🎾Australian Open 🎾
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jodeke
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 21, 2020 1:11 pm    Post subject: 🎾Australian Open 🎾

Is anyone watching the Open? I've been so locked on our country's problems I forgot it was on.

Naomi Osaka vs Zheng Saisai on at 4:00 today. I'm gonna start to watch some matches.

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PostPosted: Tue Jan 21, 2020 1:29 pm    Post subject:

how has the smoke been for it?
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jodeke
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 21, 2020 2:11 pm    Post subject:

PHILosophize wrote:
how has the smoke been for it?

The smoke is affecting some players.

Australian Open chief says tournament will go ahead despite air quality concerns

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Quote:
The Australian Open will go ahead as scheduled next week despite continuing concerns about the air quality in Melbourne, according to the grand slam's tournament director Craig Tiley.

The city has been affected by the widespread bushfires that have ravaged the country and organizers have come in for heavy criticism from players for allowing the qualifying rounds to go ahead with Melbourne enveloped by smoke haze.


Quote:
Earlier this week, Slovenia's Dalila Jakupovic was forced to quit her qualifying match while she was leading after succumbing to a coughing fit brought on by the bush fire smoke.

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Last edited by jodeke on Tue Jan 21, 2020 3:35 pm; edited 1 time in total
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ChickenStu
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 21, 2020 3:33 pm    Post subject:

Of course I'm watching; the late-night hours are perfect viewing hours for me, too!
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jodeke
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 21, 2020 3:37 pm    Post subject:

ChickenStu wrote:
Of course I'm watching; the late-night hours are perfect viewing hours for me, too!

What time does the Open air late night?
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 21, 2020 5:45 pm    Post subject:

jodeke wrote:
ChickenStu wrote:
Of course I'm watching; the late-night hours are perfect viewing hours for me, too!

What time does the Open air late night?


They usually air matches live up until 3AM or so, local California time. I think it's about a 20-hour difference, so when play starts on my TV every day at around 4PM or so, that means it's about noon (the following day) in Australia. So if the day's action wraps up around 3AM or so, that means it's about 11PM local Australia time, which sounds about right as to when a night session might end in Melbourne.
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jodeke
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 21, 2020 8:51 pm    Post subject:

I'm in Los Angeles so we get the matches at the same time. Djokovic playing Ito now. 6 1, 6 4 Joker.

Naomi Osaka bested Zheng Saisai 6 2, 6 4

One of my favorites Coco Gauff beat Sorana Cîrstea 4 6, 6 3, 7 5.
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 21, 2020 11:24 pm    Post subject:

Sandgren just upset the #8 seed, the Italian Berrettini, who made a great run at the US Open. Sandgren won the first 2 sets and it ended up going 5 sets. Sandgren was down love-40 on his serve at 3-4 and he dug out of that, and he ended up breaking at 5-5 and winning 7-5.

Sandgren made the quarters here at the AO 2 years ago, so he apparently likes playing on the courts in Melbourne.
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 22, 2020 9:55 am    Post subject:

Gauff really is something to fight back like she did in the third. Hard to see an average or better Osaka losing to her though at this point. Coco's forehand is a little iffy but sheesh she's 15. So tough mentally too.

Same goes for Tommy Paul. Think he's easy to root for and mental game seems really strong too. Stayed up late unintentionally watching his fifth set. Quite talented American with great hands and instincts and sudden power who was down and out almost in the fifth and injured and fought back to win in five. While Tiafoe has a ton of talent but disappointing in semibig matches, and Opelka and Fritz are all right and improving but not that fun to watch, this kid is destined for the top 20 according to McEnroe plus creative. Yesterday he showed a lot of heart, too. Glad he's around for another couple days at least.
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jodeke
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 22, 2020 10:56 am    Post subject:

focus wrote:
Gauff really is something to fight back like she did in the third. Hard to see an average or better Osaka losing to her though at this point. Coco's forehand is a little iffy but sheesh she's 15. So tough mentally too.

Same goes for Tommy Paul. Think he's easy to root for and mental game seems really strong too. Stayed up late unintentionally watching his fifth set. Quite talented American with great hands and instincts and sudden power who was down and out almost in the fifth and injured and fought back to win in five. While Tiafoe has a ton of talent but disappointing in semibig matches, and Opelka and Fritz are all right and improving but not that fun to watch, this kid is destined for the top 20 according to McEnroe plus creative. Yesterday he showed a lot of heart, too. Glad he's around for another couple days at least.

Seems like Coco has to be behind to get it in gear. She looks to have gain a pound or two. Naomi looks to have lost a few pounds as does her mother

Coco can match her power. With these two it's all about the fight in the dog. Osaka let her emotions show in her last match. She showed something when she quickly got them under control.
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 22, 2020 4:10 pm    Post subject:

focus wrote:
Gauff really is something to fight back like she did in the third. Hard to see an average or better Osaka losing to her though at this point. Coco's forehand is a little iffy but sheesh she's 15. So tough mentally too.

Same goes for Tommy Paul. Think he's easy to root for and mental game seems really strong too. Stayed up late unintentionally watching his fifth set. Quite talented American with great hands and instincts and sudden power who was down and out almost in the fifth and injured and fought back to win in five. While Tiafoe has a ton of talent but disappointing in semibig matches, and Opelka and Fritz are all right and improving but not that fun to watch, this kid is destined for the top 20 according to McEnroe plus creative. Yesterday he showed a lot of heart, too. Glad he's around for another couple days at least.


Yeah this is good stuff, focus. I agree that Paul has the foundation for a pretty strong game. His backhand is similar in stroke-style to Kyrgios, and his first serve is huge. Does need to improve his second serve. As for Gauff, you're totally right about her forehand. It's a weak shot compared to most of the top 20-40 women and she's going to need to improve that. But she's 15 so that very well could come. She has a very good first serve already, which is important. Opelka's ceiling is probably similar to what we've seen from Isner. He's super tall, has a gigantic first serve, has a big forehand, but movement is always going to be an issue.
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 23, 2020 8:46 pm    Post subject:

Down goes Serena. I’ve never been much of a fan of hers, but it’s still sad to see a great athlete on the downside.
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 23, 2020 9:09 pm    Post subject:

Disappointed with Serena losing, after she fought back to stave off the other woman serving for the match in the second, but Wang played better than her all of what I saw in the third, and is a fine player. Same thing I think, emotions getting to her plus a quality opponent. It's possible it's a permanent characteristic now with all these losses that seem due in good part to her emotions. Lots of recent evidence to suggest she won't get another.
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 23, 2020 9:23 pm    Post subject:

ChickenStu wrote:
focus wrote:
Gauff really is something to fight back like she did in the third. Hard to see an average or better Osaka losing to her though at this point. Coco's forehand is a little iffy but sheesh she's 15. So tough mentally too.

Same goes for Tommy Paul. Think he's easy to root for and mental game seems really strong too. Stayed up late unintentionally watching his fifth set. Quite talented American with great hands and instincts and sudden power who was down and out almost in the fifth and injured and fought back to win in five. While Tiafoe has a ton of talent but disappointing in semibig matches, and Opelka and Fritz are all right and improving but not that fun to watch, this kid is destined for the top 20 according to McEnroe plus creative. Yesterday he showed a lot of heart, too. Glad he's around for another couple days at least.


Yeah this is good stuff, focus. I agree that Paul has the foundation for a pretty strong game. His backhand is similar in stroke-style to Kyrgios, and his first serve is huge. Does need to improve his second serve. As for Gauff, you're totally right about her forehand. It's a weak shot compared to most of the top 20-40 women and she's going to need to improve that. But she's 15 so that very well could come. She has a very good first serve already, which is important. Opelka's ceiling is probably similar to what we've seen from Isner. He's super tall, has a gigantic first serve, has a big forehand, but movement is always going to be an issue.

Re Opelka, I agree and that Isner ceiling is a darn good one actually, top 10 consistent and long career. I feel like Opelka has slightly more power actually on the ground and I'm not quite sure on the serve. If I remember correctly, Isner's serve even as a young player was probably the best from the get go. That's not what I think I've seen or heard about Opelka. Guys break him. Isner young I think just lost a bunch of tiebreak matches then won some then won most. I sort of think Opelka at his peak might reach a bit higher level bc I think his ground game has more potential. I vaguely recall thinking that his movement was also better and looked more like an NBA athlete than sort of awkward Isner. So Opelka I'm very curious about his development and have a slight hope that he is a Slam contender at some point. I don't feel that way about the rest but I never thought Medvedev had the game before last year to do much really. Now I see potential best of the postbig3 as a possibility. His mental game is probably right there with the big 3 just lacking the experience. He is not at all intimidated. Never seen a player like this guy.

As always, the mental game will be the differentiator between the up and comers. Seems clear already that Gauff has the mental make up. Osaka I saw the game but didn't predict that the mental was there. So maybe there's something lurking in one of the Americans that we'll see. (Sort of like Brandon Ingram...develop steadily develop steadily suddenly kaboom new plateau transformation) De Minaur on the Aussie side you can see he's already one of the mentally strongest players on tour. Kyrgios, on the other hand...
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 23, 2020 9:28 pm    Post subject:

jodeke wrote:
focus wrote:
Gauff really is something to fight back like she did in the third. Hard to see an average or better Osaka losing to her though at this point. Coco's forehand is a little iffy but sheesh she's 15. So tough mentally too.

Same goes for Tommy Paul. Think he's easy to root for and mental game seems really strong too. Stayed up late unintentionally watching his fifth set. Quite talented American with great hands and instincts and sudden power who was down and out almost in the fifth and injured and fought back to win in five. While Tiafoe has a ton of talent but disappointing in semibig matches, and Opelka and Fritz are all right and improving but not that fun to watch, this kid is destined for the top 20 according to McEnroe plus creative. Yesterday he showed a lot of heart, too. Glad he's around for another couple days at least.

Seems like Coco has to be behind to get it in gear. She looks to have gain a pound or two. Naomi looks to have lost a few pounds as does her mother

Coco can match her power. With these two it's all about the fight in the dog. Osaka let her emotions show in her last match. She showed something when she quickly got them under control.
She looks stronger, doesn't she? Great sign of work ethic that she did that in the offseason. At 15! I hope she keeps her head and has patience and things don't get overwhelming with the success that she will probably have over the next few years.
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 23, 2020 10:28 pm    Post subject:

Kyrgios is a mental midget.

As for Serena, I didn't see the match tonight, as I was playing tennis myself. But it just seems to me that she can lose to virtually anyone now. I know she made two major finals last year, but even much lower-ranked players can pull upsets against her if they can just keep the scoreline close. In her 2nd round match, she was playing someone I had never heard of, and she pasted her in the first set. Then the second set the score stayed close, and all of a sudden in the middle of the set Serena was just making errors left and right. She was literally screaming when she would win a point, just to try to let go of all of the obvious tension she was feeling. She ended up pulling out that 2nd set, but I thought it was a really bad sign. I don't know if Serena was just tight in this match or what, but it just seems to me that she really, really gets tense and feels the pressure anytime the score gets close midway through a set, regardless of opponent.
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 24, 2020 1:28 am    Post subject:

Coco just beat Osaka! YESSSSSSSS! (I am not an Osaka fan at all.)

Both sets were 3-3, and Osaka proceeded to self-destruct in both sets. She was just spraying balls everywhere, long, into the net, wide, didn't matter. Gauff truly wasn't doing anything special but using her movement and keeping the ball in, and was just letting Osaka beat herself. It was like watching a USTA 4.0 match or something, where the pusher isn't going to beat himself or herself and the bigger hitter just can't get anything in.
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 24, 2020 2:31 am    Post subject:

Missed the Osaka, Gauff match. I didn't like what I saw in Naomi in her last match. Her temperament was off. The normally controlled Naomi lost her temper once or twice. Big stage may be getting to her. Coco on the other hand seems to thrive on pressure. She plays better from behind.
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 24, 2020 4:49 am    Post subject:

jodeke wrote:
Missed the Osaka, Gauff match. I didn't like what I saw in Naomi in her last match. Her temperament was off. The normally controlled Naomi lost her temper once or twice. Big stage may be getting to her. Coco on the other hand seems to thrive on pressure. She plays better from behind.


Osaka has had a lot of attitude issues on the court. This is nothing new. One of the reasons that I don't like her. (I should note that I'm not saying she's a bad person, but, rather, that I don't like her attitude on the court so I'm not going to root for her.) She even said in her post-match press conference that she lacks the cutting edge to be a true champion. Pretty telling, if you ask me.

Oh, and Federer is now battling in a fifth set with Millman. Recall that Millman took him out at the US Open a couple of years back, and he's always played him tough.
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 24, 2020 4:51 am    Post subject:

Millman just broke Federer and leads 2-1 in the fifth set.
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 24, 2020 5:53 am    Post subject:

A stunning finish just happened, as it looked like Federer was going to lose, down 4-8 in the fifth set match tiebreak. (It's first to 10 points rather than 7 points in the fifth set at the AO, in case anyone isn't aware.) Millman was up 8-5 with 2 points on his own serve, but made 2 simple errors and Federer ended up winning the final 6 points. Millman had played an incredible first 12 points of the breaker but it came apart for him in those final 6 points.

Federer must have made something like 80 errors tonight. It wasn't pretty, but he's moving on.
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 24, 2020 6:01 am    Post subject:

Epic comeback by Fed!
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 24, 2020 7:38 am    Post subject:

Yeah Federer’s days of winning a grand slam looks over. He had that run when Djokovic was in a slump but it’s not looking good for him now.
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 24, 2020 8:36 am    Post subject:

Last match I caught was Serena Williams and Qiang Wang. Watching MY Lakers. She lost 6 4, 6 7, 7 5. She didn't seem to have have the fire of Serena of old. Her body language caused me to think she would lose the match early on. I wonder how much she has left? Both Williams sisters are gone. Coco dispatched Venus 7 6, 6 3. Venus hasn't been relevant for some time.
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 24, 2020 8:47 am    Post subject:

Tennis is a young person's game, its surprising she is still on the circuit even at 38. Most females retire in their early 30's.
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