Aussie Open Thread

[Hs0022]

Serena will win in straight sets. It's the "Feddick" syndrome going on in this scenario.

 

[Smart]

A little OT, but Kozlov beat Michael Russell today in Maui, two days before his 17th birthday. It's not crazy to think he can be fighting for a spot in the top 100 by his 18th.

 

[cezero]

Murray's only advantage is an extra day of rest which will just even the field some but Djoker will walk away with the title!

the extra day of rest is an advantage.

murray is as fit as either nole or fed, though.

since firing his old fitness coach less than a year ago, and changing up his training routine with his new trainer, murray looks even more fit now than he was in 2012-2013. Read somewhere that his RHR is in the low 40s right now, which is insane.

i'd give murray a slight edge even without the day of rest because i think he can frustrate nole when he doesn't get the winners he's used to against everybody but murray, who can chase down everything and go from defense to offense just as well as nole.

 

[cezero]

A little OT, but Kozlov beat Michael Russell today in Maui, two days before his 17th birthday. It's not crazy to think he can be fighting for a spot in the top 100 by his 18th.

i've been talking about kozlov as the future of american men's tennis on here for almost 2 years now.

i hope he gets over 6 ft tall. if he does, watch out.

even if he hovers around 5'11 where he is now, he can be a solid top 15 player.

 

[bksballer89]

Don't plan on watching tonight as I have to be up early but I'm expecting to wake up to see Serena won 3 & 4

6-3 6-4

 

[cezero]

Don't plan on watching tonight as I have to be up early but I'm expecting to wake up to see Serena won 3 & 4

6-3 6-4

i'm not watching either

i think masha wins, but only if she can do it in 2. i'd be surprised if she won a 3 setter against serena.

serena loves hitting flat balls, though, so i can't give it to masha any more than 60/40.

 

[Hs0022]

the extra day of rest is an advantage.

murray is as fit as either nole or fed, though.

since firing his old fitness coach less than a year ago, and changing up his training routine with his new trainer, murray looks even more fit now than he was in 2012-2013. Read somewhere that his RHR is in the low 40s right now, which is insane.

i'd give murray a slight edge even without the day of rest because i think he can frustrate nole when he doesn't get the winners he's used to against everybody but murray, who can chase down everything and go from defense to offense just as well as nole.

Both are boring as hell to watch and I would need a human ffwd button.

 

[cezero]

love watching a final where both players have to use every skill a complete pro has at their disposals.

in his prime, fed was closer to these guys than he was to the monster serve/monster forehand boringness of sampras and others. loved sampras as a champion and all, but he was incredibly boring to watch except for about 3 minutes per set. and as far as andre goes, nole and andy are andre 2.0; return masters with nearly flawless ground games, but with better movement.

 

[bksballer89]

Murray & Novak are boring to watch? That's news to me

 

[backupboo]

Congrats Serena on #19. Maria great fight. You never give up.

 

[bksballer89]

Exactly what I expected

 

[cezero]

another great win from serena.

maria was playing as well as she has all week, which was pretty good, but serena still managed to give her a beating.

nice to see serena get to #19, and break chrissy and martina's record. any real tennis fan enjoys seeing once in a generation big events.

can't wait for tonight's nole/murray final.

 

[backupboo]

Cezero I agree. Great match great win for Serena. Can't wait for Murray and Nole. It's going to be a good one.

 

[Hoopla Bookie]

vBetting Men's Final is up

http://www.sportshoopla.com/forums/...-2-1-tennis-djokovic-vs-murray-3-40am-et.html

 

[nuraman00]

i'm not watching either

i think masha wins, but only if she can do it in 2. i'd be surprised if she won a 3 setter against serena.

serena loves hitting flat balls, though, so i can't give it to masha any more than 60/40.

Watched it this morning.

Agree that Sharapova's shots were flat, too flat IMO. Not enough variety (but she's not known for that).

Her serve is flat too, no spin ones. Serena was able to read them easily.

She did mix in drop shots, and won all the points where she did it.

 

[nuraman00]

love watching a final where both players have to use every skill a complete pro has at their disposals.

in his prime, fed was closer to these guys than he was to the monster serve/monster forehand boringness of sampras and others. loved sampras as a champion and all, but he was incredibly boring to watch except for about 3 minutes per set. and as far as andre goes, nole and andy are andre 2.0; return masters with nearly flawless ground games, but with better movement.

Speaking of different skills, I think Murray has the better touch at the net than Djokovic.

Thoughts?

 

[cezero]

murray's very good at net. glad to see that he's trying to get there more often, actually.

nole would prefer not to go there pretty much ever.

my prediction for the serena/pova match was wrong, so i'm not going to predict the winner with the men's final. i think it's just going to be an excellent match. i'm on the west coast, so i'll take a little nap until 10 or so, and then go buy all of my booze for the superbowl tomorrow, and get back in time to watch the final live.

 

[nuraman00]

I thought Murray was going to win the 2013 AO Finals vs. Djokovic.

I don't know anymore who will win this one.

Rooting for Murray, since he's lost this one so many times.

 

[nuraman00]

murray's very good at net. glad to see that he's trying to get there more often, actually.

nole would prefer not to go there pretty much ever.

my prediction for the serena/pova match was wrong, so i'm not going to predict the winner with the men's final. i think it's just going to be an excellent match. i'm on the west coast, so i'll take a little nap until 10 or so, and then go buy all of my booze for the superbowl tomorrow, and get back in time to watch the final live.

Thanks.

I'm going to take a nap at 9:30 PM or 10, PST, until the match starts.

I was going to save my oatmeal stouts until FED or Wawrinka played in a later round. But FED got knocked out early. And I wasn't feeling it during the Wawrinka-Djokovic match, plus I knew I needed to be alert all day at work on Friday. So I held off, and just watched.

So I still have my oatmeal stouts, and will switch to a Bloody Mary if I need to.

 

[nuraman00]

I'd like to see a Williams Sisters Doubles Slam. They don't seem to play the AO or FO anymore.

It would be cool if they would start playing again.