I'm going to start watching. Maybe even try a late night session.
If anyone else is watching and wants to comment, put it here.
Serena still trying to break a tie with Graf for most Grand Slams in the Open era. Currently tied at 22.
An absolute shocker. I couldn't believe how Istomin was able to keep up that level of tennis for 5 hours. His only dip was when he couldn't convert 2 set points in the 2nd set and then got trounced in the 3rd set. Somehow, amazingly, he rallied to win sets 4 and 5. Sub-100 journeymen NEVER do that against an all-time-great like Djoker; they continue to wilt. That's both an out-of-body experience for tennis form AND an out-of-mind experience for psychological resilience.
The craziness of the tiebreaker. If Djokovic wins the first-set tiebreaker, and the match plays out the same from there, he wins in straight sets. If he wins the fourth-set tiebreaker, he wins 3-1. Instead, he loses both tiebreakers and loses the match in five. He won more sets and I believe more points than Istomin, but losing those tiebreakers did him in.
A shocking result to be sure. It would be like Federer/Sampras losing this early at Wimbledon or Nadal losing this early at Roland Garros. Djokovic has generally been amazing in Melbourne.
28 but that streak was broken last year at Wimbledon against Sam Querrey
Djoker had made 9 QFs in a row at the Aussie Open, although that understates his dominance. He had won 5 of the past 6 Aussies and 6 overall before losing to Istomin.
Last edited by Troublemaker; 01-19-2017 at 09:28 AM. Reason: Djoker has won 6 Aussies overall, not 7
Nadal - Zverev will be interesting tonight. Zverev is a future Grand Slam winner and maybe future #1. He has Kyrgios' talent but with his head on straight. (Although if Kyrgios hires a coach, I'm not giving up on him this early.)
On the women's side, Konta - Wozniacki is the match to watch. Konta's been red hot and made the SF last year and could win it this year. Drawing Wozniacki this early is tough.
Haven't seen Zverev play, but might stay up late tonight to see it. And got to give a shout out to Federer. Didn't see any of it - except the highlights - but he pretty much dominated #10 seed Tomas Berdych. Amazing. Don't know if he can keep it up against Nishikori - but I sure hope so.
Yeah, I was thrilled to see Fed play so well so early into his return from injury. (Maybe he can fedex some fed-dust to Duke). Can't wait for his match against Nishikori later on tonight.
Hope you did get a chance to watch Zverev play Nadal. The match was probably only an 8.5/10 on tennis level but was a 10/10 on drama. The 19-yr-old showed an abundance of talent and a lot of resolve to push Nadal to the brink.
Watched the first 2+ sets last night, so I got to experience the 8.5 level tennis (not complaining), but in going to bed at 1:45 EST, missed the late(r) night/morning drama. Saw highlights of the last 3 sets. I do love Zverev' 2 handed backhand, which due to my lazinessness and overall poor footwork, I gave up after my freshman year of college.
Pulling hard for Fed tonight but feel he's a big underdog. Just can't imagine at 35, without match toughness (not to mention Grand Slam conditioning/fitness), he can stay out there with Nishikori and pull it off. Give him only a bit better chance than the Hurricanes tonight, but hoping I go 1 for 2 in my predictive skills (wrong word there, for sure).
What a crazy Australian Open so far with all the upsets. Djokovic, Murray, and Kerber all losing.
A lot of commentators and players have talked about how the conditions are quicker this year, and there's probably something to do that. Murray's vaunted defense couldn't hold up against a classic serve-and-volley player M. Zverev (older brother of A. Zverev).
Fed playing well and making the QFs so soon in his return is probably another sign.
Yay Roger! Hope his 17 seed leads to Major title #18!
Ozzie, your paradigm of optimism!
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Would be quite the story.
As of the time of this post, Roger is the betting favorite to win: http://www.oddschecker.com/tennis/au...en/mens/winner
Yeah, we're basically one win away -- Nadal upsetting Raonic in the QF -- from needing to give serious consideration that a throwback Federer-Nadal final will happen.
Here's how I would tier and rank the 8 quarterfinalists on the men's side:
Tri-Favorites
1. Raonic, 2. Federer, 3. Dimitrov
Keeping in mind that the tournament conditions are playing fast, I'm going to favor attacking guys that can bomb serves and play a little serve-and-volley. If Fed had more match experience under his belt coming off his injury, I'd actually make him the favorite. It's now or never for Raonic to win a major. The conditions suit him and there's no Djokovic or Murray around to block him.
Notch Below
4. Nadal, 5. Tsonga, 6. Wawrinka
Nadal's only this high because he actually matches up well with Federer and Dimitrov, who have single-handed backhands that Nadal can box into a corner. I mean, if it turns out to be a throwback Fedal final, you'd have to favor Rafa. I'm nervous ranking Grand Slam Stan so low at #6, but imo, he has difficulty timing the ball in such fast conditions with his long swings. Putting Tsonga ahead of him means I'm picking Tsonga to upset Grand Slam Stan tonight in their QF match.
No Chance
7. Goffin, 8. Zverev
Mischa Zverev isn't really in the same class as the other 7 guys, which is why his upset of Murray was so shocking. And I respect Goffin's grit for cracking the Top 10 rankings after this tournament is over, but his lack of physical tools will catch up to him sooner or later in this tourney.
I think Wawrinka deserves to be on the top line. I mean, he and Federer both have long swings and one-handed backhands, so one would assume they'd face similar troubles, no? And the thing with Wawrinka is that - if he does get the timing on his groundstrokes - he is borderline unstoppable. He's just hit or miss (literally). But, we'll find out by tomorrow morning.
In terms of Nadal, his toughest tests to me would be (in order) Raonic and Wawrinka. I think he matches up well with the others. But I don't expect him to get past Raonic.
In terms of Federer, he has the cushier draw in the quarters, but will have to go through some pretty fierce players in the semis and finals. He is probably hoping for a Tsonga win, as I can't imagine he would want to face Wawrinka in the semis. In the finals, I think the winner of the Raonic/Nadal match would be his only true competition.
Yes, I think Federer's strokes are more compact than Stan's. Stan's huge strokes are a big part of why Wimbledon is his weakest major; imo, he just can't time the ball right and is useless on return. If Tsonga doesn't knock Stan out tonight, I love Federer to beat Stan.
Things have opened up nicely for Fed. Now he just needs someone to knock out Nadal and Raonic from the other half of the bracket.
I'd really love to see Fed win again and it would be cool to see Nedal and Fed in the finals.
I was almost late out the door this morning watching Nedal and Monfils. I was hoping Monfils would win the 4th set just so there'd be a 5th. Although I would have wanted Nedal to win that 5th set. Interesting commentary during the match when McEnroe (I'm not even sure which one) was being pretty harsh on Monfils and talking about how he is wasting some of his athleticism with poor footwork (and mentioning how great players have great footwork). I don't know the game well enough to know if he was right. I'll admit that Monfils can be must watch TV sometimes because it seems as though we (and he) really don't know what might happen (good or bad).