Australian Open 2016 Jan 18th - Jan 31st

RobertKK · 31-01-2016 01:33PM

lostcat wrote: »

Honestly I cant see how he has time left to reach 17. He lost far too much ground between 2008 and 2011, and again between 2012-2014, to be able to win 6 more now..

Then again, two years ago I wouldn't have given him a chance of catching nadal/sampras, that looks very much on the cards atm.

Poor final sadly, these two seem to bring out the worst in each other when they play.

He can win the French this year, and the other two he has won multiple times. Novak is moving further ahead.

He is only 28 years old, must ask paddypower for the odds.
Wouldn't mind a long term €20 investment if the odds are decent.

Rjd2 · 31-01-2016 01:50PM

RobertKK wrote: »

He can win the French this year, and the other two he has won multiple times. Novak is moving further ahead.

He is only 28 years old, must ask paddypower for the odds.
Wouldn't mind a long term €20 investment if the odds are decent.

Famous last words, but no injurys recently either, the guy unlike Nadal and to a lesser extent Murray is a physical freak. He will expect to win at least 3 slams this year and what will happen for 2017 not to be as fruitful?

Murray, Federer and Nadal will get no better and while I love Kyrigos, will he be at the level need to constantly challenge in 2017? Maybe Milos will, but nothing for Novak to fear for a few years just yet.

RosyLily · 31-01-2016 02:20PM

Anyone else see Australian Open Facebook's post jumping the gun? Had a post (about 20-30 mins before the match actually ended) congratulating Djokovic on his 6th AO title......after defeating Murray 6-1, 7-5, 6-1. Oops!!!

I'm guessing people will be rehashing the Novak & the calender GS stories for 2016. He's looking ominous.

31-01-2016 03:14PM

RobertKK wrote: »

Niall Horan at the match and there to meet Djokovic, they play tennis together and are close friends.

wtf - close friends?!

yerwanthere123 · 31-01-2016 03:38PM

glasso wrote: »

wtf - close friends?!

Yeah, had a laugh at that myself.

There's gonna be big pressure on Novak by the time RG rolls around. Not only will he be trying to complete the grand slam but he'll also hold all grand slam titles at the same time, if he can do it. I'm not sure whether losing to Wawrinka last year adds more pressure, or whether it takes pressure away, in so far as the worst has already happened.

josip · 31-01-2016 06:21PM

One thing that impresses me about Djokovic is that he whenever he is in a final, and most of the rounds before that, the majority of the crowd will support his opponent for various reasons.
At times the crowd can be almost hostile. It must take incredible mental toughness to play in that kind of environment, year after year.

The Golden Miller · 31-01-2016 07:58PM

josip wrote: »

One thing that impresses me about Djokovic is that he whenever he is in a final, and most of the rounds before that, the majority of the crowd will support his opponent for various reasons.
At times the crowd can be almost hostile. It must take incredible mental toughness to play in that kind of environment, year after year.

And I dunno why. He's a far more likeable and good-natured person than most of the other top players. I'd say it's mainly down to bitter Federer fans. Although some players revel in hostility.

mansize · 31-01-2016 08:04PM

glasso wrote: »

wtf - close friends?!

Like Ronaldo and the kick boxer????

The Golden Miller · 31-01-2016 08:04PM

As for him catching Federer, I'd say he's left it just too late. He won't win all 4 slams this year. To do that he'd win 6 on the bounce and he'll be caught out somewhere along the line. That would leave him with 13 majors at the end of this year. Another 2-3 next year and by that stage age will be really catching up with him if he manages that. I'd say he'll finish on 15-16 if he continues his current form

cowboyBuilder · 31-01-2016 09:14PM

RobertKK wrote: »

Niall Horan at the match and there to meet Djokovic, they play tennis together and are close friends.

When I read this I assumed he was some Irish top 200 tennis player - and then I googled him , some boy band tosser ?
What do you mean they play tennis together ?

You mean for a PR opportunity Novak stands at the other side of the court with a racket while he pretends to play ?

RobertKK · 31-01-2016 09:19PM

mansize wrote: »

Like Ronaldo and the kick boxer????

No not that close...

RobertKK · 31-01-2016 09:29PM

cowboyBuilder wrote: »

When I read this I assumed he was some Irish top 200 tennis player - and then I googled him , some boy band tosser ?
What do you mean they play tennis together ?

You mean for a PR opportunity Novak stands at the other side of the court with a racket while he pretends to play ?

Niall Horan does attend a lot of sporting events. He is a genuine sports fan.

loads of video and pictures of them at the AusOpen.

https://twitter.com/MailSport/status/693811818830118912

https://twitter.com/OmnisportNews/status/693770416867938304

https://twitter.com/Tanis95/status/693768200354414592

Here they are at the O2 in London
https://twitter.com/wtverlara/status/692765309254631425

RobertKK · 31-01-2016 09:47PM

For not believing me

https://twitter.com/Cristianoista/status/496782865296670722

https://twitter.com/TheParamoreNet/status/496384104276193281

https://twitter.com/vanjaa_h/status/429727064795533313

https://twitter.com/TeenTennis/status/495972476502175745

yerwanthere123 · 01-02-2016 02:12AM

Final thoughts on the Australian Open. Kerber is without a doubt the stand-out story for me, nothing else comes close. She's a player I was very much indifferent to previously, but seeing her fearlessly take out two great players against the odds was a joy to watch. Should be fascinating seeing where she goes from here. Whilst I doubt she'll be reaching the latter stages of every slam from now on, I do think she's got the game to win another one. Really hope it won't transpire to be a fluke.

Apart from the ladies final, there really weren't that many great matches imo. The Kerber-Azarenka QF was very good, but I'd fail to pinpoint much else. I'll admit I haven't seen many matches on the ATP side, so feel free to tell me if I missed any good ones there. Some really nice break-out runs this week as well, obviously the fantastic runs of Zhang and Konta, as well as the emergence of Naomi Osaka. Hope to hear more from her soon.

Not a great deal to say about the men's side, everyone expected Djokovic to stroll to the title, and that's exactly what happened. Wawrinka losing earlier than expected killed (for me) a lot of the excitement of the bottom half of the draw, although it was good to see Milos make progress this week. Kyrgios continued to show us that despite his talent, acting the clown doesn't really get you anywhere. Hopefully someone will step in and have a word inside the next couple of years, I'd hate for his talent to be wasted. Finally, it was of course fantastic to see Andy in another slam final.. but he's so far behind Djokovic right now that it all felt a bit futile. Andy can console himself though, cause in a couple of weeks he'll be happier than he ever has been. I hope!

The Golden Miller · 01-02-2016 07:45AM

I dunno why Djokovic is hanging around with that d1ckhead...but I guess we know where the hostility comes from now

cowboyBuilder · 01-02-2016 09:50AM

The Golden Miller wrote: »

I dunno why Djokovic is hanging around with that d1ckhead...but I guess we know where the hostility comes from now

Yeah ... f*ck that, I hope he losses again in the French Open

Seriously though, I wasn't doubting that they were mates, but this
"they play tennis together" .. come on - a PR stunt, or Nole helping out a mate with his backhand - he wouldn't gain anything from it.

cowboyBuilder · 01-02-2016 09:52AM

Bye the way lads, forgot to mention Im good mates with Connor McGregor, we are gonna spar a bit later on - I'll post pics of my bloody mess of a face after 4 seconds of bouting...

RobertKK · 01-02-2016 11:26AM

cowboyBuilder wrote: »

Yeah ... f*ck that, I hope he losses again in the French Open

Seriously though, I wasn't doubting that they were mates, but this
"they play tennis together" .. come on - a PR stunt, or Nole helping out a mate with his backhand - he wouldn't gain anything from it.

Djokovic loves winning...

MisterAnarchy · 01-02-2016 01:22PM

One thing is for sure Horan is an absolute weed compared to djokovic.
He looks like a child in comparison.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO · 01-02-2016 01:26PM

LAST FEW POSTS ARE OF NO RELEVANCE TO THE AUSTRALIAN OPEN. BACK ON TOPIC OR THE THREAD WILL BE CLOSED

cowboyBuilder · 01-02-2016 01:32PM

Anyway, Jim Courier will be looking over his shoulder, he is the last man to win the AO and FO in the same year ... 1992 I think ..

RobertKK · 02-02-2016 01:16AM

RobertKK wrote: »

He can win the French this year, and the other two he has won multiple times. Novak is moving further ahead.

He is only 28 years old, must ask paddypower for the odds.
Wouldn't mind a long term €20 investment if the odds are decent.

The odds are good for Djokovic, not for someone betting.

PP are offering 4/5.

cowboyBuilder · 02-02-2016 02:53PM

RobertKK wrote: »

The odds are good for Djokovic, not for someone betting.

PP are offering 4/5.

Wow, Nadal at 11/4, 1st time ever I've seen Novak favoured over Nadal at the FO - even last year Nadal was still favourite.

RobertKK · 02-02-2016 06:53PM

cowboyBuilder wrote: »

Wow, Nadal at 11/4, 1st time ever I've seen Novak favoured over Nadal at the FO - even last year Nadal was still favourite.

Novak favourite for the French Open as you say.

The 4/5 odds are for Djokovic to beat Federer's grand slam record. The Aistralian Open points to Novak being on a different level, the only hiccup was the Gilles Simon match but he still came through that.

GreNoLi · 02-02-2016 07:03PM

Hope Federer is able to hold on to his grand slam record when the big three have all retired.

The Golden Miller · 02-02-2016 09:22PM

GreNoLi wrote: »

Hope Federer is able to hold on to his grand slam record when the big three have all retired.

I hope he doesn't.

RobertKK · 02-02-2016 09:56PM

I love watching Federer, but Novak now has 11 grand slams in an era with Federer and Nadal.

Federer may be the most graceful player as he glides around the court, but Novak is the best returner of the ball and possibly the strongest person mentally to have played the game.
As it was said on Europsort as the crowds were against him in most games at the Australian Open, he wants to be liked and he wants to be the best ever.

Barring injury he should smash Federer's record. Andy Murray was no match for him, gave him a good game but the win was never in doubt for Djokovic. I think that will be a common theme into the future.

cowboyBuilder · 02-02-2016 10:55PM

RobertKK wrote: »

the only hiccup was the Gilles Simon match but he still came through that.

Giles Simon is a very different type of player, he is a pusher gets everything back, you will always see guys like this hovering around the 3/4 round, I think Federer has had a few 5 setters with Simon.

RobertKK wrote: »

I love watching Federer, but Novak now has 11 grand slams in an era with Federer and Nadal.

Federer may be the most graceful player as he glides around the court, but Novak is the best returner of the ball and possibly the strongest person mentally to have played the game.
As it was said on Europsort as the crowds were against him in most games at the Australian Open, he wants to be liked and he wants to be the best ever.

Barring injury he should smash Federer's record. Andy Murray was no match for him, gave him a good game but the win was never in doubt for Djokovic. I think that will be a common theme into the future.

I wouldn't be so sure, 11 is impressive but he will be 29 this year and that will slow down, I can see him hit 14 maybe 15 ... but will get tougher very quickly.

and what a class act

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.849215045191206.1073741883.337855372993845&type=3

Australian Open 2016 Jan 18th - Jan 31st

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