Australian Open (of tennis) 2011

Draws are out.

I haven't had time to go through them yet but feel free to make your predictions and discuss potential bracket busters, must-see first round matches, AO tennis fashion, tennis spouses, and whether THIS is the year Andy Murray wins a slam.

exciting!

hurrah!

I totally lost track of tennis at the end of last year - partly life getting massively hectic, partly laptop death and failure to keep up w/results - and I'm still only just catching up w/this year's results. watching my first tennis of the year though, Li just came back from 0-5 15-30 down to take the first set vs St. Kim! (didn't see the comeback, just the end of the set)

have checked the draws, no time for predix right now but I'll just say LOL @ Safina - poor, poor girl. She lost 0 and 1 to CAKE last week and now gets Clijsters in round one.

Oh god this match is dreadful. Of course it is. Women's tennis has not changed.

Checking in for the first of my bi-annual ILX binges (this and Wimbers) for 2011. Last two years the action on the Oz Open thread has been so frenetic my computer has blown up....

Once again Lleyton, we are assured, is playing his best tennis for years; Sam, as usual, is ideally placed to challenge despite (equally as usual) mediocre lesd-in form; Bernie the Brat, who resolutely refuses to grow out of his entitlement-addled adolescance, has once again made a prize tit of himself and alienated all but about 3 of the total 28 people remaining throughout Australia who he didn't quite completely piss-off over the 'Beddy Byes' fiasco a year ago. Another serial Oz false headline, Chris Guccione, was shown in wedding clobber in last weekend's papers and so may or may not front this year - not that it would matter much. You could lock the new Mrs G in David Jones for the entire length of Mr G's usual Oz Open involvement without serious damage to anybody's credit rating...

Last couple of days, a high-profile local bed manufacturer has run a half-page ad featuring Roger Federer reclining on one of their beds. Come Monday fortnight, which of two frightfully clever captions will be tacked onto that pic - Rodge's career at the top of the heap out for the count and flat on its back, or Rodge sleeping the sleep of the justified after sealing his greatness with maje no 17?

(STOP PRESS: Nadal has had his antlers trimmed. Instantly he looks about 10% as menacing as previously.)

Wozzie switching rackets, crashing and burning in lead-up and meating wild shot giant killer Dulko in first round. Everything's set!

Rooting for Ana! Because everyone I usually root for seem to be in depressing slumps.

No way I'll do predictions for this, but I won't be surprised if Djokovic does well. Murray won't get my nod until he actually wins a slam.

i'm finding it weirdly hard to root for anyone any more. for opposite reasons on either side - i like all the top male contenders, which weirdly results in me not minding about the eventual outcome. soderling, i guess, is my new love-to-hate, but he's not a contender to win.

among the women i still have my favs and non-favs but they're all so fucking useless - all of them - that i just can't get emotionally invested. my favourite has inexplicably found herself as the no 2 seed and all i can think is how fucking ass-backwards and undeserving that is.

What do you mean, I for one enjoyed seeing Zvonareva edge out K Woz in a 6-0 6-1 struggle the other day, the kind of tight wrestle for the top spot we expect from top dogs.

lol i didn't even know about that - was that the HK exo? i've been seriously falling behind w/results.

i did manage to get some entertainment value out of today's Li/Clijsters shitfest by starting to think of it as comedy rather than sports.

<3 Li Na.

soderling, i guess, is my new love-to-hate, but he's not a contender to win.

lex, really? I saw him in Brisbane and dude looked terrifying. New coach, playing smarter than he usually does at this time of year, wouldn't be surprised to see him go further than usual.

though I'm with you on not really minding any of the top guys winning and not giving a shit about the women because of their unpredictability. but I am invested in seeing say, Gulbis get to the third round, or for Delpo (yay, he's back. :) :)) to win at least one match.

and kinda rooting for Ana, too! surprising myself... I dunno, I've got a soft spot for her, takes more balls than I have to go through the two years she did and still managing to come back playing moderately well. Injured herself at the Hopman Cup though.

been watching qualies and taking note of early rounds more than usual - guess it shows how much I'm hankering for new blood in tennis.

Dimitrov, natch, umpire-shoving exploits notwithstanding. but also Richard Berankis who could be playing the winner of Nalby-Chewitt in the second round, Lukas Lacko who's just the right kind of test for Fed in the first round, and Ryan Harrison, who's the first American in ages that i've enjoyed watching - a really well-rounded, instinctive player.

On the womens', I'm rooting for Heather Watson to get through qualies and been quietly impressed with Bojana Jovanovski all week - never watched her play before this year but beating Kanepi, Rezai and Penetta in a row is no small feat for a 19yo. solid game, no real strengths but no real weaknesses either.

Maria gave Joyce the final boot in Auckland.

lex, really? I saw him in Brisbane and dude looked terrifying. New coach, playing smarter than he usually does at this time of year, wouldn't be surprised to see him go further than usual.

yeah all my opinions are a few months out of date ;_; GOTTA CATCH UP.

roz, you can watch qualies? are you on site or are they actually being streamed?

lol i guess i should've said watching the qualies' live-scoring app.

but it is possible to watch some, not all, qualie matches on the AO site here: http://www.australianopen.com/en_AU/video/live.html - they're only showing a couple tomorrow though and the rest of it will be the Rally for Relief exho.

Apropos of absolutely nothing of long-term significance to this thread, Lleyton Hewitt beat a practically immobile Gael Monfils to win the Kooyong Classic this afternoon. Apart from his hip problem, Monf also copped the worst run of net-cords in the history of tennis - but still only lost by one break per set.

All of which you will be able to read about tomorrow, on whatever page the paper tells you to turn to after the third para, under the 4000-point headline, 'HE"S BACK!' or similar...

I went to the Medibank last week and saw two terrific matches: Azarenka/Clijsters - which was REALLY CLOSE despite the score-line, and Kleybanova/Cibulkova, which was just a delight to behold the whole way through, watching tiny Dominika hit balls at head height for winners on barking mad angles. Was also seated so that Clijsters' winners to the backhand corner - there were lots of them - were coming straight at me.

Loved the Hopman Cup too and have a new favourite player in Kristina Mladenovic! In mixed doubles, she sits in the ad-court and , even better, returns serve inside the baseline (the new Lucic!) She pwned Murray during the mixed France played vs GBR! Sadly I don't believe she's in the Open :(

you guys, this rally for relief thing is kinda fun. bepa being snarky to roddick... <3

ok it's boring now that the players aren't miked up. what gives? is this just so to avoid any potential awkwardness between lleyton and kim?

Headline in today's Age (a paper that really should know better}:

DO OR DIE FOR HEWITT

It appears that somewhere in the ultra-fine print is a rule that when you lose you go home. Been following this tournament for years and years and never noticed....

Shreik off to a very muted start v Tanasugarn - lost first service game to love, served five faults in a row and looked as slow as treacle.

EDIT: But Tanas's first effort at serving was even worse....

Monf has broken de Bakker and looks well over the hip injury that wrecked his Kooyong final.

Shreik thru with very little bother after that lack-lustre start, local Olivia Newton-Rogowska out, Thiemo de Bakker, who blew a two-set lead to lose to Arthurs a few years ago, is now two up on a sloppy and lethargic-looking Monfils.

Seeds dumped: Towelova to Kulikova; Querrey to Kubot; KING KOLYA to Fmayer.

Nice to see Regina Kulikova get an epic win over Hantuchova - she's talented, but seems to be injured for about half of every year, so good to see her grab big wins when she can. And even better if they come at Hanturexia's expense.

Double bagel for CAKE :D When the hell is Garbin going to retire, anyway?

Just saw the Lu/Simon TB, Lu's playing rather well.

Caravane also in seeded trouble perhaps; bagelled by BZS in first set. Wörle just now out of double-bagel danger after winning the eighth game in the match vs Azarenka.

Justine very lucky to avoid going 0-3 down there...Mirza had her 40-30 point pretty much won, but a bad call cost her and on the replay she DFed.

Notice Marion 'Cake' Bartoli zero and zeroed someone earlier this afternoon.

As I recall Ti Amo de Bakker already had a reputation for snatching defeat fropm the jaws of victory BEFORE his 2007 cave-in against Arfurs. After todays effort he may be the 'male Jana' for the duration of his career.

Drizzle delay as Henin yet to establish any advantage over Mirza - JH visibly less than impressed at (lack of) proceedings

Henin still struggling - broke to serve for the set but unable to finish.

Groth about to go a set down.

Wow. After the rain, it looked like Mirza had fallen apart - lost the next seven points in about 5 seconds. Then Henin fell apart herself after missing the set point, and it's first set Mirza...

(I fully expect Henin to win 5-7 6-2, 6-2 or similar.)

5-7, 6-3, 6-1. Close. Sania had many chances in the second set but couldn't keep herself away from spates of DFs and stupid UEs, as soon as Justine got a lead in the third it was a formality.

LOL, British media trying to spin a win for Anne K over the world no 185 as a "superb" win.

"She beat A-Rod!"

Djoko crunching Granollers, Looch kept Ljubicic honest without seriously threatening to take a set, seeded Querry out in five, Hantorexia and Rezai also done for.

There was always a big sense of 'I've seen this film before' about Mirza v Henin - and much and all as Mirz gave it her best shot and all that. the moral of the story remains that Henin won without hitting second gear.

Busy day, missed most of the tennis but really enjoyed the little I did get to watch - Thiemo's third set breakdown as he was serving for the match, the first set of Henin-Mirza, the bits of Woz-Dulko when Dulko wasn't being a moron.

Also RIP Rezai's dress - god bless you, you lovable wacko.

http://cowbell.typepad.com/.a/6a00d83423e30253ef0147e1a94d25970b-pi

^^best pic I could find, courtesy of a fan.

Caravane <3 Too bad you apparently blow this year.

Appalling umpire overrule against Mrs. Krumm pretty much hands the first set to A-Rad >:(

Chardy's had a fairly hardcore haircut :o

Peng vs. K-Bond is unexpectedly excellent quality. 5-5 in the third was an epic game, Peng broke by finally going to the K-Bond FH and is serving for it...

...guess how that went! Women's tennis.

Peng breaks again on an incredible rally on BP. Serve it out quickly, Shuai, I want to see Krumm close out A-Rad.

Peng won :D

Krumm is not closing this out as she should.

A-Rad's racquet snapped clean off her handle when she tried to retur that serve :o

*return

http://i54.tinypic.com/2ur6rv9.jpg

LOL

YAY ALICIA!

Nice effort to win by just about the most (only remaining?) bullshit-devoid presence in Australian tennis.

oof dinara

Safina not looking likely to win a game

Judging by the scoreline and people’s responses on Twitter, Makarova v Ivanovic looks thrilling (8-8, in the third) - wish I was home watching this instead of stuck at work. :/

lol i say that and Ana promptly loses her serve, as well as the match. sigh.

sigh indeed

Woke up just in time to miss the Ana match. LOL @ her and Safina. Our Glorious Former World Number Ones.

Vandeweghe got Ice Creamed? I am still not convinced that she will amount to anything.

Gulbis. Just as I thought he was getting his shit together. He will never get his shit together. Hey, the second win of Del Pony's comeback, though.

Apparently some US commentators predicting Young would beat Anime Eyes. Point and laugh.

Batty won five games off...who is Lesya Tsurenko? I thought she was retiring at the end of last year and was genuinely surprised to see her in the draw. She perhaps should have.

Losses for Lucic/Dulgheru/Amanmuradova :(

Ivanovic v Makarova was pretty decent. But, I am annoyed I had to sit through it while Clijsters was destroying Safina as I was really enjoying that first set before they switched. She made Safina look slow, tactically vacant and just generally hopeless. Clijsters should not wear green though.

Tsonga being pwned by Petzschner. Now that's an attractive match. Contra Hewitt/Nalbandian which is not attractive in any sense.

Set 1 to Hewitt. Also, Zonga has woken up v Petschner with a break in the third.

Set 1 to Hewitt. Also, Zonga has woken up v Petschner with a break in the third.

Set 1 to Hewitt. Also, Zonga has woken up v Petschner with a break in the third.

Whoa. Tuned in with Tsonga serving at 5-2, 30-0 in the final set. A couple of points from victory, you'd think. Two pinpoint Petzschner lobs, one incredible return and a Tsonga UE later...not the case!

And he held, with Tsonga visibly on edge...but he has to break again now...

Atmosphere sounds incredible, raucous in the best way.

Tsonga has 30-0 again...and now 40-0. Surely this is it.

Yup. Oh well!

Last few points of Makarova/Ivanovic:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bUzLHsvjOk

It'll probably get taken down v.soon, I note that tennis still hasn't remotely joined the 21st century yet when it comes to making even highlights of the day's matches - let alone the entire things - widely available. Why does the Australian Open - a Slam! - not have a Youtube channel of its own? Or offer this on its own site? When will "territorial restrictions" fuck the fuck off? This is a GLOBAL SPORT YOU MORONS.

I find I have zero interest in watching Chewitt's angry red potato face vs. Nalbandian's fat gut. Please can Berankis beat the winner in round two.

^^^ this.

Lleyton's wwife is looking positively human. Perhaps he's stolen her bronzer.

The whole match is women's tennis too.

Some of these linecalls are women's tennis. Home town women's tennis at that.

My shitty live stream is also women's tennis.

Wow. Nalbandian on verge of cramping, comes up with three amazing points and then Chewitt double faults. Nalbandian *8-7 and he has to close it here...

I was gonna say, neither of these dudes is a favorite of mine (actually I kind of want Hewitt's legs to fall off) and what I saw of the fifth set was really, really good.

You may get your wish re: Hewitt's legs after this match!

That was really good, apart from the final game, when my FUCKING STREAM FROZE.

Any idea what the tablet the coach was rushing to Nalbandian might have been?

Great last point.

guessing you all read him already but if not - Steve Tignor's posts for Tennis.com are a must-read. Easily the best tennis writer around.

Yeah I like Tignor, haven't read his stuff in a while though due to falling off the wagon. But then I feel so starved of tennis writing that I enjoy the scribings of Pete Bodo and Jon Wertheim too (actually Wertheim is an excellent writer, he just...misses a lot of results which makes his predictions slightly nutsy). Kamakshi Tandon is underrated, but my big discovery post-Twitter is Stephanie Myles, who's HILARIOUS on Twitter (@opencourt) - she seems to be the correspondent for a Canadian paper.

Yeah I like all of those you've listed, apart from Bodo who has written one too many sexist things about female tennis players to be tolerable. Some of the guest writers on his blog are great though.

Stephanie Myles is the one who writes for the Montreal Gazette yes? She's terrific - I just wish I didn't keep thinking of Twilight every time I see her name (Myles/Meyers).

ha I guess the world of tennis writers is really small because those are all the names I follow (Stephanie Myles is new to me but the others are the only writers on any topic that I regularly read)

yeah Bodo is crotchety and reactionary (and you can tell he's a Repub from the off) but he at least has a really consistent, well-defined writing persona. And women's tennis nowadays deserves him.

BTW, Federer's h2h against Gilles Simon, his opponent today/tonight, is...0-2!

Tipsy very quickly 4-0 on Verdasco de Gama. This followed a near-double-bagelling of the ludicrously named Vania King by Wozniacki, whose #1 status and #1 seeding and how she got them are fast becoming a tedious discussion.

Vania King is surely one of the most normal (by western standards) names in the draw!

That there exists a Dutchwoman named Arantxa Rus is ludicrous. not here any more, though - a quick loss to Sweta. Who will play Justine next in a match that I'm sure will be a cleanly played, error-free classic.

Actually it's a good think Tips is so many classes above at the moment - both are wearing near-flourescent red-pink tops, white shorts and white shoes, are similar height and olive-skinned. On the down-the-court shots when you can't see Tips's goggles or Verdasco's mohawk, they're damn near impossible to tell apart.

Lex: It's Ms King's first name. It shreiks 'Days Of Our Lives' the same way as Shenay Perry used to.

Absolutely not surprised that Tipsy ended up losing that one. Even at the start of the second set, which is when I quit and went to bed, he looked like he was on a hot streak that couldn't possibly last (and Nando looked like he knew it, and was just waiting for Tipsy to blow himself out).

How the hell did Venus lose a set to Sandra Zahlavova?!

I hear CAKE was injured in her loss to THE HAIR.

http://www.itftennis.com/shared/medialibrary/image/player/IO_19935_player.JPG

Fish lost, hurrah. Man, I remember when Robredo was the hottest young up-and-comer on the ATP, though. OLD.

Stakhovsky to make his last 16 debut here? And will Midget Cibulkova repeat last week's win over the Woz...

Nishikori marching on :)

Watching "baby Federer" Dimitrov against Stanislas the Manislas. Dimitrov really not impressing me - obviously he has talent (when Stan served for the second set, Dimitrov broke back w/some incredible shotmaking) but the attitude and the carelessness are not good (pissed away his own serve in the next game, and then again from 40-15 up to get broken in the third set).

yeah it's all a little man vs boy. prob doesn't help that Dimitrov's (and Fed's) former coach is now coaching Stan.

and there's the match.

anyway, that was the first time I've watched Dimitrov play properly (not just match highlights) and I dunno if it's just the TV but he didn't really look like that much of a Federer clone as some people have made him out to be. apart from the backhand, maybe.

The talent and shots are there, though - like all juniors making the jump to pros, he just needs to work on his movement and fitness.

Now it's Dokic v somebody or other called Vuvuzela-Strykova (or something like that). Vuvuzela-Strykova (or something like that) has a nasty dose of the Zvonareva's from her Vinegar Tits era but is a mental giant cf JD, and leads 4-1 after winning the first set tiebreaker. Serving has been a considerable disadvantage so far in this match.

Now 5-1 after a miserable Dokic double fault. Bring on Rodge!

BZS is completely insane. At Wimbledon, I once saw her sink to her knees after a missed volley and address the net for, I am not kidding, about four minutes in the manner of a Shakespearian tragic heroine delivering a deathbed soliloquy.

Anne Keothavong is actually playing well against Petkorazzi! This cannot last.

...and it didn't, with the cessation of "playing well" inevitably coming as she served for the set.

Oh! A wonderful touch volley to move back to set point though...

Zahlavova-Strycova will play Li now. Longest surname in the draw vs. shortest surname in the draw!

I'm currently watching Djoko and the very promisingly-tagged Ivan Dodig mid second set in a match with nowhere near that kind of drama....in between ads of course. Fed-Simon imminent.

Molik v Petrova tomorrow - any hope Alicia?

simon's adidas kit makes him look like he's going for a hit with his neighbour at the local youth centre.

If Couries doesn't stop rabbiting on about Simon's calf muscles soon I will start questioning his orientation.

^^isn't he bi? so the rumour goes, anyway.

Rodhe is monstering Simon - double break and 5-1, Simon's game taking nearly as long to finish as the other five put together.

I will start questioning his orientation.

lol you'd prob be the last person in the world to do so!

wow - this second set has been uh scrappy (ie "terrible") but Keothavong came alive at the last minute - three set points saved to pull back from 3-5 to 5-5...

jesus christ, journalists.

Q. What was the injury today?

VENUS WILLIAMS: Psoas [name of major muscle in the pelvis]. I guess a strain of some type.

Q. Your thigh or hip or stomach or...

VENUS WILLIAMS: Psoas.

Q. What does that mean?

VENUS WILLIAMS: It's a muscle.

Q. So you're not saying.

VENUS WILLIAMS: No, it's a psoas.

gilles! looks like this might be going to a fifth...

it's a really good match.

into a 5th!!!

federer has NEVER BEATEN simon...

prophetic?

http://d.yimg.com/a/p/sp/getty/56/fullj.78252ec57be8e4f0c85ad1d4661d0dc8/78252ec57be8e4f0c85ad1d4661d0dc8-getty-tennis-open-aus.jpg

also, is it just me or is Gilles being way more aggressive, esp with his FH, than in the past? i barely saw him play last year cuz of injuries.

And Fererer's forehand is PASSIVE AS.

xpost totally. I haven't seen anyone move Fed around like this since Delpo in 09.

Fed's also fallen back into just chipping his BH return, undoing all the hard work he's been doing on that wing over the last few months. I guess old habits die hard.

fed just broke with some amazing points there.

and lol clearly just to annoy Gilles, he goes for the "Allez!" over his usual "Come on!"

These days Fed's harrassed/tired/slightly mystified 'where has the magic gone' look when he loses a point he knows he shouldn't have, is reminding me of Josh Lyman from West Wing.

And he's up 5-2.

wow - that turned so quickly. one minute it looked absolutely level - then Fed stumbled on some magic and a few seconds later we're at match point.

...but not over! wow, gutsy stuff from Simon.

murray_hyrax.jpg there

As punishmnet for all the weak-ass backhand nothings, Roger now has to be interviewed by Jim Courier.

And Fed converts his sixth match point....with his first ace since before Christmas.

That fifth set showed why Federer is where he is and Tipsy and TiAmo are somewhere else. 2-0 to 2-2 and staggering, but finding a way home.

What a great match. Loved Gilles fighting at the end. It was just those few minutes of magic that let Fed pull away in the 5th that made the difference...

It's been a pretty good AO so far!

gripping stuff! there really wasn't anything between them until those few points just before Fed broke. it seemed that was all he needed to be flying again.

love Gilles - it's too bad he isn't as naturally talented as the rest of the Frenchies because mentally, he really is the toughest among them. I always enjoy watching him play Nadal too.

Fantastic effort by both players. We will surely see much more of Simon in the future after what he showed tonight.

From Rodge's viewpoint, was getting so much wind up his shirt so early a good or a bad thing?

Ha, I was talking about his toughness with one of my colleagues. We thought about making a French super-player : Gasquet's technique, Gilles for mental strength, Tsonga for general strength, Santoro for game strategy. Add in a little of Monfils showmanship and you've got a winner.

Only a little, mind....

I haven't been watching Venus' matches... WHAT THE FUCKING FUCK IS SHE WEARING?

http://cowbell.typepad.com/.a/6a00d83423e30253ef0147e1bc7ae4970b-pi

I like the skirt!

In Australia we call them 'cyclone fences', but they tend to be made of wire....Venus better not stand still too long wearing that number or she'll start growing ivy or something.

she said it was an homage to Alice in Wonderland, and I'm wondering if she really meant Jabberwocky.

what the shit

it looks like an oil slick, i don't remember any of those in alice in wonderland

did she borrow it off caravane or bethanie mattek-sands?

also, why is she suddenly determined to show as much flesh as possible now that she's 30? mid-life crisis, i'm calling it.

Fuck off Bernard Tomic, you are a textbook example of how a weaponless game can be dull. He wishes he were Simon-lite, he's like... homeopathic Simon.

Is it perverse of me to want him to win just to watch him get schooled on rod laver arena by Rafa in the next round?

lopez not doing himself any favours either with all those missed first serves.

Not even slightly! Triple bagel, right?

wow @ rafa dropping 4 games in 2 matches

xp absolutely.

tomic's habit of taking off his shades and putting them back on every time he goes to the towel is so punch-worthy.

Molik lost to Petrova after squandering a good start. Also she's engaged to - quelle surprise - an ugly man! What is this.

WHY IS MY TV NOT ALLOWING ME TO WATCH Bepa/Jovanovski? :(

some kind soul out there in charge of programming

I was stunned to see how feeble and pedestrian Robin Sweeting's game is. He makes Jesse Levine look like Berdych.

ugh Bepa... got one break back, only to be broken again on her serve from 40-0 up.

Is it perverse of me to want him to win just to watch him get schooled on rod laver arena by Rafa in the next round?

I was just thinking this when I saw the result! (Ugh, pathetic from Flo.) Is it true that Tomic's AUS fans are known as Tomic Kittens? He is seriously one of those people you can tell is a huge douche just by looking at him.

Shocked, shocked I tell you, that Kleybanova lost to Halep...the latter has game, but I really thought Kleybanova had a QF in the bag. But she does has a history of Slam underperformance, doesn't she, especially when people keep tipping her to break through. Lost to Errani at the USO...Shvedova at RG in another wide open quarter...Kulikova and Hercog at Wim/RG the year before...

Peng will probably make the QF out of there now. Fell asleep with Lady JaJa leading 3-0 and still knew I'd wake up to a Peng win (penguin!).

Just saw the last few games of Makarova/Tsurenko and Mak is playing well too, she loves her DTLs doesn't she? Aiming for the lines and making them. I'll call the upset of Nadia in the 3R.

Ice Cream beat MariaHo, wtf? Though I guess she has a history of playing well in Australia. Man, remember when Cornet made Tier I finals?

Good win for Bepa over a dangerous, in-form opponent. I still haven't got over her being the second seed.

A trademark Youzhny five-setter against a nobody, I see. Mildly surprised that Rafa and Ste. Kim lost games.

Haha what, I turned away to catch up on other stuff and Nalbandian's already down a set? Knew Berankis was a threat, didn't expect it to go this quickly.

When did Berankis switch from Ricardas to Richard, anyway? And why? BOO, make those Western commentators earn their salaries.

Wonder if Nalbandian's going to start trying at any point.

Baghdatis 6-1 JMDP.

Isn't Nalbandian a chronic first-set-loser?

JMDP serves on break point and the racquet follows the ball and he may have clagged his wrist ahain.

have we talked about how hot Julia Goerges is?

http://www.julia-goerges.com/uploads/tx_cfamooflow/julia_goerges_fotoshooting_melbourne_4.jpg

wtf, there's a dead spot on hisense arena that is truly incredible. Like glue. And the match is being delayed because of it.

Before the tournament I was hopeful that Gorgeous Goerges could beat Shriek, but going three sets with GALLOVITS-HALL in round one put paid to that.

Unsurprised to see that Henin lost to Sweta. Losing despite commanding H2Hs has been a theme of her comeback, she was dreadful against Mirza, and you have to think Sweta's somewhat motivated to put in a good showing again. Even less surprised that the match was apparently dreadful.

Yay for Anastasija Sevastova making the second week of a Slam for the first time! She's pretty talented.

This Wozniacki presser is kind of amazing and makes me like her a bit more: http://www.australianopen.com/en_AU/news/interviews/2011-01-21/201101211295579073894.html

Q. Can you tell us a few words about Kim Clijsters.

FRANCESCA SCHIAVONE: Yeah, but why Kim?

Q. Just in general, what can you tell us about her comeback?

FRANCESCA SCHIAVONE: You know who is Kim. I think I don't have to tell you who is.

:D

Was on-site today - more tomorrow when I've got time.

Currently watching Wawrinka-Monfils. Monf fought like hell to get a break but handed it straight back.

Watching the Vav lumber around, he looks like a bloke that helped carry in the sound equipment then hung around and scammed his way onto the court. He's not the most athletic or aesthetic player ever but obv effective, and just the type to bore Gael off his game.

Maybe unsurprising that Henin lost to Sveta but I must say I'm surprised they played each other this soon in the tournament - not knowing better I'd have guessed both were top 16.

Vav now two sets and a break up - and I fancy he may be a bit better than TiAmo at winning from that far in front.

Monf just saved game point for a second break.

Monfils, you are a gigantic dummy. And such an awful dresser. You should just turn up naked.

Unsurprised to see that Henin lost to Sweta.

her win over baltacha drew plaudits from the sound booth but she was less dominating than the scoresheet would suggest - serving for the match she gave up four unforced errors in a row (then came back to win it) - though maybe this is unremarkable in LOL women's tennis? at any rate it looked shaky

The Villiams, who has eschewed the jaffle-iron look of the other night and tonight seems to want to look like Queen Boadecia, kicks off set 1 v petkovic by being broken...and is now in earnest discussions with the ref.

And 2011 Aus Open's shortest match is over.

her win over baltacha drew plaudits from the sound booth but she was less dominating than the scoresheet would suggest

yeah...that was against Baltacha. Even Safina beat Baltacha easily last year.

Poor Venus. Hopefully Petkorazzi takes advantage of this and beats Sharapova next.

I think she probably can. Also hoping for Sevastova to beat Wozniacki, if she brings her form from lower-level events to the match she has a chance.

Shreik looked anything but fearsome v Goerges today, going by the bits I saw on the big screen (surely the best place to appreciate her coz no sound), and apparently was worse before and after, but she's getting the job done.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfIbH7ssv5Q

o snap

Shreik looked anything but fearsome v Goerges today, going by the bits I saw on the big screen (surely the best place to appreciate her coz no sound), and apparently was worse before and after, but she's getting the job done.

― Fred Nerk, Friday, January 21, 2011 11:35 AM (8 hours ago) Bookmark

I thought she was ok. She kept the errors down and that was enough.

Georges has enough talent to be top 15, I think.

A-Rad is playing really well today. Apparently she didn't expect to be able to play here after her surgery in the autumn, and she's playing freely, like it's all a bonus. And being much more aggressive than before - multiple net forays, trying to control points from the start, aiming for the lines. Still so smart though - she just did a gorgeous serve-dropshot combo, the latter was a clean winner and she didn't even need her trademark lob follow-up.

Clean winner off a Halep smash to bring up MP, which she won.

Retrieved smash turned into backhald down the line winner - <3

x-post!

I'd be pretty confident of making it to the quarters to be mashed by Clijsters if I were Radwanska on that form.

Yeah, I'd written her off because how could someone fresh off surgery who only confirmed that she could play days ago go far in the draw? But she seems so much more at ease.

Before Slams, I like to put a couple of designated units of "idiot money" (each about £3) on extreme longshots that I feel are /somewhat/ underrated by the odds for the championships*. In the AO this year the men were Fish lol (odds 900) and Ferrer (odds 380); the women were A-Rad (odds 270) and Pennetta (odds 180).

Helps to have a Sweta-Justine match early on obv, and both the girls have the same decent half ahead, /except/ obv for the Ste. who looms.

This is not my "supporting", this is just my, as I said, "idiot money" ftr. :-D

Uh, "male gaze" question from someone who hasn't really followed for 8 months or something: Simona got That Thing done, like?

*) No, I was not on Cesca for last year's RG... :(

Yes. Still has a bigger rack than Radwanska though.

Cock-faced commentator on Oz TV Sandy Roberts has three times called Safarova Sharapova. Why not just force all women to change their name legally to Sharapova for the benefit of complete cunts? Go on WTA!

Zvonareva in failing to serve out match NON SHOCKA

SimO_Ona is now Sim[size=1]o_o[/size]na, yes.

Two DFs while attempting to serve out the match. Oh, Bepa.

Inability to deal with html spoils my joke.

Seriously how would you even type that if not like that. I HATE COMPUTERS.

Safarova returns the favour. Women's tennis.

xp I read it like fluently in bbcode lex! No probs, done that.

I don't watch tennis for the tits, honestly.

AND AGAIN

Have we done the "on break" joke yet this thread?

I hate her

Whew. That was a pretty epic TB. Good on Bepa for hanging tough, even though she should have ended it half an hour earlier.

Fun tb yes! Gonna watch "idiot money" Ferrer now I think; agree that equivalentizing yr name like what Rikardas has done is nagl. Worked well for kings in the olden days, but it's really not done anymore, is it?

Dave Smith KILLING IT

ok listening to the chants I was out of line calling him Rikardas, it's Ričardas, pronounced *much* more like Richard. Thank you Wikipedia for helping us get our diacriticals right.

Raonic is for real. One of the five best serves in tennis.

Dolgopolov is really fun to watch.

Clijsters v Cornet is kind of dreadful! Clijsters' forehand is pretty ugly and she's been useless at the net. Cornet looks well pissed but is making a great fist of it so far.

Oh until the tie-break which she folded in so fast...

<3 st. kim

Woken up bleary-eyed and straight into what seems to be a pretty good match between Kvitova and Stosur...go Petra. Massive first-strike tennis, weird to watch after all the rallying matches I've watched.

WTF happened to Tsonga in his last two sets?!

Another epic upset from the MAK ATTACK! This one a lot easier to prophesy, but 10-8 over Ivanovic and 8-6 over Petrova, impressive guts.

Apparently Raonic's uncle is the president of Montenegro!

Haha, as soon as I call this first-strike tennis, they play a rally where they slice like 15 BHs at each other before Kvitova whacks it out out out.

And then whacks it in in in on the next point! C'MON PETRA.

YES!!!!!!

From 3-5 down in the TB, Kvitova's won the next 11 points. Zoning. Great to watch.

Struck by how light Kvitova's touch is at the net. She's route-one cavewoman hit-winner-now basher from the baseline, but at net she almost always goes for a touch volley rather than whacking the ball.

M-Nav must be proud today! Three lefty Czechs in action.

She's out-thinking Stosur, who keeps hitting the ball to her forehand! (Also, we have Samantha Smith commentating. What right does a British woman have to tell anyone about tennis? And she is pronouncing the name as kah-vit-oh-vuh which is annoying)

Stosur's anticipatory sense is like...nil. Zero. So flat-footed.

Haw, serve and gorgeous drop volley from Kvitova!

IT IS "KVITOVA" not "KAVITTOVA" YOU USELESS FUCKING ENGLISH COW WHO NEVER GOT ABOVE #57 IN THE WORLD

Beautiful tennis from Kvitova. She's hitting angles, volleys, anticipating amazingly well...actually I don't think she is just the cavewoman ballbasher of yore, she's really improved her tactics and ability to work points.

Heh, I've always liked Smith's Eurosport commentary. And she got to #55!

To be fair, Smith hasn't got anyone decent to bounce off here so it's all boring stats and lack of insight. But still. Repeatedly mispronouncing players' names is just irritating.

Be thankful it's not McEnroe. "Henn-inn."

YES! Gorgeous volley to finish it.

We're getting Tomic/Nadal commentated by Hewitt next! Lleyton's not too bad as a commentator, actually, and he hates Tomic's guts so this might even be entertaining.

Kvitova must be LOVING the look of her part of the draw. Zvonareva is Zvonareva, Clijsters looked awful today, she's not scared of Wozniacki as a potential finalist...

Wasn't there some stroty a while back of Tomic refusing to practice with Chewitt because he "wasn't good enough"? looooool x a milli.

*story

Yes, and it just confirmed that whatever you think of Hewitt, Tomic and his father are fifty times the cockfarmers he ever was.

TRIPLE BAGEL PLEASE RAFAEL.

OK, here's the 2011 report from the scene:

First up on MCA was Francesca Schiavone, Stose's French Open nemesis, up against Monica Nicolescu of Roumania. Before I arrived Frankie was well on the way to an easy win, but suddenly Monza reeled off five games on the trot including three service breaks, to find herself serving for set 2. Maybe it was crucial that three of those wins came when the other girl served - for she then proceeded to offer up the worst display of serving I have ever seen, bar none, lost the tidal wave of momentum she had created, and with it the match.

Then it was over to SC2 for the final stages of Almagro v Ljubicic, both ranked between 10 and 20 and promising to be the tight contest you hope for between two players both good but not great. The Spaniard already had two sets in the bag before I got there, and strode authoritatively to a straight sets victory over Looby-Loo who increasingly resembled a beached whale as he roasted in the heat and got slower and slower the further it went. The Spanish supporters provided color and movement, although their chant of 'Nicolito!' seemed a tad incongruous. Nico, like 'Ivan the Terrible', is a seriously large fellow and any nickname ending in 'ito' had to be ironic.

From there, back to the Arena for Na Li's ritual dismemberment of BZS, who had ended the Dokic story on Wednesday. 'BZS' sounds like a volatile mixture and is, and there was no shortage of racquet-projection, screaming at her box, and other emotage, but precious little quality tennis as she was made to look very ordinary by Li who might progress a very long way yet as all the publicity is trained on the Kims and Cazza's of this world.

Tommy Berdych (6) v Richard Gasquet (28) was probably the marquee event for the day for the court, but like Almagro-Looby it was nowhere near as evenly matched as it looked on paper before, or on the scoreboard after. T-Berd also won emphatically in straight sets - no winner had conceded a set all day to this stage - despite being routed in the battle of the net-cord. Gasquet will return, but unless he arrests his slide he may well lose the bracketed number after his name.

Finally, some doubles action. Doubles is good value on paper because you get to see four players for the price of two, but on the blue/green/red stuff can often be anticlimatic if one of the four shortfalls on attitude, as for instance Marat Safin did so dramatically and pathetically about this time of the afternoon a few years ago. This time, Alicia Molik had teamed up with Peter Luczak in what may be the last boutique-court showing at the Oz Open for either, and possibly for that reason spare seats were hard to find. They were opposed by Belgian man-mountain Dick Norman, from an even earlier tennis generation, and his Chinese sidekick Chia Jung-Chuang, the shortest person on court by at least nine inches and the Corbett half of what must be the most altitudinally-mismatched doubles pair in Open history.

This was a classic doubles encounter, in which they swapped sets before Norman and Chuang finally prevailed in a 13-11 decider. Molik started extremely nervously, hardly putting a ball into play until her turn to serve (which had been the weakest part of her game early in the week) but a strong service game cleared all the cobwebs and the crowd's relief was palpable. At one stage, as Looch and Norman blasted the ball at each other from about Northcote and Brighton for a good half-dozen shots each way, Molik and Chuang just stood in mid-court irrelevance and shrugged their shoulders. You could almost hear the sigh and the 'Bloody men!'. Not that Mol or Chuang had nothing to give when the ball neded a good whack, Chuang 'yorking' Looch at one point in a way Wasim Akram or Malcolm Marshall couldn't have bettered. If this was Molik and Luczak's last hurrah, it was a worthy one.

Talk is of MCA getting a roof. Er, no thanks....

Great report Fred, thanks!

Nico, like 'Ivan the Terrible', is a seriously large fellow and any nickname ending in 'ito' had to be ironic.

irl lol

Hello dudes! I have got out of bed for some Rafa action.

The mind games have started, At the toss Rafa was bouncing around as if he was barefoot on an ants nest.

Hewitt may not be a bad commentator now while he's fresh at it, but if he ever takes the job on full-time wait for the homogenisation process to start.

Well done Bernie, you have, at the completion of your first service game, won more points than Nadal. Enjoy that feeling as it lasts all of two more points.

Didn't expect this match to start with Rafa nearly going down 0-2. And he can probably thank Tomic's errors for that not happening!

Ah here we go. That's more like it Rafa. Now, lose no more games.

Q. In Barcelona there are a lot of beautiful girls.

MILOS RAONIC: I have a girlfriend back home.

Have we already seen K-Woz's press conference thing?

"When you take a shower, don't stay there for half an hour. Two minutes is enough. Even the girls."

Haha yeah. It made me think more of her! Well, in terms of humour anyway. Maybe a bit less in terms of hygiene.

Also just realised that this is Andrea Petkovic's second straight Slam 4th round...but she still hasn't played out a 3rd round match yet. Peng gave her a walkover at the USO.

So weird to think that this time last year, at the age of 29, Melzer hadn't ever made it to the second week of a Slam. Now he's made four straight.

Tomic suddenly playing really well, 3-0 up in the second. TBH Rafa's been way too passive all match, the first set wasn't close but it wasn't overwhelming either.

What...is happening here? Rafa 0-3 down in the 2nd, just DFed...

Women's last 16 set:

(1) Caroline Wozniacki vs. Anastasija Sevastova
(23) Svetlana Kuznetsova vs. (6) Francesca Schiavone
(30) Andrea Petkovic vs. (14) Maria Sharapova
(9) Na Li vs. (8) Victoria Azarenka
Shuai Peng vs. (12) Agnieszka Radwanska
Ekaterina Makarova vs. (3) Kim Clijsters
(25) Petra Kvitova vs. (22) Flavia Pennetta
Iveta Benesova vs. (2) Vera Zvonareva

Whoa, 0-4 down now :o

And another break! I think the phrase I'm looking for is, 'HOLY SHIT!'

He can't win. of course. And doing the compare and contrast of Rafter v Agassi 95 (Rafter caned, takes time to recover, but does, wins two majors and retires on own terms) and Markiflopsipoopsis v Sampras 12 months later (wins, goes on to unfulfilled career with more headlines than titles) you don't really want him to.

It's moot now, but I looked up when Rafa was last bagelled, and it was, er, two weeks ago in Doha (he beat Lukas Lacko 7-6 0-6 6-3). Last time he was bagelled in a Slam was the 2006 Wimbledon final, by Fed.

Jebus that was the closest hawkeye review I've ever seen. Our telly's resolution wasn't good enough to see it touching properly.

Has Rafa got the flu? Even by his standards he's sweating like Niagara Falls, and he looks lethargic as.

Yeah he definitely doesn't look 100%. But the comeback seems to be on! Tomic had points for *5-1 and 5-2*, missed them all, we're back on serve.

Sorry Bernie - net-rushing Nadal is a fair strategy, but you need to sprint up, not jog.

Methinks Tomic may have reached the giddy height of 4-0 and...got giddy. And made the fatal mistake of looking down.

Amazing rally! Obv Rafa won it.

Win or lose, I think we can officially declare that no, it wasn't ALL hype and bullshit, and yes, this boy CAN play.

Just take him to a tiebreak, for the experience....

Is there ever percentage in 'volleying' those deep lobs to the baseline, instead of waiting to see if it lands in our out and giving the other bloke time to recover position?

I've often wondered that myself.

This is Rafa's easiest service game so far....I suspect no coincidence.

And there we are.

Men's last 16:

(1) Rafael Nadal vs. (15) Marin Cilic
(Q) Milos Raonic vs. (7) David Ferrer
(4) Robin Soderling vs. Alexandr Dolgopolov
(11) Jurgen Melzer vs. (5) Andy Murray
(6) Tomas Berdych vs. (9) Fernando Verdasco
(14) Nicolas Almagro vs. (3) Novak Djokovic
(8) Andy Roddick vs. (19) Stanislas Wawrinka
Tommy Robredo vs. (2) Roger Federer

Three non-seeds against four for the women. Robredo might be the biggest shock, who knew he still had this tennis in him.

4R predix -

Wozniacki, Kuznetsova, Sharapova, Li, Radwanska, Clijsters, Kvitova, Zvonareva
Nadal, Ferrer, Soderling, Murray, Verdasco, Djokovic, Wawrinka, Federer

really enjoying this schiavone-kuznetsova match

Schiavone saves 3 match points from 0-40 to hold for 8-8 in the third

it's a fucking insane match.

honestly, quality has been woeful but it's been super-dramatic - sveta was super lucky not to be broken in that last game, and really she would've deserved it being so moronic when losing those three match points.

god sveta is such a failure. has failed to convert six match points now.

credit to franny for hanging in there too though - she totally deserves to win this.

get it fran!

WTF is this match! women's tennis...

i want francesca to win.

me too.

for those keeping score at home, there has now been 7 breaks of serve in this set. Schiavone about to serve for the match... again.

correction, 8 breaks of serve. ;_;

14-14. amazingly, the quality of the tennis has stepped up considerably the longer the match has gone on. they're both surviving on adrenaline now.

Hey guys, non-drama related Q - how can you find out who was the umpire for a given match? Any easy way?

i don't have an answer for you ed but schiavone! stunning point to take the break. will serve for the match for the third - and hopefully - final time.

MP Schiavone! come on don't blow it now...

DEUCE. holy hell, this is never going to end...

finally!!! GSM, Schiavone.

Wow! That was incredible. That second match point where Svetlana hit that amazing return to stuff the serve/volley attempt, if she'd come back to win after that it would have been Herculean, but Schiavone deserved it more after NOT LOSING 9000 MPs.

absolutely. so happy for Franny, not so happy at the thought that she'll probably lose easily to the Woz in the next round.

longest grand slam match in women's tennis history, btw.

I thought the level of play was very high throughout the second half of the 3rd. The best women's match I've seen in a decade.

and now Sharapova in trouble against Petkorazzi

Navratilova picked Petkovic but I didn't find out fast enough to get a bet in. :(

sharapova didn't look all that convincing against Goerges the other day tbh, not surprised that petko is blowing her off the court.

first career Aussie quarterfinal for Schiavone. What an amazing late career surge she's had.

i love how wiry and strong and nimble she is, she's a wee toughie.

yeah and her retrieval skills are A++ - i have no idea how she got to some of those balls sveta was hitting.

my cat always leaves the room when I watch Sharapova matches, I've noticed.

PETKORAZZI! <3. "Don't listen to your parents!". How can anyone not love this crazy bitch? She also looked marvellous in green, which few can say.

Less than an hour after, Tignor already has a great write-up on Kuz-Schiavone: http://tennisworld.typepad.com/thewrap/

Asked if she was going to get some sleep tonight, Schiavone smiled and shook her head. She didn’t know what she was going to do, or quite where she was. Only one thing came to mind: “Drink.”

I switched on the telly this morning to see Roddick double fault = awesome. Alas he's been playing pretty well so far. Come on Stan!

Wonderful cross-court winner from Stan to make 7 deuces this game!

is it warmer than usual in RLA now? Much like Rafa yesterday, Roddick is positively dripping with sweat - on the slo-mo replay of his serve, you could see it spraying all over as he hit the ball, it's fucking gross.

It's well minging isn't it. Stan gets the first set, eventually.

GO THE VAV!!!!!!

More aces, bigger forehands.. Vav is owning this. Yay!

About 5 years ago Roddick played Baghdatis in a heatwave on Sunday afternoon, dressed in head-to-toe black just like tonight, lost heavily, and by match end looked like he'd just run the Boston Marathon. Then as now I wondered if he has ever noticed what color tennis players and cricketers traditionally wear?

I love waking up to results that involve Sharapova only winning five games. Petkorazzi! I didn't think she could do it. Keothavong officially a tougher opponent than Shriek.

What happened to Nando? Seriously expected his match against Berdman to be closer, or if it was a blowout to go Nando's way.

Obviously sad I missed every second of SWETA and SCHIAVOSLAM :( I did actually intend to get home in time to watch some tennis but I accidentally went to a club after the pub and don't remember how I got home :(

OK now I have to make my body move downstairs to watch Roddick lose lose lose lose.

This guy seems to specialise in the slow-motion ace. And you're right, Sandshoe Face is getting eaten ATM. Vav needs a break, all the same.

Roddick's BH is even more harmless than usual.

stan's BH, though! ALLEZCMON

the Manislas just putting his BH wherever the fuck he wants to

Three set points - Roddick looks mentally shot to hell.

yeah. it's great to see.

omfg the way that volley DIED. <3 stan

Hahahahahaha compare and contrast to Roddick's volley on break point. IRL LOL

stanislas is zoning, i love it.

Obviously sad I missed every second of SWETA and SCHIAVOSLAM :( I did actually intend to get home in time to watch some tennis but I accidentally went to a club after the pub and don't remember how I got home :(

I was wondering where you were, lex! at least it sounds like you had a good night though. :)

Vav getting some terrible calls in this game. BP down...

(Never seen a successful challenge before where the replay showed the ball was INSIDE the line).

4-2 now.

Don't know why Roddick hangs around - earned a few million quid, bagged a slam (which is all he's gonna get) so disappear already.

For our entertainment?

Q. Could you tell us what you thought of the match and why you won.

NA LI: Because I'm better, so I won the match.

<4

Seriously, watching Roddick fail to live up to his seeding in a Slam has been a perennial sporting pleasure these last 5-6 years.

yeah I have no desire for Roddick to retire any time soon. Loving this shit.

Well he did get another shot at Wimbledon a couple of years ago but now he's clearly not going anywhere near a slam again.

It is entertaining, true. I just wanted to watch something more competitive this morning. xp

It's not like he's completely hopeless - he'll do something like Wimb '09 or win a couple of 1000-series events and suddenly he's up at #6 in the rankings and a Slam dark horse and "you never rule Andy out on this surface" and 8-10 days later we're all laughing.

Two more points, Vav.

lolololololol @ that shank

yes! even with Stan getting a bit women's tennis in the last few games it was never in doubt.

yay Stan!

AND I'm STILL bitter about the 2003 US Open! So this is career-long payback for that.

Great win.

That USO 03 should so have been Nalbandian's (though given how lazy he's been I'm not shedding tears for him). Can't remember any other Slam so deliberately weighted in one player's favour as that.

first career Aussie quarterfinal for Schiavone. What an amazing late career surge she's had.

yeah - all these amazing experiences she's had in the past year that no one expected her to. And she's been so endearing throughout. Easily the best women's tennis storyline in recent times.

http://twitter.com/SvetlanaK27/status/29154116898922496

:/

Lol @ Roddick

They are replaying the end of Kuznetsova/Schiavone... wau love them both

Sveta's post-match presser was as epic as that match was. her answer to the last question...

http://www.australianopen.com/en_AU/news/interviews/2011-01-23/201101241295789762036.html

Haha that is great

amazingly, that story doesn't end there. From blogger Forty Deuce, who was there:

... as Sveta was finishing her presser, which ran a bit long due to a rambling answer about her millions of prize winnings, Masha poked her head in and with a wide smile, caught Sveta's eye and said "Sveta, you're done!" Sveta smiled, walked towards the door and kept on rambling. "They keep asking me what I do with my millions." "She gives it to me!"

Nice moment from Shriekapova.

Dolgopolov giving Soderling serious problems

we may have a Santoro-Safin thing going on here

been mildly fascinated with the evolution of dolgopolov's name - he used to go by Oleksandr Dolgopolov Jr. before changing it to the more Anglicised Alex Dolgopolov Jr. and then dropping the Jr. and changing it again to its current form - Alexandr Dolgopolov - some time last year.

His playing style is as unformed and malleable as his name - the guy is hilariously unpredictable. Think Sod will win this eventually but it was funny how he seemed to be getting more tentative the longer the match has gone on, like he doesn't know what the kid is going to do next.

... or not, Dolgo's just broken him in the fifth and held serve to go up 4-1.

your opponent not bothering to serve for a game is a good way to be steered towards victory despite your hilarious unpredictability.

his wacky, creative game is a breath of fresh air imo xp

oi you quit choking.

yaaaaay. great performance.

so this raonic kid is pretty good too, huh? He looks like Sampras - that serve is a beast.

Raonic's service form is remarkably similar to Federer's, with even more power.

I think the story of the tournament on the men's side is that the young up and comers are really delivering. Nice to see some guys that don't have Gulbisitis.

oh i don't know, gulbis delivered when he first appeared on the scene too (first time I noticed him - USO'07 when he blasted Robredo, who was top 10 at the time, off the court in the third round) - he just didn't know what to do with the raised expectations afterward.

These new guys seem pretty steady but that's easier to do when no one expects them to win. But yeah, it is terrific to see the new generation coming up, and all with such varied games as well.

@JamesLaRosa Milos Raonic's serve is the most epic thing to come out of Canada since Justin Bieber's hair.

Dolgopolov's a great player to watch - definitely surprised at this result though! Recommend reading this Bodo piece on him from the USO esp re: his health issues.

Sad I missed A-Rad saving MPs against Peng, too. Sad that she'll probably get mashed by Ste. Kim in the quarters, too.

Q. Why do you think you were more nervous today against a lower ranked player?

PETRA KVITOVA: I don't know. I don't know why, so...

Pennetta is ranked 25. Kvitova is ranked 28. AAARGHHH.

I think the comparison may have been between Kvit's last and second last opponents,

Agree Milos the Moose Wrangler looks like he could be anything.

Chinese players are the best, right?

Peng: "The tennis is like this. Like sometimes you down, you win. Sometimes you up, you lose."

Love it.

Can see that quote gracing office desk calendars for generations to come.

Makarova looked more terrified serving in that tie-breaker than I can understand.

Tuned in for the end of Mak Attack and the Saint. The Saint just chasing everything down in the TB and Mak crumbled. Ugh. Turned off again.

QFs set.

(1) Caroline Wozniacki vs. (6) Francesca Schiavone
(30) Andrea Petkovic vs. (9) Na Li
(12) Agnieszka Radwanska vs. (3) Kim Clijsters
(25) Petra Kvitova vs. (2) Vera Zvonareva

(1) Rafael Nadal vs. (7) David Ferrer
Alexandr Dolgopolov vs. (5) Andy Murray
(6) Tomas Berdych vs. (3) Novak Djokovic
(19) Stanislas Wawrinka vs. (2) Roger Federer

...so I'm thinking this is an amazing chance for Li to reach the final? And given how shaky St. Kim has looked, maybe...Kvitova in the bottom half? All the men's QFs look routine on paper but I wonder how Nu-Manislas will fare against Fed - he really is in the form of his life.

Li v Petkovic is going to be match of the tournament, right? Please!

(in the matches under 4 hours division, natch)

been mildly fascinated with the evolution of dolgopolov's name - he used to go by Oleksandr Dolgopolov Jr. before changing it to the more Anglicised Alex Dolgopolov Jr. and then dropping the Jr. and changing it again to its current form - Alexandr Dolgopolov - some time last year.

yeah these transliteration evolutions are interesting - Olga Govortsova went by Volha Havartsova when she first came on tour, Chakvetadze used to be spelled Tchakvetadze, Dushevina used to be Douchevina...I think it depends on whether the player transliterates to Anglo or French spelling, and usually happens when they renew their passport.

The weirdest one I've seen was the Swiss player who started her career as Marie-Gaïané Mikaelian, but switched to the inexplicable and clunkier Marie-Gayanay Mikaelian after a few years - which can't have been a transliteration thing.

I hope Li/Petkovic won't be the match of the tournament, Li needs to save herself to beat Woz in the SF! (And maybe Ste. Kim in the final!)

Good point. Though I'm not overly concerned about who takes Woz out, just as long as someone does. If Schiavone can do it tomorrow, so much the better.

That would be pretty awesome (as, indeed, would a second SCHIAVOSLAM) - just think that playing two epics in the tournament already will have worn even Frankie out...

oh Na Na, what's my name?

uh oh.

yesterday there was this, which i didn't really think much of afterward because no one else reported on it:

MELBOURNE: A member of French player Aravane Rezai's family has been banned from WTA events and is under investigation because of a "serious safety matter" affecting her "health and well being", the tour said on Sunday. ...

"The health and well being of our players is the number one priority for the WTA," a statement said.

"A serious safety matter has been brought to the WTA's attention, which has resulted in a family member of Aravane Rezai being indefinitely suspended from all future WTA events pending our investigation."

Today I see this on Twitter...

@lynnlovestennis French media reporting that Arsalan Rezai "disowned" his daughter, physically attacked her, and threatened her bf

:( :(

I predict
Women's Singles Final: Nal Li vs. Vera Zvonareva - winner Na Li
Men's Singles Final: Rafael Nadal vs. Roger Federer - winner Nadal

Na-Na wins all the way

*Na Li

Haven't checked the draw but from what I've seen since the Safina game, either Woz or Zevon, whoever gets a shot at her first, will put Kim out in short order.

Nah, Woz won't beat her in a final. Just, no.

Li's opening service game was lost from 40/00 up. Stop dumping backhands into the net, Li!

Petkorazzi's inferior defense should be the deciding factor in this match...

You'd think so, but that first game was an interesting contra. Sadly I got a phone call in the middle of teh game Li broke back so I MISSED IT. Gr.

That point from Li. Gorgeous.

It's hard to imagine that Li won't do nearly everything better today.

Li basically turned ON at 0-2 down. Exposing Petkovic's dodgy technique, esp on the FH, in every way.

Pretty sure that opening game took longer than the entire rest of the set put together.

And even that game was mostly decided on Li's errors than anything else. I guess Petkovic couldn't have come into this expecting Li to serve as badly as Sharapova did.

Opening game of the second set was fairly comedic from Li. What the hell was that all about.

Oh hai, I'm the second set, I'm going to be the same as the first.

Not that Petkovic was up to much today, but if Li can bash that forehand like that (esp to the forehand), then Wozniacki is dead meat.

Li's on court interview!!!

Interviewer: You gave up tennis for two years to go to university - why, when you're so good at it?
Li: Well, I was so good at university also!

Two thi9ngs, one a venerable tradition going back as long as I can remember, the other just appearing this year, that I just don't get:

a) The winning player 'signing' the lens of the camera - an incredibly expensive piece of SOTA gear, with a use-by date that wouldn't be erxtended any by whatever they have to use to clean it. Besides giving the viewers at home a chance to try and read their fave player's autograph backwards, WHY?

b) That ad with the two crocs playing in the final. Witty, nicely shot, but every cornflakes-packet PR course I've ever heard of still seems to recommend sone kind of logical link between the ad itself and the fing wot the ad is meant to be adding....

Answers on the back of a postcard please.

XP: Li Na was too merciful on the interviewer by far with that answer. Na Li's outstanding academic record has been on my radar for at least the last 48 hours, so God knows when it stopped being new to the rest of the world (esp media insiders). Slack work indeed.

I love Clijsters, but any fool know the best story that could come out of this tournament is Li Na winning it.

Fred, it's because Optus' "thing" is to have animals in their ads. No, me neither.

(but I mean come on it's way better than those Dove ads with Patrick Rafter in them)

Hmm. Fed up 2-0 in about eight seconds. No doubt Wawrinka played well against Roddick, but, that was Roddick who has nothing behind the serve if you hit it to his left which might have made him look better than he was.

"but I mean come on it's way better than those Dove ads with Patrick Rafter in them)"

By the length of the court. Al least the croc ad is watchable.

....w3hich right now is more than you can say for the match.

Yeah it's a bit of a demolition. Not really unwatchable though, lots of Federer magic so far, and well, some luck - at game point for Vav 1-4 down the net cord snuffed it out and then another break.

And it'll probably be over soon. I need a haircut and I am getting one, so it'll probably be finished before I get back.

And seriously, between this Wozniacki outfit and those atrocities she did for Maria Kirilenko all those years ago, Stella McCartney needs to fuck off and not bother designing tennis dresses as she REALLY SUCKS AT IT.

god rafa/fed/novak/murray are annihilating everyone

Schiavone for Prime Minister

forza! get it, franny.

Lots of gorgeous Francesca volleys in that set to make a good highlight reel, just need to cut out a lot of her loopier misfires particularly on her own service games. But yes! GO SCHIAVONE!

RT @DailyForehand: Through seven games, Caroline Wozniacki has more incorrect challenges (2) than winners (1). #ausopen

Yep, a single backhand winner. But gosh, wasn't that game where Schiavone broke in the second set exquisite? Even better was the point just after that break at 00-15 with the preposterous backhand volley?

Wozniacki just seems confused. I almost feel bad for her.

Dammit I should have kept quiet.

That was beyond women's tennis. Schiavone must be clagged.

Booo... I had to leave for work and was hoping that Schiavone would just hold on to her serve (shaky since the start of the match) in the second and I come in to this? argh.

amazing game here

NOT. OVER. YET. Francesca, you badass bitch.

of course it had to end on a disputed line call. sigh.

A Schiavone who hadn't played a marathon two days ago wins that match. God, Wozniacki is the luckiest person ever. Come back Serena, for god's sake.

I think Hingis tried that comeback a couple years too early

Aargh poor Francesca :(

Went to bed after the first, brief set of Fed, after which it was totally apparent that Nu-Manislas could not and would not do anything. Fed was on fire, to be fair.

Li really should win against Woz. Literally the only way she comes out with a loss is if she hits three errors per game. Sadly that is entirely plausible. Then again, she acquitted herself well against Serena in her first Slam SF, so nerves shouldn't be a factor...

Hobak takes the first set 6-1. Everything you'd infer from that scoreline is correct. Hobak playing well, and within himself. Berdych is a moron, still.

Berdych's return games weren't bad. Not serving well enough.

berdych getting better

those berdych fans are great

...and Hobak responds.

Djoko two sets up after set 2 tiebreaker - looks home.

Anybody else think T-Berd looks a bit like a glam-era David Bowie?

Bepa is looking fierce.

Zevon is a dominating physical presence - and the way she looks like she's doing it all in second gear makes her even more so.

I am a fan of Kvitova's amusing yelping.

That second set was quite watchable in the end. Very impressive from Bepa. Now, repeat Wimbledon against St Kim.

Bepa certainly looked more convincing than anybody else I've seen in this competition for the last week. Kim can't beat her unless her touch and/or consistency improve dramatically. And neither can anyone else. Traditionally I suppose she might beat herself but how old is that canard now?"

This Aga-Kim match is starting out terribly. three games, three breaks - two double faults, one incorrect challenge, multiple errors. :/

Hilarious missed overhead to blow the second set for Radwanska, at the end of a point she had played incredibly.

It got highly watchable here too! Clijsters played as bad a pair of games as ever go give the break back and really had to dig deep to stay in. She'll pull it out here surely but Radwanska would have a set by now if she'd always played this well.

am doing work and not watching this, but everytime i turn back to the livescore, I giggle. What is Dolgo doing out there? why hasn't Murray taken the first set yet?

Dolgo's doing what dolgo does!

Dolgo!

DolGIRLpolov. What is with his hair? He looks like a femme Mauresmo with more acne.

A-Rad's best Slam QF performance by some distance. Did she play really well or is St Kim still being erratic? Or both, lol.

God, a Bepa/Li final would be THE BEST but another Woz/St Kim final would be THE WORST.

Though this has actually been the best Slam in quite some time for the WTA, hasn't it? Many quality matches, few meltdowns or error-strewn disasters (still time for these though, lol), an interesting amount of upsets but no sections of the draw falling apart, a quality SF line-up where every match could go either way, and lots of personality displayed on the way.

2nd game takes 18 minutes until Nadal is broken, this looks like a rough night for Rafa.

(and Ferrer)

rafa breaks back, apparently he's called a trainer?

my goodness, apparently Nadal has left the court. Maybe just getting an ankle taped?

Nadal is in a medical timeout, now I guess he's not over the flu after all.

like me, Rafa is apparently having back spasms.

dang

hamstring injury of some kind is the latest report. Not looking good for Rafa.

10 minute delay for the Australia Day fireworks comes at a crazy time.

Between those fireworks, and the women's singles being interrupted by a 21-gun salute and six planes flying in formation overhead, it just makes me go "Fuck, this country, for god's sake, get some priorities, there's tennis going on!"

unfortunately with nadal there isn't much tennis going on

still at work but people tweeting that Rafa was crying on the changeover. :(

Happy for Daveeeed though, one of the good guys on tour.

Yeah, there was often a tear coming down the cheek as he served.

Whose English is worse - Ferrer or Davydenko?

Rafa did bloody well to finish the match, on one leg and maybe still flu-ridden as well, but Ferrer's effort shouldn't be underestimated. Based on what I saw of Murray today Jose is not without a hope.

Though this has actually been the best Slam in quite some time for the WTA, hasn't it? Many quality matches, few meltdowns or error-strewn disasters (still time for these though, lol), an interesting amount of upsets but no sections of the draw falling apart, a quality SF line-up where every match could go either way, and lots of personality displayed on the way.

yeah, when was the last time the Top 3 of the WTA actually lived up to their seedings at a Slam?

Bepa/Li would be the best outcome for all - iirc if Bepa wins, she'd go to number one (Bepa, a legit, Slam-winning WTA number one!), and if Li wins, it could mean a seachange for Chinese/Asian tennis, not to mention an opportunity to tap into the largest audience market yet for a sport that's already global in nature. Also, she's awesome.

You could mount an argument that Clijsters winning - making it two slams in a row - would make the WTA look at least orderly. Everyone got to grips with other players at #1 because they "knew" Serena was the bst while she was winning majors, but when Serena isn't around, everything looks stupid. But Zvonareva winning and going to #1 would also be a neat solution to that problem (and deserved). But I'm pulling for Li.

(Wozniacki winning would also validate her #1-ness, but she hit all of 13 winners in 3 sets vs Schiavone so PLEASE NO)

Per my quick calculations now, I think Wozniacki has the #1 locked up regardless, though Bepa and Clijsters will be awfully close if they beat Li in the finals. Of course, I could have made an error in there somewhere.

Anyway, back to Rafa. I'm Federer for life but nobody could fail to have felt for him, playing through discomfort that was probably a lot greater than he was showing. And still hitting some downright great shots making it so that Ferrer had to play well to win still. Lesser players still would have lost just because Nadal still found those corners. Maybe Ferrer deserves a final more than Murray too!

Woz locked up the top bananaship with her win over Schiavone. When the tournament started she was 1300 points ahead of whoever is no 2, and no 6 was closer to 2 than 2 to 1.

so basically, any one of them winning would be a great story. In which case, go Li!

re Nadal: Yeah, I'm pro-Fed too but my heart totally breaks for Rafa everytime this happens. He always seems one injury away from an early retirement, which is a drag for a guy as good as he is. And such a bro too - any normal person would've retired tonight but it almost seemed like he *needed* to compete to allow his friend to win this.

Henin quits again

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/tennis/9377012.stm

obviously i feel for her but my main emotion is relief that this dismal fail of a comeback has drawn to a close. she shouldn't have quit the first time. and now we have Ste Kim bolstering her legacy even while treating the tour like a rich retiree's part-time jaunt instead.

and i have been saying "just re-retire, Justine" for most of the past 12 months anyway.

Feel for Rafa too, didn't see any of it but twitter kept me updated on what was going down. Hey, this opens up a window of opportunity for Murray to lose another final to Roger!

Per my quick calculations now, I think Wozniacki has the #1 locked up regardless, though Bepa and Clijsters will be awfully close if they beat Li in the finals. Of course, I could have made an error in there somewhere.

yup - Woz will be #1. Winner of Ste Kim/Bepa will be #2, loser will be #3. Li will be #8 if she loses the SF, #7 if she loses the final, #5 if she titles (all would be career highs).

I'm seriously going to lol if Clijsters ends up with more slams than Henin. To think that the 7:1 discrepancy is now somewhat likely to be 7:4 by end of the week and.. well, Roland Garros is going to be a hilarious toss-up this year as ever, right... it could be 7:6 by the end of the year.

Li Na! What the hell are you doing.

God I don't even know what to say to that. For heaven's sake woman, your opponent is standing 600 miles behind the base-line, bashing it into the corners isn't going to work if she's behind the baseline, and you're going to hit lots of them out to boot. Use some angles and change up the length if not the pace!

And look - a beautifully constructed series of five points from Li and it goes from 40/0 to a break back. WELL DONE LI, now do it again.

Hey that second set in Li Na-Wozniacki was pretty great. Go Li Na!

3rd set has been great too!

This has improved so much - Li is hitting smarter points, fewer errors, making the lines over and over agan, and Woz has picked up too, doing more than just wait for errors. It's gripping stuff!

SERVE FOR IT! TAKE IT ALL LI!

Now if Bepa can beat Clijsters will be a perfect final.

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

That last point = SO CLASSIC IT HURTS

okay she seriously is one of the best interviews on the tour

Clijsters a set and a break up. Quelle surprise. As if Zvonareva is beating her on a hard court. (Doha schmoha, as if Clijsters didn't chuck that one to get the easier SF match-up).

Rematch of Sydney final. I'm probably the only happy one.

Nadal's post-match interview is great reading as an example of how classy he is and how sports journalists need to be fucking killed.

OMFG OMFG so pissed off that I didn't get to see Li win but SO HAPPY FOR HER!

(wasn't sure if I could stay up that late - at least not w/o feeling wrecked today which I don't need - situation resolved by a fucking POWER CUT half an hour before the match, and the electricity people said it'd take a few hours to go back up)

Rolling eyes at Bepa. So not surprised.

ANYWAY omg, do we think Li can repeat her Sydney win over Clijsters?

Hobak/Fed is a brilliant match so far and I've only watched two games

Bah am bummed out I'm missing out on all of this today - could've caught Kim/Bepa if I'd known my interviewee was going to show up two hours late. /stabby

great TB from Hobak, a couple too many errors from Fed...

jesus christ some of these rallies are just

I was just about to post 'Rodge is hanging on by a fingernail'....

Wow, Hobak giving it everything to get the break back...but didn't. Momentum switched pretty quickly in this set!

Haha another twist in this set, I can't cope

Fed got lots of mileage out of the dropshot earlier in this set but Djokovic is starting to reach them

Rodge, I swear I'm going to wire up your racquet so next time you even THINK about playing one of those half-ass drop shots you cop a 5000 volt incentive to do something else instead.

Boss hitting from Hobak now. Set points!

Well for someone who used to say the drop shot was a joke shot, Federer hit a couple of really shit ones in that second set.

And suddenly Djoko serves two doubles and Rodge has a break point....

Fed's hatred of Hawkeye was just fed a bit more

This game is getting bigger and bigger for Fed - my vibe is if he doesn't break here he'll be waiting a long tome for another look-in.

that BH from fed! that FH from djokovic!

<3

This game is getting bigger and bigger for Fed - my vibe is if he doesn't break here he'll be waiting a long tome for another look-in.

suspect you'll be right - anyway, hobak holds...

...and rides the momentum to a break.

weird to think this match could well be a straight-setter.

And that's it. See you in Paris,

this match = glimpses of genius from fed, sustained boss hitting from novak.

That's been Fed's Open - glimpses of genius among patches of mediocrity. Simon wasn't good enough to take ultimate advantage, yet. This guy is.

...another twist? Fed with BP...

lol ace

Ans another...followed by another ace, Djoko's third and fourth of the match.

haha fed battled so hard to get that break back and then turns around and plays this service game? o_0

Federer, in perfect health, showed about one tenth as much game as an injured Nadal.

lol @ the commentator saying federer's not used to going home this early. m8 this is as far as he's got in a slam in the past year.

Fed won't feel the need to change his approach till he starts getting bundled out on first Fridays alongside the Hewitts and Nalbandians. And until he does change his game, he's unlikely to win another major. Or so says Pat R & Jim C.

PRobably true. Also, Courier unexpectedly OTM, if TOTALLY HYPOCRITICAL given his own history, in advocating for a shot clock for the server.

Federer, in perfect health, showed about one tenth as much game as an injured Nadal.

― cock is a battlefield (edwardo), Thursday, 27 January 2011 11:43 (38 minutes ago)

no

Yes, actually. His body language was VERY VERY NEGATIVE and hitting drop shots reeks of desperation.

that's some silly haterade edwardo

Sure, Djokovic played very well and must be the favourite to win the tournament (if he wasn't before the game already), but there is no excuse for collapsing from 5-2 to 5-7. That's women's tennis stuff.

x-post I am not a Federer hater, quite the opposite.

Fed basically played Djokovic even for two sets, while Nadal got crushed by Ferrer (understandably given he was hurting).

but there is no excuse for collapsing from 5-2 to 5-7. That's women's tennis stuff.
― cock is a battlefield (edwardo), Thursday, January 27, 2011 12:25 PM (43 seconds ago) Bookmark

There is a good excuse, playing one of the greatest returners ever.

I mean in the first set, Federer was pretty darn awesome. It was most mutually well played set they've had a slam, probably.

Won't dispute ANY of that. The first set was great and the errors in the tie-breaker were totally understandable. Novak was more than solid there. But the overall problem was more Djokovic's retrieval skills in rallies than the returning. But none of this explains at least five framed backhands and god knows how many bizarre shot choices. If it had been a straight-out-demolition this would have been something else but Federer was still hitting good, nay AMAZING, shots - especially against the wall of break points etc. But away from there he was playing loosely and getting INTO those spots.

didn't see any of the nadal match, but i don't think federer played particularly badly at any stage of this match - and often he played really amazingly.

losing a ONE-BREAK lead isn't women's tennis unless you do it in a pathetic collapse of DFs and basic errors, which fed didn't. djokovic was on fire for long stretches of the match.

also the dropshot's been fed's go-to shot for years now!

The Nadal match was grim but eerily compelling, you missed.. a unique spectacle in that Nadal was totally hobbled which you could tell from the very first game but that didn't stop him placing the ball astonishingly well.

Federer didn't hit a lot of DFs but his first serve wasn't around on many of the biggish points, your 15/30s and such.

(obv this comes across like haterade because a) I love Federer, and b) you don't spend 10 years as a fan of Elena Dementieva without learning how to hate your favourite players)

God that was a bunch of bitter wanky moaning up there. I'm just not that big on Djokovic even though he's clearly playing the best of anyone :( (would smash obviously)

I'm rooting for Ferrer!

I'm pretty happy for Kim Clijsters - Na Li final. There isn't a better combination for me at this Open

Actually, the remaining possible stories are all good ones, men or women.

I <3 Clijsters even if Li deserves this more.

yeah AO is usually my favourite Slam anyway, but I think this has been the best Slam in ages. Loads of great personalities and good matches.

this women's doubles final is frequently hilarious and entertaining. Literally women's tennis times two.

ridiculous intense rally after ridiculous intense rally here, if this goes long then someone's gotta give physically.

god i was intending to skip this cuz i have work to do, am i gonna have to watch it?

Murray is hitting some really awful backhands but it's not a low quality match by any means.

murray's being too passive as usual imo - the rallies are long and intense yes, but each point almost always seems to rest on whenever Ferrer gets bored and decides to go for broke, usually hitting a stunning winner or a goofy error.

Yeah Murray is not impressing at all, even despite that second set TB. Really cannot see him beating Djokovic if he makes it out of this.

Neither of them will beat Djokovic. Every break Murray's had has been immediately lost, sort of suggesting Ferrer is fairly good against the wall and the tie-breaker was a bit of an anomaly.

Well Murray had a lot of trouble closing that third set out. But that's OK, he won't be doing any of that closing on Sunday!

That game was so stupid.

Have we changed our minds about Murray's performance? Not that I'm seeing much of it.

I think he can beat Djokovic.

I think Djokovic is still favourite based on his semi-final performance. I like that Murray has shut up all the idiots in the office here who wrote him off after the first set.

He still does choke and bit and struggles to serve sets/matches out but he's got a lot more character than some people give him credit for. Good to see him shake off that passivity a bit today - for the first set and a bit he seemed to be going through the motions and hoping Ferrer would make the errors that Ferrer gets everyone else to make through sheer persistence.

And there goes his break in set 4! Not so straightforward then.

Murray really was annihilating people prior to the QF.

Those people weren't Roger Federer.

I'm not watching any more.

idk, Murray's had some patches of brilliance but also patches of stupidity, and he doesn't seem to be able to control how his form fluctuates within the match. What impressed me about Djokovic was how sustained his aggression was over the course of the match. Yeah, Murray CAN beat Djokovic, the h2h bears this out as it bore out that he could beat Roger and Rafa too, but on the evidence of this, Murray's game still dips significantly in the latter rounds of Slams. I agree he has more character than people think but having predicted him to go all the way multiple times in the past I'm kind of sick of it.

Even if it was "only" Tsonga on the other side of the net, Djokovic has produced the goods in a final. Murray hasn't. If Murray gets there, it's gonna be hard to beat Djokovic. Murray won't be able to get cheap points moving Novak around because, look, he was onto EVERYTHING last few rounds. Djokovic is going to serve bigger than Ferrer too so fewer breaks. And Murray's given service breaks back, and Djokovic will capitalise.

Phew

Andy Murray didn't even realise he had saved a set-point at 4-5 in the second set against David Ferrer: "I actually thought it was 4-3 - just before the umpire called it 5-5. It happens occasionally. I was so focused and wrapped up - it probably helped me out and I hope it doesn't happen again."

^explains the lack of choking :)

OMG at Oracene's response to being asked whether she'll cheer for Na: http://twitter.com/Oracene/status/30874461976666112

I think I love her a bit more.

No reason why Djokovic won't play worse in the final so we'll see - should be interesting to see how Murray performs in a final that isn't against Fed.

And can't wait to see Li Na tomorrow.

Kim Clijsters' twitter has her dubiously expressing an affection for the band Live. Fair point well made, Oracene! No doubt if Kim read Oracene's tweet her response would be to try to track her down and hug her or something.

It's taken until this morning for it to sink in that Roger Federer does not currently hold a Grand Slam title (well, OK, he still does until tomorrow). First time since before Wimb '03. If you were looking for an End of An Era angle, that would be it, I guess.

Not even a final on his record!

Though actually I feel like he played much better at this Slam than he has in previous years where he lost his grip on #1...

LI NA JIA YOU. Everyone's seen her hilarious on-court interview now right? http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/9378227.stm

also surprised to find out that Djokovic and Murray haven't played each other since Miami '09! I guess it's twice as hard for nos. 3 and 4 to meet, with the two most consistent top dogs nearly always leading their halves of the draw.

Li Na has lost the first eight points of the match :/

It's funny how St. Kim has matches where she can't put ANY ball into court, and then matches where she literally does not miss anything.

Anyway. Li breaks back. Gooooooo.

god i hate clijsters

Li fends off BPs to make it 3-3. That game could be important.

Li making pretty much all the plays atm...

Amazing point by Li!

is Cloooooooisters lactating?

FUCKING YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Amazing pass to win first set. From 0-2 down that set was all about Li.

holy shit Li Na

Yes! I wake up just to see Li getting the first set!

is Cloooooooisters lactating?

loooool at her sweat patches :/

YARGH GO LI!

Amazing what a difference it makes when the first-time Slam finalist is NOT A RUSSIAN.

otm azn girls represent

wow great rally

^^^so good.

Wish Li would aim for Clijsters' FH more, that's the side that tends to break down...

GO NA

I have nothing against ms mickey-mouse-sweat-stain, just want a change ffs

and sick of all the commentators raping the word 'Clijsters'

i'm not listening to the commentary but are they having words about Na's backhand?

Another great point at net from Li...

Another break back with a great FH. Four breaks in this second set so far but every game has gone to deuce...

Hurray, a hold!

Another game goes to deuce, but Li Na saves BPs and moves up a hold! COME ON

feel it slipping away

agh

Ugh. Kim more aggressive in that set, I guess, and Li went away at the end of it. WIN THE THIRD SET NA.

-_-

fucken li fanboys screwing her game

boy kim's not fucking around

"Remarkably this will be the first three-set women's grand slam final for five years." <<< Blimey is this true?

Hopefully this set finishes like the last one that Li began by going down 0-2 in...? :/

Last year's AO final was a three-setter! Fucking commentators.

That was from the Guardian game-by-game so I was a bit suspicious.

oh god this is fait accompli isn't it

YES Li breaks back! Kim hit two DFs in that game, but Li hit one amazing return and that sweet last BH DTL...

xps there are no faits accomplis in any Li Na match. So many of her scorelines are like 0-6 6-1 6-4 type scorelines. She can zone at any minute (and also hit 48 straight errors out of nowhere).

crikey this is exciting

xp yeah I'm seeing that now ^_^

'er indoors is going to tomorrow's final, still not sure whether or not to be jealous

CMON NA

booooooooo

this match is depressing

cocking hell

Worst challenge ever, Na.

she's letting everything get to her inc. camera flashes and moths

Well, at least Li's made her serve it out...and we know how St. Kim can choke.

Though not this time, it looks like :(

:(

fuck

ah well

;_;

'bad luck, li'

good work dickhead

'and to kim cloooooooisters'

The BBC commentators did say there was one slam final that went to three in the last five years. This is now the 2nd. Just glad it was fairly entertaining. I was neutral.

Li looked good with some great FH angles but way too erratic at the end of the 2nd and throughout the 3rd. Kim seized her opportunity.

Actually really happy for her - unique career trajectory. Ridiculously successful comeback.

Li and Schiavone emergence have livened things up.

it probably helped me out and I hope it doesn't happen again

lol Andy

That was a good final on its own merits and triply so compared to.. well, most other slam finals.

Just watching highlights + now postmatch talk. Clijsters winning in her lovely green outfit. I'm surprised + pleased for her!

Excitement building. Warding off urge to sleep.

so how long before "settling in" can adequately be described as "choking"

Djokovic is hitting the ball better and deeper for the most part. I think it's only a matter of time before he takes advantage. A couple of great passes aside, Murray is mostly just hitting the ball back.

murray's a slow starter though.

Does Murray ever get challenges right? The two he's had so far weren't even marginal - both full ball on the line.

He's had at least one right so far, but yeah he's pretty terrible with them in general.

He made a correct one early on in this set. Xpost

Seems like Djok is putting a lot more more into his shots but not benefitting particularly from doing so. Would still expect him to take this set but the longer match still favours Murray IMHO.

woof that was a rally.

I missed the first two games so it must have been then.

Great point there, Murray should have buried it but blinks first. Set point.

Djokovic wins the Aussie Open. Now to bed.

Stupid telegraphed drop shot on break point. Murray really struggling now.

Not enjoying this getting up Sunday morning lark :(

o_O splits from Djokovic there ouch

It's not looking like a longer match.

classic murray!

Saves a point to avoid the bagel. He really can't do this slam final thing eh.

Looks like training together has helped Djokovic more than Murray - he's reading everything before Murray knows he's going to do it.

Murray was hitting his forehand better in that last long rally better than any point in the match so far. Shame he still can't send his backhand beyond mid-court but still.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Just pathetic. Will Murray ever win a set in a slam final?

clutch

A break for Murray. Let's see if he can hold it for one service game.

good on Murray for swearing like a true Scot.

Nope.

that's it i'm done. g'night all.

I woke up for this

http://www.madaboutjewellery.com/acatalog/crystal_princess_choker_jet.jpg

That was a stunner from Djokovic

Murray is playing some rather good points off Djokovic's serve but has held his own serve, what, once since the end of the first set?

Striking such a dour presence - Australian crowds must be among the world's easiest to gee up, I know it's really cunty, but a fist pump or a "come on" would probably help him here.

Its a good point in that he (or his attitude) is easily subdued in finals.

I think if Murray can win a set that might be something to build on until his next slam final.

Djokovic's game has dropped a bit in this third set but Murray's serve is just too easily broken for it to matter. He's broken Djokovic twice and he's 4-3 down!

Well done Nole - the better player won.

should have thrown the shorts too!

that's it i'm done. g'night all.

― Gukbe, Sunday, January 30, 2011 Bookmark

^ this is one wise ilxor.

Well done Nole - the better player won.

Indeed. Great guy too.

watched this with the boy at the pub.

seemed like for long stretches, Murray forgot how to serve or hit passing shots or overhead smashes - some of those games he lost were just. argh. Wasn't like I wanted him to win that much either, I just wanted to see a good match.

Nole was ridiculously on fire though - those pinpoint lobs! Amazing.

missed this, figured this would happen though. against Berdych and Federer, Hobak was a man on a mission. three Slam finals and no sets won against opponents that, as great as they are, Murray can regularly beat outside of Slams is really really poor though.

Roll of honour!

Men's singles: Novak Djokovic
Women's singles: Kim Clijsters
Men's doubles: Bob Bryan & Mike Bryan
Women's doubles: Gisela Dulko & Flavia Pennetta
Mixed doubles: Katarina Srebotnik & Daniel Nestor
Boys' singles: Jiri Vesely
Girls' singles: An-Sophie Mestach
Boys' doubles: Filip Horansky & Jiri Vesely
Girls' doubles: An-Sophie Mestach & Demi Schuurs

New rankings:

1. Caroline Wozniacki (1)
2. Kim Clijsters (3)
3. Vera Zvonareva (2)
4. Francesca Schiavone (7)
5. Samantha Stosur (6)
6. Venus Williams (5)
7. Na Li (11)
8. Jelena Jankovic (8)
9. Victoria Azarenka (9)
10. Agnieszka Radwanska (14)
11. Shahar Peer (12)
12. Serena Williams (4)
13. Maria Sharapova (16)
14. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (18)
15. Marion Bartoli (17)
16. Flavia Pennetta (25)
17. Kaia Kanepi (21)
18. Petra Kvitova (28)
19. Ana Ivanovic (20)
20. Nadia Petrova (15)
21. Aravane Rezai (22)
22. Alisa Kleybanova (23)
23. Svetlana Kuznetsova (26)
24. Andrea Petkovic (33)
25. Maria Kirilenko (19)
26. Yanina Wickmayer (24)
27. Dominika Cibulkova (32)
28. Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez (29)
29. Alexandra Dulgheru (30)
30. Lucie Safarova (35)
...
36. Anastasija Sevastova (46)
40. Shuai Peng (54)
41. Ekaterina Makarova (49)
43. Jie Zheng (27)
91. Anne Keothavong (118)

1. Rafael Nadal (1)
2. Roger Federer (2)
3. Novak Djokovic (3)
4. Robin Soderling (4)
5. Andy Murray (5)
6. David Ferrer (7)
7. Tomas Berdych (6)
8. Andy Roddick (8)
9. Fernando Verdasco (9)
10. Jurgen Melzer (11)
11. Mikhail Youzhny (10)
12. Gael Monfils (12)
13. Nicolas Almagro (14)
14. Stanislas Wawrinka (19)
15. Ivan Ljubicic (16)
16. Mardy Fish (17)
17. Sam Querrey (18)
18. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (13)
19. David Nalbandian (21)
20. Marin Cilic (15)
21. Marcos Baghdatis (22)
22. Ernests Gulbis (23)
23. Michael Llodra (24)
24. John Isner (20)
25. Viktor Troicki (27)
26. Albert Montanes (26)
27. Juan Monaco (28)
28. Juan Carlos Ferrero (29)
29. Guillermo Garcia Lopez (32)
30. Richard Gasquet (33)
...
32. Alexandr Dolgopolov (46)
35. Nikolay Davydenko (25)
68. Lleyton Hewitt (54)
73. Richard Berankis (95)
85. Grigor Dimitrov (105)
94. Milos Raonic (152)

Oh yeah. And Safina is now ranked 117.

So that was the 2011 Oz Open.

Upthread Lex called it as 'the best womens' slam in years' or something like that, and it's hard to make a case against. Ni La was magical, but Kim eventually deserved her win, beating the best of the opposition at the business end. Woz resolved nothing - two weeks ago she was neither definitely a contender nor definitely an impostor, and she still isn't. Bepa looked the likely winner right up to the moment she lost. Frankie Sciavone had her moments, as did up-and-comers Petkovic and Kvitova (one of them is called Andrea and the other Petra, but I'm stuffed if I can remember which is which). Re the local hero: as Greg Baum wrote in the Age in the middle of week 2, 'few will be surprised if one day Stosur wins a major, but almost nobody will be if she doesn't.' It doesn't look great for Shreik, or (more regrettably) for the delightful Ana, and Alicia: enjoy your upcoming wedding and we look forward to more of your commentary, but PLEASE don't try to play again.

Serena, who stayed at home, had far and awsy the berst Open of anybody in the Williams family, Venus' dress sense looking like winning her the tournament booby prize until the appalling Oracene opened her cakehole. Just sod off, you bitter old bat, and never come back...

The mens' was also a good contest that needed a great final to be great and didn't get it. Djokovic was the player of the tournament practically from day 1, and in hindsight should have been at least equal favorite from the middle Saturday onwards. With both Rodge and Rafa fading from the picture, Djoko beat better players more convincingly and his demolition of Murray (who rarely and barely exceeded mediocre for long enough at a time) was absolutely no surprise. Special mentions also to Milos the Moose Wrangler, Stan the Vav and Dave Ferrar, and even to Lleyton for his commentary (one of the other surprise packets of the fortnight). And Bernie Tomic as well, I suppose....

See you at Wimbledon.