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Tennis 2018

Started by selectivememory, January 01, 2018, 04:54:42 PM

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selectivememory

New thread for the new year, although at the moment it's difficult to get excited about the men's game. There seems to be a real possibility of Djokovic, Nadal, Nishikori and Wawrinka all being absent from Melbourne, but Murray at least gets his season under way tomorrow, in Brisbane, against Harrison. He's saying the hip still isn't great, but it'll just be nice to see him playing again. I'm not too sure how long he's got left near the top of the game if the hip problem is as serious as it sounds. Also feeling quite pessimistic about Djokovic's chances of returning to his best, because it seems his elbow injury has flared up again recently.

This wouldn't necessarily be a terrible thing if there were more players you could rely on to play well in all the big tournaments (god forbid we have another slam semifinal of the calibre of Carreno-Busta vs Anderson, or even Cilic vs Querry). Still, it doesn't necessarily have to be a procession for Federer's 20th major in Melbourne, as Zverev, Kyrgios, Dimitrov and Thiem all have something to prove in the majors, and Del Potro could be a big threat if he keeps up the form he showed in the last couple of months of the 2017 season. And then there's also Goffin, who found a new level for himself at the World Tour Finals and in the Davis Cup final, which would be fantastic to see him build on this year.

Women's side on the other hand should be great, especially with the imminent return of Serena. My only real issue with it last year was that most of the finals were a bit underwhelming, but otherwise it proved that a free-for-all in the top 10-20 can be enormously entertaining when the players are that good. Maybe it's just an effect of all the men who should've been taking advantage of weakened draws failing to do so, but the women's game feels like it has more depth at the moment, in terms of talented and entertaining players. There are about 20 players who could win a major this year and it wouldn't be a shock or disappointing (although I'm hoping Sharapova and Coco don't get anywhere near a big title).

BlodwynPig

Marion, oh Marion, is back, life is worth living again!

Mr Brightside

Australian Open 2018 predictions

F - Federer d. Nadal 7-6 (43-41), 4-6, 6-4, 6-7 (49-51), 65-63

Both finalists taken to hospital shortly after the presentation. Both pronounced dead hours later. Nadal still goes on to win the French.

Kyrgios quits ten minutes into his first round match when a line judge farts during his service motion.

Shapovalov makes second week but over the course of four matches kills three umpires, six ball girls, two line judges, and five spectators with angry thwacks of the ball after losing big points.

Dimitrov makes usual first week exit.

biggytitbo

Clearly Federer has had a word with the Swiss Mafia and had the entire elite of mens tennis nobbled so he can break some more records.

Bleeding Kansas

Quote from: biggytitbo on January 03, 2018, 12:23:32 PM
Clearly Federer has had a word with the Swiss Mafia and had the entire elite of mens tennis nobbled so he can break some more records.

"Put his legs in the Large Hadron Collider, Knuckles"

selectivememory

Happy to see Kyrgios and Halep winning titles this week. Hope they both go far in Melbourne. Especially Halep. I haven't wanted a player to win their first major so much since Andy Murray won the US Open.

selectivememory

Murray's had surgery on his hip, so can probably be ruled out until at least the summer. Still, his comments sound quite positive and confident (in contrast to what he said last week, when he sounded pretty despondent), so hopefully he'll be able to get himself back up towards the top of the game again for another year or two.

Meanwhile, not assuming anything yet, but the signs seem positive that Wawrinka, Djokovic and Nadal will all play in Melbourne.

Deanjam

Australian Open main draw starts tonight.










Deanjam


BlodwynPig

Benneteau's year, surely!

Deanjam

Great win for Edmund over US Open finalist Kevin Anderson in 5 sets. Also happy to see Bencic dump out Venus.

selectivememory

Coco and Isner out. Been a good first day.

Shoulders?-Stomach!

Nice for Edmund, Anderson is one of those beatable big servers but still, should have been a level above Kyle.

While Murray's injured it will be good to see how Edmund deals with the extra limelight. I'm surprised how little attention he gets when he is probably in the top 5 or 6 male British players produced since the mid-90s.

biggytitbo


BlodwynPig


Deanjam

Quote from: Shoulders?-Stomach! on January 15, 2018, 12:42:18 PM
Nice for Edmund, Anderson is one of those beatable big servers but still, should have been a level above Kyle.

While Murray's injured it will be good to see how Edmund deals with the extra limelight. I'm surprised how little attention he gets when he is probably in the top 5 or 6 male British players produced since the mid-90s.

I'd say only Murray, Henman & Rusedski are ahead of him. It's pretty slim pickings after them with Evans, Ward & co. Unfortunately he hasn't had that big Wimbledon moment that you need to get the casuals to care. Heather Watson get tonnes of attention for that third round match with Serena and winning mixed two years ago.

BlodwynPig

Quote from: Deanjam on January 15, 2018, 05:35:56 PM
I'd say only Murray, Henman & Rusedski are ahead of him. It's pretty slim pickings after them with Evans, Ward & co. Unfortunately he hasn't had that big Wimbledon moment that you need to get the casuals to care. Heather Watson get tonnes of attention for that third round match with Serena and winning mixed two years ago.

and being wholesome like Jess Ennis.

Deanjam


BlodwynPig

Quote from: Deanjam on January 16, 2018, 06:34:53 AM
One down. Six to go.

Mlad has gone back into her shell I see. Garcia still looks good. Some of the new French talent fucked off early sadly.

Deanjam

Edmund through to round 3 with a straight sets win over Istomin. Has a genuine chance at the quarter finals.

Didn't see the Bencic match, but that scoreline is baffling.

selectivememory

Yeah, Edmund is the highest-ranked player left in that segment, although I'm not happy to see Karlovic potentially lurking in wait for the fourth round. Still, he got a great win against Anderson, and now the draw has really opened up. Would give him a boost in the rankings as well if he could make it.

Bottom half of the women's draw is wide open. Looking at Ostapenko, Svitolina and Wozniacki as the likeliest to make the final now. Top half is stacked though, with Halep, Kerber (who seems to have rediscovered her 2016 form all of a sudden), Konta, Muguruza, Garcia, Keys, Sharapova and Pliskova all probably contenders.

BlodwynPig


Deanjam


rjd2

Good effort from Garcia last night, that girl she is playing there is a lot of hype about. Crazy how the Czechs keep producing gun female tennis players.

Konta was horrific though, she can write it of as one of shitfest, but her coach is going to need to work miracles with her to get her competitive. She is way to reliant on her serve, her net game and her smashes last night were horrible.

Shame to see Mugu go, but doubt she was fully fit and this is a crap slam for her.

BlodwynPig

Quote from: Deanjam on January 18, 2018, 08:30:20 AM
Two down! Goffin slain! It's on!

As soon as I comment he'll get beaten.

BlodwynPig

Quote from: rjd2 on January 18, 2018, 01:16:12 PM
Good effort from Garcia last night, that girl she is playing there is a lot of hype about. Crazy how the Czechs keep producing gun female tennis players.

Konta was horrific though, she can write it of as one of shitfest, but her coach is going to need to work miracles with her to get her competitive. She is way to reliant on her serve, her net game and her smashes last night were horrible.

Shame to see Mugu go, but doubt she was fully fit and this is a crap slam for her.

Konta another Rudeski?

rjd2

Not a bad call!Both have limited enough games and both seem harmless enough but pretty bland ultimately.

Didn't Rusedski play at a higher level much longer? Konta for so long was doing fuck all until she broke through a few years ago.

BlodwynPig

Quote from: rjd2 on January 18, 2018, 01:43:06 PM
Not a bad call!Both have limited enough games and both seem harmless enough but pretty bland ultimately.

Didn't Rusedski play at a higher level much longer? Konta for so long was doing fuck all until she broke through a few years ago.

Until she switched to representing Britain in 2012? 305 - 153 before and after switch.

Deanjam

Edmund beats Basilashvili 7-6 3-6 4-6 6-0 7-5 to make last 16. Seppi or Karlovic next.

selectivememory

Quite happy with either Edmund or Seppi being a quarterfinalist. Also looking forward to the other fourth round match in that quarter, with Dimitrov already through to play the winner of this Kyrgios-Tsonga match. I'd quite like to see a Kyrgios-Nadal semifinal here.