Australian Open 2020

dominatinMC

Christ, Thiem absolutely soiled himself there with the finish line in sight

EagererBeaver

Yeah, some really wild shots in that game from Thiem. The double fault was insane how much he missed it by.

Doing well to hold his nerve so far in this game though when serving to stay in the set.

EagererBeaver

Jesus two really awful shots from Thiem there at the start of the breaker having gone up the mini-break.

Joe_ Public

Jesus that was heart stopping. Thought that was in!

Floppybits

Finally Thiem does it.

EagererBeaver

Congrats to Thiem, pulled it out when it mattered.

Rafa hauled himself back into that tie break and then chucked it again. Should never have lost either of those last two points.

Thiem-Zverev will be interesting but the only question remaining is how quickly djokovic can win the final.

Hector Savage

YEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Finally a new slam finalist at least!!!

Royale with Cheese

Djokovic back to no. 1 again now if (when) he wins the final.

lostcat

And Nadals mission to win a second AO stumbles yet again. Thiem played very well in patches, but Nadal had plenty of chances to grab it by the short and curlies and couldn't get it done.

Winning 3 tiebreaks in a row is statistically unlikely so Thiem had a bit of luck there. He will be a handful for anyone left in the tournament, there is a bit of the Stanimal about him when he puts his back into it...

yerwanthere123

Phew! If this went to a 5th set after Thiem failed to serve it out and then missed two match points there would've been no way back. That match point he missed on his own serve, where all he had to do was go inside out with the forehand was painful to watch. Glad it's done now, hope he has something left in the tank for Zverev and probably Djokovic if he gets there. I actually think Zverev now probably has the best shot at stopping Djokovic.

of course it is Nadal's worst surface also - he has only won 1 slam here

still good to see Thiem finally win a GS match against him and he didn't bottle his chance.

Floppybits

I thought Thiem was going to bottle it, fair play he held his nerve and seen it out. If it went to a 5th Nadal would have won.

lostcat

[QUOTE=yerwanthere123;112386488....I actually think Zverev now probably has the best shot at stopping Djokovic....[/QUOTE]

not sure, Thiem did beat him in last years FO, and he has the power to potentially blast Djokovic off the court (ala Stan).

i'm not sure where Zverev is at, I haven't got a good look at him in ages as he kept loosing early..but if his game is now clicking he is a handful, an Djokovic maybe hasen't played him often enough to have a good read on his serve..

this is Djokovics sitting room however, it will take a serious effort to oust him, an I don't think Federer has it in him to win three sets.

yes, Djokovic looking like his tittle to take at this point.

it would be a big surprise to me to see Fed troubling him greatly here and for a newbie not be beaten down by his consistency in the final.

josip

Djokovic was the firm favourite in the Wimbledon final last year also but Federer exceeded all expectations to nearly take it.
Admittedly their forms are very different in the AO.

Djokovic is also a tougher proposition in general on this, his best surface

Out of four meetings vs Fed at this slam, Djokovic has won three; the only time Fed won was way back in 2007 when he was at his absolute peak and Djokovic still pretty inexperienced so shouldn't really be counted imo

Aside from that Djokovic has only dropped 1 set against Fed in his three 5-set match victories over him in Melbourne

In relative terms he has battered Fed here.

elmolesto

lostcat wrote: »

not sure, Thiem did beat him in last years FO, and he has the power to potentially blast Djokovic off the court (ala Stan).

i'm not sure where Zverev is at, I haven't got a good look at him in ages as he kept loosing early..but if his game is now clicking he is a handful, an Djokovic maybe hasen't played him often enough to have a good read on his serve..

this is Djokovics sitting room however, it will take a serious effort to oust him, an I don't think Federer has it in him to win three sets.

I totally agree with you here, Thiem has the speed, athleticism, consistency and power to take the racket out of Djokovic’s hand.
But out-rallying Djokovic in Melbourne is going to be very hard.

The surprise for me is Zverev, I’m still shocked how quickly he turned things around after the atp cup fiasco. I have no idea what he is able to do.

I know Roger can draw confidence from his win over Djokovic at the atp final but I think it will very difficult for Federer to win on Friday, after his marathons. Also his level did not improve during the tournament.

Hector Savage

Ironically this could bite me in the ass, Djokovic would have a hell of a lot better chance v Nadal then he would v Thiem (or Zverev for that matter)..

Anyway, I do like Djokovic but I think it's time for a new young fella to win a slam.

I hate the stat that the youngest slam winner is 31 !!

Hector Savage

And of course the good news is now I can enjoy the rest of the tournament - nothing but rocks of sense from me now :P

Slashermcguirk

Thiem is the biggest threat to Djokovic now. I see Thiem taking out Zverev in 4, more weopans and he leads that head to head.

1st set is crucial for Federer vs Djokovic tomorrow. I just think Novak might have too much for roger.

If it’s a djokovic vs Thiem final, I think it would be very 50/50. Djokovic is a better player but Thiem has the firepower to really hurt him.

I am a djokovic fan but if anyone else is to win I hope it’s Thiem. Never particularly enjoyed watching Zverev play

walshb

I think Thiem can beat anyone who makes the final...

I’d make Nole only a slight favorite..

dominatinMC

walshb wrote: »

I think Thiem can beat anyone who makes the final...

I’d make Nole only a slight favorite..

Tend to agree. Thiem is 26 and should be near, if not already at, his peak right now. He has improved immensely on HCs in the last 2 years, and has the firepower to blow anyone away on the surface - al a prime Stan. I'd also argue that he is now the fittest on tour, and the long matches shouldn't be a problem should he make the final. His biggest issue is still the momentary lapses in concentration, which were evident yet again today. Eliminate those and he will be tough to beat. Would love to see him do it.

Rikand

Really hope this means that when Thiem meets Nadal in the French he can finally take him out. Hes been pushing him the last couple of years at Roland Garros. Think this is his time now to win it

mzungu

Those two mens semi-finals should be good. Fed is up against it so the smart money is on Djokovic. Thiem and Zverev could go either way, especially as Zverev seems to be a man reborn the past 10 days.

dominatinMC

Rikand wrote: »

Really hope this means that when Thiem meets Nadal in the French he can finally take him out. Hes been pushing him the last couple of years at Roland Garros. Think this is his time now to win it

As we all know too well, Nadal at the FO is a different animal. I think this narrative that Thiem has "pushed" him at the FO in the last few years is a bit misleading. Yes, he took a set off him in last years final, but Nadal steamrolled him after that included two 6-1 sets to finish it. I'm not saying that Thiem can't win it, but at the same time, today's match shouldn't be used for evidence that he can imo.
Anyway, this is a topic for another day - 4/5 months time to be specific!

RobertKK

Some excellent matches overnight, tomorrow morning.

I will wake up for the Halep v Muguruza match.

Hego Damask

Im watching the McEnroe brothers play Santoro + Bahrami in legends doubles.

That Bahrami lad is hilarious!!

Joe_ Public

That was disappointing. From two set points, barty just folds. Service totally collapsed. Nerves got better of her today.

whiterebel

elmolesto wrote: »

She is really impressive but so is Muguruza. I think Barty will choke.

Good spot. Do you have the lotto numbers?:p

RobertKK

It was fine margins in the Halep v Muguruza match.
Muruguza just closed it out better when the opportunity arose in both sets. There was nothing between them.