The 2009 Australian Open (of tennis)

Figured it was about time to start this, even though it's not for a few days to build ANTICIPATION! I just went to the ahem "Medibank" Sydney International (pshaw, it'll always be the Peters NSW Open to me!) and am highly sunburnt in the legs even though I lathered them with sunblock.

I got to see the Demented Diva in the flesh at last! She was beautiful, but I'm still not ready to take her back. I also saw Sveta completely unable to control herself in the wind and nearly fall to pieces against Kaia Kanepi and her enormous thighs. Saw some of a wilting match between Mathieu and Seppi where the outcome was pretty much known because Seppi looked about three foot tall due to his defeatist body language - then saw the end of a fab doubles game between Mirnyi/Ram and Robredo/Lopez - which was PACKED (Sveta had barely anyone watching her) and finished watching teh Rad Wanksta and Maria Kirilenko (wearing a REALLY nice outfit for once) mop up Funky Cold Medina Garrigues and Ruano Pascual. I was amazed how hard Ruano Pascal hits the ball sometimes. Lots of top volleying from Kirilenko and bizarro angles from A-Rad.

Very entertaining. MOre when the draw's finalised I guess!

Time to check in WBS, Lex, Fred, Steady Mike et al..

lol u went to homebush for TENNIS??

Oh, and COVER UP YOUNG LADY I CAN ALMOST SEE YOUR FANNY.

I sure did KBP! And the place was absolutely crawling with cougars. And tomorrow I'm going to peel like a motherfucker.

Berdych lost to Guccione. This is obviously a great loss as far as attractiveness goes due to Gooch being so ugly that even if he were eight feet tall his height wouldn't make up for his features, but still.. LOL.

Men's odds (Outright Winner):

Andy Murray 2/1
Roger Federer 5/2
Rafael Nadal 7/2
Novak Djokovic 11/2
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 12/1
Juan Martin del Potro 25/1
Gael Monfils 25/1
Ernest Gulbis 33/1
Gilles Simon 33/1
David Nalbandian 33/1
Andy Roddick 40/1
Richard Gasquet 66/1
Marcos Baghdatis 80/1
Fernando Gonzalez 80/1
Fernando Verdasco 80/1
Marat Safin 100/1
Marin Cilic 100/1
Lleyton Hewitt 100/1

Lol Hewitt

Hewitt being on centre court today meant that I could get all the tennis I wanted with a $9.90 ground pass and not bump into a single Fanatic. Times like these I'm GLAD he's staying around way past his peak in such an embarrassing fashion.

And the place was absolutely crawling with cougars.

Probably walked over from Rhodes. That place is Cougar City.

lol at the quasi-racist dull non-violent bogans Fanatics still following Hewitt.

Also: when are they gonna bring back the West End South Australian Men's Open and the RIO International?

I know it's apropos of nothing as Kim doesn't play anymore; but her dad (a famous footballer in his time) recently died at the age of 52. RIP. :-(

Kim Clijsters, I mean.

a famous footballer in his time

easy Belgium zing ;)

but yeh RIP

hey folks first male british win in a major since the 20's?

Aussie Kim

hey folks first male british win in a major since the 20's?

Not quite yet but I'd pick him for the US Open in September if he stays injury free this season.

TS: Aussie Kim Clijsters vs Tom Cruise, Australia's Favourite Son-In-Law (xpost)

1920s? Fred Perry was 1930s, dammit!

Seems odd that the bookies' assumption is that Murray is now ready to sweep through seven best-of-five matches against his peers. But he's the only one of the Big Four who is still clearly improving so favourite is probably about right. I'm wondering, was Nadal favourite for the 2005 French?

if he stays injury free

^so not gonna happen. I think he's bulked up so much in the last year or so that his body is starting to complain. The way he was pawing at his back all last week makes me wonder if he'll last seven five setters - if he pushes too hard for this one it could mess his whole season up.

do we have a lot of tennis fans here?
btw, if i were a bettor i'd love nadal's odds there

i think there's a good # altho watching the australian is kind of a pain for north americans

I know it's apropos of nothing as Kim doesn't play anymore

if only. women's draw is just so blah now

I don't even really enjoy watching the Williams sisters anymore unless they're playing each other.

well actually that's not true, Serena vs Jelena is always A+ entertainment even when one of them is off her game

haha i have a soft spot for invanovic (now #5 in the world!) but imo none of the other players on the womens tour is worth a williams it makes the slams pretty boring

I think Jelena wins a major this year; just not this one.

i dont follow things much anymore tbh but she got owned at the year end champ by venus that was the last time i've seen her (jelena) play. otoh she did manage to finish ranked first so... maybe? i guess the u.s.?

there has to be a decent thread in the glamour shots lookin photos female players choose for their wta profiles

She played her ass off at the US Open; she just needs to not be Princess Meltdown and she's got that this year.

I'm trying to figure out who the lolsiest women's major winner would be... I don't think anyone is a credible threat outside of the top 10, though?

none of this "maybe later in the season" fence-hedging for me re: our potential first-time winners - my early picks are murray and jankovic! (er, draws pending, obviously. so i might well play it safe in the end.)

Murray or Nadal is going to win the men IMO.

(altho I guess Nadal's been playing like the magic is gone? so maybe this is Monfils' big break!)

i'm gonna be a lifelong murray fan just because he played a challenger in my hometown about a year before he became famous. he's definitely an exciting player to watch - i think my favorite players tend to be headcases (see: safin, my favorite). I really like his chances at the Aussie because of how well he's been playing, but if i was a bettor, i'd be all over nadal at 7-2.

honestly i can't see serena not winning if she's on top of her game...she's so much ridiculously better than everyone else when she's on. i'm rooting for my girl ivanovic tho

btw wtf we need "i love tennis"

nadal wasn't very magic in losing to monfils in doha last week - though extrapolating on the basis of one tournament is unwise, and my murray pick is more to do with how incredible his form was there, his rate of improval, federer's continued subpar play and djokovic looking tetchy and unfocused in his 1st-round loss to gulbis last week.

agree that jankovic vs les williamses is the best rivalry going: she's got the most even h2h with them of any active player - the only two-set match she's played w//venus was in 05, when she was basically a baby.

JANKOVIC, Jelena (SRB) Versus Venus WILLIAMS (USA)

Year Tournament Round Surface Winner Score
2005 Stanford QF Hard (O) V.WILLIAMS 3-6 3-6
2006 Rome QF Clay (O) V.WILLIAMS 7-5 4-6 1-6
2006 Wimbledon 32 Grass (O) J.JANKOVIC 7-6(8) 4-6 6-4
2007 Charleston SF Clay (O) J.JANKOVIC 3-6 6-3 7-6(5)
2007 French Open 32 Clay (O) J.JANKOVIC 6-4 4-6 6-1
2007 U.S. Open QF Hard (O) V.WILLIAMS 6-4 1-6 6-7(4)
2008 Rome QF Clay (O) J.JANKOVIC 5-7 6-2 6-3
2008 Stuttgart SF Hard (I) J.JANKOVIC 6-7(8) 7-5 6-2
2008 WTA Tour Championships SF Hard (O) V.WILLIAMS 2-6 6-2 3-6
Jelena JANKOVIC (SCG) Leads Venus WILLIAMS (USA) : 5 to 4

JANKOVIC, Jelena (SRB) Versus Serena WILLIAMS (USA)

Year Tournament Round Surface Winner Score
2004 San Diego 32 Hard (O) S.WILLIAMS 7-6(3) 3-6 2-6
2005 Dubai SF Hard (O) J.JANKOVIC 6-0 4-3 RET
2006 Los Angeles SF Hard (O) J.JANKOVIC 6-4 6-3
2007 Australian Open 16 Hard (O) S.WILLIAMS 3-6 2-6
2008 Hopman Cup 2008 Hard (I) S.WILLIAMS W/O
2008 Australian Open QF Hard (O) J.JANKOVIC 6-3 6-4
2008 Miami FR Hard (O) S.WILLIAMS 1-6 7-5 3-6
2008 U.S. Open FR Hard (O) S.WILLIAMS 4-6 5-7

Serena WILLIAMS (USA) Leads Jelena JANKOVIC (SCG) : 4 to 3

i think my favorite players tend to be headcases (see: safin, my favorite)

safin is my favourite too! or was, until i finally realised that emotional investment in his career is a mug's game. my women's favourites over the years have included novotna, majoli, myskina, dementieva and now zvonareva. fucking insane chokers, the lot of them. i don't know why i do it to myself.

serena looked bored & sluggish in sydney this week - had to save 4 match points against stosur (!) in the most lol women's match so far. (stosur went up 5-4, 40-0 in the third set, and promptly served two double faults in a row, followed by an error on a putaway volley.)

i say roger comes back at this on a total new year, new gameface and smokes all challengers including murray in the final. nadal out at the sf

He's already lost to Andy, and the year's not even a fortnight old. Andy ftw.

How likely is a Venus win?

i'd say better than 7/2

Really, the only contenders that come to mind (haven't seen any matches this year) are:

Venus/Serena cuz they're always contenders even when they're completely off
Jelena cuz she seems to be making the improvements to her game while retaining consistency
Elena cuz she's capable of surprising folks
Dinara cuz let's face it, she's probably another who will win her first major this year

pls to refer to the andys by their last name - i got all confused for a second there. Murray ftw, roddick ftg. i really hope roger comes back but dude did not look good at all last week.

i like safina. she's scrappy.

depends on her draw. she apparently played well in the HK exo, and none of the other top women look fearsome exactly. but she's only been past the QF here once, and off grass she just gives opponents far too many chances.

oh, and anyone looking for last season's slumpers to return to form will be sadly disappointed. szavay, chakvetadze and vaidisova all just lost embarrassing first-rounders this week (szavay to britain's own anne keothavong, who is on the verge of the top 50!).

am keeping an eye on new indian sensation somdev devvarman - he reached the chennai final last week, losing to cilic, but he's got a terrifically entertaining & impressive game - scampers about retrieving impossible shots but can also hit awesome flat, aggressive strokes of his own. kind of like a male zheng jie. he's in qualies this week, hopefully we'll see him in the main draw.

yeah, lex, i was about to give up on safin too, but then wimbledon! i just am in love with that two-hander...i think it's the best in the game when he's feeling it

venus has never won the aussie, partly i think because she's a much better fast-court player (of course, the old rebound-ace was basically a fast court, but still a bit slower and played higher than say, the US or obv wimbledon. though supposedly the new surface is a bit faster, so we'll see). she's going to have to do better than her sister, who has won this tournament three times. (xposts)

("depends on her draw" referred to venus there but applies to all of them really! the women's game is kind of in the doldrums at the moment)

xp

safin's already announced this is his last year btw (obv this does not mean it is) (he also turned up for his first 09 tournament a day late, sporting bruises and cuts on his face from a brawl he'd gotten into in moscow).

<3 <3

safin's already announced this is his last year btw (obv this does not mean it is)

haha indeed, let's hope he continues. i am wondering would winning another Grand Slam (say this one) make him stop earlier or later. I guess he'd be crazy enough to quit immediately. Rooting for a Safin win anyway. (Or Federer, but he seems to be in a grumpy mood, could be a disastrous year for him, though it wouldn't suprise me if Nadal gets injured for a couple of months, which would give Fed a chance to win at least Wimbledon)

that was funny. they asked dinara about the black eye and she was all, no idea what happened, i'm just glad he didn't get shot.

haha <3 safin. did roger look that bad in doha? man i was really hoping for a return to form this year altho it's not like its too late or anything

he didn't look that bad, just seemed mentally out of it.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/multimedia/archive/01215/safin1_1215692c.jpg

but a few days later

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/45372000/jpg/_45372585_safin_getty_416.jpg

<3

roger just looked sloppy...spraying FHs, not much focus. mentally not quite there as roz says. and this was against seppi and kohlschreiber, not even murray. i mean, i know he's trying to peak for the majors now, but i've seen this sloppy play from him so much over the past year that i've stopped ascribing it to "off days" and begun admitting that that's just his level now :(

:( :( he gets visibly frustrated more often now too. freaks me out a bit tbh - i'm so used to calm, collected fed.

he used to be kinda all over the place mentally earlier in his career i believe

Still think he'll get to that bit more of a focus to win a couple more slams.

All about Murray now -- surely the wait is over.

go arizona!!

oh hey highlights, why not just repeat the entire first four sets!

well fuck a breakfast, apptly the dining hall isnt open yet (like i would know). sleep it is

Did entertain the notion that Nadal would perhaps not sustain his youthful form into his mid-20s, get swallowed up by an even younger chasing pack, a la Becker, but I'm not so sure. I think the Federer Era is over though. He may sneak past the Sampras record with the odd US or SW19 title sometime in the next 5 years but it's hard to see him regaining #1.

(And yet, and yet...if only he'd served like he did vs Roddick/Del Potro, he'd have won this two hours ago).

Poor Roger :(

Roger.....:(

oh roger :(

oh australians : (

and then they all lez up!

:( :( :( :( :( :( :(

XD

i had a friend over for this and we were both just sputtering all over the couch throughout. so wanted to give roger a big hug there.

and yeah the worst thing about Nadal is that he's so hard to hate. i could hate djokovic, murray or roddick but with nadal, dude's just as classy as roger where it counts.

It is very easy to hate Nadal, I have been doing so quite successfully for a number of years.

is it the capris?

I'm glad I don't hate him. Since I love Federer, hating Nadal would just add more salt to my wounds every time I watch their match-ups.

Federer, get a coach.

It is the sleeveless shirts and the capri pants and his general demeanour. I don't like his face, he seems very sneery. These are rubbish reasons for hating him, but they're all I've got. That and he's not Federer.

Well, I am already down one for my super Sunday edition. Chelsea and the Steelers, please do not disappoint.

Nadal's face is unfortunate sure - i thought he was sneery too but i dunno, seems like a decent guy in interviews, nicer than many of the current pros anyway. will never completely love his game though, great as he is, he's never made tennis look beautiful the way federer has.

the speeches were beautiful :( :( :(
with every Fed loss against Nadal it seems his career is over. (Though he can still win 1 more US Open or Wimbledon to at least get equal with the Samp. But Nadal should obviously trash this record)

Nadal is a very nice guy, but I hate his playing style. It's like playing against a rock.

But Nadal should obviously trash this record

I can't really see this. The received wisdom on Nadal is that he could be burnt out by the time he's 26 the way he plays. I foresee some fairly lengthy injury lay-offs in his future. Mind you, Agassi was a star in his teens, didn't have the easy economical style of a Sampras or Federer, had multiple ups and downs, and was still a Slam winner at 32, a #1 at 33 and a US Open runner-up at 35.

(I still remember the US Tennis magazine that proclaimed (the then 20-y-o) Becker would win a calendar year Slam and dominate 1987-97. Doesn't always turn out that way for the early bloomers).

I hate Federer, if that helps.

How can anyone hate Federer? Please explain yourself.

yeah, that's batshit

go arizona!!

if you're not a federer fan, i guess stuff like the gold-trimmed jackets can grate, as well as having to read endless gushing eulogies? i can def see how that would make someone hate him, though i can't imagine not being appreciative of fed at least...

roll of honour!!

Men's singles: Rafael Nadal
Women's singles: Serena Williams
Men's doubles: Bob Bryan & Mike Bryan
Women's doubles: Serena Williams & Venus Williams
Mixed doubles: Sania Mirza & Mahesh Bhupathi
Boys' singles: Yuki Bhambri
Girls' singles: Ksenia Pervak
Boys' doubles: Francis Casey Alcantara & Cheng-Peng Hsieh
Girls' doubles: Christina McHale & Ajla Tomljanovic

^^two titles for India! and good to see that the McHale chick recovered from her full-body cramps in the women's singles to take the girls' doubles...

Yuki Bhambri: cool name :)

But Nadal should obviously trash this record

I can't really see this. The received wisdom on Nadal is that he could be burnt out by the time he's 26 the way he plays. I foresee some fairly lengthy injury lay-offs in his future. Mind you, Agassi was a star in his teens, didn't have the easy economical style of a Sampras or Federer, had multiple ups and downs, and was still a Slam winner at 32, a #1 at 33 and a US Open runner-up at 35.

hmm that sounds reasonable. yet, if he somehow manages injuries and THEN burns out at 26, he still got 3 seasons to win, say 10 Grand Slams, which makes 16 or something ;)

he somehow manages to avoid injuries

I can't quite see Nadal winning 15 slams, either - something like 12. I think guys like Murray and some of the other young ones will manage to beat him more often quicker. When Fed was at his v best you could never see how anyone could adopt a strategy to beat him. Don't see that happening here. However Nadal is the type of person that you could imagine working to improve and discover new parts of his game if a fraction of his razor sharp fitness went. And this duel w/Fed has been won in the mind; Nadal can figure opponents out on that level.

Will Fed get over the line? Part of me went to bits over at the end there. He might need a therapist, not a new coach...I can only see him winning his 15th slam in two years time.

A lot more agony and tears to come...

I used to subscribe to the "his body will break down" received wisdom re: Rafa, but...I don't think I do any more, I just don't underestimate any of his physical capabilities. and he seems to have an A+ team around him who understand the importance of injury prevention, and have been pretty good at it so far, considering his style.

I don't agree that Fed will "definitely" get 15, or even 14 now...of course, it's still possible, even this year, but he seems to be in a situation a bit like Hingis post-'99, obviously still elite and very few can touch him, but in the closing stages of a Slam there'll always be someone...

As for the women, the worst thing is that one of those pathetic losers will probably still win RG, if Serena shows up there in the same form/frame of mind as she has every year since she won.

new rankings!

1. Rafael Nadal (1)
2. Roger Federer (2)
3. Novak Djokovic (3)
4. Andy Murray (4)
5. Nikolay Davydenko (5)
6. Andy Roddick (9)
7. Juan Martin Del Potro (6)
8. Gilles Simon (8)
9. Fernando Verdasco (15)
10. David Nalbandian (11)
11. James Blake (10)
12. Gael Monfils (13)
13. David Ferrer (12)
14. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (7)
15. Robin Soderling (17)
16. Stanislas Wawrinka (16)
17. Nicolas Almagro (18)
18. Fernando González (14)
19. Tommy Robredo (22)
20. Radek Stepanek (23)
21. Igor Andreev (19)
22. Marin Cilic (20)
23. Tomas Berdych (21)
24. Mardy Fish (24)
25. Ivo Karlovic (26)
26. Richard Gasquet (25)
27. Marat Safin (27)
28. Feliciano López (28)
29. Mario Ancic (36)
30. Dmitry Tursunov (30)

1. Serena Williams (2)
2. Dinara Safina (3)
3. Jelena Jankovic (1)
4. Elena Dementieva (4)
5. Vera Zvonareva (7)
6. Venus Williams (6)
7. Svetlana Kuznetsova (8)
8. Ana Ivanovic (5)
9. Agnieszka Radwanska (10)
10. Nadia Petrova (11)
11. Marion Bartoli (17)
12. Flavia Pennetta (13)
13. Caroline Wozniacki (12)
14. Alizé Cornet (16)
15. Victoria Azarenka (14)
16. Patty Schnyder (15)
17. Maria Sharapova (9)
18. Dominika Cibulkova (19)
19. Anna Chakvetadze (18)
20. Jie Zheng (24)
21. Anabel Medina Garrigues (23)
22. Katarina Srebotnik (20)
23. Amélie Mauresmo (22)
24. Kaia Kanepi (26)
25. Agnes Szavay (25)
26. Ai Sugiyama (26)
27. Sybille Bammer (27)
28. Alisa Kleybanova (31)
29. Na Li (29)
30. Carla Suárez Navarro (46)

Sure, its not definite. I think that Murray and Djokovic, or one of the other players in the chasing pack can unexpectedly pull of a win against Nadal, in which case Fed could beat that person for a slam. Anyone but Nadal and Fed can, I still think, manage.

He will have the opportunity, although at this very precise moment Fed could be undergoing a nervous breakdown. So who knows...

maybe one could say Federer was a little bit unlucky, I mean Verdasco was SOOOO close to beating Nadal. (so yes, i have to agree it is possible)
but if Nadal's physique remains ok for the next 4 years, what if he wins 2 Grand Slams a year (RG + another one) that's 8, he got 6 already! :)

wtf Tsonga dropping at #14

all those finalist points from last year coming off! would be surprised if he wasn't back in the top 10 by Roland Garros though, probably by the start of the clay season.

imminent hideousness: Safina will be the WTA's next Slamless No 1. between the AO and Berlin last year, she won nine matches; in the same time frame, Serena won Bangalore, Miami and Charleston. UGH.

Jelena Dokic moves from 187 to 91, btw.

http://d.yimg.com/i//ng/sp/eurosport/20090202/25/f825fad6f4e77982fa340b4b56d54b68.jpg

Nadal has a better mental game

reposting
http://a.espncdn.com/photo/2009/0203/pg2_u_nadal_federer_576.jpg

Mel South's climbed to 99 in the women's rankings, giving Britain two women in the top 100 for the first time since... ever? Baltacha's at 108, so it could soon be three...

i thought the first four sets of nadal/fed were an even higher level of tennis than their wimbledon match, even with fed's inability to get a first serve in. do others agree? wimbledon had a sense of history turning, and the sunset, and all the drama and occasion, and fed coming back after being down 2-0, but moment by moment this was just sick stuff point after point.

fed looked great. i think the difference now is just the ground that nadal can cover. it seems there's nothing he can't reach.

yeah they're offering $$$ (or, y'know, the Kazakh equivalent...I have no idea what the tenge symbol is) to a bunch of journeymen and women for...I have no idea, actually.

Update: If it was for improving in the Fed Cup, it has paid off, as they unsurprisingly dominated their group at level 4 of the competition, earning promotion to the 3rd level next year.

LOL at some of the scorelines, my how we've improved:

Kazakhstan defeated Iran 3-0 in Australia
R1 - G.VOSKOBOEVA (KAZ) def. M.NAJARIAN (IRI)
6-0 6-0
R2 - Y.SHVEDOVA (KAZ) def. G.TORKAMAN (IRI)
6-0 6-0
R3 - Z.DIYAS / G.VOSKOBOEVA (KAZ) def. M.NAJARIAN / G.TORKAMAN (IRI)
6-0 6-0

I agree the first four sets were better than the 3rd Wimbledon final, in the sense that both were playing well at the same time (probably the first time they both did so since their 2nd Wimbledon final). Absolutely no sense of history turning in that match, no. I think last year's French was much more indicative of things to come...

lol kazakhs...sesil k has officially joined them now.

interestingly, voskoboeva's results in particular have really improved since she switched nationality - QF in quebec city at the end of last year, 3R at the AO this year...i guess it's the extra funding.

also, voskoboeva and shvedova would never have got to play fed cup (or in the long term, the olympics) under the RUS flag - whereas now i definitely expect to see shvedova, at least, at LDN '12.

i thought the first four sets of nadal/fed were an even higher level of tennis than their wimbledon match, even with fed's inability to get a first serve in. do others agree? wimbledon had a sense of history turning, and the sunset, and all the drama and occasion, and fed coming back after being down 2-0, but moment by moment this was just sick stuff point after point.

― Tracer Hand

yeah and after fed won the US i kind of thought 'ok maybe he can pull it together here' but with nadal beating him so convincingly in the 5th, fed breaking down like that afterward, and the french being the next grand slam, this is going to be the match we look back on as the real torch-passer

Regardless of my sympathies here (I'm pretty neutral actually), I hope for a bit of a turnaround to Fed's advantage though, to be allowed to follow a long-term Greatest Rivalry Ever type of thing.

flavia flav!! lol fiery italiennes.

it would be a great rivalry if fed could start beating nadal in finals again ;_;

how good was this final my god; spectacular rallies

not sure i ever saw this before, & didnt know/remember who won.. whole match i figured fed would find a way to win, his 5th set was p disappointing or else this could be a truly alltime great match

I've been digging into the archives too, in the absence of any live stuff on Amazon Prime :) The Wimbledon YT channel put the entire 11hr Isner-Mahut up the other day, if you fancy some ambient tennis as you go about your day. Predictably, one of my current concerns is that freezing the rankings also freezes the week-count on Novak as #1. I'm not having him passing Roger through inactivity!

And yes, the first four sets of AO 2009 were maybe the best standard in a men's Slam f I can recall. First three sets of Nadal-Djokovic USO 2011 is close, I guess.