Australian Open '14

[Vieira151]

Welcome, y'all, to coverage of this years Australian Open. It's like the French Open, except down under!

Draw was made today. Djokovic with the easier draw. Could face Ferrer or Berdych in the semis, though will have to get past Wawrinka in the Quarters first.

Nadal plays Tomic first round, might play Monfils in the 3th round and is headed for a Quarter Final clash with Del Potro. If Dimitrov wants to break into the big boys, he'll have to beat Del Potro in the 4th round.

The other quarter features both Murray and Federer. Federer is set up for a 4th round clash with Tsonga, and Murray may face Isner at the same point.

What are your predictions? Come, y'all, and discuss!

[R0CK GAMER]

i think we will see novak vs rafa finals. and this time rafa will win the tournament no?

[Cro Morgan]

i think we will see novak vs rafa finals. and this time rafa will win the tournament no?

As you said, no.

[Moralspain]

honestly, i'd like to see new guys fighting for the title, sick to death of Novak vs Nadal, Federer vs Nadal, Murray vs Nadal etc, time to move on

Dimitrov to win the tourney

[BrushedBigJJ]

honestly, i'd like to see new guys fighting for the title, sick to death of Novak vs Nadal, Federer vs Nadal, Murray vs Nadal etc, time to move on

Dimitrov to win the tourney

Agree with all match the match ups you mentioned except nasal vs Murray. I can't remember the last time they played. Possibly over a year and a half ago. I want to see the new healthy Murray vs the new healthy nadal. Should be fun to watch.

[ICEMAN_9588]

For once, Rafa will face a tough draw since the very beginning.
I mean, Tomic had a bad bad luck, but it ain't gonna be a soft start for Nadal neither.

Then he'll have (he should have) Monfils in the 3rd, maybe Hewitt in 4th round, then Del Potro, who I consider the toughest quarter-final opponent to pick.
In fact, my opinion is that Nadal would have a harder match agst Juan Martin than against Murray or Federer or Tsonga in the possible semifinal.

It's completely different for Djokovic. I mean, not a single really serious opponent for him. Til the final.
Maybe Gulbis, if he wakes up with the right foot, or Wawrinka, but Stan should repeat the performance of last year.

Also the possible semis opponents, Ferrer and Berdych, don't seem to be really dangerous for him.
I think Ferrer won't even go that long in the tournament.

[djarvik]

Nasal for the win!!!


Gulbis to lose in first round, you can bet on it.

[ICEMAN_9588]

For once, Rafa will face a tough draw since the very beginning.
[...]

Then he'll have (he should have) Monfils in the 3rd,

Aaaand it's gone.

[Moralspain]

Apparently the conditions have changed and the court is faster this year, the debate has started:

Moralspain
"I don't give a shit"

Rafa
“[These are] completely different conditions than what I remembered of this tournament,” Nadal said during his pre-tournament press conference. “Faster conditions that I ever played here in Australia.”

Stosur
“Whether the court is faster, the balls are definitely different. The balls go through the air a lot faster. It’s easier to get something on it, try to hit winners, whereas a couple years ago it was almost impossible to hit winners.”


Roger Federer and Maria Sharapova got a preview of the faster courts at the Brisbane International, where the conditions were remarkably fast. Both agreed the speeds in Melbourne were faster than years past but noticeably slower than Brisbane. “We’re not talking about a lightning speed court,” Federer said. “In Brisbane it was fast, but it wasn’t lightning either. This is like medium, if that."

Sharapova agreed. “I heard the outside courts are a bit faster than some of the main show courts,” she said. “I’m not sure why there’s not more consistency in terms of all the events having the same speed.”

Quick conditions tend to favor more aggressive and big-hitting players. In Brisbane, Federer made his first outdoor hard court final since 2012. At this week’s Sydney International, Juan Martin del Potro compared the conditions to those of a grass court. Perhaps that’s why it’s no surprise that Tsvetana Pironkova, a grass-court specialist ranked No. 107, won the women’s title in Sydney and the men’s final features del Potro and Bernard Tomic, two men who thrive on grass.


more exciting, crowd-pleasing tennis? Nadal isn’t convinced

“I really don’t understand very well why they change [the speed] because the last couple of years, the Australian Open had amazing [matches], long ones, good ones for the crowd,” he said. “I don’t know why the people decide to make the conditions that fast. I am not sure for the show [it] is the best thing.”

“I don’t know what the big problem is,” Federer said. “[You] really can still play from the baseline, no problem. You can stay back, return from the back. You can do all that stuff if you want to. It’s not like it’s impossible. [Nadal] does it on the indoors where you don’t think that’s possible. That’s how he beat me [at the ATP World Tour Finals] anyway.”

Nadal
Nadal, who opens against Bernard Tomic on Tuesday, says he’s acclimating himself to the conditions with every practice session. Nadal says the conditions offer little margin for error and he’ll have to make adjustments to his game. “I think during my career I [have been] able to play well in any condition: fast, slow, different surfaces,” he said. “[The] important thing is try to be ready for the action from the beginning and be fresh mentally — something that I hope I am. I’m going to try to find the feelings, positive feelings. If that happens, I hope to be competitive.”

Murray
But not everyone has bought into the idea of fast courts. The lone holdout is last year’s finalist Andy Murray, who says the courts are playing the exact same as last year. That’s not to say he hasn’t noticed some changes. He had an interesting observation about Margaret Court Arena, which has undergone significant construction and expansion to accommodate a roof. “Margaret Court Arena is on a very big slope,” Murray said in his pre-tournament press conference. “I practiced on that today. It’s weird.”

Source
http://www.tennis.si.com

[Ali-Iqb93]

Murray to lose in early rounds.

[Cro Morgan]

Murray to lose in early rounds.

One and done, my bet.

[Coolhand Texas]

Can anyone give an insight to the Laura Robson match? Lost 6-3, 6-0 to flipkens. Not to discredit flipkens but a bagel in the second set?!

[ICEMAN_9588]

I think she has a wrist injury (tendinitis, if I'm not wrong).
In fact she retired in Hobart agst Wickmayer.

[djarvik]

Gulbis to lose in first round, you can bet on it.

[Coolhand Texas]

Anybody think tomic can take a set off of nadal tonight?