2016 Australian Open
- Thread starter jon abbey
- Start date
Looked very slow and sluggish. Have to think she's battling an injury or sickness. Loved how she still fought down 5-0 in that 2nd set.
This is Novak's to lose on the men's side. I think Azarenka wins the women's, though I am pulling for Serena to tie Steffi.
Verdasco takes a 4th set tiebreak from Nadal, so they're off to a 5th set, already having played for 4 hours. It's like deja vu from 2009, except both are worse/older and it's the first round instead of the semis. Exciting, though.
Hewitt's career ends to Ferrer in straight sets. Always been one of my favorites, I've (pathetically attempted to) model my backhand after his for as long as I can remember, and it's been nice having him around for so long even though he never reached the heights most would have thought in 2002.
You will not see a crazier women's match than the one wrapping up now between Madison Keys (15) and Ana Ivanovic (20).
Hard fought first set, no breaks or I think even break points until Ivanovic breaks at love to win 6-4.
Then Ivanovic holds to open the second set.
Then on the changeover there is some commotion in the stands and it turns out that Ivanovic's coach (also Andy Murray's wife's dad) has collapsed and there is a pool of blood there. Everything understandably comes to a halt, they eventually get a stretcher there, render him immobile and take him to the hospital (still a bit unclear what happened, maybe a heart attack and then he hit his head, but reports have him conscious at least).
An hour later, they resume the match (I believe they were given the choice to postpone until tomorrow but both choose to continue).
They come back, Ivanovic looks good and breaks, 2-0.
Keys wins the next two games, 2-2.
Ivanovic wins the next two, up 4-2, serving, 2 games away from closing it out in straight sets.
Except Keys wins the next four games, evening the match at a set apiece.
Ivanovic comes out smoking in the third, going up 3-0.
Keys comes back and wins five straight games to go up 5-3.
Ivanovic holds to cut it to 5-4.
Finally after a very tight and nervous service game with multiple deuces, Keys holds on, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4. 104 total points to 100 for Keys.
Hard fought first set, no breaks or I think even break points until Ivanovic breaks at love to win 6-4.
Then Ivanovic holds to open the second set.
Then on the changeover there is some commotion in the stands and it turns out that Ivanovic's coach (also Andy Murray's wife's dad) has collapsed and there is a pool of blood there. Everything understandably comes to a halt, they eventually get a stretcher there, render him immobile and take him to the hospital (still a bit unclear what happened, maybe a heart attack and then he hit his head, but reports have him conscious at least).
An hour later, they resume the match (I believe they were given the choice to postpone until tomorrow but both choose to continue).
They come back, Ivanovic looks good and breaks, 2-0.
Keys wins the next two games, 2-2.
Ivanovic wins the next two, up 4-2, serving, 2 games away from closing it out in straight sets.
Except Keys wins the next four games, evening the match at a set apiece.
Ivanovic comes out smoking in the third, going up 3-0.
Keys comes back and wins five straight games to go up 5-3.
Ivanovic holds to cut it to 5-4.
Finally after a very tight and nervous service game with multiple deuces, Keys holds on, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4. 104 total points to 100 for Keys.
Bernard Tomic is a world class punk. His off court arrests and troubles have brought him more attention than his on court victories which are few and far between. So to draw more attention to himself he takes a jab at Roger Federer. Get back to me kid when you have won something big. You are 0-4 against Fed. Besides that, Roger is the only one to beat Novak this year so what do say now punk?
http://espn.go.com/tennis/story/_/id/14631876/bernard-tomic-aims-australian-open-jibe-roger-federer-nowhere-novak-djokovic
http://espn.go.com/tennis/story/_/id/14631876/bernard-tomic-aims-australian-open-jibe-roger-federer-nowhere-novak-djokovic
So many higher seeds on the brink of going out these last few days, but all of them seem to eventually pull out their matches. The current one is #4 Stan Wawrinka, who lost the first two sets to Raonic but has come back to send it into a 5th set. Raonic just broke, though, and is now up 5-2, so Stan's got his work cut out for him to finish off this comeback. Coincidentally the women's #4 (Radwanska) was also down 5-2 in the 3rd yesterday before pulling it out with 5 straight games against a badly cramping unseeded player. Raonic is looking a lot tougher than that, though.
Fed and Djoker both cruise into the semis. Really wish they didn't have to play each other here. Murray ended up with the significantly more favorable draw into the finals, though it looks like Federer will overtake him in the rankings again barring Murray winning the tournament.
For tennis fans, the Djoker-Federer match is as good as it gets. Federer has now lost to Djoker in his last three finals, and it seems that Djoker is just a step better, which is enough. I'll be rooting for Federer to get to the final.
I like how nobody thought the latest Serena-Sharapova curb stomping was worth remarking upon. Nuff said on that... just hoping Azarenka makes the finals so we get a real match. On the men's side, Raonic-Monfils is going to be entertaining as hell for those who want to get up at 5:30am ET to watch it.
The best story on the women's side, though is Zhang Shuai. At #133 in the world almost went out in the Quallies against Razzano, rallied to win it 8-6 in the 3rd and make the main draw, where in her lengthy career she is 0-14 in grand slams. And she draws world #2 Halep. Comes out and in the most shocking upset of the tournament, rocks Halep in straight sets. Follows it up by taking out Serena scourge Alize Cornet, #51-ranked American Varvara Lepchenko, and draws a R16 against Madison Keys... who is pretty severely hobbled from a leg injury she got in R3 and basically can't move after the first set. Keys considers retiring and actually goes up a break in the 3rd before losing 6 of the last 7 to end her AO run. So now Zhang, who has a decent serve and forehand but not anything you'd call a "weapon", has a very winnable QF against unseeded Brit, Johanna Konta. It wouldn't be a shock if she ended in the semifinals of a grand slam as a qualifier. It's like watching Leicester City lead the BPL. Doesn't matter who you're rooting for, you also kinda have to root for her.
The best story on the women's side, though is Zhang Shuai. At #133 in the world almost went out in the Quallies against Razzano, rallied to win it 8-6 in the 3rd and make the main draw, where in her lengthy career she is 0-14 in grand slams. And she draws world #2 Halep. Comes out and in the most shocking upset of the tournament, rocks Halep in straight sets. Follows it up by taking out Serena scourge Alize Cornet, #51-ranked American Varvara Lepchenko, and draws a R16 against Madison Keys... who is pretty severely hobbled from a leg injury she got in R3 and basically can't move after the first set. Keys considers retiring and actually goes up a break in the 3rd before losing 6 of the last 7 to end her AO run. So now Zhang, who has a decent serve and forehand but not anything you'd call a "weapon", has a very winnable QF against unseeded Brit, Johanna Konta. It wouldn't be a shock if she ended in the semifinals of a grand slam as a qualifier. It's like watching Leicester City lead the BPL. Doesn't matter who you're rooting for, you also kinda have to root for her.
Unless you're British (or that way inclined), in which case the story of Konta - first British woman to reach a grand slam quarterfinal in 32 years, #144 in the world this time last year but ready to rise into the top 30 if she beats Zhang - is pretty darn tasty in its own right.
Well, I'll be rooting for Konta against Kerber, that's for sure. She'll need whatever prayers she can get; Kerber looked way more aggressive against Azarenka than she has in a number of years, she was landing some tough, risky shots.
Murray-Ferrer getting underway right now, with Monfils-Raonic for the swing-shifters and night crew among us. Murray up an early break.
Murray-Ferrer getting underway right now, with Monfils-Raonic for the swing-shifters and night crew among us. Murray up an early break.
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It'll be interesting to see how coverage of Konta plays out in the UK. She's an Aussie by birth, and has been "British" since 2012, although mainly based out of Spain, with less time in the British coaching system (probably a good thing). She's certainly not had the level of media coverage that Heather Watson and Laura Robson have had here, although she's likely a better player than Robson. Her and Watson might have a nice rivalry over the coming years, and might make for a good Fed Cup combo. The British press (and perhaps the public) tend to have a slight reticence towards athletes who are not "true" Brits - Greg Rusedski, Kevin Pietersen and Lennox Lewis would all testify to this. But if she beats a German and gets to the final, I'm sure we'll be draping her in the Union Jack right up until the point she gets loses...
Konta moved to Eastbourne when she was 12 years old and grew up there. She's also a Hungarian citizen, born to Hungarian parents; she described herself in today's post-match press conference as being like Jason Bourne (in terms of holding multiple passports). But I think she's a lot more British than Greg Rusedski ever was, and it seems so far - from some of the comments sections below online news articles I've been reading - as if the British public more or less agrees, a few obvious trolls notwithstanding.
It's a a half decent knock up for Serena.
Regarding Konta, the reaction has been very postive. The UK, and middle england especially have been pining for a female tennis star for so long now. Heather Watson and Laura Robson, haven't quite pushed on, although Robson had a long term injury that kept her off the court for ages.
Like CP said above, she's been based in the UK in terms of residency for most of her tennis playing life, even if she's trained abroad. And Robson grew up in Australia didn't she? Who cares? Murray trains in Miami. It's great to have players to take the spotlight off Andy and Konta seems like a nice lass.
Jamie Murray is into his 3rd straight Grand Slam doubles final.
Rooting for Federer to beat Novak.
Regarding Konta, the reaction has been very postive. The UK, and middle england especially have been pining for a female tennis star for so long now. Heather Watson and Laura Robson, haven't quite pushed on, although Robson had a long term injury that kept her off the court for ages.
Like CP said above, she's been based in the UK in terms of residency for most of her tennis playing life, even if she's trained abroad. And Robson grew up in Australia didn't she? Who cares? Murray trains in Miami. It's great to have players to take the spotlight off Andy and Konta seems like a nice lass.
Jamie Murray is into his 3rd straight Grand Slam doubles final.
Rooting for Federer to beat Novak.
At love!
6-1, 2-1, I didn't think Fed would win but I didn't expect anything anywhere near this lopsided.
Any sense of how much the delay impacted Federer?
I feel for the guy, as much as someone can feel for a multimillionaire whose won the most titles in history. Federer has been fantastic, but he's up against a guy, Djokovic, who is playing at a level better than anyone else on tour. It's perhaps safe to say that Federer has been the clear number two--and, at worst, number three--for a few years now, but Djokovic is just that much better at this point.
I feel for the guy, as much as someone can feel for a multimillionaire whose won the most titles in history. Federer has been fantastic, but he's up against a guy, Djokovic, who is playing at a level better than anyone else on tour. It's perhaps safe to say that Federer has been the clear number two--and, at worst, number three--for a few years now, but Djokovic is just that much better at this point.
Got up when I saw it just went to a 5th set. Milos' fitness is definitely letting him down at this point. Murray's just worn him down
Is this only on the Tennis channel? I have a few days off and would like to catch some of, preferably live. I'm on Eastern us time.
Sorry, ended abut 20 minutes ago. It was airing on ESPN. As for the fitness portion of my last post, it seems Raonic took an injury timeout early in the 4th, and I guess it impacted him the rest of the match. A shame, and hopefully only something minor, after the year he had last year.
The two finals will be on the next two nights, each starting around 3 or 3:30 AM, on ESPN or maybe ESPN2.
Congrats to Martina Hingis on winning the women's doubles for the third straight Grand Slam (along with Sania Mirza). Hingis has now won the women's doubles at Grand Slams with an incredible seven different partners going back to 1996.
Kerber's outfit is really cool. Great match, nice to see them chatting together before the presentation. Kerber played the match of her life.