Australian Open 2018

yerwanthere123

Draw made, so time to start the thread. Let's hope it's a good tournament!

Women's draw

Men's draw

yerwanthere123

Nadal has a pretty soft draw, although not entirely sure what's counts as a hard draw when you're a 16 time slam champ and world #1.

Some great possibilities on both sides of draw. Potential for:

Shapovalov - Tsonga 2R
Kyrgios - Shapovalov/Tsonga 3R
Dimitrov - Shapovalov/Tsonga/Kyrgios 4R
Kokkinakis - A. Zverev 3R
Djokovic - Kokkinakis/Zverev 4R

Have a very good feeling about Kokkinakis, feel like the time is right for him to make a move at the slams. I think there's also potential for Berdych to lose in the first round, De Minaur has started the year extremely well and is high on confidence.

Wouldn't even know where to start with the WTA, but I think a lot of it can be summed up by this:
https://twitter.com/josemorgado/status/951377813785010176
No point trying to make too many predictions because it can all fall apart so easily, but I hope Kvitova makes the 3R to take on Halep and see where she can go form there. Kerber is one of the favourites, but if she's to win she'll certainly have to do it the hard way. Shes in great form though, and in Sydney she's currently in the SF's having navigated past three quality opponents. The bottom half is a lot softer than the top, and I actually had to do a double take when I saw Wozniacki was the 2nd seed Svitolina has a nice draw depending on which Sloane turns up in Melbourne. If she can avoid an in-form Ostapenko or Venus then she's got a super chance of making the final. So I'm gonna make an attempt at predicting the women's final; Kerber Vs Svitolina to battle for the trophy. As always, feel free to dredge up this post should they both lose first round.

jr86

I'd change that to the 2 Zverev's as being the potentially tasty round 3 clash in that section. Zverev the elder is defending quarter final points and the quicker conditions they've started to employ here suit him. There's still that big question mark over Alex in the Slams

Worth the punt on Djokovic at 6/1. Was moving well against Thiem and an elbow won't have hindered his physical fitness work over the past few months. I'm willing to take a gamble he'll be healthy and fully motivated to start winning slams again.

This time last year many were counting the days to the Murray Djokovic final though so lets see what the fortnight brings

yerwanthere123

OOP for Monday!

https://twitter.com/josemorgado/status/952155239561474050

Really happy that Ostapenko-Schiavone and Bencic-Venus are first up on Laver, I'll probably get to watch those matches. Of course I hope Eurosport show them both, and aren't up to their old tricks of putting the better matches on the player and not on tv...

NoviGlitzko

Federer with another very difficult draw. Nadal has cans until the semi final, and even at that it's probably gonna only be Dimitrov. Hope Gabby or Ostapenko takes the women's title.

The AO was the tournament of 17' and the last years thread for it was fantastic! Really looking forward to this.

jr86

I do get the love for the AO, but personally it's still my least favourite slam

I just think it's too early in the season and it is on at unsociable times for myself.

It'll always be Wimby for me followed by the French - hard courts are my least fave surface!

yerwanthere123

Wow, the AO is arguably my favourite slam! Usually the players are the freshest they'll be all season and I think the quality of matches is usually quite high. I love the acoustics of the court for TV watching, plus I work anti social hours so can usually watch a couple of matches a day.

jr86

Despite all players being generally fresher than later in the year the AO has ironically tended to have the most surprising results overall until the big 4 came along.

On second thought the US open is probably my least favourite (many players have checked out and the scheduling and organisation can be awful) but it'll always be wimbledon and the French for me - the fact they're in summer and at local times are big factors for me and grass court tennis is just beautiful to watch.

The French crowd are off putting and the rain delays are painful but I do love good long rallies and good baseline play personally

yerwanthere123

So Tomic didn't make it through qualies. Don't worry, he took it well though
https://twitter.com/AliciaMuling9/status/952367549332647936

Errani didn't make it either, so this tournament just goes from bad to worse.

jr86

Terrible news on both counts

It's clear Tomic isn't all there though, and goodness knows how "well off" he'll be in ten years time given he's now essentially consigned to journeyman status at 25.

The guy could really do with someone in his corner to guide him both on and off the court

yerwanthere123

Yeah, I probably shouldn't poke fun at him, he clearly has deep rooted issues, which isn't surprising given his nutcase father. He just makes it difficult for me to feel sorry for him, but he probably should be pitied really. I think even Kyrgios and the like have washed their hands of him now. We don't hear about his father much any more but I last I heard he's still very much involved behind the scenes. Does Tomic even have "millions" anyway? I mean he's made about $5 million in prize money, but he's been on the tour a while now and I doubt he's received or has any endorsements left, plus flying around the world is expensive no matter how much you earn. Doubt he's as wealthy as he tries to profess.

Chivito550

jr86 wrote: »

Despite all players being generally fresher than later in the year the AO has ironically tended to have the most surprising results overall until the big 4 came along.

On second thought the US open is probably my least favourite (many players have checked out and the scheduling and organisation can be awful) but it'll always be wimbledon and the French for me - the fact they're in summer and at local times are big factors for me and grass court tennis is just beautiful to watch.

The French crowd are off putting and the rain delays are painful but I do love good long rallies and good baseline play personally

Have been to Australian Open 4 times, and the French Open once. There is no comparison. The Australian Open is a way more enjoyable experience for a fan, with a far better atmosphere.

jr86

Fair enough - I'm talking as an observer, Ive no intention of ever going to a slam

I accept my opinion is perhaps in the minority (well not amongst casual viewers I guess)

Yes I do feel some sympathy on a human level for Tomic. With kyrgios he appears sound mentally just very immature and a bit troubled - he has many advocates on tour though, i do think he's fundamentally harmless

Id highly doubt Tonic is worth millions. What endorsements would he have anyway? He's not a well known name overall, id say only even tennis fans recognise him in his native country

Kyrgios is the big tennis name in Australia but he hits the headlines there for the wrong reasons. Only rugby league, cricket and AFL stars (and their top golfers) would command mainstream popularity from my experiences when ive visited there

mickmackey1

Sloane fails to win consecutive slams, I'm SHOCKED

At least Osty and Gorgeous are through.

yerwanthere123

Wow, brilliant stuff from Bencic. Despite how well we know she can play, I was still expecting Venus to win, there's a big difference between the ITF and main draw of a grand slam after all. Tough loss for Venus, but Bencic is a horrific first round match. Draw is pretty clear for Belinda now until the 4R where she could meet Gorges, so it'll be interesting to see how far she can go.

Venus, Cibulkova and Sloane all losing in R1 if terrific news for Svitolina and Wozniacki.

jr86

Already a clusterfcuk in one of the top half quarters with Sock and Pouille both knocked out

1 of Edmund, Istomin, Basilashvili, Bemelmans, Nishioka, Seppi, Karlovic, Sugita is going to make the QF

Very US Open 2017- like.

Isner was thumped too meaning Nadal's only slight threat is gone

NoviGlitzko

Thought the USO was the biggest cakewalk to a slam since I started watching tennis but Nadal's draw here is gonna give it some run for it's money if it continues like this.

mickmackey1

Apparently World No 1 Halep has no kit sponsors. Adidas wouldn't pay her what she wanted and so pulled out. Probably says something about the women's game in a way.

Rekop dog

This Aussie kid looks excellent against Halep.

Rekop dog

Djoko moving by far the best I've seen since 2016. He'd be my winner based on this.

yerwanthere123

Tfw when you see Bouchard won a match



Well done to Barty for navigating her way past Sabalenka, very tough R1 match. Hadn't actually realised how tough Barty's draw is, Giorgi next, possibly Osaka and Halep in the next two rounds.

As often tends to be the case, tournaments played the week before a slam prove to be irrelevant; RBA and De Minaur both out already. Happy with most of the overnight results, but sad about Thanasi, what happened?

Djokovic is back, and he's brought his retarded celebration with him :rolleyes:

Rekop dog

Looking forward to Wozniacki v Fett match tonight. Wozo in great form but Fett is one of my favourite up and coming female players so can't see her being a pushover.

yerwanthere123

Haha wow
https://twitter.com/josemorgado/status/953295629320708096

Hope she snaps out of this funk soon, it's becoming a bit uncomfortable to watch.

Rekop dog

Jana Fett absolutely played Wozniacki off the court in the first set there. Wonder if she can hold her nerve now.

Rekop dog

Oh dear, Fett was 40-15 up 5-1 in the third set, failed to get both match points and Caroline has battled back to 5-5, surely wins from here.

jr86

^^^ That must be right up there with one of the great chokes? FFS to lose 6 games in a row then!

What on earth is Dimitrov at? I'm sure he'll pull through but he's in a right battle at the minute

Kyrgios and Tsonga will be a cracker in the 3rd round. Tsonga's time has come and gone so I'd be much happier to see NK winning that

Fair dues to Kyle Edmund. Has a great chance to make the quarters now and could draw Dimitrov or Kyrgios who are far from reliable.

mickmackey1

Dimi gets bagelled in the 4th set???

jr86

He also saved a fair few break points at 3-3 in the 3rd set from briefly following live-score

Presumably he tanked the 4th after going down an early break or two?

MacDonald never won an ATP match in his life until this week

TomSweeney

Dmitrov barely scrapes by, the next gen are really dissapointing - after his performance at the WTF, I thought he had a real shot at this tournament.

It will be another Fedal final.

yerwanthere123

jr86 wrote: »

^^^ That must be right up there with one of the great chokes? FFS to lose 6 games in a row then!

What on earth is Dimitrov at? I'm sure he'll pull through but he's in a right battle at the minute

Kyrgios and Tsonga will be a cracker in the 3rd round. Tsonga's time has come and gone so I'd be much happier to see NK winning that

Fair dues to Kyle Edmund. Has a great chance to make the quarters now and could draw Dimitrov or Kyrgios who are far from reliable.

Gavrilova went one better after, led the first set 5-0 40-0 and went on to lose the set and match in straight sets :pac:

Rekop dog

Tricky 3rd round tie for Rafa against Damir Džumhur on Friday morning, his improvement in the last 12 months has been substantial, made three ATP finals in tail end of 2017, good recent record against top 10 players too.

mickmackey1

Rekop dog wrote: »

Tricky 3rd round tie for Rafa against Damir Džumhur on Friday morning, his improvement in the last 12 months has been substantial, made three ATP finals in tail end of 2017, good recent record against top 10 players too.

LOL good try He has a virtual bye to the semis as usual, and Kyrgios will probably have imploded by then.

Sad to see Julia exit, as soon as she was talked up among the faves it was no surprise to see her crumble

Chivito550

mickmackey1 wrote: »

LOL good try He has a virtual bye to the semis as usual, and Kyrgios will probably have imploded by then.

Sad to see Julia exit, as soon as she was talked up among the faves it was no surprise to see her crumble

Cilic in the quarter finals is hardly a bye.

Rekop dog

mickmackey1 wrote: »

LOL good try He has a virtual bye to the semis as usual, and Kyrgios will probably have imploded by then.

Yeah I don't think him/Fed are nearly as infallible as peak 2005-2012 years, a lot of their dominance last year was more due to fall of Murray Djoko and to a lesser extent Raonic and Nishi. They were four of the top 5 at this time last year, but all ended the year outside the top 10 due to injuries/dramatic loss of form.

The new younger group weren't quite mature enough yet last year either Zverev and Theim but should be a greater threat with experiences under their belts.

yerwanthere123

Comprehensive first set for Sharapova there, surely it's all downhill from here. I was expecting a three-set sh*tfest.

Rekop dog

39° is a deranged heat to play high intensity sport in. Djokovic is an alien, Monfils looks close to collapsing but Novak barely sheds a drop of sweat.

jr86

Deary me a bleak outlook for the men's tour indeed if this event has been anything to go by.

2 of the 3 best players at the Tour Finals have been knocked out already and Dimitrov and Thiem were both taken to 5 sets in round 2 ffs

Rekop dog wrote: »

39° is a deranged heat to play high intensity sport in.

Insanity. I played GAA matches in the mid 20s before as a fully fit young fella and I thought I'd die!
I remember a few players collapsing here a few years ago and a fair few retirements. It's been one of the main arguments against the timing of this Slam

To be fair it probably had a huge effect on Goffin who has never been great in the heat. It's a real shame as he was superb at the end of 2017

I get the impression Dimitrov will never be able to handle any sort of expectation on him at Slams

jr86

Chivito550 wrote: »

Cilic in the quarter finals is hardly a bye.

Ah it pretty much is for Nadal, who only lost once to Cilic years ago

Bar one bizarre fortnight in 2014 Cilic will always be a complete choker in the big matches

ballyargus

Where can we see highlights? I will only get to see the Semis and the Final live for this tourney. Very frustrating!

jr86

ballyargus wrote: »

Where can we see highlights? I will only get to see the Semis and the Final live for this tourney. Very frustrating!

From here on I'll only see the final and maybe bits tomorrow and Sunday

Damn timezone difference :mad:

TomSweeney

Chivito550 wrote: »

Cilic in the quarter finals is hardly a bye.

Ah he is now come on ..

jr86

Wawrinka getting blitzed by some American. Stan looks like he's really rushed back here

Peak Verdasco in getting dragged to a 5 setter after a huge win in round one! I'll never take him seriously though, he's had way too many dubious matches in his career

mickmackey1

jr86 wrote: »

Wawrinka getting blitzed by some American.

He's Tennys, plays tennis and is from Tennessee.

Rekop dog

You'd hope Marton Fucsovics is being forced to give a whole lot of urine tests over this week🀣

yerwanthere123

Rekop dog wrote: »

You'd hope Marton Fucsovics is being forced to give a whole lot of urine tests over this week🀣

How dare you! Tennis is a clean, honourable sport! :pac:

Ardillaun

Last Canadian gone. Bouchard got hammered by Halep although there were some good rallies. Her first serve was very inconsistent and overheads were poor. I'd like to have seen her slice more and slow her first serve down a bit.

lostcat

Rekop dog wrote: »

You'd hope Marton Fucsovics is being forced to give a whole lot of urine tests over this week��

in that heat it might take him a week to produce just the one, in fairness

the mens is still hard to call, it will take the weekend to put some shape on it. Djokovic looks better than I expected but not sure about his new serve (neither is he, which is a probably a bigger problem).

A wry smile was drawn by Feds comments (spoken from what is likely to be two weeks of evening slots) that people complaining about playing in 40 degree heat should just suck it up.

I still have a some hope of Dimitrov, Zerev (jnr) and Kyrigos making a splash.

Rekop dog

Gonna get a chant going on Rod Lever for this match.

‘Khum my lady.
Kumkhum my lady.
You’re my butterfly,
Sugar baby.’

ballyargus

I've looked at the schedule and I'm confused. If I want to watch the mens semi's next Thursday, do I take the Thursday or Friday off?

jr86

Thursday morning here = Thursday night there

Aren't the men's semis usually on different days though?

jr86

Such a meh feeling waking up to the results each morning, really nothing to write home about yet - it's been mundane for the most part. There's hardly even any potential round 4 matches to whet the appetite. Hopefully NK comes through this against Tsonga though, as the latter has had his chance now and the game really needs the younger players stepping up

Great to see Kyle Edmund into the 4th round though and what a chance to make a Quarter. Bizarre to think it's the second year in a row a non-Murray Brit made the 4th round here. He seems like a good guy though and I tend to cheer on our neighbours when Ireland are not involved