Australian Open 2020

elmolesto

The draw is just out

Men’s draw

Some interesting first round including Djokovic Struff

Women’s draw

The women’s draw is absolutely brutal, a lot of potential upset, Pliskova has by far the worse quarter in my opinion.

Gwynplaine

This is Rafa's year. He will win 3 of the 4.

elmolesto

Gwynplaine wrote: »

This is Rafa's year. He will win 3 of the 4.

As Rafan, I would be very happy if your prediction came true but Djokovic, Thiem and Federer will have something to say.

For starter his draw is not the best.
Here are his potential opponents

First round: Hugo Dellien (world No 72)
Second round: Federico Delbonis (73)
Third round: Pablo Carreno Busta (30)
Fourth round: Karen Khachanov (16)/Nick Kyrgios (26)
Quarter-final: Dominic Thiem (5)
Semi-final: Daniil Medvedev (4)

I can see a few land mines he would rather not step on.

I will be very happy if he wins 2.

Federer has by far the easiest quarter.

Hector Savage

Think of this , this will be the first year in Nadal's career he has won multiple slams in consecutive years .....

incredible ...... in the year he turns 34 ....





yeah

Hego Damask

Nonsense, he dominated from 2008-2010, in those 3 seasons he won multiple slams every year, he won 3 alone in 2010 I think

Gwynplaine

Hego Damask wrote: »

Nonsense, he dominated from 2008-2010, in those 3 seasons he won multiple slams every year, he won 3 alone in 2010 I think

Hector is right. 'Multiple slams in consecutive years'.

Well spotted Hector.

walshb

If any of the big three win this, the rest of these numpties can just eff off!!! Permanently...

mzungu

The V. Williams and Gauff match should be a good watch.

jr86

Hego Damask wrote: »

Nonsense, he dominated from 2008-2010, in those 3 seasons he won multiple slams every year, he won 3 alone in 2010 I think

He won one slam in 2009

Well spotted Hector, that's actually a very interesting stat.

Joe_ Public

elmolesto wrote: »

The draw is just out

Men’s draw

Some interesting first round including Djokovic Struff

Women’s draw

The women’s draw is absolutely brutal, a lot of potential upset, Pliskova has by far the worse quarter in my opinion.

Looks like pliskova has the plum draw to me and this is her chance if she's ever going to do it. Anythings possible but i dont see who she should be losing to in her quarter. Plus, the 3 players ahead of her in the betting are all in other half of draw. Osaka has the worst of it imo.

elmolesto

Joe_ Public wrote: »

Looks like pliskova has the plum draw to me and this is her chance if she's ever going to do it. Anythings possible but i dont see who she should be losing to in her quarter. Plus, the 3 players ahead of her in the betting are all in other half of draw. Osaka has the worst of it imo.

Mladenovic in the first round is not an easy opponent, then Vandeweghe, Pavlyuchenkova, Kerber in the fourth round.
Svitolina in the quarter.
Anisimova and Mugaraza are also in that quarter. Not an easy path if you ask me.

The Bencic/Halep quarter seems easy. I have Bencic to win at 25/1 each way.

Joe_ Public

elmolesto wrote: »

Mladenovic in the first round is not an easy opponent, then Vandeweghe, Pavlyuchenkova, Kerber in the fourth round.
Svitolina in the quarter.
Anisimova and Mugaraza are also in that quarter. Not an easy path if you ask me.

The Bencic/Halep quarter seems easy. I have Bencic to win at 25/1 each way.

Its debatable i think. Mladenovic looked ok a couple of years ago, but only really a power in doubles now. Possible but pliskova isnt at much if she has trouble there i think. Townsend rather than pav, perhaps? Kerber is carrying an injury and poorish form. Svitolina decent but very beatable. Vondrousova could be tricky, animisova too.

I dont think its too bad. Consider Osakas potential path:

Bouzkova, Zheng, Gauff, Kenin, Serena, Barty.

Now, to me thats a whole lot tougher. But i agree on bencic, i like her and thats not a bad quarter. By far the bottom half of draw is place to be. In that quarter I'll be keeping an eye on Sabalenka to see if she's maturing into a proper slam player.

elmolesto

Joe_ Public wrote: »

Its debatable i think. Mladenovic looked ok a couple of years ago, but only really a power in doubles now. Possible but pliskova isnt at much if she has trouble there i think. Townsend rather than pav, perhaps? Kerber is carrying an injury and poorish form. Svitolina decent but very beatable. Vondrousova could be tricky, animisova too.

I dont think its too bad. Consider Osakas potential path:

Bouzkova, Zheng, Gauff, Kenin, Serena, Barty.

Now, to me thats a whole lot tougher. But i agree on bencic, i like her and thats not a bad quarter. By far the bottom half of draw is place to be. In that quarter I'll be keeping an eye on Sabalenka to see if she's maturing into a proper slam player.

You are right, Osaka’s quarter is probably the worse. Both Kenin and Osaka looks confortable at the moment, they both just won their first set 6-2.

The problem with Pliskova is she is really good outside the slams when she has on court coaching. As soon as she has to face a bit of adversity on her own, she tends to lose her confidence. Mladenovic even though she hasn’t performed in singles in a long time, could easily take her out.

elmolesto

Shapovalov is playing some awful tennis, lost the first 6-3. 24 unforced errors and 6 double faults for el shapo!

whiterebel

Shapovalov gone 1st hurdle.

Joe_ Public

Djokovic loses a set against Struff.

Stephens loses first four games of third set to love against Zhang. No fight in her at all.

Hego Damask

Hego Damask wrote: »

Nonsense, he dominated from 2008-2010, in those 3 seasons he won multiple slams every year, he won 3 alone in 2010 I think

reading comprehension was never a strong suit?

jr86

Joe_ Public wrote: »

Djokovic loses a set against Struff.

Stephens loses first four games of third set to love against Zhang. No fight in her at all.

He's now blowing him away in the 4th set

These first round games are usually such a procession for the big guns, must be very hard for them to keep their focus throughout

whiterebel

Strange one from ND. Let Struff back in to the first set, then the first set tie break and gave him a sniff with the 3rd set.

Guava Juice

Hego Damask wrote: »

Nonsense, he dominated from 2008-2010, in those 3 seasons he won multiple slams every year, he won 3 alone in 2010 I think

He won one slam in 2009, and didn't win the French Open in 2009, Federer won it that year.

Inquitus

Gauff beats Williams again in a 1st Round Grand Slam match. 7-6, 6-3!

lostcat

jr86 wrote: »

He's now blowing him away in the 4th set

These first round games are usually such a procession for the big guns, must be very hard for them to keep their focus throughout

Djokovic in particular tends to mope around till the quarters, maybe even more so this time due to an intense week last week.

Nadal and Federer have knifed through a lot of GS early rounds in the past few years in fairness to them.

elmolesto

whiterebel wrote: »

Strange one from ND. Let Struff back in to the first set, then the first set tie break and gave him a sniff with the 3rd set.

Not really, I think it was a good game tactics from Djokovic not to let Struff and his powerful baseline game dictate the play. Sure, it wasn’t the best match from Djoker, he hit a lot of unforced errors ( 28 ), a good chunk of them were in the first set but he hit more winners.

The tactics reminded me the way he played against Nadal at the atp cup, especially in the first set, were he absolutely refused to let Nadal get confortable and dictate play. He was going for broke, making lots of mistakes but hitting more winners and keeping Rafa on the back foot.

whiterebel

Ok, so you reckon it was tactics to let Struff catch him in the first set, then nearly blow his tiebreak lead and then give away the 3rd set? Right........

elmolesto

whiterebel wrote: »

Ok, so you reckon it was tactics to let Struff catch him in the first set, then nearly blow his tiebreak lead and then give away the 3rd set? Right........

No, it was just his super aggressive strategy that cost him to
lose his lead in the first set. Struff is not the type of player you want to feel comfortable from the baseline, he will put you on the run.
Djokovic did check out the third set and went in energy saving mode, then blew Struff away in the fourth. Federer did the same against Nadal in Wimbledon last year.

I thought his strategy was really good.

josip

Konta out

elmolesto

Good match from Hurkacz, he came back from 2 sets down to win it against Novak. He is another player to watch this year, he was very impressive in the atp cup and went undefeated.

yerwanthere123

Sharapova loses to Vekic and now out of the top 350, the end is nigh methinks. Rennae Stubbs saying she thinks this was Sharapova's last time playing in Australia, but I think nothing is certain until after the clay season at least.

Hugely impressed Ostapenko is playing in Melbourne, her father only died inside the last couple of weeks.

Floppybits

Kyrgios looking good. I know I have said this before but if he can keep his head together then he could go far in this tournament. I think he meets Nadal in either the 4th round or quarter final, if he is on form he could give Nadal a problem. Then in saying all that he could have meltdown in the next 5 minutes and lose this match.

elmolesto

Medvedev just lost the second set, Tiafoe is going to give everything in this match as he have a lot at stakes, about a third of his ranking points come from his run to the quarter here last year.

jr86

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

Sharapova loses to Vekic and now out of the top 350, the end is nigh methinks. Rennae Stubbs saying she thinks this was Sharapova's last time playing in Australia, but I think nothing is certain until after the clay season at least.

Hugely impressed Ostapenko is playing in Melbourne, her father only died inside the last couple of weeks.

Very surprised that Sharapova is still an active player, she could have comfortably retired a decade ago at this stage

Perhaps she's still clinging on to one last 'fairytale' major win given as it stands her career will predominantly be remembered for the wrong reasons

Sharapova herself said it may be her last match there.

She's worth nearly $200 million so it's not money that's an issue as said

She was the highest paid female athlete for 11 straight years

Never really "came back" after the ban so it's most likely the last months of her tennis career.

mzungu

That is most likely it for Sharapova. I get why she continues to play, as it is a form of career and reputation rehabilitation. As stated above though, it is the ban that will be remembered.

mzungu

Nadal played some fine tennis today.

mzungu

Floppybits wrote: »

Kyrgios looking good. I know I have said this before but if he can keep his head together then he could go far in this tournament. I think he meets Nadal in either the 4th round or quarter final, if he is on form he could give Nadal a problem. Then in saying all that he could have meltdown in the next 5 minutes and lose this match.

He plays Simon in the next round. Could be a tricky match for NK as who knows what sort of humour he wakes up in. If it's a good humour and he takes it serious he should have no problems. If he wakes in a bad humour who knows what will happen.

mzungu

mzungu wrote: »

He plays Simon in the next round. Could be a tricky match for NK as who knows what sort of humour he wakes up in. If it's a good humour and he takes it serious he should have no problems. If he wakes in a bad humour who knows what will happen.

would love to see him go deep but he has expressed doubts himself if he has the capability to handle a 2 week tournament.

am I right in saying that he hasn't (for him) had a meltdown in a while - could be due one - hopefully not.

elmolesto

glasso wrote: »

would love to see him go deep but he has expressed doubts himself if he has the capability to handle a 2 week tournament.

am I right in saying that he hasn't (for him) had a meltdown in a while - could be due one - hopefully not.

I think he will give his best to go far.

He is behaving because he is still on probation after the racket incident last year.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F09LYvJ2cXE

yes had seen the probation order which is a good idea/deterrent in his case but thought that he had got up to something just after it was imposed.

elmolesto

glasso wrote: »

yes had seen the probation order which is a good idea/deterrent in his case but thought that he had got up to something just after it was imposed.

I do remember the bottle incident at the citi open. After that, he had 2 incidents with the Irish umpire but I don’t remember the chronology of the events.

I think his behaviour improved after those events. He is seeing a therapist...

NoviGlitzko

Serena's grunting is so obnoxious and off putting. Up against a nobody there and and this shouting between and after points is ridiculous. It's not even a grunt it's screaming. A game against a decent opponent would be unwatchable.

Really hate everything about her game and personality.

mzungu

glasso wrote: »

yes had seen the probation order which is a good idea/deterrent in his case but thought that he had got up to something just after it was imposed.

elmolesto wrote: »

I do remember the bottle incident at the citi open. After that, he had 2 incidents with the Irish umpire but I don’t remember the chronology of the events.

I think his behaviour improved after those events. He is seeing a therapist...

It's probably not in him, but I would like to see how he would do taking things seriously for a full year on the tour. I think his behaviour at times is both silly and petty, but there is no doubt that talent lurks behind the mega-sulks.

jr86

Lads kyrgios is never changing

He blatantly dislikes the game - has no interest in practice, is spotted in pubs the night before big matches and fitness levels are extremely lacking.

It's a means to an end for him, but anyone expecting him to ever become a dominant force is going to be left very disappointed. He would say the same himself. He'll probably jack it in the next few years

He's well down the rankings, not even related to a tournament contender and yet it's only taken a few pages for him to be mentioned in an Irish chat thread on the tournament. Just goes to show the effect he has. Rightly or wrongly he attracts headlines for the sport, and I for one love an enigma and bad boy to shake things up!

mzungu

jr86 wrote: »

Lads kyrgios is never changing

He blatantly dislikes the game - has no interest in practice, is spotted in pubs the night before big matches and fitness levels are extremely lacking.

It's a means to an end for him, but anyone expecting him to ever become a dominant force is going to be left very disappointed. He would say the same himself. He'll probably jack it in the next few years

He's well down the rankings, not even related to a tournament contender and yet it's only taken a few pages for him to be mentioned in an Irish chat thread on the tournament. Just goes to show the effect he has. Rightly or wrongly he attracts headlines for the sport, and I for one love an enigma and bad boy to shake things up!

I am in no doubt. He lacks the mentality to ever make any kind of impact.

He will never be any kind of force, but I would not bet against him staying around the circuit living off his reputation and then a move onto exhibition tours after that.

Floppybits

mzungu wrote: »

I am in no doubt. He lacks the mentality to ever make any kind of impact.

He will never be any kind of force, but I would not bet against him staying around the circuit living off his reputation and then a move onto exhibition tours after that.

The thing is that he is exciting to watch. I hate saying that because he is an arse. He is also capable of causing an upset against big players as we have seen. I know if it was me I would hate to see him in my part of the draw.

Floppybits

Ostapenko all over the place in the first few games of this match against Bencic. She served 2 double faults at the start of the match. Seems to be getting it together now in the third game.

Hector Savage

mzungu wrote: »

Nadal played some fine tennis today.

Of course he did, he is the champion in waiting.

I'm gonna go out there and say he won't drop a set....

elmolesto

Hector Savage wrote: »

Of course he did, he is the champion in waiting.

I'm gonna go out there and say he won't drop a set....

I’d love to see him win but he really needs to up his game.
He only won 70% points behind his first serve against Dellien and dropped serve twice. This guy shouldn’t have touch Nadal’s serve.

Today, he was way more effective behind his first serve than in his first round match. However he wasnt clinical enough when he had opportunities, in the first 2 sets he had 18 break points and converted only one. He made way too many unforced errors.

I wonder if the atp cup took too much out of him.

Federer on the other hand is up to a flying start, dropping only 13 games in 2 matches. His third best start at the Australian in his long career. He looked really sharp and he is moving like a gazelle around the court.

yerwanthere123

Bye Serena :cool:

jr86

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

Bye Serena :cool:

Yeah no harm for the women's game. Serena is 38 now and anytime I've seen her since her return she's looked unfit and ponderous out on court. It was an almighty travesty she made a Wimbledon final last year with the condition she was in, but luckily Halep absolutely hockeyed her

A legend of the game obviously but I don't think its a good look if a 38 year old way past her pomp is simply powering her way to slams.

Even leaving all that aside, her classless celebrations when she wins a run of the mill point against a no-hoper, her antics in all those infamous US open finals, yeah I won't be sorry if she never wins another slam, she's won more than enough anyway

jr86

elmolesto wrote: »

Federer on the other hand is up to a flying start, dropping only 13 games in 2 matches. His third best start at the Australian in his long career. He looked really sharp and he is moving like a gazelle around the court.

Steady yet he's only 2 matches played

Lets see how he gets on today against a home player who he lost to at a slam before

Guava Juice

Over the last number of years I think the Australian Open has become the best major of the four, it has the best atmosphere of the four majors, and the facilities are second to none.