Australian Open 2018

ballyargus · 25-01-2018 8:04am

Very disappointed that both (men's) semi finals aren't on the same day. I always love SF day in other events because of the epic double-header. It also means players get approximately the same amount of rest before the final

Joe_ Public · 25-01-2018 8:25am

Some courage from both these players. Truly epic s/f.

Joe_ Public · 25-01-2018 8:44am

Have to admit I doubted she had it in her but Halep gets it done on 5th mp. Think Woz will be happy enough, hard final to call though.

NoviGlitzko · 25-01-2018 10:10am

Disapointed Kerber lost and more so Halep got through. Boring style, boring personality. Find it very hard to root for her. Wozniacki doesn't play attractive tennis either IMO but at least she comes across as nice and friendly. If I had to choose on Saturday I'd go with her.

jr86 · 25-01-2018 10:22am

Looks like both Edmund and Cilic struggling here physically.

Probably a misleading enough score in that most service games were tight and Edmund had two break points in game 1.

Finally either Wozniacki or Halep will land a major.

Agree with the annoyance about the Men's semis being different days.

Each slam has an annoying quirk with scheduling

jr86 · 25-01-2018 10:25am

emo72 wrote: »

Had to scroll up to the top of the page to see what thread I was in. I thought after hours and another thread about alt right and lefties, or was it gay or trans thread. Bizarre.

Hear hear

But it's the world we live in these days I'm afraid

I'd imagine we're not far from professional sports stars having to deactivate Social Media completely?

I try my best to stay away from twitter as it's full of nutjobs, but it's very hard to avoid it completely as you can see!

Hector Savage · 25-01-2018 11:53am

I really hope Chung can do something v Federer, because if it's another Federer Cilic final - it will be a boring 3-0 snoozefest.

But again I want Federer to reach 20 slams ...

splinter65 · 25-01-2018 12:22pm

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

What the hell? Did you, or any of the people who liked your post, actually see any of what he's posted? Are you aware that he's engaged with many a racist on Twitter, preaches the nonsense posted by the Hopkins person from The Apprentice, and posts homophobia such as this?

https://twitter.com/hecairns/status/955525238531547136

You don't have to grab your pitchfork, but people are perfectly entitled to call him out on his poor behaviour. If you don't think what he said in the above tweet is wrong then.. maybe you agree with it?

People have been discriminated against enough without having to put up with his kind of nonsense, so don't bother trying to dismiss it as "histrionics". Christ :rolleyes:

Christ indeed! Where on earth do you find the time to forensically examine the political and ideological leanings of every single person you admire in the sports world or any other world?!? Even in your own world?
Because I assume you do in order to ensure that you can be seen to be condemning anyone who doesn’t tick all the boxes?
You must be exhausted?
Tell us, what does Roger Federer think about the situation in Myanmar?
How does Rafael Nadal feel about transgender rights, you must know, right?

Christy42 · 25-01-2018 1:07pm

splinter65 wrote: »

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

What the hell? Did you, or any of the people who liked your post, actually see any of what he's posted? Are you aware that he's engaged with many a racist on Twitter, preaches the nonsense posted by the Hopkins person from The Apprentice, and posts homophobia such as this?

https://twitter.com/hecairns/status/955525238531547136

You don't have to grab your pitchfork, but people are perfectly entitled to call him out on his poor behaviour. If you don't think what he said in the above tweet is wrong then.. maybe you agree with it?

People have been discriminated against enough without having to put up with his kind of nonsense, so don't bother trying to dismiss it as "histrionics". Christ :rolleyes:

Christ indeed! Where on earth do you find the time to forensically examine the political and ideological leanings of every single person you admire in the sports world or any other world?!? Even in your own world?
Because I assume you do in order to ensure that you can be seen to be condemning anyone who doesn’t tick all the boxes?
You must be exhausted?
Tell us, what does Roger Federer think about the situation in Myanmar?
How does Rafael Nadal feel about transgender rights, you must know, right?

Why must they know everyone's political leanings? Someone made it obvious and they went on that. Should they shut out this information?

Someone above went on Halep's personality for not liking her. I feel like that is their opinion which is fair enough. I did not insist that they make sure they know how they like the personality of every other sports person. Halep has obviously shown enough of her personality to turn off this poster. Maybe if he knew them better the poster would dislike Kerber more. Who knows but I am not exactly going to insist that that the relevant poster finds out. They based their opinion of that person based on whst they know of them. I feel like that is fair enough. You don't need to do a big investigation on each sports star.

It seems weird that of all the reasons why people take a dislike to different players that a player coming across as homophobic is seen as the worst reason.

Rekop dog · 25-01-2018 3:07pm

What on Earth am I reading.

Chivito550 · 25-01-2018 3:09pm

Jesus’s lads, WTF!

RosyLily · 25-01-2018 3:48pm

Let's stick to discussing the Aussie Open. Save the right/left, racist/not racist stuff for another time. And another thread.

yerwanthere123 · 25-01-2018 3:49pm

splinter65 wrote: »

Christ indeed! Where on earth do you find the time to forensically examine the political and ideological leanings of every single person you admire in the sports world or any other world?!? Even in your own world?
Because I assume you do in order to ensure that you can be seen to be condemning anyone who doesn’t tick all the boxes?
You must be exhausted?
Tell us, what does Roger Federer think about the situation in Myanmar?
How does Rafael Nadal feel about transgender rights, you must know, right?

What the hell are you even talking about?

I assume most people are good people until I have reason to believe otherwise. Sandragen's distasteful tweets came to my attention as other retweeted/blogged about them. Very little time was needed to "forensically examine" this, given the rolling news feed nature of social media sites, stuff from years ago can literally be found in seconds. Are you aware of how the internet works?

Not exhausted either, on the contrary you're the one who seems to be getting a bit excited about it all. Have no idea what Federer thinks about the situation in Myanmar or how Nadal feels about transgender rights, nor do I understand it's relevance to this conversation, but I guess if you want to find out you could maybe Google it?

Christy42 wrote: »

It seems weird that of all the reasons why people take a dislike to different players that a player coming across as homophobic is seen as the worst reason.

I wouldn't say it's the worst, it's just that people on here were defending him and trying to explain it away when it was probably among the least defensible things he'd said.

Seomra50 wrote: »

There is nothing wrong with not liking gay clubs. Personally I find the sight of two men kissing disgusting, and there is nothing wrong with that. We are all allowed are personal tastes. What's ironic is that you condemn someone for feelings that they can't help, which is very similar to someone condemning someone for being attracted to the same sex, feelings they can't help. So I view your reasoning similar to those who are intolerant of gay people.

Not even gonna touch this, just gonna wait for you to be banned again :pac:

yerwanthere123 · 25-01-2018 3:50pm

Anyway, didn't think Halep would beat Kerber. Talk about having a lot on the line going into the final; both slamless #1's, both have already lost two slam finals, both have saved match points to get here and both would leave with the #1 ranking as well a slam. We've had grand slam finals before where both were competing for the #1 ranking (I think) but has there been one where both players were competing for both? Either way it's a winner takes all affair, and it'll be such a tough loss for whoever the loser is. I know I complain about her but I think I want Wozniacki to win, feel like she'd deserve it after all the sh*t that was thrown her way when she was #1. Wouldn't care too much either if Halep does it either, but I'd never have thought she'd win her first slam outside of clay. I just hope it's a good match.

Not sure I should even bother with Federer-Chung, is there any hope of an upset there?

mickmackey1 · 25-01-2018 4:15pm

Can't find whether Halep would be the first Slam winner to have saved match points in TWO earlier rounds. I'd strongly favour her, Woz again showed a lot of nerves in closing out the 2nd set.

Rekop dog · 25-01-2018 4:25pm

mickmackey1 wrote: »

Can't find whether Halep would be the first Slam winner to have saved match points in TWO earlier rounds. I'd strongly favour her, Woz again showed a lot of nerves in closing out the 2nd set.

Shows the fine lines between success and failure that both finalists have come back from almost certain elimination to be in with of a chance of winning the title.

jr86 · 25-01-2018 5:55pm

Seomra51 wrote: »

Back to the tennis, it seems it was a step too far for Edmund, hopeful he learns from this and comes back stronger.

I like him, but I'd doubt it tbh

Most likely will be his only slam semi, he's inconsistent and mentally suspect

In reality he'd a nice draw and GD was terrible all week (kyrgios match aside)

Floppybits · 25-01-2018 7:02pm

jr86 wrote: »

I like him, but I'd doubt it tbh

Most likely will be his only slam semi, he's inconsistent and mentally suspect

In reality he'd a nice draw and GD was terrible all week (kyrgios match aside)

A bit harsh on Edmund. He has been playing really well that last couple of years and has been making steady progress. I think today was a step to far though. I really think that you need to get to the latter stages of tournament's to build up the necessary reserves to win the tournament. If he can keep continue the progress i can see him landing a couple of slams.

I am looking forward to the ladies final, so much on the line for both players. My heart says Wozniacki and my head says Halep. Would love to see Wozniacki to get over the line.

jr86 · 25-01-2018 8:11pm

To be honest id eat my hat if Edmund ever won a slam never mind a few! They waited a good 70 odd years for murray!

lostcat · 25-01-2018 9:06pm

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

Not sure I should even bother with Federer-Chung, is there any hope of an upset there?

Hard to see it.

Chung looks quite good however;
-Zverev went away in the last set.
- against Djokovic, he got out in front in each set but Djokovic (with a hindered serve etc.) managed to almost reel him back in each time.

Having watched some of the Djokovic match again, it was a very good match and Djokovic actually played very well.

Chung does play a bit like a 'mini Djoko' and if that comparison extends to a similar 'screw you' mentality, it will be very interesting.

Federer-Djokovic has been by far my most enjoyable paring in recent years, and i'm interested in seeing if Federer-'Mini Djok' can compare.

Pistachios & cream · 26-01-2018 9:23am

Floppybits wrote: »

I am looking forward to the ladies final, so much on the line for both players. My heart says Wozniacki and my head says Halep. Would love to see Wozniacki to get over the line.

I’m almost the opposite as Halep has had the tougher draw, playing Pliskova and Kerber, but to be fair I’d be happy with either of these as champion.

Really interesting match with the no 1 seed playing the no 2 seed and the no 1 ranking for winner takes all. For both these players it would be a fitting match to win their first slam considering both have taken flak for being slamless no. 1s

jr86 · 26-01-2018 10:21am

Good tight match this!

You just have to say too good, how Federer can do this at 36 and a half is just incredible. There are absolutely zero signs of him slowing down

yerwanthere123 · 26-01-2018 10:27am

Going well for Chung here

Hector Savage · 26-01-2018 10:31am

Crikey !

Hector Savage · 26-01-2018 10:39am

Chung retires .... from blisters ????

Crikey!!!

jr86 · 26-01-2018 10:46am

In fairness blisters are a right killer but it shouldn't be forgotten he was getting thrashed anyway and if he really wants to make it to the top, he'll need to hopefully look past any excuses

Chivito550 · 26-01-2018 10:47am

Time on court:

Federer: 10 hrs 50
Cilic: 17 hrs 03

jr86 · 26-01-2018 10:57am

Can't say I give Cilic a prayer on Sunday, the only reason I may end up watching is to witness Federer's brilliance.

I went right off Cilic after his OTT performing act at the Wimbledon Final

The women's match should be a much more closely-fought affair. It's a pity it's not a 5-setter, I hope a bad start doesn't cost someone, as it has the potential to go either way

deeks · 26-01-2018 11:05am

mickmackey1 wrote: »

Can't find whether Halep would be the first Slam winner to have saved match points in TWO earlier rounds. I'd strongly favour her, Woz again showed a lot of nerves in closing out the 2nd set.

Says here that she is the first player in the open era to save match points in multiple matches en route to the final

http://www.bbc.com/sport/tennis/42830035

Gwynplaine · 26-01-2018 12:01pm

jr86 wrote: »

The women's match should be a much more closely-fought affair. It's a pity it's not a 5-setter, I hope a bad start doesn't cost someone, as it has the potential to go either way

It's ridiculous. Sometimes a match barely lasts an hour.
Equal pay for less play.

Australian Open 2018

Comments