The 2015 In Between Grand Slam Thread

yerwanthere123

Qualifying for the first tournaments of the year start tomorrow so may as well start the thread.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_WTA_Tour

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_ATP_World_Tour

Lots of action to look forward to next week. Here's hoping to an exciting new season!

yerwanthere123

On the WTA side:

Brisbane (Premier):
1. Maria Sharapova
2. Ana Ivanovic
3. Angelique Kerber
4. Dominika Cibulková
5. Andrea Petkovic
6. Jelena Janković
7. Carla Suárez Navarro
8. Garbiñe Muguruza

Auckland (International)
1. Caroline Wozniacki
2. Sara Errani
3. Venus Williams
4. Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová
5. Svetlana Kuznetsova
6. Sloane Stephens
7. Coco Vandeweghe
8. Mona Barthel

Shenzhen (International)
1. Simona Halep
2. Petra Kvitová
3. Peng Shuai
4. Zarina Diyas
5. Klára Koukalová
6. Irina-Camelia Begu
7. Monica Niculescu
8. Timea Bacsinszky



And for the ATP:

Brisbane (250):
1. Roger Federer
2. Kei Nishikori
3. Milos Raonic
4. Grigor Dimitrov
5. Kevin Anderson
6. Gilles Simon
7. Alexandr Dolgopolov
8. Julien Benneteau

Doha (250):
1. Novak Djokovic
2. Rafael Nadal
3. Tomáš Berdych
4. David Ferrer
5. Philipp Kohlschreiber
6. Richard Gasquet
7. Ivo Karlović
8. Leonardo Mayer

Chennai (250):
1. Stanislas Wawrinka
2. Feliciano López
3. Roberto Bautista Agut
4. David Goffin
5. Pablo Cuevas
6. Guillermo García-López
7. Lu Yen-hsun
8. Marcel Granollers

So lots to look forward to! Perhaps the biggest news of the week is that Delpo has withdrawn from Brisbane, and you can be pretty sure that he'll pull out of Melbourne too. Tsonga, Cilic and Kyrgios have also pulled out of the first week of tournaments. Don't think there are any notable absences on the WTA side, Laura Robson and Jamie Hampton are still out but we knew this already. Serena, Aga and Genie are all playing the Hopman Cup this week, as well as Murray.

Eurosport will be broadcasting Doha next week, whilst BT will be covering all the WTA action from Brisbane.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

I'm sure it's unrelated that Tsonga, Cilic and Kyrigos all played that IPL thing right up to mid December and then pull out of the first events of the year.

yerwanthere123

Haha yeah. I thought that thing seemed fun at first but it seemed to drag. Makes no sense for players to be playing that deep into December. It pulled in really poor crowds in one or two of the cities as well.

Kyrgios might wanna start getting his sh*t together, sure he hasn't played since about September, if I recall correctly? He can't be that tired. Nevertheless I think he might be a dark horse in Melbourne.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

Haha yeah. I thought that thing seemed fun at first but it seemed to drag. Makes no sense for players to be playing that deep into December. It pulled in really poor crowds in one or two of the cities as well.

Kyrgios might wanna start getting his sh*t together, sure he hasn't played since about September, if I recall correctly? He can't be that tired. Nevertheless I think he might be a dark horse in Melbourne.

Kyrgios was playing in the IPL thing, I'm sure. The likes of Sharapova had the right idea, go play one or two ties in the same place and treat it like an exhibition then go off and have your normal off season. Some of them were playing all the ties though and flying between the cities and everything. Just seems a really stupid thing to do when the off season is already so short.

yerwanthere123

Agreed.

Forgot to mention in the OP that we of course have an extra week of grass this year. Will be interesting to see how this manifests itself. Really hope Sharapova plays a grass warm-up before Wimbledon, particularly as she'll probably go deep in RG. She has really struggled with the clay-grass transition in recent years. I think playing Birmingham would be good move for her this year.

RosyLily

Really disappointed to see Del Potro has withdrawn from Brisbane, was looking forward to his return!:( Hope to god he doesn't end up as a "what could have been" case.

Extra week of grass should be good!

Read SI's tennis round table article. Writers had some interesting ideas and predictions for 2015. Anyone care to make some predictions of their own?:)

I'd love to see Halep and Wozniacki win a Slam, another Wimbledon for Federer, Dimitrov to reach a Slam final, Murray to get his crap together and a successful and healthy year for Delpo.

yerwanthere123

I'm gonna make a bold prediction and say Wozniacki will win the Australian Open. I reserve the right to change this prediction if she flops at both Auckland and Sydney :pac:

I'd like to see Caro win a slam, as well as Sharapova to win another RG. Above anything else I'd like to see her be more consistent. I want Azarenka and Kvitova (big ask!) to be on form throughout the year. And good god I want Murray to be a slam threat again.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Serena will win all 4 this year then drop the mic.

ConM96

On the wta side my predictions would be:
AO: Wozniacki
FO: Halep or Ivanovic
W: I'm expecting a surprise winner here,like Kerber or radwanska but wouldn't rule out Kvitova or Halep.
UO:Between Wozniacki,Williams and Azarenka if she is back to full fitness.

On the Atp side I see Stan retaining the title in Melbourne and Djokovic winning the rest of the grand slams this year.😄

yerwanthere123

ConM96 wrote: »

On the wta side my predictions would be:
AO: Wozniacki
FO: Halep or Ivanovic
W: I'm expecting a surprise winner here,like Kerber or radwanska but wouldn't rule out Kvitova or Halep.
UO:Between Wozniacki,Williams and Azarenka if she is back to full fitness.

On the Atp side I see Stan retaining the title in Melbourne and Djokovic winning the rest of the grand slams this year.😄

Wawrinka retaining the title is a bold prediction! I'd love it to happen though.

Great win for Murray over Nadal today, 62 60! I know it was an exhibition but I'll take it :pac:

mrkiscool2

Djocko said he wasn't fit enough to play Murray today as he had a fever. Murray also complaining about pain in his left shoulder during his match against Nadal. Nadal looking very rusty so the prediction for Stan to retain the AO looking slightly better now!

Floppybits

mrkiscool2 wrote: »

Djocko said he wasn't fit enough to play Murray today as he had a fever. Murray also complaining about pain in his left shoulder during his match against Nadal. Nadal looking very rusty so the prediction for Stan to retain the AO looking slightly better now!

Can't see Stan winning a slam this year. He looks like he is happy where he is.

Would Love to see djokovic win the french against nadal. I expect djokovic to be at least in the final of all 4 slams.

WaterLily.

My hopes for this year are similar to a lot of other peoples! Would love for Murray to pull himself together and either win a slam or at least get into another final. I really hope Wozniaki wins a slam and Delpo gets back to full fitness.

Probably my biggest hope is that the younger players like Dimitrov and Nishikori (especially) continue to step it up and properly challenge for slams. I don't mind if Nadal, Federer and Djokovic win one or two this year but I would love to see at least two of the slams won by somebody new. I know it's a long shot, but here's to hoping!!

yerwanthere123

I'd love to see Nadal *not* win Roland-Garros. It's really difficult to get excited about a slam that has been won by the same person nine of the last ten years.

Wouldn't mind Novak winning it, he'd deserve it.

Rjd2

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

I'd love to see Nadal *not* win Roland-Garros. It's really difficult to get excited about a slam that has been won by the same person nine of the last ten years.

This. This. This.

Its the worst slam by a mile, snobby crowd, rarely full, cramped schedule and the most obvious winner for a long time.

yerwanthere123

Azarenka opens with a loss to Pliskova, so will go to the Australian Open unseeded. Could make for some interesting matches.

Muguruza had to withdraw from Brisbane, shaky start to her 2015. Hope it's just precautionary

Floppybits

Wozniacki wins her opening match in NZ 6-3, 6-2. I would love to see her win a slam.

RosyLily

^ Same! She's really grown on me the past few years. Looking forward to the Aussie Open draw to see who'll be in her quarter/half.

CassieManson

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

I'd love to see Nadal *not* win Roland-Garros. It's really difficult to get excited about a slam that has been won by the same person nine of the last ten years.

Wouldn't mind Novak winning it, he'd deserve it.

Nadal just got beaten by a qualifier - Yikes!

yerwanthere123

CassieManson wrote: »

Nadal just got beaten by a qualifier - Yikes!

:pac:

Nice win for Berrer on his last season on tour. I expect Nadal will have made a miraculous recovery for the Australian Open, otherwise he probably won't play.

yerwanthere123

Rumours going around that Tsonga will announce his withdrawl from the Australian Open. He is another who played this IPTL thing.

Rjd2

How can Nadal lose to an absolute bum in Berrer?

FFS.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Tsonga definitely out if the Australian Open. Good news though is that Delpo is planning to play Sydney next week. Don't expect much from him but it'll be good to see him playing again.

RosyLily

Happy for Delpo - missed that huge forehand!! Can't believe it's nearly a year since his last match! Not expecting much from him, maybe 2nd/3rd round depending on his draw.

yerwanthere123

Really hope Delpo isn't rushing a comeback this week just cause he's the defending champion. You'd think at this stage starting after Melbourne with a couple of 250's might be smarter.

yerwanthere123

Tsonga withdrew from the Australian Open, citing an injury he sustained at the Davis Cup.. yet still played the IPTL. Disappointing that he'd choose money over staying healthy. Perhaps he knew that he'd never be able to play Melbourne from the outset.. but still, not very smart.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

On the issue of the IPTL thing..... Jelena Jankovic said the other day that she had a very bad back injury towards the end of last season and into the off season. She actually thought she might have to quit the sport entirely at one point and yet she played IPTL.

yerwanthere123

Nice win for Karlovic over Djokovic there! Entertaining match.

RosyLily

Ivanovic vs. Sharapova in Brisbane tomorrow morning. Check your blood pressure!!:pac:

I love the semi-final line-up for the men's. Raonic, Dimitrov, Nishikori and Federer. Great mix of present and future stars...would be a great start to the season if one of them could beat Fed. Also looking forward to seeing the Raonic-Nishikori rivalry develop over the next few years. Their US Open match was really enjoyable!!

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

RosyLily wrote: »

Ivanovic vs. Sharapova in Brisbane tomorrow morning. Check your blood pressure!!:pac:

Maria's been playing really well this week. Hasn't been this efficient on hard courts for quite some time. Decent final to start the year, hopefully.

Saw this earlier, not sure which match it was at, Ana's or Maria's. Or both?