Australian Open 2015

RosyLily

Some really good matches today! Thought Sharapova was a goner at one stage...somehow found a way! Some good tennis from Halep, moving really well. Hoping she goes far here.

Temperature supposed to be up in the 90s (F) tomorrow. Kvitova better prepare herself.

Rjd2

RosyLily wrote: »

Some really good matches today! Thought Sharapova was a goner at one stage...somehow found a way! Some good tennis from Halep, moving really well. Hoping she goes far here.

Temperature supposed to be up in the 90s (F) tomorrow. Kvitova better prepare herself.

You know the saying "the game was on her racquet" well very true in this case. She was all over the place in 3rd set, but got it done, but she will be disgusted she ended up in that scenario.

RosyLily

Rjd2 wrote: »

You know the saying "the game was on her racquet" well very true in this case. She was all over the place in 3rd set, but got it done, but she will be disgusted she ended up in that scenario.

I imagine her swearing a blue streak in Russian, kicking over stuff in the locker room.:p

Floppybits

Azarenka/ Wozniacki should be interesting tomorrow and it is only a second round match.

yerwanthere123

So disappointed Smyczek couldn't get the job done, but I never really believed he could. I imagine Nadal will only get stronger and stronger from here onwards, especially as he could get walking bye Gasquet in the 4th round.

What on Earth happened to Sharapova overnight, being taken to three sets by Panova?! She was my pick to win the title before the tournament started, but I can't really see it now.

Good to see Garcia, Pliskova, Tomic and Kyrgios progressing through their respective draws. All very exciting. Shout out also to Mattek-Sands, who's taken so many blows throughout her career and keeps coming back, into the 3R in Melbourne at the age of 29.

yerwanthere123

Floppybits wrote: »

Azarenka/ Wozniacki should be interesting tomorrow and it is only a second round match.

Agreed, I think Azarenka could pull off the upset there.
Woz leads the h2h 4-3, and 4-1 on hard courts, which seems pretty incredible given Azarenka's hard-court prowess! Although most of these matches took place before 2012.

the_monkey

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

So disappointed Smyczek couldn't get the job done, but I never really believed he could. I imagine Nadal will only get stronger and stronger from here onwards, especially as he could get walking bye Gasquet in the 4th round.

What on Earth happened to Sharapova overnight, being taken to three sets by Panova?! She was my pick to win the title before the tournament started, but I can't really see it now.

Good to see Garcia, Pliskova, Tomic and Kyrgios progressing through their respective draws. All very exciting. Shout out also to Mattek-Sands, who's taken so many blows throughout her career and keeps coming back, into the 3R in Melbourne at the age of 29.

Yep its a done deal ... good news is paddypower and betfair still have him at 9-1 , I'm gonna stick some money on ... money in the bank .

RosyLily

Radwanska just demolished Larsson in less than an hour. Really impressive!

Nishikori just lost the first set in his match. Looking forward to Woz vs Aza later.

yerwanthere123

Nice win for Aga, off the court before the clock struck midday. Funny to see Navratilova in the players box laughing it up.

This Zvonareva match is painful. Vera had three set points in the first set, then failed to serve it out, and now trying to save a double break in the second. Predictable!

RosyLily

Kinda surprised that Azarenka beat Wozniacki in straights, was expecting a closer battle. Can we say Vika is back?

Ugh, Stosur loses again in Australia. Nice win for Coco though. Sam's still got the doubles to go...hopefully she'll be around a bit longer. Interesting to hear Hewitt discuss his future a bit in press conference. I'm expecting 2016 to be his last season tbh.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Not sure if Vika is back or Old Woz is back?

yerwanthere123

Watched the second set of the Woz-Vika match. Extremely disappointing result for Woz, I think she needed that win a lot more than Vika. If Vika lost she could say, ok fair enough, I'm obviously not back to my best. What does it say for Woz? For me it reaffirms her biggest weakness, that she's a solid player but cant cut it against the biggest hitters on tour. Fair enough, Vika looked good, she was probably playing at about 75%, but Woz really, really should have done a lot better.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Not to be one of those awful media types but I wonder if it's just coincidence that Woz allegedly has a new boyfriend now? They all said her previous decline started when she got with Rory

RosyLily

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Not to be one of those awful media types but I wonder if it's just coincidence that Woz allegedly has a new boyfriend now? They all said her previous decline started when she got with Rory

The NFL'er? Step up from McIlroy imo.:P

Kvitova looked good in her match, especially in the 1st. I hope she can keep it up. Could have a potential QF match with Aga/Venus.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

RosyLily wrote: »

The NFL'er? Step up from McIlroy imo.:P

Anything's a step up from McIlroy

I'd say Woz could be feeling the effects of running a marathon in her off season. She may just need a little bit more time to get going this year. Plus Azarenka is a top player, Woz was very unlucky to get her in R2.

RosyLily

I'd say you're right about the marathon taking its toll. Woz will be in form soon enough I reckon. She had a stinker of a draw for the Aussie Open!!

yerwanthere123

I must say, Eurosport have been making some baffling decisions as to what matches to show/not show on the tv channels this year. I mean, how did they go for Errani/Wickmayer over Pliskova/Makarova? I wonder are they trying to get people to subscribe to the player?

whiterebel

Fed gone in 4 to Seppi. Watched back on the match between the 2 meltdown merchants yesterday, Janowicz and Monfils. Jerzy really needs a coach to sort his head out, 2nd and 3rd set was like he had just seen a racqet for the first time. Once he stopped roaring like a dying bull every shot, he played really well. Helped by some erratic play from Gael, of course.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Murray quietly going about his business unnoticed. Gone are the days where he flailed about needlessly in the earlier rounds. He might do well here, especially with Federer being out of his section now and Nadal always with a question mark over him.

walshb

Murray has a tasty 4th rounder and chance at slam revenge over Dimitrov.

Rjd2

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Murray quietly going about his business unnoticed. Gone are the days where he flailed about needlessly in the earlier rounds. He might do well here, especially with Federer being out of his section now and Nadal always with a question mark over him.

Very easy draw for Murray so far though.

RosyLily

Having as little attention on him as possible suits Murray, especially considering all the attention he gets at Wimbledon. He can do his thing. If it happens, I think Murray has a decent chance of beating Nadal. He's been playing well and Nadal's been up and down so far this season.

Kygrios has a great shot at reaching the QFs...should easily beat Seppi.

It's been a good tournament for the Aussies this year. 4 women and 7 men made it through to the 2nd round. I know many didn't make it to the 3rd but still, pretty good showing! And they've got good prospects in Kygrios, Tomic and Kokkinakis.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

I like to think the two younger guys coming through gave Bernie the kick up the bum he needed. Hopefully he can keep his good form going for more than one event a year.

RosyLily

Just the tonic he needed. Too good a player to coast through his career winning small events. In years to come, I can imagine him, Kygrios, Kokkinakis and Groth/Matosevic/AN Other on the Davis Cup team, maybe with Hewitt as captain. The team's got potential imo.

yerwanthere123

Wow, surprised to see Federer out. This if course clears the path for Murray, who should reach the semi's, but you never know. Regarding Nadal, I think Kevin Anderson is probably the last remaining person who could upset him, otherwise it'll just be the usual charge to the final. Lots of interesting potential matches brewing though, Murray-Kyrgios and Nadal-Tomic in the quarters, and possibly (albeit unlikely) Kyrgios-Nadal in the semi's.

Delighted to see Sharapova had an emphatic win overnight. She really should make the final from the bottom half, but Bouchard could be tricky. I think if Bouchard is inspired, could get Sharapova on the move, and Maria has an off day, she could cause an upset. Obviously I'm looking a bit too far ahead though.

Lots on interesting matches to look forward to tonight. Can anyone see an upset brewing between Serena and Svitolina? Svitolina has a good game, beat Kerber a couple of weeks back, and she fits the usual criteria of players who can trouble Serena early in slams (lesser known, haven't played each other often). It might be more tempting to pick Muguruza to upset her in the 4th round, but I don't believe Serena would less lightning strike twice. Also take into account how Zvonareva really pushed her in the first set of their match, if Svitolina got off to a quick start I think it could rattle Serena. Can anyone see it? Feel free to quote this post when Serena wins 6-2 6-1 :pac:

RosyLily

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

Wow, surprised to see Federer out. This if course clears the path for Murray, who should reach the semi's, but you never know. Regarding Nadal, I think Kevin Anderson is probably the last remaining person who could upset him, otherwise it'll just be the usual charge to the final. Lots of interesting potential matches brewing though, Murray-Kyrgios and Nadal-Tomic in the quarters, and possibly (albeit unlikely) Kyrgios-Nadal in the semi's.

Delighted to see Sharapova had an emphatic win overnight. She really should make the final from the bottom half, but Bouchard could be tricky. I think if Bouchard is inspired, could get Sharapova on the move, and Maria has an off day, she could cause an upset. Obviously I'm looking a bit too far ahead though.

Lots on interesting matches to look forward to tonight. Can anyone see an upset brewing between Serena and Svitolina? Svitolina has a good game, beat Kerber a couple of weeks back, and she fits the usual criteria of players who can trouble Serena early in slams (lesser known, haven't played each other often). It might be more tempting to pick Muguruza to upset her in the 4th round, but I don't believe Serena would less lightning strike twice. Also take into account how Zvonareva really pushed her in the first set of their match, if Svitolina got off to a quick start I think it could rattle Serena. Can anyone see it? Feel free to quote this post when Serena wins 6-2 6-1 :pac:

Consider it done!:D

I kinda want to see Serena and Sharapova lose, just to see who'd win the title.:o

MisterAnarchy

First time since 2001 that Federer didnt reach the fourth round in Melbourne.

Very poor performance by him today ,too many errors,not enough first serves in and he didnt take his break points.

After playing poorly for the first and most of the second set he managed to bring it to a tie break in which he blew a 4-1 lead .

Federer played better in the last 2 sets but losing to Seppi is very poor,the guys serve is very weak and he was 1-54 against top-10 players before this match.
Seppi had only taken one set off Federer in 10 previous matches.

yerwanthere123

Well, Svitolina certainly did get off to a quick start and Serena was rattled, but she righted the ship quickly. So frustrating to watch Svitolina just crumble like that though.

Meanwhile, Venus is back is a grand slam R4 for the first time since Wimbledon 2011. Amazingly, she's now very close to the top ten again. Would be weird to see her there, never thought she'd make it back again.

Rjd2

Abysmal performance from Petra to lose this match. Keys has been good, but ****ing hell, Petra has given her the match.

With Petra out does open it up hugely for Aggie though.

yerwanthere123

Kvitova is turning into something of a Lisicki figure, only being relevant at Wimbledon Kvitova losing does clear the path for Radwanska somewhat, but nothing is guaranteed for Aga yet. Venus will be her first real test, and of course as we all know how vulnerable Aga is to being overpowered. The top half of the women's draw is shaping up to be really exciting!