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OZ Open
Jan 17, 2008 7:46:19 GMT -5
Post by juancarlos on Jan 17, 2008 7:46:19 GMT -5
Well, it's that time of year again: the Aussie Open Tennis Grandslam. Who's going to win? Will it be Screamapova, mighty mite Henin, one of the powerful Williamses or an up and coming Serb or another Russian? Will it be Federer, Djokovic or Nadal? Nalbandian? Ferrer? The suspense is killing me.
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OZ Open
Jan 17, 2008 9:40:23 GMT -5
Post by LaFace on Jan 17, 2008 9:40:23 GMT -5
I don't really pay attention to the women's but I am a fanatic of men's tennis.
Obviously Federer is the favourite. Having watched the matches of most of the big seeds so far, I'm of the opinion that Andy Roddick is once again Federer's main threat. In last year's 2007 open, Andy Roddick was Federer's main threat. Roddick, in my opinion, was in career-best form heading into his semi-final against Federer. After a closely-fought first set, Federer brought out what is widely accepted as the greatest tennis match he has ever played, destroying Roddick in the second and third sets to win comfortably. As a Roddick fan (as well as a Djokovic one), this just crunched any hope I had of Roddick being able to top Federer in a grand slam. He was genuinely playing as the #1 player in the world, and could've/should've taken the match to 5 sets, only to get thumped.
This year if you watch Roddick closely, the man is once again on a mission. With Connors, you can see he has worked extensively on his backhand, hitting flatter and harder from the baseline and knowing when to incorporate slice as a defence mechanism. He has improved significantly. I just feel pessimistic that despite all the things Roddick has done to improve his game, if/when he plays Federer, Fed will just crush him again, because he is just so mentally strong that he can withstand that pressure.
In my opinion, Roddick will make his first Australian Open final and play Federer.
Having watched Djokovic, I wasn't convinced by his first-round match, simply because he lost a lot of rhythm and concentration in the third set which was really unforced by his opponent. He was devastating in his second round match though. He should win his next match comfortably and play the winner of Hewitt-Baghdatis, which will be Baghdatis in my opinion, and this should be a good match. I would say Djokovic to win this in 4.
Nalbandian, who in my opinion is the biggest underachiever in the men's game today (of the established seeds), should beat Ferrero in his next match, and I would expect him to beat Ferrer, although this wouldn't be a certainty. Thus, I'm predicting a Nalbandian-Djokovic/Baghdatis quarter final in this section.
James Blake has played well so far and is in good form, but he has had practically no rest in lead-up to the tournament. If he has to play a long and hard-fought match I'd say it'd be tough on him. However, I think he can make the quarters and face Federer, with Federer being the favourite to win there. The winner of this would play the winner of Nalbandian-Djokovic/Baghdatis in the semi.
As for the other half of the draw. I think Gasquet will make the quarters and play Davydenko, who I am not a fan of at all. This could go either way, but it's not a match that has me interested greatly. Roddick should play Nadal in the quarters, and I think Roddick should win this. I'm not convinced with Nadal at the Aust or US open (hardcourt), although this new surface probably favours Nadal more than in previous years for the bounce with his spin.
Anyway, I have predicted a lot of big seeds to advance, and usually this isn't the case, and a surprise challenger usually finds his way into the second week, so look out for my embarrassingly incorrect predictions!
Yes, I love to talk tennis and have just written a lot of crap lol.
Oh and I just saw Baghdatis defeat Safin in five. Always been a fan of Safin. Disappoints me because I think he is past his best now, but at his peak, I genuinely believe he was the greatest player in the world, moreso than Federer, the only problem with this is that he doesn't peak all too often because he is vulnerable to being mentally fragile. Tennis is 50% mentality in my opinion. The match was incredible though. Unbelievably high quality, and probably the best second-round match I've ever seen. Baghdatis took the first two sets, and Safin all of a sudden peaked and took him in the third and fourth, before Baghdatis served amazingly in the fifth to win that set convincingly.
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OZ Open
Jan 17, 2008 20:27:35 GMT -5
Post by shugi on Jan 17, 2008 20:27:35 GMT -5
Federer looks assif he's going to win the mens, the womens.. not sure. I hope leyton hewitt loses because I have a million hexes placed on him. Your going down clown!
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OZ Open
Jan 21, 2008 7:35:09 GMT -5
Post by juancarlos on Jan 21, 2008 7:35:09 GMT -5
Your faves are not doing so well, La Face. Roddick is out with Gasquet and Davydenko. You would have lost big time, if you were placing bets. Federer almost exited the championships against that unknown Serbian.
How much did you lose, Shugi?
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OZ Open
Jan 22, 2008 4:13:20 GMT -5
Post by LaFace on Jan 22, 2008 4:13:20 GMT -5
^haha yes you're right. For the record, my favourite players to watch are Roddick, Djokovic and Nadal, but I don't really have an outright favourite player like I did with Pete Sampras during his career. No Gasquet and no Davydenko is ok with me, as I'm not fans of either. That Federer-Tipsarevic match was epic, as were a number of other matches during the first week, eg Safin-Baghdatis, Roddick-Kohlschreiber, Blake-Grosjean, Hewitt-Baghdatis (finishing at around 4:40am) etc You can have a look at the quarter-final draw here: www.australianopen.com/en_AU/scores/draws/ms/r5s1.htmlTo me, it seems as though Nadal has a straight-forward path and should make his first Australian Open final. From what I've watched, he has improved markedly on hardcourt, although he has been on a easier side of the draw. Federer is probably tipped to make the final to set up another big-time match between the two rivals, but I will be supporting Blake in the quarters, and Djokovic in the semi should he advance. Actually, I would love to see how Djokovic handles Federer if they meet, because I think nerves got the better of him in the first set of the US Open final, which crushed his rhythm and confidence. Djokovic has been on fire so far in the tournament though. Juan Carlos, just out of curiosity, how much coverage of the Australian Open do you receive on free-to-air TV in the States?
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OZ Open
Jan 22, 2008 5:02:02 GMT -5
Post by juancarlos on Jan 22, 2008 5:02:02 GMT -5
I like Djokovic too. Great talent, great personality. You prolly have seen his imitations of other players. Lol. youtube.com/watch?v=Xgjv86JY6QgWith regard to Nadal, I don't think he can last very long the way he plays. His game is based on running around too much, which will make him prone to frequent injury. He needs to change his game, by taking more chances at the net. As for me, if Federer or Djokovic wins, I'll be happy. Federer so he gets closer to beating Sampras' record (hey I'm also a Sampras fan). And Djokovic so he finally gets his maiden grandslam. Novak definitely has the game to win it. I don't really watch tv, so I only follow the AO on the web. Incidentally, do you actually play the sport? I do, and it's one of the few things I'm good at.
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OZ Open
Jan 22, 2008 8:56:23 GMT -5
Post by helles on Jan 22, 2008 8:56:23 GMT -5
I like Djo, he seems like a good guy too, hope he gets to the finals.
I thought it was ridiculous having a match start at midnight and for it to go on til 4.30am. stupid. Then they were blaming the women's match for not moving court.. uhh, why not move the men's match?
The women's side is wide open now that Williams and Henin are out. Sharapova must be fav.
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OZ Open
Jan 25, 2008 4:18:17 GMT -5
Post by helles on Jan 25, 2008 4:18:17 GMT -5
Argh, i want to go home to watch FedvDjo. Let me gooo I'm constantly refreshing my browser to get live updates on the BBC! Tsonga was a bit alright last night too!
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OZ Open
Jan 25, 2008 6:40:02 GMT -5
Post by juancarlos on Jan 25, 2008 6:40:02 GMT -5
So, it's gonna be Djo vs Tsonga in the final. Interesting match, though I think Djo will win this one. And it's Screamapova vs Ivanovic for the women. My head says Sharapova, but my heart says Ivanovic, will win. Dang I wish I had cable tv.
All my faves didn't make it (Federer and Henin).
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OZ Open
Jan 25, 2008 7:26:42 GMT -5
Post by LaFace on Jan 25, 2008 7:26:42 GMT -5
NOVAK DJOKOVIC This tournament has strengthened some of my beliefs regarding current players: Djokovic, with continued elevation, can become the next dominant force in men's tennis, following Federer and Sampras. Nadal still has not convinced me on hardcourt. Sure making the semifinals is good on paper, but he had such an easy draw that this result may be inflated. He played the semi as though it was a clay court match. His serve needs to improve greatly to challenge for an Australian or US Open crown. I agree Juan Carlos that he needs to win more points at the net, which is what he tried to employ in his quarter final, winning something like 25 of 32 points at the net - quite impressive. Djokovic vs Tsonga - I don't really mind who wins, but I hope that we will continue to hear from Tsonga in the future, as opposed to being a one--final wonder. Sharapova vs Ivanovic - Haven't followed women's tennis closely for years, but I don't like Sharapova at all and I like Ivanovic and the way she handles the media, so I'll go for her. On an unimportant side-note, I think Ivanovic is easily prettier than Sharapova, whom I personally don't find attractive . Having said that, Sharapova has played extremely well in this tournament from what I've seen so she would start as favourite in my opinion. edit: I played tennis and soccer as extra-curricula activities during high school, but now any sport I play is just for a bit of fun.
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