Year Round The Tennis Thread

[Atobe the king]

Re: The Tennis Thread- Australian Open( 14th - 27th Jan)

Huh. You're not giving any credit to Federer lol. There's another player involved there, you're treating him like some top 50 player. Extending the match to 5 sets is "stubborn" :V ? let those go? Haha. Old man Fed reached the semis, that's about as much as i can ask of him. 2 more hours on court than Murray and had a taxing opponent the round before while Murray had not been tested the entire tournament. Anyway, as good as Roger is he really shouldn't be beating these players, this the Murrayvic Era. He's had many chances to shine on Laver arena. That said, i like Djokovic to take it. Aside from the Wawrinka match he's annihilated everyone, AO is /his/ slam as far as I'm concerned. Not to mention an extra day of rest.

Just realize Murray has made 3 Slam finals in a row. He's finally realizing his potential.

 

[FrostyMouse]

Re: The Tennis Thread- Australian Open( 14th - 27th Jan)

I expected a five set win for Murray, honestly.

Um, I think Djokovic takes it in five, but you never know. My estimation of Murray went way up last season after winning the Olympic Final (virtually the Wimbledon final, athough not exactly) and beating Djokovic in the US Open Final.

 

[goldb]

Re: The Tennis Thread- Australian Open( 14th - 27th Jan)

Huh. You're not giving any credit to Federer lol. There's another player involved there, you're treating him like some top 50 player. Extending the match to 5 sets is "stubborn" :V ? let those go? Haha. Old man Fed reached the semis, that's about as much as i can ask of him. 2 more hours on court than Murray and had a taxing opponent the round before while Murray had not been tested the entire tournament. Anyway, as good as Roger is he really shouldn't be beating these players, this the Murrayvic Era. He's had many chances to shine on Laver arena. That said, i like Djokovic to take it. Aside from the Wawrinka match he's annihilated everyone, AO is /his/ slam as far as I'm concerned. Not to mention an extra day of rest.

Just realize Murray has made 3 Slam finals in a row. He's finally realizing his potential.

Yeah. he was at a disadvantage like you said after his 5 set round with Tsonga and considering his age also, it was a feat and testament to his ability to get this far and go the distance. But what I meant in the end is that I was never in doubt about the result of the match as I was watching it.

 

[Atobe the king]

Re: The Tennis Thread- Australian Open( 14th - 27th Jan)

I expected a five set win for Murray, honestly.

Um, I think Djokovic takes it in five, but you never know. My estimation of Murray went way up last season after winning the Olympic Final (virtually the Wimbledon final, athough not exactly) and beating Djokovic in the US Open Final.

Olympics was strange, since its a bunch of 3 setters then a 5 setter. Federer was emotionally/physically drained from that Delpo epic. Murray was superb, likely would have won either way. Murray winning the USO was no surprise, he'd been making great strides since he teamed up with Lendl (in majors, his normal tournament performance was subpar last year...not a single masters i think? he's generally good for 2 or 3). Aside from the wawrinka match...Djokovics matches were eerie. He hits winners at will It's almost creepy.

Yeah. he was at a disadvantage like you said after his 5 set round with Tsonga and considering his age also, it was a feat and testament to his ability to get this far and go the distance. But what I meant in the end is that I was never in doubt about the result of the match as I was watching it.

Oh i knew he'd lose lol. I just want this quarterfinal streak to go on for a while. I feel that wimbledon was the last hurrah but come on...taking back the ranking? winning wimbledon? 6 titles including 2 masters? Excellent year for a past his prime 31 year old haha. But Murray is on a mission, with new belief now that he's got the slam monkey off his back...he's taking wimbledon this year imo.

Oh right...Rafa coming back next month, I'm not fond of him but I've truly missed his presence.

 

[FrostyMouse]

Re: The Tennis Thread- Australian Open( 14th - 27th Jan)

Olympics was strange, since its a bunch of 3 setters then a 5 setter. Federer was emotionally/physically drained from that Delpo epic. Murray was superb, likely would have won either way. Murray winning the USO was no surprise, he'd been making great strides since he teamed up with Lendl (in majors, his normal tournament performance was subpar last year...not a single masters i think? he's generally good for 2 or 3). Aside from the wawrinka match...Djokovics matches were eerie. He hits winners at will It's almost creepy.

I can agree with the points you made there.

Djokovic only had to play less than 90 minutes against Ferrer, whereas Murray had to go five sets against Federer, so I give the advantage to Djokovic in this final.

Oh i knew he'd lose lol. I just want this quarterfinal streak to go on for a while. I feel that wimbledon was the last hurrah but come on...taking back the ranking? winning wimbledon? 6 titles including 2 masters? Excellent year for a past his prime 31 year old haha. But Murray is on a mission, with new belief now that he's got the slam monkey off his back...he's taking wimbledon this year imo.

Oh right...Rafa coming back next month, I'm not fond of him but I've truly missed his presence.

I don't know. Perhaps. Wimbledon could go either way. What's your pick for the Australian Open, Murray?

Having Rafa in the SFs would've been a lot better than Ferrer. A lot more competition that way.

 

[Atobe the king]

Re: The Tennis Thread- Australian Open( 14th - 27th Jan)

Ferrer is like...amazing. He beats everyone. Except the top 4..poor guy . Watching the replays....Murrays serving has gotten much getter and he was thumping winners in the fifth set. But Djoker is so good it's eerie. The US open conditions were windy and awkward, the sets Djokovic won were pretty lopsided iirc? He's also beaten Murray the last few times. I feel like AO is to Djoker as Wimbledon was to Fed. As for wimbledon itself. It's Murrays most successful slam iirc. 08 Quarters, 09,10,11 semis, 12 finals. He's a great grass court player who came up a bit short.

 

[FrostyMouse]

Re: The Tennis Thread- Australian Open( 14th - 27th Jan)

Yeah, Atobe, while Murray has improved, I think that the AO is Djoker's domain. In the SFs last year, however, Murray took Djokovic to a five hour fifth set and then Djokovic beat Nadal in six hours in the Final.

 

[Hakuteiken]

Re: The Tennis Thread- Australian Open( 14th - 27th Jan)

Djoko is the superior player, but it doesn't matter that much in the big picture. He wouldn't want to deal with Murray's stamina card as the game progressed, so, he should try to end it before it goes to another five-setter.

 

[goldb]

Re: The Tennis Thread- Australian Open( 14th - 27th Jan)

This final has been gruesome, Djokovic is slowly getting the better of this match but bloody hell! He's an amazing getter and defensive player. Murray really has missed some chances to have taken the first 2 sets. 4th set currently...

 

[FrostyMouse]

Re: The Tennis Thread- Australian Open( 14th - 27th Jan)

Djokovic wins his third consecutive Australian Open title.

 

[goldb]

Re: The Tennis Thread- Australian Open( 14th - 27th Jan)

Congrats to Djokovic, I think the best player won( extra day off helped but I don't think it was THE deciding factor). Murray looked really good in that first set and second set too; had he taken the chances to break that he had in that opening point, things could've gone differently. I felt that during the 3rd set, he was increasingly showing signs of fatigue or at least a noticeable drop in levels, and Djokovic pounced on that.

 

[Hakuteiken]

Re: The Tennis Thread- Australian Open( 14th - 27th Jan)

In the end, Djokovic was too good for Murray, at least in Australian Open. He definitely has developed a particular love for this tournament, after all.

---------- Post added at 06:56 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:33 AM ----------

On another note, this was Andy Murray's third runner up finish in AO, not to mention his overall 1-5 GS finals record. He has been pushed into the role of loser by the dominating forces of the game.

 

[FrostyMouse]

Re: The Tennis Thread- Australian Open( 14th - 27th Jan)

In the end, Djokovic was too good for Murray, at least in Australian Open. He definitely has developed a particular love for this tournament, after all.

---------- Post added at 06:56 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:33 AM ----------

On another note, this was Andy Murray's third runner up finish in AO, not to mention his overall 1-5 GS finals record. He has been pushed into the role of loser by the dominating forces of the game.

Yeah, he has, although he did get a win over the Djoker in the US Open and a win over Fed in the Olympic Final (although that was only three sets through the SFs, so not exactly the same).

 

[Atobe the king]

Re: The Tennis Thread- Australian Open( 14th - 27th Jan)

Just like i said, Djoko has this. This is his backyard he plays too well here.

 

[Josef]

Re: The Tennis Thread- Australian Open( 14th - 27th Jan)

So going by this we can expect a repeat of last years. Everyone wins one slam.

Seriously though, you could see it in Djokovic's eyes he really wanted this, and he was determined to get it. Murray is more about proving that he can be a really top player, h is good, I do expect him to win a slam this year as well.

 

[Atobe the king]

Re: The Tennis Thread- Australian Open( 14th - 27th Jan)

I like Murray but....he benefited a lot from Nadal not being there . If Nadal made it through Wimbledon he would have beaten Murray..he beat Murray 08,10,11 iirc We'll see what happens based on Rafas level. He's set to play Sao Paolo in a few weeks!

 

[goldb]

Re: The Tennis Thread

Besides Sao Paolo where Nadal is expected to return, there aren't many other notable events in February. We have the Davis Cup first round happening from 4th Feb and I think a couple of ATP 500 events. We do though, get 2 almost simultaneous Masters right at the start of March.

Adding a poll to discuss how many Grand Slams we think Djokovic will get this year.

 

[Josef]

Re: The Tennis Thread

It might just be me, but I just can not see Djokovic winning the French title, for me it somehow always was the hardest, but maybe just because Nadal has been ruling there for a long, long time. He is coming back, I hope for a more interesting second slam.

 

[Faust]

Re: The Tennis Thread

2 grandslams for djokovic this year I think, I answered the poll

 

[Atobe the king]

Re: The Tennis Thread

It might just be me, but I just can not see Djokovic winning the French title, for me it somehow always was the hardest, but maybe just because Nadal has been ruling there for a long, long time. He is coming back, I hope for a more interesting second slam.

After the first rain delay iirc, in the 3rd set. He took 6 straight games after being down 0-2, then took 2-0 in the 4th....he had all the momentum before they stopped for the day tbh :/