Aussie Open Thread

[cezero]

What I was saying was...

okay, so, Fed's best chance to win a major is on the fastest surface possible, which is still Wimbledon. whatever impulse you have to try to argue against it, you have to stop.

i showed you a 4 year sample of major performance that proves it beyond a doubt.

then i showed you an 11 year sample of major performance that proves it beyond a doubt.

it cannot be broken down further, no matter the minutiae you try to finagle into making sense of whatever feeble point you're trying to make.

 

[cezero]

yeah, tomic came back and won the 1st set

now he's down 0-3 in the 2nd.

his opponent seems to have a hard time closing out sets, though, so this one will probably turn, too

 

[cezero]

womens' seeds going down everywhere

first ivanovic, then lisicki, and now kerber's struggling

 

[bksballer89]

Wow they put Serena on MCA tomorrow night instead of Laver

 

[cezero]

yep, kamke dropped the lead in the 2nd set to tomic again.

tomic is a big reason for it, though. so much slop he throws at his opponent. lol.

 

[bksballer89]

And down goes Kerber

5 & 9 are eliminated on the women's side

Unreal

 

[cezero]

crazy.

i didn't spend more than 5 minutes watching any wta matches today, and i'm glad of that now.

tomic up a break in the 4th. hope he gets this done now because i'm tired.

 

[bksballer89]

Schedule of Play - Schedule - Australian Open Tennis Championships 2015 - Official Site by IBM

 

[Hs0022]

I think Fed's best chance of winning a major is on a hard court which is a true surface ( ball pretty much gets reflected back up at the same angle after a bounce). The grass courts and the clay have both unpredictable bounces and require the reflexes and reaction of a younger man in his late teens or twenties which Fed is not. Also clay requires more physical stamina because the points can be longer. Fed can still go toe to toe with any young player in a five setter but seven matches (if two or three are grueling five setters) are tough on an aging body and it's hard to bounce back and deliver 100% in a late or championship match.

 

[cezero]

everything you said is backwards.

he started entering "old age" for a tennis athlete 4 years ago when his reign of utter dominance ended. since then, the only major finals that fed has made in the past 48 months have been the French and Wimbledon, including the one about 6 months ago.

also, yes, 7 matches are more taxing on the body, and grass and clay are far more forgiving on the body than hard courts.

if fed makes a major hard court final again, i'll be a happy camper, of course.

 

[Hs0022]

It's not which surface is more friendlier on the body, it's more about which one is friendlier to shot making. Grass is slower than HARDCOURTS after the first week when there is only solid mud on most of the court hence Nadull's success on the surface post 2000. Clay requires more physical prowess stamina wise and better suited for a younger player. The only reason why Fed made all those finals and won one is because other than Nadull the field sucks in both their eras.

As an example Sampras failed miserably toward the end of his career on grass. But he was able to finish with a win at the USO.

 

[cezero]

anyhoo, some interesting matches today, starting with almagro vs nishikori.

almagro's slowed down a bit, but he's still got that huge serve, so it could be interesting.

i like both players. nishikori's game reminds me a lot of hewitt's, though nish can hit the ball a little bigger off the ground. and he's classy and stuff, unlike satan hewitt.

 

[bksballer89]

Azarenka vs sloan is about to start on tennis channel. ESPN2 coverage starts at 9 pm est

 

[bksballer89]

They're showing almagro/nishikori for now.

If they plan on showing the women's match I'll have to watch this match on my phone

 

[bksballer89]

Of course they don't even let the first game of kei match finish before running to azarenka match

 

[cezero]

i don't watch much on the networks during the first week.

directv has coverage of 5 matches at a time, all with non-espn/ttc commentators.

espn3 has ever more matches available, which is how i was able to watch the russell match last night.

 

[bksballer89]

Sloane Stephens is trash

 

[nuraman00]

Sloane Stephens is trash

What happened?

 

[cezero]

GIGANTOR Townsend vs Wozniacki next on Magaret Court Arena

 

[cezero]

What happened?

stephens made a bunch of idiot errors as usual, and was never in the match with vika at all

stephens is indeed trash. she bought into her own hype, and hasn't put in the work to earn the spotlight consistently. countdown to saviano dumping her for her lazy work ethic.