2015 Australian Open
- Thread starter jon abbey
- Start date
It starts Monday in Australia, but here in the US it will be 7pm eastern on Sunday night. Some decent first round match ups. Nadal has to pay Youzhny and Wozniacki has to play Taylor Townsend.
Somehow 7 of the top 17 women's seeds are already out, the highest #5 Ivanovic. This means that amazingly Venus (the #18 seed) is the 11th highest seeded woman still in it:
http://www.ausopen.com/en_AU/players/index.html
http://www.ausopen.com/en_AU/players/index.html
Anyone else watching Isner? He looks even more Isner than usual. Two sets, two tiebreak losses. Also, he was so pissed off after the second tiebreak loss that he smashed his racket to hell.
BigMike said:
Yeah, he's pretty painful. But he's just fascinating to me. Tennis is the one sport where you actually need to be somewhat well-rounded to succeed - unless you're Isner. Who else in tennis history has gone so far with exactly one working facet in his game? Mark Philippoussis is the only one I can think of who even comes close.
On the plus side, Isner's sets generally only take about 15 minutes because no one on either side of the net can return serve.
American women continue to do well. HUGE win for Madison Keyes against two time grand slam winner Petra Kvitova. She hired Lindsey Davenport as her coach late last year and the move seems to be paying off. My money though if for Radwanska to win it. She is playing too well. And Novak for the men. He is just dominating.
Venus has got it back together. For now her forehand looks good, but i can see more breaks in this set from both players, but if Venus can keep the heed, she could win this.
Wow, six cames on the bounce for Venus to win the set 6-1. Into her first quarter final of a slam for five years.
Berdych stomped Nadal, another break for Murray on paper. He was supposed to play Federer in the quarters and Nadal in the semis, but got Kyrgios and (if he wins) Berdych to make the final again.
3 of 4 Americans left in the top half of the women's draw (plus Cibulkova), 2 Russians in the semi in the bottom half.
3 of 4 Americans left in the top half of the women's draw (plus Cibulkova), 2 Russians in the semi in the bottom half.
Murray seems to be playing within himself. Two sets up now. I like Kyrgios a lot though. He might be the player the Aussies are looking for.
Serena/Sharapova tonight in the final, they're the top players in the world by far right now, but Serena has beaten Sharapova 14 times in a row going back to 2005, 28 sets to 3 over those matches.
Djokovic/Murray tomorrow, Murray seems to be playing better than Djokovic right now but not sure that will matter much (which isn't to say Murray can't or won't win, but I do think Novak will play better than he has been).
Djokovic/Murray tomorrow, Murray seems to be playing better than Djokovic right now but not sure that will matter much (which isn't to say Murray can't or won't win, but I do think Novak will play better than he has been).
I hope Murray can keep mentally strong tomorrow. I really liked how he manged himself on court versus Berdych; comeing back well to bagel him in the second set. He's taking the ball earlier more often, which means he's looking to take charge or sieze half chances during the rallies. He's got his touch back too.
I always said Murray would win slams and I always thought four would be a decent number for him to win. Not as much as his main rivals, but still a damn good haul and enough to cement onces place as a Great Champion. So, tomorrow is huge. He's playing well, serving well...just hope his head holds up.
I always said Murray would win slams and I always thought four would be a decent number for him to win. Not as much as his main rivals, but still a damn good haul and enough to cement onces place as a Great Champion. So, tomorrow is huge. He's playing well, serving well...just hope his head holds up.
I'm psyched for both of these finals, hopefully I can stay awake better than I did for the semis. Serena is trying to break her three way tie with Martina and Evert at 18 tonight, she won her first so long ago (1999 US Open) that Federer hadn't made any tour finals yet.
This is the most combined Grand Slam titles by two women finalists (18 from Serena and 5 from Sharapova) since the 1999 French Open between Graf (21) and Hingis (5). Interestingly that was Graf's last Grand Slam, she retired that August, just before Serena won her first GS, the US Open, she was only 17.
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MentalDisabldLst
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even when Serena misses, she's in control of the point. just incredibly aggressive and precise at the same time.
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loving the drop shots from Sharapova, looks like it's the one thing she's got consistently working.
the rest of her points are mostly "Serena's in position to hit a good ball, and just misses". not exactly a sustainable approach.
edit: well, except for this game so far. Some nice hits there.
the rest of her points are mostly "Serena's in position to hit a good ball, and just misses". not exactly a sustainable approach.
edit: well, except for this game so far. Some nice hits there.
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MentalDisabldLst
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First set 6-3 to Serena, and really it should've been 6-2. Gave one of her breaks back trying to serve for the set, two double-faults, and just looked physically iIl. but she has no problems breaking 'Pova, who has now held in 2 of her service games and lost 3.
fun to watch. Jon Abbey, you watching?
fun to watch. Jon Abbey, you watching?
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MentalDisabldLst
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the longer this goes on, the more it favors Sharapova. Whatever Serena took before the match seems to be wearing off slightly - the defensive effort is still there but she's getting sluggish hits and some bizarre errors.jon abbey said:
I did enjoy how the chair ump called hindrance on what would have been a game-winning hit bbecause serena yelled "come on" too early... and she said nothing, moved along, saved a break pt and rolled 3 winners for the game. just incredible mental toughness.
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Match point, serves an ace, drops her racquet... and gets told it was a let. Hands on hips, a "are you fing kidding me" look... goes back, and fires another ace. Game, blouses.
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Murray's having trouble with Djokovic's wide forehands early on. his shots look pretty well-measured though.
Tennis really seems to require mental toughness and resilience. I actually thought Djokovic might collapse after going down a break in the third, but it was Murray who eventually collapsed after Djokovic broke back.
I never watched the final set. Murray needs a mental coach. Novak got to him with his third set 'antics' - he got in Murray's head when Murray was on top. Murray loses so much energy ranting and raving and screaming, he needs to learn to tone it down, but he needs to learn that the brain cannot function optimally when emotions take over. He had the game to win that match. Then he started taking too much pace off first and second serves, he was standing too far back, not taking the ball as early as he might, as he had been doing in previous matches and for most of the first two sets.
The true greats, they have their lapses, but they get it back, win or lose they give themselves a chance to regroup and win. I didn't see that in the third set and when i flicked on to see the score in the fourth, there was no use watching the inevitable.
That said. Some of the tennis in the first two sets was excellent from both players and i think Murray is back physically...but between the ears, he is way back. And his second serve is such a weakness for a guy that can rattle in 130mph first serves.
The true greats, they have their lapses, but they get it back, win or lose they give themselves a chance to regroup and win. I didn't see that in the third set and when i flicked on to see the score in the fourth, there was no use watching the inevitable.
That said. Some of the tennis in the first two sets was excellent from both players and i think Murray is back physically...but between the ears, he is way back. And his second serve is such a weakness for a guy that can rattle in 130mph first serves.
I dunno - Murray has made enormous improvements when it comes to cutting down on the tantrums. He used to rant and rave to such a ridiculous extent that I'm not sure it's something he'll ever be able to completely eliminate. He had to overcome that in order to finally win a slam and I'd say he primarily has. Unfortunately (because I hate him), I think Djokovic is just better.
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From where I sit, the gap between Murray and Djokovic is very small indeed. But for a poorly-timed-and-executed drop shot, or a bad forehand down the line, Murray might win that 1st set tiebreak and go up 2-0 in the match. Guys whose plus-skills are primarily offensive (Wawrinka, Federer, Tsonga, Del Potro, even Nishikori) fare very poorly against Djokovic. Murray is one of a handful who have the defensive skills, endurance and imagination to actually fight him to a draw for extended periods, and steal some matches.
I think the emotional evolution Murray needs is to channel his rage into greater focus, rather than self-doubt. That emotional skill is what I most admire about Serena Williams, frankly - when she knocks some dumb errors or plays poorly at important junctures, she may throw a hissy fit, but in so doing, she cranks up her own mental focus and goes into Beast Mode. All of a sudden her opponents are facing more aggressive shots that are better-struck, and it often turns the tide. The same raw abilities are totally inside of Murray - his serve is a big weapon, far better than, say, Nadal's; he's added great net play to his toolkit over the last few years, which was crucial to his Wimbledon win, etc. Nobody hits it more accurately when sprinting at full speed. And as you say, he's cut down the ranting tantrums quite a bit. But he still gets furious. I think that rather than trying to subdue that, he needs to just channel it better.
Federer and Nadal have Pedro-like calm in their big moments. You can just see how empty their minds are from point to point and shot to shot. Murray is more like Josh Beckett or Papelbon, needing to fire themselves up. Maybe he just has yet to find the right sports psychologist.
I think the emotional evolution Murray needs is to channel his rage into greater focus, rather than self-doubt. That emotional skill is what I most admire about Serena Williams, frankly - when she knocks some dumb errors or plays poorly at important junctures, she may throw a hissy fit, but in so doing, she cranks up her own mental focus and goes into Beast Mode. All of a sudden her opponents are facing more aggressive shots that are better-struck, and it often turns the tide. The same raw abilities are totally inside of Murray - his serve is a big weapon, far better than, say, Nadal's; he's added great net play to his toolkit over the last few years, which was crucial to his Wimbledon win, etc. Nobody hits it more accurately when sprinting at full speed. And as you say, he's cut down the ranting tantrums quite a bit. But he still gets furious. I think that rather than trying to subdue that, he needs to just channel it better.
Federer and Nadal have Pedro-like calm in their big moments. You can just see how empty their minds are from point to point and shot to shot. Murray is more like Josh Beckett or Papelbon, needing to fire themselves up. Maybe he just has yet to find the right sports psychologist.
Murray really seemed to play his best tennis with Lendl as his coach. I think Lendl really helped him from a mental toughness standpoint.