🎾 Australian Open 🎾
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jodeke
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 08, 2021 6:46 pm    Post subject: 🎾 Australian Open 🎾

I didn't see an Australian Open thread so I thought I'd start one. I be watching how far Coco Gauff goes. The time has come for her to show what she's really made of.
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 08, 2021 8:50 pm    Post subject:

Not a fan of the guy, but this is Novak Djokovic's event and he is the GOAT. I have seen too many Federer-Djokovic soul-crushing matches but to just accept the fact that he is the best I have ever seen. The shot tolerance, defense, backhand down the line and great serve (although not on Fed's level on this one nor is he on Fed's level with the forehand - at least Fed's forehand at his best). Simply the best.
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 08, 2021 9:51 pm    Post subject:

Nadal is playing right now, and apparently he came into this event with some back troubles. He doesn't look like he's even close to his normal self, although he's still up 2 sets to none in this first round match. If he doesn't have another gear up from this physically, he won't make the final. Oddsmakers actually are favoring Medvedev to come out of his section. Of course the Joker is still the overall tournament favorite for the men.
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DuncanIdaho
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 09, 2021 12:58 pm    Post subject:

Djokovic should be going for 19 instead of 18 here. Still can't get over that situation that caused him to get DQ'd out of the USO.
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jodeke
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 09, 2021 5:36 pm    Post subject:

DuncanIdaho wrote:
Djokovic should be going for 19 instead of 18 here. Still can't get over that situation that caused him to get DQ'd out of the USO.


Joker was reckless. Though accidental he should have been DQ'd. He admits as much in the video. His temper has long been his bane.
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 09, 2021 5:40 pm    Post subject:

jodeke wrote:
DuncanIdaho wrote:
Djokovic should be going for 19 instead of 18 here. Still can't get over that situation that caused him to get DQ'd out of the USO.


Joker was reckless. Though accidental he should have been DQ'd. He admits as much in the video. His temper has long been his bane.
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Yeah, it was totally reckless and he had a golden road to the title too.

In other news, Hsieh just knocked out Andreescu! I love her game
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jodeke
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 09, 2021 5:46 pm    Post subject:

Father Time may be catching up with Serena. She pulled out of the AO because of a shoulder injury.
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Last edited by jodeke on Tue Feb 09, 2021 6:40 pm; edited 2 times in total
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DuncanIdaho
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 09, 2021 6:36 pm    Post subject:

jodeke wrote:
Father Time is catching up to Serena. She pulled out of the AO because of a shoulder injury.


I haven't seen this anywhere. Are you sure that wasn't the warm up tourney before the AO?
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jodeke
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 09, 2021 6:46 pm    Post subject:

DuncanIdaho wrote:
jodeke wrote:
Father Time is catching up to Serena. She pulled out of the AO because of a shoulder injury.


I haven't seen this anywhere. Are you sure that wasn't the warm up tourney before the AO?

You right. I was a warm up tourney. My bad.
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 09, 2021 7:01 pm    Post subject:

jodeke wrote:
DuncanIdaho wrote:
jodeke wrote:
Father Time is catching up to Serena. She pulled out of the AO because of a shoulder injury.


I haven't seen this anywhere. Are you sure that wasn't the warm up tourney before the AO?

You right. I was a warm up tourney. My bad.


phew!
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jodeke
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 09, 2021 7:24 pm    Post subject:

DuncanIdaho wrote:
jodeke wrote:
DuncanIdaho wrote:
jodeke wrote:
Father Time is catching up to Serena. She pulled out of the AO because of a shoulder injury.


I haven't seen this anywhere. Are you sure that wasn't the warm up tourney before the AO?

You right. I was a warm up tourney. My bad.


phew!


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PostPosted: Tue Feb 09, 2021 11:23 pm    Post subject:

Tiafoe played really well until the end of the 4th. If he can work on his conditioning and consistency he has a bright future.
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ChickenStu
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 10, 2021 1:17 am    Post subject:

DuncanIdaho wrote:
Tiafoe played really well until the end of the 4th. If he can work on his conditioning and consistency he has a bright future.


It was a shame to see him mentally unravel during that 3-3 game in the 4th. Up 30-love, he hit a first serve that looked really close to the back of the service line and, in fact, it looked like it skidded to me, often an indication that it hit the line (the ball will do that off the painted lines pretty often). Djokovic's return went into the net but it was called long by the electronic Hawkeye system. (To anyone not aware, there are no linespeople due to COVID protocols, and everything is just done electronically now, no challenges or anything.) Anyway, he was annoyed with that, and it ended up 30-30 in the game after a long rally went to Djokovic. Tiafoe stepped to the line to serve after a long point and after toweling off and he was called for a time violation, apparently his second, so it became a second serve. He was livid, saying that it was ridiculous to start the serve clock immediately after such a long point. (Usually the chair umpire will use discretion and give them a few extra seconds after such a long point.) He lost that point and then the next one to lose the game. After he lost that service game, he just kind of went away.

If he can get it together mentally, there's a lot of foundation there. Good off both wings, moves like a gazelle, and has a big first serve. On the down side, his second serve needs work, and although he moves great, his defensive skills once he gets to the ball are pretty ordinary for a pro. There really is an art to keeping yourself in a point when you're on the run, and the top-level pros are incredible at it. Still, the kid has been in the top 30 before, and I believe he can get there again. Whether or not he can become a top 10 guy, I doubt it, but would love to be wrong.
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 11, 2021 4:03 pm    Post subject:

Kenin went out easily to big hitter Kanepi. She's accustomed to upsetting big names. Kyrgios plays Thiem one of these days. Medvedev looks strong. Nadal usual dominance. Coco Gauff out to top player but not playing for much of a year not great for anyone, especially a developing young player. Osaka plays an interesting fun to watch player. Tsitsipas had a barnburner with a tough young Aussie. Serena looking pretty fit. If that translates to much better movement than she has showed since she came back, then she might get it. I think Osaka gets it though. Or Barty on home soil.
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 11, 2021 4:54 pm    Post subject:

focus wrote:
Kenin went out easily to big hitter Kanepi. She's accustomed to upsetting big names. Kyrgios plays Thiem one of these days. Medvedev looks strong. Nadal usual dominance. Coco Gauff out to top player but not playing for much of a year not great for anyone, especially a developing young player. Osaka plays an interesting fun to watch player. Tsitsipas had a barnburner with a tough young Aussie. Serena looking pretty fit. If that translates to much better movement than she has showed since she came back, then she might get it. I think Osaka gets it though. Or Barty on home soil.


Barty has struggled at her home Slam and she was incredibly lucky to get through her match in straight sets yesterday, as she basically unraveled after being up 5-2 in the second. Gavrilova, her opponent, simply couldn't take advantage in the tiebreak. I don't see Barty winning it.

Kanepi is a huge hitter and since the court is playing fast this year, yeah, that really wasn't a gigantic upset in hindsight.

I thought Gauff played pretty well, actually, but Svitolina was really in control of her game last night. There were only 2 breaks of serve, so the scoreline wasn't really indicative of how solid the play was. Gauff is still so, so young. Big future ahead.

Jen Brady, a semifinalist at the US Open last year, still looks like she's really in strong form. Wouldn't be surprised to see her make another deep run. She'll be dangerous against anyone.

I agree that Medvedev looks outstanding. He and Nadal could meet in a semifinal. I thought Nadal looked much, much better last night against Mmoh than he did in his first round match. He was moving so much better and the ball was being struck so much more cleanly by him. Let's hope that his back isn't an issue moving forward.
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 11, 2021 7:13 pm    Post subject:

I don't know if Serena is going to pull this match out against Potapova. They are going to a first set tiebreak. But other than her serve, which is still strong, she is a poor player. Movement is substandard and she just makes errors left and right if you keep the rally going.

Number 24 seems a long way away, as she nears 40. I don't see it happening.
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 11, 2021 7:25 pm    Post subject:

It was just announced that there has been a 5-day lockdown imposed in Victoria (Melbourne). No fans will be allowed going forward. They mentioned last night that there had been some positive cases at one of the hotels where the players had previously quarantined, so I can only assume this is related to that somehow.
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jodeke
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 11, 2021 8:13 pm    Post subject:

I left to have dinner. Serena won the first game 2nd set. Came back about 30 minutes later the match was over. 7 6 -- 6 2
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 11, 2021 8:19 pm    Post subject:

jodeke wrote:
I left to have dinner. Serena won the first game 2nd set. Came back about 30 minutes later the match was over. 7 6 -- 6 2


I wonder what the odds will be for her next match, but I am expecting Sabalenka to beat her.
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 12, 2021 12:00 am    Post subject:

I've been watching Karatsev destroy Schwartzman, the #8 seed, and I can't believe that this dude has never made a dent on the ATP Tour before the tournament, literally. He's 27 and has basically been a challenger-level player up until this year. He looks incredible. Massive power off both wings yet he isn't overdoing it with effort on those shots. Big serve and that includes a strong second serve. If you didn't know any better, just from watching this dude, you'd think he was one of the top players on tour.

6-3, 6-3, 6-3. Less than 2 hours. And Schwartzman is legit. Karatsev just hit him off the court, and went right through him. He hasn't lost a set yet in his matches. I wouldn't want to play this guy right now. And I had never heard of him before today.
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 12, 2021 3:04 am    Post subject:

This Kyrgios-Thiem match is going the distance. Kyrgios got the crowd into a frenzy early, basically turning it into a Davis Cup atmosphere, winning the first 2 sets. In the first game of the third set he had 2 break points and couldn't break, then got broken himself in the second game. Then in the fourth set, at 4-4 and serving with an ad, he attempted a between-the-legs half volley as he came to net off a serve. It failed spectacularly, he lost the game, and now it's two sets apiece. That was the second time he attempted that in the match, both failing. The dude is just such a mental case. It's great to be a showman, but at 4-4 at game point in the 4th set, it's just absolutely ridiculous that he would attempt that.

All the talent in the world. Still could win this match. But he has a ten cent head. So unfortunate.
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 12, 2021 3:14 am    Post subject:

I should also note that Kyrgios has also attempted a few underhanded serves because Thiem is standing so far behind the baseline on the first serve. He's only missed one, and each time he hasn't lost the point outright on the return and, in fact, even has 2 aces from it. At least there's a logical reason to try to pull that off.

Kyrgios has also been assessed two code violations so far, so he's already been docked a point. If he gets another code it's a game penalty.

It's on serve early in the fifth at 2-2.
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 12, 2021 4:10 am    Post subject:

Thiem prevailed 6-4 in the fifth. He had the mettle when it mattered, closing brilliantly.

Meanwhile, Djokovic looked to be cruising against Fritz after winning the first 2 sets, but he has injured his side and just lost the third set. He's wincing in pain noticeably and his movement is very compromised right now. This is going to get really interesting if his pain doesn't go away and if he can't move better than this. Also, the fans have to leave in 20 minutes because of the imposed lockdown in Victoria.
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 12, 2021 4:30 am    Post subject:

Djokovic is down a break in the 4th and is seriously compromised. If his condition doesn't change, he will lose this match. What a major development this is.
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 12, 2021 5:23 am    Post subject:

Well, Djokovic won 6-2 in the fifth. His condition improved a little, but he was still clearly compromised. Fritz basically choked in the fifth. Reminds me of Sandgren last year against a clearly compromised Federer, if you can remember that. In that case, it was worse, I think, as Sandgren blew a bunch of match points.

Now the issue will be whether or not Djokovic is compromised in the next match. Better players will take him out easily if his movement is even a little bit off.
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