Tennis 2016

[Deanjam]

A new year and the season begins on Sunday, so thought I'd start a new thread. With the Davis Cup and IPTL it hardly seems like we've had a break. All the big guns are playing this week. Djokovic & Nadal are in the desert at Doha, Federer is in Brisbane, Wawrinka is in Chennai and Murray has a nice relaxing start at the Hopman cup in Perth.

So any predictions? Will Djokovic & Serena continue to dominate. Will Federer or Nadal reclaim former glory. Can Andy or Stan add to their slam counts? Will Nishikori, Raonic, Halep or Radwanska finally win a major. Or will a young gun emerge from the shadows to save tennis?

My predictions to be laughed at by the end of the year (and perhaps now):

Aus Open: Djokovic & Muguruza
Fre Open: Djokovic & Halep
Wimbly: Raonic & Serena
US Open: Murray & Serena

Ys, I predict Milos will win Wimbledon. Crazy fool that I am.

[Mr_Simnock]

Bugger I was planning to start this thread, beat me to it. I just want Murray to come back to top form and get some more wins against Djoko and win another slam.

[selectivememory]

Ys, I predict Milos will win Wimbledon. Crazy fool that I am.

^ Clearly trying to get some positive karma from our resident Milos fanatic.

My big predictions:

-Djokovic to dominate again, winning 3/4 slams and 4 or 5 Masters, and I suspect the Olympic Singles Gold as well.

-Either Stan or Murray to win one slam. Murray more likely due to consistency, but on the other hand Stan is much more likely to win a final should he get that far (and in a Stan-Murray final my money is on Stan). Fed, Muzz and maybe another player to pick up the rest of the Masters between them.

-Outside chance Nadal gets his form together for a final tilt at his 10th RG title, but I really hope Djokovic wins it this year (ditto Murray at the Aussie).

-Out of Kei, Milos and Grigor, Kei still is the most likely player to have success at a slam - if he's healthy, he's always going to be worth watching. Milos' descent down the rankings since the summer probably owes a lot to his minor surgery, so he should get back up in the top ten by the end of the year. Hopefully Grigor can figure out what's going wrong with his game as he's in danger of becoming the new Gasquet, when he really should be established in the top 10 by now.

-Coric, Thiem and Kyrgios all to finish top 20, but none of them to go further than a semifinal in a slam. Kyrgios to make headlines for being a cunt at least three times over the course of the year.

-Edmund to finish in the top 70.

-Halep to get a little more consistency in the big tournaments, win a slam and maybe get to #1 - that last prediction assuming Serena can't quite keep up her level.

-Maybe Kvitova wins another Wimbledon title. A bit like Stan in that she's maddeningly inconsistent, but should she make the final of a major I'd find it hard to back her opponent.

-Also think Muguruza is a decent bet for a maiden slam title.

-Konta should have a couple of decent runs in the slams, and hopefully gets up into the top 20, so long as she can keep up the great form she showed towards the end of 2015.

[biggytitbo]

For Murray? I think 1, maybe 2 centimetres of bald patch growth.

[rjd2]

Muguruza will win at least one Slam I think, absolute gun of a player. Azarenka if she gets her act together should challenge as well, absurd how erratic she has been over the last few years. I think Serena wins one slam at most, she has to slow down and these girls have to step up soon.

Men side, out of all the dudes that have not won a Slam, Raonic is the best bet. He has done well in all Slams so possibly a run at Wimbledon if the draw is kind. Kryigos is the next most likely, a tosser and a erratic fucker, but when he clicks he is so good. He will be dangerous at the Australian firstly if he gets a good draw and gets the crowd behind him. Kei always seems to break down, and Dimitrov will have to show much more than he did last year.

Murray's best chance is the French Open as its Federers and Novaks worst Slam and compared to Wimbledon and the US Open, the expectations of him are never as high.

He may go deep in the others, but has to hope Novak loses to someone else or he is fucked. Stan more volatile, but much more likely  to win a Slam than him this year due to how he handles Novak at Slams.

Novak should win 2 Slams minimum, the Aussie the most likely.

[Deanjam]

Good wins for Naomi Broady over Ana Ivanovic in Auckland and Kyle Edmund over Martin Klizan in Doha. Both have winnable matches for the quarters against Jeļena Ostapenko and Daniel Muñoz de la Nava respectively.

[selectivememory]

Yeah, feeling quite optimistic about Edmund's prospects this year. If he can play like he did for the first two sets against Goffin more frequently he'll win a lot of matches, and with a bit more top level experience under his belt he should improve even more. He's not a particularly exciting player, but he's got a very decent, solid and effective game and is probably talented enough to make the top 20 one day. Good opportunity for him to boost his ranking a little in Doha, and he's got a place in the main draw of Melbourne.

I see that Kyrgios has beaten Murray in the Hopman Cup, which to be fair is essentially an exhibition tournament. After being completely outplayed by him in Melbourne and Paris last year, Kyrgios did show some improvement in his defeat in New York. I'm in two minds about the guy. Obvious bell-end, but good god does men's tennis need some of its youngsters to start stepping up. Whether you like him or not, he is undeniably a great player to watch.

[Deanjam]

Yeah, he needs to play more events and improve his fitness, but otherwise he's clearly the most talented of the youngsters. Total nobber though.

[selectivememory]

Another good win for Edmund. Into the quarters of Doha, with Berdych up next. Done enough here to get that boost for his ranking, and hopefully with a nice draw at Melbourne he can win a match or two there.

[rjd2]

Yeah think Nick from all the kids has the best all round game to win a Slam, such a shame he is a tosser though. I think he gets to at least one Slam semi this year, he won't be fun to play in the night time session if he is on his game and the crowd are behind him.

[Deanjam]

Edmund v Berdych about to start on Eurosport 2.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/35253103

Nice moment all round. Another likeable American sportsman?

As a nineties kid that's just all wrong

[biggytitbo]

Jack Sock sounds like masturbation paraphernalia.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

And you should know, with that voodoo cum doll you have of me.

I told you mate, cum doesn't do anything voodoo like no matter how hard you try.

[biggytitbo]

And you should know, with that voodoo cum doll you have of me.

Voodoo doll makes it sound more elaborate than it is, when you know full well its just a clothes peg with a cobweb bluetacked to the top.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

'Bluetacked'

Semen is not an adhesive come on

[Mr_Simnock]

Voodoo doll makes it sound more elaborate than it is, when you know full well its just a clothes peg with a cobweb bluetacked to the top

You mean something along these NSFW lines?

For your own sanity don't click that link people.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

Andy Murray implementing Dave Brailsford's 'Marginal gains' theory there.

[Deanjam]

Djokovic just murdering Nadal in Doha.

[Deanjam]

Djokovic smashes Nadal 6-1, 6-2 to win Doha. Very impressive, although Nadal still clearly off his best.

[rjd2]

Don't think Nadal was that bad, just Novak was an absolute freak today, will be unstoppable if he plays like that at the Aussie Open.

Azarenka won Brisbane this week, gave Kerber a beating in the final, great chance for her to win a slam with so many players with injury concerns at the moment.

[Deanjam]

Thought Nadal missed a few easy shots at times, but I guess you could put that down to the pressure Djokovic was putting him under.

Vika's been kinda forgotten about due to her injuries (and some brutal draws last year), but yes I think she has a great shot at the Aussie Open. She's a potential world number one when fit. Kerber's been playing well but she took her apart.

[Deanjam]

Raonic beats Federer 6-4 6-4 to win the Brisbane title. Big win for the, er, big man. Wawrinka retains his Chennai title 6-3 7-5 over Coric.

In the WTA, Radwanska won Shenzen (yeah!) over Riske and Sloane Stephens beat Gorges to win Auckland.

[selectivememory]

Nice to see Milos win, hopefully the start of him playing well again after the latter part of last year. Also nice to see Stan win again.

Think Djokovic is going to wipe the floor with everyone this year though.

[Deanjam]

Think Djokovic is going to wipe the floor with everyone this year though.

God I hope not, but you could be right. Last year was one of the most boring years in tennis with both tours being dominated by one person. At least during Fedal's 2004-2010 dominance the WTA was still providing a good range of winners to keep it interesting.

[rjd2]

A lot of average players that Aggie beat for that competition though, Riske in the final? Grim.

She is one of those who will fancy her chances with so many players under injury clouds, but so many big hitters in the tour will feel they an smash her off the court. Stephens has the game to really push on this year, could go far in Aus if draw is kind.

Raonic has the game to have a cracking year, but like Nadal, Murray and Federer desperately need to avoid Novak, has really struggled with him recently.

[Deanjam]

A brief update on the Brits.

Heather Watson lost her Hobart title by losing in the quarter finals. Rain delays had meant her second round match carried over and she had to play the quarters late in evening. It was rather cold.



Naomi Broady lost in the first round of Aussie Open qualifying to my future wife Alize Lim. In the men's, Dan Evans is through to the final round of qualifying, while Brydan Klein lost in the first round and the increasingly useless James Ward lost in the second round.

Edit: Evans will play Bjorn Fratangelo of the US, ranked 54 places above him, for a place in the main draw.

[Deanjam]

The draw for the Australian Open has been made.

Men's singles. (Brits emboldened).

Section 1

N Djokovic (1) v H Chung                                                    
Q Halys (WC) v I Dodig                                                    
F Krajinović v D Kudla                                                    
T Gabashvili v A Seppi (28)                                                    
I Karlović (22) v F Delbonis                                                    
J Veselý v QUALIFIER
E Donskoy v I Cervantes
V Pospisil v G Simon (14)
                             
Section 2
                                                   
J-W Tsonga (9) v M Baghdatis                                                    
O Jasika (WC) v I Marchenko                                                    
P Andújar v QUALIFIER                                          
N Rubin (WC) v B Paire (17)                                                    
G García-López (26) v P-H Mathieu                                                    
V Estrella Burgos v QUALIFIER
A Krajicek v QUALIFIER                                                    
P Kohlschreiber v K Nishikori (7)
                           
Section 3
                              
R Federer (3) v N Basilashvili                                                    
R Berankis v A Dolgopolov
QUALIFIER v QUALIFIER                                                    
P Lorenzi v G Dimitrov (27)                                                    
D Thiem (19) v L Mayer                                                    
J Benneteau (PR) v N Almagro                                                    
K Edmund v D Džumhur                                                    
S Stakhovsky v D Goffin (15)
                           
Section 4
                              
M Čilić (12) v T de Bakker                                                    
A Ramos v B Ćorić                                                    
D Lajović v S Querrey                                                    
M Kližan v R Bautista Agut (24)                                                    
N Kyrgios (29) v P Carreño Busta                                                    
Y Nishioka v P Cuevas                                                    
R Haase v QUALIFIER
Y Bhambri v T Berdych (6)

Section 5

R Nadal (5) v F Verdasco
B Becker v D Sela
QUALIFIER v A Kuznetsov                                                    
E Gulbis v J Chardy (30)                                                    
G Monfils (23) v QUALIFIER
M Cecchinato v N Mahut
QUALIFIER v QUALIFIER
R Ram v K Anderson (11)
                           
Section 6

M Raonic (13) v L Pouille                                                    
M Jaziri v T Robredo                                                    
D Gimeno-Traver v QUALIFIER                                                    
D Muñoz de la Nava v V Troicki (21)                                                    
J Sock (25) v QUALIFIER
T Daniel v L Rosol
QUALIFIER v QUALIFIER
D Tursunov (PR) v S Wawrinka (4)
                           
Section 7

D Ferrer (8) v QUALIFIER
J Duckworth (WC) v L Hewitt (WC)                                                    
T Bellucci v J Thompson (WC)                                                    
A Bedene v S Johnson (31)                                                    
F López (18) v QUALIFIER
S Darcis v G Pella                                                    
M Ebden (WC) v M Granollers                                                    
J Janowicz v J Isner (10)
                           
Section 8

B Tomic (15) v D Istomin                                                    
S Bolelli v B Baker  (PR)                                                   
J Millman v D Schwartzman                                                    
G Müller v F Fognini (20)                                                    
J Sousa (32) v M Kukushkin                                                    
S Giraldo v D Young
A Mannarino v S Groth                                                    
A Zverev v A Murray (2)

[Deanjam]

Projected quarter-finals.

Djokovic v Nishikori
Federer v Berdych
Nadal v Wawrinka
Ferrer v Murray

[Deanjam]

Women's singles. (Brits emboldened).

S Williams (1) v C Giorgi                                        
S-w Hsieh v J Ostapenko                                             
U Radwańska v A Konjuh                                     
D Kasatkina v AK Schmiedlová (27)                                          
S Errani (17) v M Gasparyan                                        
K Nara v O Dodin (WC)                                          
M Duque Mariño v X Han (WC)                                     
Y Putintseva v C Wozniacki (16)
            
Section 2

B Bencic (12) v A Riske                                        
H Watson v T Babos                                             
A Tomljanović v K Bondarenko                                     
D Hantuchová v S Kuznetsova (23)                                          
A Pavlyuchenkova (26) v L Davis                                        
M Rybáriková v Y Wickmayer                                          
A Sasnovich v E Rodina                                     
N Hibino v M Sharapova (5)
            
Section 3

A Radwańska (4) v C McHale                                        
E Bouchard v A Krunić                                             
M Linette v M Puig
QUALIFIER v S Stosur                                          
S Stephens (24) v QUALIFIER
L Domínguez Lino v A-L Friedsam                                          
A Tatishvili v I Falconi
QUALIFIER v R Vinci (13)
            
Section 4

C Suárez Navarro v QUALIFIER
QUALIFIER v QUALIFIER
M Niculescu v T Pereira                                     
E Kulichkova v A Petkovic (22)                                          
K Mladenovic (28) v D Cibulková
QUALIFIER v K Koukalová                                          
D Gavrilova v L Hradecká
QUALIFIER v P Kvitová

Section 5

A Kerber (7) v M Doi                                        
S Sanders (WC) v A Dulgheru                                             
M Brengle v C Vandeweghe
J Larsson v I-C Begu (29)                                          
J Janković (19) v P Hercog                                        
L Siegemund v K Bertens                                          
P Hon (WC) v A Beck                                     
K Siniaková v T Bacsinszky (11)
            
Section 6

V Azarenka (14) v A Van Uytvanck                                        
S Crawford (WC) v D Kovinić
QUALIFIER v D Vekić                                     
V Duval (PR) v E Svitolina (18)                                          
C Garcia (32) v B Strýcová                                        
M Barthel v V King (PR)                                          
K Flipkens v M Lučić-Baroni                                     
A Kontaveit v G Muguruza (3)
            
Section 7

V Williams (8) v J Konta                                        
C Witthöft v S Zheng                                             
B Mattek-Sands v D Allertová                                     
P Cetkovská (PR) v S Lisicki (30)                                          
E Makarova (21) v M Inglis (WC)                                        
T Maria v O Govortsova                                          
A Mitu v J Görges                                     
K Birrell (WC) v Ka Plíšková (9)
            
Section 8

M Keys (15) v Z Diyas                                        
T Pironkova v Y Shvedova
QUALIFIER v J Wolfe                                     
T Patterson (WC) v A Ivanovic (20)                                          
L Tsurenko (31) v V Lepchenko                                        
L Arruabarrena v QUALIFIER
B Jovanovski v A Cornet
QUALIFIER v S Halep (2)



Azarenka and Muguruza in the same section. Fuck off.