Australian Open

[C4iLL]

Ouch hard score for Cerji, I would have imagine a 5 sets
VMoe-Uga result was a bit previsible regarding the h2h, it seems Uga definitely struggles against VMoe's style. It's a pity because he can really play at an awesome level.

Now the big clash of the SF with only one french left...

- AlexJasmins vs Felipe M : the two best players so far in 2013 (currently n°1 and n°2 at the ITST Race) will face each other in a remake of the Sydney ATP250 final.
Alex is now on a serie of 19 victories in a row but Felipe is one of the rare guy able to compete with him recently (lost at Sydney 3-6, 5-7).
Even if I can now admit I voted for Felipe as the winner of the AO, we can't say he's favourite here, but who knows

- VMoe vs Clog : a great opposition of style between one who stands out as the best defender of the tour, Clog and one of the most explosive from baseline, VMoe !
VMoe has only lost one match out of his 21 last and it was against Voja.. A defender...
Without a lot of experience Clog is the only player who has taken a set from Alex before the AO and has just beat in 3 sets the US Open winner Fox.
Regarding the style of Clog, the defeat of VMoe vs Voja at Bercy and the fact this will be a mathematicians confrontation, I think this match will last a lot.

[Felipe.M]

AlexJasmins def Cerji- 6/2 6/1 6/2

I just did the match of my life, I played incredibly well, we had amazing rallies one of them was 117 Strikes(INSANE), and we were both playign all round the court. I was more versatile, i did dropshots, i opened angles,came to the net i guess that surprised him a bit cause I changed my style a lot. He's anamazing player and one fo the best, and I'm so happy and glad i won it. I wish him the best for 2013

That beast alex, I hope to make you a pair of games

[eliomelma]

Ouch hard score for Cerji, I would have imagine a 5 sets
VMoe-Uga result was a bit previsible regarding the h2h, it seems Uga definitely struggles against VMoe's style. It's a pity because he can really play at an awesome level.

Now the big clash of the SF with only one french left...

- AlexJasmins vs Felipe M : the two best players so far in 2013 (currently n°1 and n°2 at the ITST Race) will face each other in a remake of the Sydney ATP250 final.
Alex is now on a serie of 19 victories in a row but Felipe is one of the rare guy able to compete with him recently (lost at Sydney 3-6, 5-7).
Even if I can now admit I voted for Felipe as the winner of the AO, we can't say he's favourite here, but who knows

- VMoe vs Clog : a great opposition of style between one who stands out as the best defender of the tour, Clog and one of the most explosive from baseline, VMoe !
VMoe has only lost one match out of his 21 last and it was against Voja.. A defender...
Without a lot of experience Clog is the only player who has taken a set from Alex before the AO and has just beat in 3 sets the US Open winner Fox.
Regarding the style of Clog, the defeat of VMoe vs Voja at Bercy and the fact this will be a mathematicians confrontation, I think this match will last a lot.

Awesome semifinal review !

[Clog]

Ouch hard score for Cerji, I would have imagine a 5 sets
VMoe-Uga result was a bit previsible regarding the h2h, it seems Uga definitely struggles against VMoe's style. It's a pity because he can really play at an awesome level.

Now the big clash of the SF with only one french left...

- AlexJasmins vs Felipe M : the two best players so far in 2013 (currently n°1 and n°2 at the ITST Race) will face each other in a remake of the Sydney ATP250 final.
Alex is now on a serie of 19 victories in a row but Felipe is one of the rare guy able to compete with him recently (lost at Sydney 3-6, 5-7).
Even if I can now admit I voted for Felipe as the winner of the AO, we can't say he's favourite here, but who knows

- VMoe vs Clog : a great opposition of style between one who stands out as the best defender of the tour, Clog and one of the most explosive from baseline, VMoe !
VMoe has only lost one match out of his 21 last and it was against Voja.. A defender...
Without a lot of experience Clog is the only player who has taken a set from Alex before the AO and has just beat in 3 sets the US Open winner Fox.
Regarding the style of Clog, the defeat of VMoe vs Voja at Bercy and the fact this will be a mathematicians confrontation, I think this match will last a lot.

Great review indeed ! This may be stupid from me, but it really made me realise that we were 77 at the beginning, and I'm part of the four guys who are still alive (EDIT : And I just realised I'm the only unseeded one from the four semifinalists)... That's crazy especially since I was kind of destroyed after my loss to Butcher in a Future Final.
And well yeah, I'm the only one who won a set against Alex before the AO, this was 6/1. But there has been another great player since that time, who has taken another one from him, and this was 6/0 !! right ? ^^

[inseedious]

This is what happens to real pro players...
http://youtu.be/S9foAe38cz8

After 117 shots they would be died/zombie.

[Marco_Theo_81]

Hi guys

How are the ITST friends?

Is there any possibility to watch live the semi finals? I don't mean live scoring durning the matches, kind of live ticker, but effectively wathing them live. Would be avesome.

Maybe end of this month i will try to come back, just to much love in this game.
Played online under incognito conditions after a long non gaming time and have to say, the game for me seems so slow after the build update. Lost 1:6 with Fed. But ok, maybe I just had a to long break. Need some sparring. Hope to meet friendly guys in the chat, that help me to come back stronger than i was!! ARRRRGGGRR

ciao belli

[VMoe86]

This is what happens to real pro players...
http://youtu.be/S9foAe38cz8

After 117 shots they would be died/zombie.

Depends of course what they are trying during the rally: Pusher vs. pusher or -- as in this video -- Gasquet and Dimitrov both trying to win the point. Nice stats here from the AO:

http://www.australianopen.com/en_AU/scores/extrastats/rally_count_ms.html

[inseedious]

This is what happens to real pro players...
http://youtu.be/S9foAe38cz8

After 117 shots they would be died/zombie.

Depends of course what they are trying during the rally: Pusher vs. pusher or -- as in this video -- Gasquet and Dimitrov both trying to win the point. Nice stats here from the AO:

http://www.australianopen.com/en_AU/scores/extrastats/rally_count_ms.html

Of course mine was an ironic/provocatory example

[VMoe86]

Of course mine was an ironic/provocatory example

I want two new gestures now: "Cramping" and "Vomiting".

[inseedious]

Lol

[Cerji]

About my match with Alex, I know he's hyped on the result but honestly i found the match pretty boring, the beggining was kinda close i got 4 BP on his first two games but my stamina was gone by the fourth game and from there it was pretty much just endless empty-stamina rallys...

Anyway he was playing great, better than me obviously but I hope that something will be done about that aspect of the game.
We'll probably meet again in Zagreb if i can beat Woowhat (which is not gonna be easy) and i guess the match will be more interesting for me playing with Raonic.

[Florian]

About my match with Alex, I know he's hyped on the result but honestly i found the match pretty boring, the beggining was kinda close i got 4 BP on his first two games but my stamina was gone by the fourth game and from there it was pretty much just endless empty-stamina rallys...

Anyway he was playing great, better than me obviously but I hope that something will be done about that aspect of the game.
We'll probably meet again in Zagreb if i can beat Woowhat (which is not gonna be easy) and i guess the match will be more interesting for me playing with Raonic.

I ve watched parts of your match, and i really feel sorry for you Jerôme, losing to such kind of terrible tennis is about the worst that can happen in that game because there is simply no fun in fighting a pusher sending moonballs, fighting your own stamina, and fighting the current flaws of that game. As it is right now Murray is a better player than Djoko when playing on a relatively bouncy surface as plexicushion is, simply because Djoko's shoulder accels don't change much (oh yeah they do, actually you might get more deep mishits back) since you re almost never in the case of hitting them relatively close to your baseline, so Murray reaches more (he's taller with same speed and better stamina), defends better, has a slight advantage in terms of reaching at the net, a better serve, and a better bh.
Alex here thinks those moonballs rallies are amazing, because that's how he's got fun in that game, by never trying to win the point except when in great conditions to hit a crosscourt accel. I think we will all agree to say this is the most boring and painfull kind tennis you can play or watch here. Again sorry for you Jerôme but as the game is, everything is built so that defending is much easier and rewarding than attacking.

[C4iLL]

I really don't agree about the fact Murray would be currently better than Djokovic.

With the high speed of Djokovic and the fact Murray is a defender (no accel bonus) + the average lift of Djokovic, you can't hit a single winner with this Murray vs a good Djokovic...
On the contrary, Djokovic can easily hit winners to a good Murray with his puncher style + wings, so for me this match-up is totally unbalanced in the favour of Djokovic.

And don't say it's impossible to hit winners vs Alex-Murray : I hit a lot of them with Gasquet vs him in the last two sets of AO...
So with Djokovic who has a far better FH and approximately the same BH, it may be far easier !
And regarding the practice sets I played against all of you, I'm far from being better than you guys ^^

Now, I haven't watched the replay of Cerji, neither the previous matches of Alex against all of you, but what I'm sure of, is that Alex is totally beatable with this Murray, even with a tier2 character.

If he is currently a steamroller, it's because none of you are apparently able to find the good tactical answer to what he offers.
Technically speaking, it's obvious you all have a great level, but unfortunately, it seems you still have a lot of progress to do in terms of adaptation and tactical thinking in a match. And sorry Florian, you the first regarding your "stamina" defeat vs Cerji :/

Don't take that personally I'm just saying the truth, I have nothing against you guys !

[Florian]

I really don't agree about the fact Murray would be currently better than Djokovic.

With the high speed of Djokovic and the fact Murray is a defender (no accel bonus) + the average lift of Djokovic, you can't hit a single winner with this Murray vs a good Djokovic...
On the contrary, Djokovic can easily hit winners to a good Murray with his puncher style + wings, so for me this match-up is totally unbalanced in the favour of Djokovic.

Wrong, Djoko isn't anything close to a puncher, his net is pretty poor if you don't make it on the first volley (and you mostly won't when you have to do risky net rushes).
Murray is taller than Djoko and has the same speed, plus he defends less efficiently since he doesn't have the spin bonus Murray gets. So he reaches more, and it applies for the net as well since his net pres is 9% higher.

Djoko with his slightly better fh than Murray is extremely solid, but doesn't really have a decisive weapon on such a surface (certainly not his serve, nor his net, nor a big fh like Tsonga Delpo or others from Tier2, even Fed).
And watch the .dmo, you'll see he can't hit through a great Murray mover, and i consider that currently Cerji is one of the best for attacking.

[C4iLL]

Djokovic has one of the best FH and the best BH you can't deny that !
Indeed his net volley is not good at all, but it's not important as you can hit deep fast shot with him and his accel bonus from baseline.

No honestly, I don't agree. Especially because I was able to hit winners from baseline with Gasquet vs Alex-Murray (and vs Fox-Murray as well) whereas this was totally impossible against you playing Djokovic or even Felipe playing Djokovic.