'd prefer to see Stan or Tomas do it.

John.Icy

Federer is going to throw this away now isn't he!

SlickRic

brilliance from Murray.

you have to hand it to him.

i know it's a cliché, but he showed the guts of a champion at the end of that set.

MisterAnarchy

John.Icy wrote: »

Federer is going to throw this away now isn't he!

The first sign of pressure on his serve from Murray and Roger blows up.

Serving for the match in the third and he went tentative and error prone.
Same in the tie break,far too cautious after being aggressive ,threw that set away,the mental demons .

Back to the aggressive play now and 3 break points .

the_monkey

Congrats Murray !!

StephenHendry

thought roger was going to win it , i don't fancy his chances if this goes to a 5th set

SlickRic

it's great to see a fully fit, fully functional Federer competing like this.

the game is better for it.

walshb

C'mon Andy!

MisterAnarchy

If Murray holds here I can see Roger losing the next service game

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

This game right now feels like the match. Murray holds he'll go on to win this set and then the 5th. Federer breaks it's his.

MisterAnarchy

Federer has changed his tactics since serving for the match in the third set.
Playing far too conservatively now and letting Murray back into the match .

smurfs5

I've lost count of the number of chances/ opportunities/ break points that Federer has squandered on Murray's serve.

Floppybits

I thought Murray was going to kick on when he won the third set in a tie break. Fair play to Federer now lets hope he can take Nadal.

John.Icy

Come on!

Worrying that Federer reverted back to different tactics though in the 4th set. Needs to be so much more clinical against Nadal and play how he did in the first two sets today. Of course if he can't get past his mental hoodoo then there is little hope but Federers style in the 1st two sets and much of the third WILL challenge Nadal if Federer can repeat it.

StephenHendry

well played fed, up against rafa now, can't wait

walshb

Juts can't see Federer beating Nadal. I want Federer to go on and win the title. If he can keep the unforced error count low he can win. He always seems to increase his error count vs. Nadal. It seems a mental thing.

Swingswong

Looks like I was right about Fed. 2014 version is much better than 2013 version.

He'll beat Nadal in semis.

smurfs5

Roger's through! I thought he was going to mess that up again. He probably should have been half way through his media commitments by now but it's great to see him winning big matches and proving that he's still one of the best.

What a fantastic effort by Murray. He was struggling, his backhand was limited and there were so many times when it looked like he would be broken but he showed a lot of resilience and fighting spirit. He'll be back to his best by Wimbledon and I could definitely see him defending his title.

Can't wait for the rivalry to be renewed on Friday !

SlickRic

he is back.

talk of his demise was well and truly premature.

it should have been straight sets too - Murray getting a set on pure grit alone.

Fed was a class above though.

smurfs5

walshb wrote: »

Juts can't see Federer beating Nadal. I want Federer to go on and win the title. If he can keep the unforced error count low he can win. He always seems to increase his error count vs. Nadal. It seems a mental thing.

In the interview just now, I think there was a wry smile by Roger almost acknowledging that Rafa is playing so well and it's going to be so difficult to beat him. I hope it's a cracker. Would love to see a Roger- Stan final.

John.Icy

Nadal is there for the taking. He was pushed by Kei and Dmitriov game him a serious game today, took a set and there was 2 tiebreaks, one very tight. Not to mention that blister on Nadals hand, amazing he can even pick up the racquet!

walshb

John.Icy wrote: »

Nadal is there for the taking. He was pushed by Kei and Dmitriov game him a serious game today, took a set and there was 2 tiebreaks, one very tight. Not to mention that blister on Nadals hand, amazing he can even pick up the racquet!

Interesting!

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

It is good to see Federer playing well again and back in the SF of a slam but let's just calm down a bit. Tsonga and Murray are both just back from long term lay offs, which should be kept in mind. Also, even at his best Federer has struggled against Nadal and apart from the frequency of their meetings I wouldn't call it a rivalry.

I would love for Federer to beat Nadal, I really would, but I don't think anything in this tournament so far points to it being anything more than a slight possibility.