He's playing tomorrow against the #22 seed Llondra, who I know nothing about. I won't call it this time, but I which him the best!
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At the Rod Laver Arena today, I get to see Justine Henin, Andy Roddick and Venus Williams. Again, I don't see any of the favourite giving a set away.
It's too bad, because I think the program at the Hisense Arena is way more interesting. Wozniacki and Sharapova are playing their second round matchup, while you also get to see Djokovic and a good match between Verdasco and Tipsarevic.
Llodra plays serve/volley and is pretty good at it. Raonic is gonna have to pound him hard on the serve if he wants to get the win.
Watching Marino vs Schiavone (atdhe) right now. Marino down a break (4-2), but she broke Schiavone too. She needs to get some confidence on her 2nd serves though.
Man what a horrible choke by Tipsarevic in his match with Verdasco, up 6-5 in the fourth set with three chances to win the match on serve and he lets them all get away. Then drops the tiebreak 7-0 and gives one of the most feeble performances I've ever seen in the fifth set, going out 6-0 and not even trying to return serves in the last game, really disappointing.
Venus came back and won? Holy ****. Not only that she won 6-0 in the second set. She could barely walk off the court after the first set. She is not a woman
Llodra plays serve/volley and is pretty good at it. Raonic is gonna have to pound him hard on the serve if he wants to get the win.
Watching Marino vs Schiavone (atdhe) right now. Marino down a break (4-2), but she broke Schiavone too. She needs to get some confidence on her 2nd serves though.
She ended up losing 9-7 in the 3rd. Tough loss but she can play and should just keep getting better.
Whoa, what happened to Federer? I left for dinner after the first set where he appeared to be dominant (as I gathered from my extremely choppy feed). I could understand one "hiccup" but it seems that this went down to the wire.
Whoa, what happened to Federer? I left for dinner after the first set where he appeared to be dominant (as I gathered from my extremely choppy feed). I could understand one "hiccup" but it seems that this went down to the wire.
Didn't see it, but it sure sounds like there was a note of panic setting in during the 3rd and 4th sets. Well, this is where Annacone can lend a steady hand, perhaps. A dent in the aura is a big deal for Roger these days, as his mystique occasionally still contributes to some of his wins. The more sharks who smell blood in the water, the tougher his task becomes.
She ended up losing 9-7 in the 3rd. Tough loss but she can play and should just keep getting better.
Yeah, watched it all on a stream, she had her chances, but I must admit that Schiavone was not her usual self starting in the second set. Still a pretty good performance by Marino, she was serving really well. Would have been cool to have her in the 3rd round, especially by beating a top-10.
I woke up this morning and put the tv on to find out the weather reports, and there was Roger in the fifth set!! Sounds like it was a good match and I wish I could have seen it all. His interview with Courier after was fantastic.
Roger's match barely lasted 3 hours despite going 5 sets. Quite remarkable. I knew Simon would be a tough match for him. Very unfortunate for Federer to draw such a quality opponent in the 2nd round. I guess what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger though.
Raonic I believe is tied with the most aces in the tournament. When was the last time a Canadian male was in the 3rd round of a major?
Wikipedia reveals that Daniel Nestor made the 3rd round of the Aussie in 2001. (Also in 1998 and 1999, and round 4 of Wimbledon in 1999). I think that was the last time. Greg Rusedski made the 4th round of the Aussie that same year, if he counts.
Whoa, what happened to Federer? I left for dinner after the first set where he appeared to be dominant (as I gathered from my extremely choppy feed). I could understand one "hiccup" but it seems that this went down to the wire.
He was so dominant for one and a half sets, then Simon, who wasn't playing all that badly in the beginning, Federer was simply in superhuman form, started making headway when he got one of the two breaks back toward the end of the second set. Federer still won the second but his level dropped, the shanks and errors were out in full-force and along with poor serving lost his serve three straight times in the third set. He got a couple breaks back but it wasn't enough as Simon continued to hold steady to win the third, and started going more on the offensive in the fourth set with his DTL forehand. As Federer later said in his presser the slower conditions as it got cooler late into the night made it much more difficult for him to get balls past Simon, and Simon, human backboard that he is, was running around chasing everything down (the guy never tired physically or mentally at all). Federer made the adjustment to start coming to net more, and after not converting on two break point opportunities in Simon's first service game in the fifth, finally broke in Simon's third service game for the 4-2 lead. All you had to see was Federer's reaction upon breaking (screaming 'allez') to know just how tough it was. It still wasn't over though as Simon continued to put up the good fight, saving three match points on his own serve before Federer was finally able to pull it out on his fifth match point with an ace. Definitely wasn't your typical second round matchup with Simon playing like the former top 10 player that he was, having just won in Sydney, having never lost to Federer, and mentally not on a plane to France to be with his newborn baby. I can respect his competitiveness, but man, I can't stand his game.
He has Youznhy up next so that's gonna be tough. Raonic is tied with the most aces and has the fastest serve so far in the tournament (230 km/h). And Marino on the women's side has the second most aces and second fastest serve through two rounds.
It's exciting that they both only just turned 20. Hopefully Raonic can keep his run going!
Just got back from Murray's game. Played well, not much opposition, but hit pretty well and barely made a mistake, typical Murray really. Awesome atmosphere on MCA.
A few random things...
Raonic is very talented, saw the end of his match today. Huge serve, good groundstrokes, reminds me a lot of Mario Ancic. Bright future.
Azarenka still going strong, got a couple of bucks on her and stand to win $75 if she does. Been knocked out by Serena the past two years, so why couldn't she go all the way? Great first round, average in the second, but should cruise tomorrow, and I like her draw.
Berdych vs Gasquet will be a cracker tomorrow. Berdych, like Azarenka, was great first up and then average in his second match, and to win tomorrow he'd want to be a lot sharper than he was against Kohlschreiber.
Nice to see Alize Cornet back in form, and looking happy to be on the court. Attended both her matches and she's playing really well, much, much more aggressive hitting than in the past. Ever since she started her decline in ranking she's become too passive, but she's certainly looking to play with a better intent here. Lets not forget that not long ago she was just outside the top 10 and was considered one of the best prospects on the tour. Too bad she's got Clijsters next. With this type of form though, her ranking will definitely be on the up.
Nice to see Goerges and Halep make breakthroughs, I think it's the first time both have reached the 3rd round of a Slam. Wouldn't totally shock me to see Goerges knock off Sharapova tomorrow. Jovanovski, the young Serb, really impressed me today against Zvonareva, and I could easily see her being a top 10 player down the track. Her grounstrokes are insane, just needs to perhaps add a bit of variety, but she doesn't seem to lack court smarts.
Bernard Tomic has an amazing future, the best win of his career today, and he sets up a clash with Nadal. Rafa will obviously win, but I'm confident Tomic will put up a good fight and he'll rise to the occasion. Tomic has effortless power, an incredible ability to read the game, and this performance will give him a boost in the rankings. The key after this tournament will be to make more of a mark in the minor tournaments as he needs to gain more entry in the ATP events.
Djokovic had a great opening round performance but was relatively poor in the first two sets against Dodig. After losing the second set tiebreak, which was extremely good tennis, he responded by only dropping 2 more games. He's facing countryman Troicki tomorrow which will be interesting; remember their clash at last years US Open?
Nalbandian retired after winning only a game or two; Hewitt lost but completely derailed his tournament.
It's been a tremendously entertaining first four days of the 2011 Australian Open, plenty of drama, and its being set up well for what should be a great last couple of days. Nadal and Clijsters looking like the favourites.
Just got back from Murray's game. Played well, not much opposition, but hit pretty well and barely made a mistake, typical Murray really. Awesome atmosphere on MCA.
A few random things...
Raonic is very talented, saw the end of his match today. Huge serve, good groundstrokes, reminds me a lot of Mario Ancic. Bright future.
About the Ancic comparison:
So if Raonic works diligently for nine years he can sneak into the Top Ten long enough for a cup of coffee only to leave those heights before it cools? I guess I would take that, though.
Great to have you back. No more sabbaticals for seven years.
Wikipedia reveals that Daniel Nestor made the 3rd round of the Aussie in 2001. (Also in 1998 and 1999, and round 4 of Wimbledon in 1999). I think that was the last time. Greg Rusedski made the 4th round of the Aussie that same year, if he counts.
My early impressions are that there is no way the title lands outside the top5, and that Clijsters probably will cruise through to win the women's title.
Federer, nothing to say there, Simon is his worst matchup on tour except for Rafa and Murray and he looked pretty solid despite losing two sets. It will probably looked at as his hardest match before the semis. Monfils, Roddick and Wawrinka? Meh, they are all Federer's pets.
Rafa has had no competition whatsoever thus far, but there is no way really he'll go out earlier than a semifinal here. It's not always good when things go too easy though, hard to say where he stands.
Djoker, looks like he's on a mission, got a tough match coming against Troicki but I'm positive he'll make the semi from his quarter half. Berdych just isn't on top of his game enough right now to upset him in yet another slam, me think.
Soderling, sharp and determined start of the tournament and will save a lot of power with his first rounds here. Nothing else to expect though, Robin is 26-1 in Slams against other players than Fedal since FO -09.
Tsonga on the other hand has had two exhausting matches already, and Dolgopolov will also make him sweat for at least another 4 sets probably. On top of this he has a terrible mismatch in Soderling in the 4th round. There won't be a semifinal or final repeat here.
Murray is looking good, I'll go as far and say he's my favorite to reach the final on the first half. I'm seeing tendencies that he is trying to be more aggressive, which will be a recipe for success here. He can't push against Soderling and Rafa.
Del Potro on his way back, not surprising to see him lose to Baghdatis who loves to play in Australia. He needs more matches to find match rhythm.
And at last, Nalbandian, what a joke! I don't think I've ever seen a player retire from pure exhaustion coming from the match before. It's one thing to be tired, but he had a 36 hour rest for the love of god.. It was embarrasing to watch from start to finish and poor gamesmanship to retire in the third. Hopefully this makes him realize that you can't be successful nowadays with 20 pounds in overweight.
On another note, PLEASE get hawkeye out to the MCA.
He was so dominant for one and a half sets, then Simon, who wasn't playing all that badly in the beginning, Federer was simply in superhuman form, started making headway when he got one of the two breaks back toward the end of the second set. Federer still won the second but his level dropped, the shanks and errors were out in full-force and along with poor serving lost his serve three straight times in the third set. He got a couple breaks back but it wasn't enough as Simon continued to hold steady to win the third, and started going more on the offensive in the fourth set with his DTL forehand. As Federer later said in his presser the slower conditions as it got cooler late into the night made it much more difficult for him to get balls past Simon, and Simon, human backboard that he is, was running around chasing everything down (the guy never tired physically or mentally at all). Federer made the adjustment to start coming to net more, and after not converting on two break point opportunities in Simon's first service game in the fifth, finally broke in Simon's third service game for the 4-2 lead. All you had to see was Federer's reaction upon breaking (screaming 'allez') to know just how tough it was. It still wasn't over though as Simon continued to put up the good fight, saving three match points on his own serve before Federer was finally able to pull it out on his fifth match point with an ace. Definitely wasn't your typical second round matchup with Simon playing like the former top 10 player that he was, having just won in Sydney, having never lost to Federer, and mentally not on a plane to France to be with his newborn baby. I can respect his competitiveness, but man, I can't stand his game.
Thanks for the recap. From what I could gather from post-match interviews/pressers (btw, the Courier interview was great), Simon's returning really got into Fed's head which may account for his erratic serving later on. I think I'm going to agree with joe89 - this was a bad match-up for Roger and things will get better! Interesting he yelled allez as opposed to his usual c'mon.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Filppula
Bernard Tomic has an amazing future, the best win of his career today, and he sets up a clash with Nadal. Rafa will obviously win, but I'm confident Tomic will put up a good fight and he'll rise to the occasion. Tomic has effortless power, an incredible ability to read the game, and this performance will give him a boost in the rankings. The key after this tournament will be to make more of a mark in the minor tournaments as he needs to gain more entry in the ATP events.
What do you think of Tomic's side court antics? Most recently, there was the controversy of the Aussie qualies, where he said he was injured and couldn't participate but was then seen practicing at the same time. Basically, he was assuming a WC.
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Unfortunately, Troicki retired after losing the first set 6-2. I don't think Djokovic is super excited, as he would have probably wanted a proper test. Nadal's draw is ridiculously open and it's hard to gauge where he's really at (but I think he will destroy the seeds too). Soderling seems very much under the radar. And Murray... meh. At least the JMDP wild card is gone for him.
Unless Roger has a major brain cramp, he should easily dispose of Xavier Malisse. He's up 4-0 in the first. Okay, make it 4-1 after he was just broken back. Henin lost to Kuznetsova in straights but I didn't see much of it. These late night matches are hard to stay awake for!
