2018 Aussie Open

[nuraman00]

Nole jinxed by Gohusk! I am probably jinxing Fed myself against Bery poo. On paper Fed over Berdy a no brainer 19-6 h2h but Fed had some unexplainable losses like the one against Goffun at the WTF SF

It's not a no-brainer since Berdych has beaten him twice at majors.

FED should be favored, yes. But it woudln't be a surprise to see FED have to raise his level to win.

Which is what happened. Berdych played well for the first two sets.

 

[nuraman00]

Hoping we get a Halep-Woz finals.

You got your wish!

 

[nuraman00]

I'm thinking now that Karolina Pliskova will need the right matchups in the draw if she's to win a major.

Halep moved her around all over the court.

 

[nuraman00]

of course i like fed's chances to win the whole BOW, but...

the korean kid dismantled nole

and cilic is one of those guys like safin who can go god mode any time and become nearly unbeatable

What does BOW stand for?

 

[nuraman00]

To be fair, Nole wasn't 100% but still impressive

Yeah. Chung used both shotmaking and speed to win. Djokovic still competed hard to win his points.

 

[nuraman00]

Called it a night at 5-2 in the first.

Looked like Halep-Kerber ended up as a hell of a match with Halep winning 9-7 in the 3rd.

That was a great match.

Both players had match points!

One of the last times I remember a match where both players had match points was Djokovic vs. Nadal in the Madrid SF in 2009.

There were a combined 5 match points in that one.

Rafael Nadal defeats Novak Djokovic in four-hour epic to reach Madrid Masters final

 

[nuraman00]

i'd like to see wozniacki win since she has a little variety in her game

halep is a human backboard, and an even less interesting one than other human backboards like hewitt/nishikori

she works hard, though, so i'll be happy for her if she wins

I like both players, and find them interesting.

I think Wozniacki has more variety in her serve. Wozniacki has that slice serve across the middle.

Halep hits the ball a little harder.

I'd rather see Wozniacki win though, since she's older, and also more susceptible to bigger hitters. So she might not have many more chances.

I think Halep will have more chances, because she seems like she can handle power right now.

I did not find Hewitt interesting. I don't understand how his style won Wimbledon.

Nishikori, I can find interesting.

 

[nuraman00]

Anyone watching Fed - Chung?

I watched it live, but didn't check this forum, as I hadn't caught up on the posts yet.

 

[cezero]

What does BOW stand for?

ball of wax

i should've just said it, heh

 

[nuraman00]

Nah. Got to be up for work by 530. Hoping when I wake up it is still on so I catch a few games. Was disappointed this morning to see that Cilic/Edmund was completed so quickly

That match started out interesting, but after a while, Cilic's movement with his hitting was too much.

Still, Edmund also made the 4th round of the USO in 2016. He's becoming more consistent and looks to have occasional 2nd round potential.

 

[nuraman00]

I'd give Cilic a 20% chance of winning.

He's very much like Safin or Del Potro, in that when they're 100% on, they can be pretty unbeatable, and overpower just about any opponent, including somebody as great as Fed.

Cilic is too unpredictable to go with higher odds than 20% for me, though.

Sounds reasonable.

I'd also give Cilic a better chance at Wimbledon than the AO, although Cilic has had good runs at the AO before in his career.

Cilic also made the QF of the FO last year.

 

[nuraman00]

ball of wax

i should've just said it, heh

Funny. I hadn't heard that term in a long time. Nice revival.

 

[nuraman00]

I'm not always live for the Womens Finals.

But I think this could be a great competitive one, so I'll be live.

 

[Old Lion]

My predictions have been bad for the past several years. But how about this one?

@Old Lion, I got Wozniacki as a Finalist right. And I had 2 of the 4 semi-finalists right (Kerber, Wozniacki).

Maybe I don't get the full back patter, but how about a few finger pats on the back?

That is full back pat material. Well done.

I think I had Pliskova, Keys, Svitolina, and Woz. Halep has surprised me. I know she was not healthy so I did not see her getting too far. Same for Garby. I was correct there though. Sloane had been terrible since winning the open so I didnt even throw her in there because Svitolina had been so consistent. I had Keys beating Woz in the final.

It will be easier next major with Serena back. Only have to guess the other 3 quarter finalists, LOL.

 

[bksballer89]

I'm not always live for the Womens Finals.

But I think this could be a great competitive one, so I'll be live.

Really wish they would go back to afternoon finals

 

[nuraman00]

That is full back pat material. Well done.

I think I had Pliskova, Keys, Svitolina, and Woz. Halep has surprised me. I know she was not healthy so I did not see her getting too far. Same for Garby. I was correct there though. Sloane had been terrible since winning the open so I didnt even throw her in there because Svitolina had been so consistent. I had Keys beating Woz in the final.

It will be easier next major with Serena back. Only have to guess the other 3 quarter finalists, LOL.

You mean semi finalists, but yeah, lol.

 

[nuraman00]

Really wish they would go back to afternoon finals

That would be Friday evening, so that would also work for those in the US.

 

[gohusk]

Why didn't people think Wimbledon was boring when Sampras and Federer were winning easily?

For Nadal and the FO, I've thought the FO still had good matches, just not most Finals Nadal was involved in.

Most of the good matches were in earlier rounds, on the Mens side.

For Wimbledon and Sampras and Federer, I think you could almost say the same thing. Most of the time, they weren't in Finals where I thought they could really lose. Or if they lost the first set, they could still turn it around and make it seem like they weren't in danger anymore.

And when I say competitive Finals, I mean competitive for a full 4-5 sets. So no blowouts in the 4th set if it was a 4 set match.

I thought watching prime Sampras or Federer were boring as well. Sampras was obviously awesome but he was hard to watch because his serve was so dominant and nobody could solve his serve and volley game. It was like watching the same tennis clinic over and over and over. Federer was just way better than everyone else. Yeah, there were good matches but the endings always were so anti-climactic. The best era i can remember is when guys like Becker, Wilander, Edberg, ... were going at it back in the day.

 

[nuraman00]

I thought watching prime Sampras or Federer were boring as well. Sampras was obviously awesome but he was hard to watch because his serve was so dominant and nobody could solve his serve and volley game. It was like watching the same tennis clinic over and over and over. Federer was just way better than everyone else. Yeah, there were good matches but the endings always were so anti-climactic. The best era i can remember is when guys like Becker, Wilander, Edberg, ... were going at it back in the day.

Thanks.

 

[nuraman00]

@gohusk, what are your thoughts on the Mens and Womens Finals.

What do you want to see, and what do you think will happen?