Australian Open 2013

[Corbon]

Quali rounds have started so it's officially on.

Let's watch the draw being fixed so that Djokovic and Murray, which seems to be the new top rivalry, won't meet in the semifinal, although with Nadal being out I can see Federer spoiling the party. 2013 might be the last year where Fed can truly stay competitive in big tournaments. All we know for certain is that Ferrer won't win

Also if Serena wins it all, she'll definitely replace Azarenka at the Top, thanks to her lousy early season run in 2012.

[Rogael Naderer]

So what do u think Djokovic will draw Ferrer or Murray will draw Ferrer in semis?

Murray has still not proven that he can beat Federer in slams so if they want a Djokovic-Murray final, they should put Ferrer in Murray's half. Although Murray-Ferrer matches are quite close (close 4 setter at WImbly 2012 and Ferrer winning their RG match) but usually Murray is a favourite against Ferrer. Djokovic will have no problems whatsoever against either Ferrer or even Federer for that matter on this slow court

I dont see anyone stopping Djokovic at AO. Only Murray has an outside chance.

As far as WTA is concerned, Serena will blast everyone and win without dropping a set

Edit - I just realised Ferrer is seeded 4th so he cant draw Murray so the Scott faces either djokovic or federer in semis. So barring any upset, Murray has to beat two top 3 players to win which is a huge ask. Murray is screwed

[Corbon]

The 25 sec serve rule has been enforced strictly by some refs at Doha, would love to the same at the AO.

[Martan]

ah.. poor Djokovic

[ICEMAN_9588]

So what do u think Djokovic will draw Ferrer or Murray will draw Ferrer in semis?

Murray has still not proven that he can beat Federer in slams so if they want a Djokovic-Murray final, they should put Ferrer in Murray's half. Although Murray-Ferrer matches are quite close (close 4 setter at WImbly 2012 and Ferrer winning their RG match) but usually Murray is a favourite against Ferrer. Djokovic will have no problems whatsoever against either Ferrer or even Federer for that matter on this slow court

I dont see anyone stopping Djokovic at AO. Only Murray has an outside chance.

As far as WTA is concerned, Serena will blast everyone and win without dropping a set

Edit - I just realised Ferrer is seeded 4th so he cant draw Murray so the Scott faces either djokovic or federer in semis. So barring any upset, Murray has to beat two top 3 players to win which is a huge ask. Murray is screwed

I bet Murray will be on Federer side...

[ICEMAN_9588]

The 25 sec serve rule has been enforced strictly by some refs at Doha, would love to the same at the AO.

The rule won't be applied in Grand Slams tournaments and Davis/Fed Cup, cause they're not under the control of ATP, they're still part of ITF.

For Australian Open in particular, I think it's a good thing. Australian summer weather could be sultry.
Expecially during the daylight matches, and after long rallies, 25 seconds seem to be too short rest for players, female above all.

By the way, I just readt that Isner has withdrawn from Australian Open cause of that knee contusion he got a few days ago.
Doctor recommended him 3-4 days of rest, but that meant compromise tournament preparation.
Isner said he must decide in 24 hours, and he left cause he tought he could win only 1 or 2 matches during the tournament.

[Corbon]

It's not too short, it will force players to adapt and less downtime is always a good thing for spectators (they pay the bills after all) and viewers at home. Besides, players like Fed need 15-20 sec to serve and he doesn't exactly suck at serving.

That sucks for Isner but he's never done well in Slams anyway besides one QF.

[ICEMAN_9588]

I bet Murray will be on Federer side...

Too easy XD

[ICEMAN_9588]

It's not too short, it will force players to adapt and less downtime is always a good thing for spectators (they pay the bills after all) and viewers at home. Besides, players like Fed need 15-20 sec to serve and he doesn't exactly suck at serving.

That sucks for Isner but he's never done well in Slams anyway besides one QF.

You're right, but I'm not saying players should rest 1 minute after a rally. I just think that in Australia, or in places with very hot weather conditions, referees should have some good sense after long rallies.
I mean, if you just won a 40 shots rally in 3rd set of a daylight match, I can understand if you take 30-35 seconds of rest, instead of 20-25.

[Corbon]

Draws

Men
http://www.australianopen.com/en_AU/sco ... /r1s4.html

Women
http://www.australianopen.com/en_AU/sco ... index.html

Surprise, surprise, Nole-Ferrer and Fed-Murray

[djarvik]

Where is Gulbis?

[Corbon]

He's playing in the Women's draw because he finally wants to reach a Slam QF.

[ICEMAN_9588]

Well, in theory it's a bad bad draw for Roger. Tough opponent from the beginning.
Paire will be a nice "test-match", considering it will be tournament and season debut.
Then, probably Davydenko in 2nd round. Ok, Kolya always plays at his best in Doha, but will he be able to maintain that fantastic shape in Australia too?
Anyway it's a tough match.

3rd round, I think he will face one between Klizan and Tomic, which is favourite of course. He's in Sydney final, but he must stay focused even if he will have to play another time in 2 or 3 days.
4th round, maybe Raonic or Kohlschreiber. I heardt Milos is suffering a little foot injury, so he won't be at his best in Melbourne, but he must be considered as a dangerous opponent anyway. Kohlschreiber is not "scary", but he has his chances, even if he'll play a final in Auckland too.
But I can see nobody that could defeat these two guys before the 3rd round in that draw section, so I think Federer would face one of them.

QF could be agst Tsonga, and anything could happen. Anyway we have 3 possible opponents here: Tsonga himself, Haas and maybe Gasquet. What a match would be anyway!
And also a 4th round between Haas and Gasquet would be great

Then the semis against Murray, but it will be very interesting to see a QF between Andy and Del Potro. Most attractive hypothetical QF of the draw, no doubt about it.
Murray himself has a good draw, all things considered. Easy until 4th round (Haase, Sousa, F.Mayer/Stakhovsky...no problems).
Then he could face Simon, but he's suffering an injury too, if I'm not wrong. Dolgopolov and Lu cannot beat him anyway.
Then, the QF agst Del Potro. But I hope Juan Martin will face Andreas Seppi in 4th round: he's playing very well, it's time to capitalize in GS also. Let's go Andreas.

Ferrer, of course, has the "weakest" section of the draw. It could become interesting with one between Delpò, Tsonga and Berdych in his QF, but David (another time after US Open) picked Tipsarevic, which could even reach semifinals, I think.
Interesting match will be Dimitrov-Benneteau, let's hope "the new Federer" (and new Sharapova's boyfriend...good catch Grigor ) will finally rise.

And eventually, we have Nole. Tough start against Mathieu, but after that, I can't imagine how he couldn't reach QF without any problem.
But I'd say even semifinals, cause Berdych don't seem in his best shape, and even if he was, I don't think he could beat Novak.
Semifinals could be even easier, against Ferrer or Tipsarevic.

So, summing up, Djokovic straight to the final. Murray 60%-Del Potro 40%, Federer has the toughest draw and he won't be favourite in a hypothetical semifinal agst Murray.

[Cro Morgan]

Del Potro for the win.

[Corbon]

That Dimitrov-Sharapova pairing was carelfully planned by Nike so that no one thinks that Sharapova is a lesbian. They certainly learned from Peter Graf.

Fed draw is very tough, they seem to want him out! Raonic didn't have a good start but he's always very hard to break and many people are predicting him to break the Top 10 soon. But that also requires some strong results at GS tournaments. Well, better luck in Paris.