Topic: Tennis League All Thread - page 45. (Read 202833 times)

Rune(8th seed) in trouble! Down 2 sets to French young Wildcard Arthur Cazaux. Rune is fighting back to win the 3rd as he currently has 2 set points while being up 5-4 and 40-15 up on Cazaux's serve.
Edit: Rune did break and took the 3rd set 6-4. So, the set score currently stands 2-1 in the favor of Cazaux. However, this could be the turn of the tide. It's much harder for unexperienced players to win matches in the long run as they are in unchartered territory of long matches, physically and mentally. Will update how it goes.

Alcaraz, Sinner and Zverev are in the other group than Djokovic. Only Medvedev could face him before the final. But ist seems that Zverev did not got the message. There was almost a surprise in his match against Klein (APT rank 163). He had to go over full five sets and only managed to win the match in a match tie-break. 7:5, 3:6, 6:4, 7:6 (7:5), 7:6 (10:7).
He had already ifficulties in his first match against the German player Koepfer. If he does not improve in his next match, he can fly back home.

Seeing Novak drop two sets in two matches was quite surprising as normally he would be perfect at the Australian Open, and the tie break in the third set was a momentum changer in the fourth set which he could have made a little easier.
Etcheverry is a good player but against top players he looks weak and this could be an easier match for Novak than the previous two.

Iga Swiatek vs Danielle Collins, Good match from Danielle Collins and Iga Swiatek, three hours match and the third set Swiatek was already 1-4 down but managed to handle the pressure well and finished the match 6-4 3-6 6-4, I think this will be a easy for Swiatek because Collins didn't perform well throughout last season, especially when the score was in Collins' favor, but things changed, and Swiatek is again a challenger for the title.

No I noticed that today about Djokovic, another set dropped and the 3rd set was a
tie break. It sends a message to the likes of Alcaraz, Medvedev, Sinner and Zverev that
Novak is potentially vulnerable ATM.


Well he cant be continuing to play for the money because other than sponsorships
he isnt getting much prize money, being on tour is probably costing him money.

I think he got the timing wrong because as a sportsman I believe during the prime time you earn a lot of money and when it comes to the final years of the career, you hope to still be earning a lot of money, but you should start valuing health more than money. Unless you have done a lot of things wrong with the money, why risk the entire future because of health problems that get only worse with every year these guys keep playing? I would stop immediately. The surgeries he had are surgeries that are supposed to preserve life quality and not to preserve the highest level in professional tennis in your mid 30s.

Perhaps he asks himself the same question?
I have already written it several times here in this thread. He is someone who can achieve a lot. But something seems to be blocking him and it seems no one has yet found the reason.

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Djokovic does nott seem to be in perfect form yet too. He also dropped a set against Popyrin. He said that he had a cold. But it also seems he is a bit unstable with his nerves. His next match is against Etcheverry

Totally agree as would many.

The good days are over for him and to look at him playing and losing you would say
he hates the game and is totally frustrated.


Those matches are tricky for all playing IMO.

Draper is playing very well ATM and could indeed trouble Paul who has not been in
his best form

Ruusuvuori can be a dangerous player and has taken down a few top seeds last year,
Medvedev though is seeded #3 but can be beaten especially when he has the wrong attitude.

Dimitrov v Kokkinakis promises to be a great match, Dimitrov is in brilliant form but we
all know the power of the Aussie spectators especially for their own players, I still think
Dimitrov could come out on top.

Here's a brief overview of R2 matches that look promising and fun:

ATP
Paul v Draper
Medvedev v Ruusuvuori  The Russian has been complaining a lot so far about everything (slow balls, heat, crowd etc)
Dimitrov v Kokkinakis  Dimitrov has been playing really well recently. He won a tournament in Brisbane this year, defeating Holger Rune in the final. Kokkinakis is playing in front of his home crowd, which makes him very dangerous for any opponent.
Fils v Griekspoor
Rublev v Eubanks  
Sonego v Alcaraz  Sonego looks much more impressive than the French veteran Gasquet, whom Carlitos defeated in R1.

WTA
Swiatek v Collins
Ostapenko v Tomljanovic Ostapenko has already won a title this year and she's back into TOP10 and hungry for more.
Tauson v Azarenka
Korneeva v Haddad Maia  The Brazilian had already been stunned last year by another Russian rising star Mirra Andreeva. 16yo Korneeva looked very solid in R1.  
Jabeur v Andreeva  Young Russian starlet has a great record against top players and she is capable of shocking Ons as well.
Fruhvirtova v Sabalenka Brenda is just 16 yo but very talented, still she has no chance against Aryna, who is playing her best tennis in Australia.
Badosa v Pavlyuchenkova  Badosa is back after several injuries and psychological issues/depression but Pavluychenkova has improved her tennis a lot lately.

Let's enjoy another round of quality GS tennis!

With two hip surgeries, it was thought murray would never be back to tennis but he came back after years leaving a significant presence. It would be wiser for him to take a break now.
Djokovic who too is 36 is still in great form and now has less and less competition. 

Now he is 36 years old with having good career behind him but sadly due to injury he was not able to achieve things which he deserves but still a good player with good spirit and sportsmanship in this game he was completely outclass by opponent just because of this he announces may be this is his last year in professional tennis which is good decision because after injury he has done good even not able to do anything good but still we can say he tries his best not for money but for his dedication for the game.

Wawrinka is also veteran he is also trying his best for the improvement but sadly now it's time for him to call up because things are going not favourable for him now.

TBH I like that chart and prediction and I think its accurate enough, its pretty much the
top seeds. We cannot discount the odd upset here or there.

We are realistically based on the chart looking at a Djokovic v Tsitsipas, Alcaraz v Zverev,
Sinner v Rublev/de Minaur and Medvedev Rune/Hurkacz quarter finals.

Those two matches in the Round16 draw are real competitive matches and hard to call winners
Rublev v de MInaur and Rune v Hurkacz.

Earlier today Bublik was beaten in straight sets by Nagal of India, thats a bit of an upset there
especially as I had him to win that.

Projected last 16, after 1st round. Djokovic has a favorable draw to make it to at least semis and potentially meat Sinner there. On the otherside, is it going to be Alcaraz vs Medvedev in the semis? Thinking way too ahead, I suppose.
Alcaraz got a mini heart attack early on when Gasquet was playing exceptionally well but Carlos stabilised fairly well and got things back on track, never looked back after the first set. In WTA, Rybakina holds on after being down 3 set points in the first set against Pliskova and somehow manages to turn it around. Took the match with ease after that.

Too bad that 2 ex grandslam winners are already out but Murray should have called it a day about 2 years ago. It must be for the love of the sport that he keeps on trying as money is no real issue for him. To be honest, I did expect that Murray would have won this match but winning a grand slam is not possible for him anymore.

FAA was supposed to get an easy win in this match. but the match ended up being very interesting and it definitely could have gone either way. When I saw the match going to the 5th set, I actually thought FAA might actually end up losing.  but Luckily for him, he was able to win the final set of the match.  however, he definitely did have to pass extra difficulty to get this win. FAA was able to win the final set by a score of 6-3. For a player of his skill and caliber, he had to work really hard to win this one. Do you guys think that he actually took things easy when he had an advantage of two sets to zero?

Ah but Thiem is a very capable player, he can trouble pretty much any player,
hopefully 2024 will be a good year for Dominic...and Felix, two good guys.

Likewise for Naomi Osaka, she was close today but it was always going to be a tough
ask against Garcia who has been in great form and was very much ready for this match,
so hopefully Naomi can build into 2024.

FAA had to work very hard and I don't think anyone expected that he would have to work so hard to win this match. At least I did not expect that. I thought the match should have been a lot easier for FAA. Remember that this is the first round of the Australian Open. Imagine how hard he will have to work towards the later part of the competition. He will play the next match against Garnier. In my opinion that match should also be easy for him. but who knows,  maybe his opponent will make him work just like he had to in the last match.

Naomi Osaka did try to win this match in my opinion. and I agree that her opponent was just better in this match. it was one of those matches for her,  whatever she was trying was not working out in favour of her.

After 2 days, The seeds that have been out of the tournament. As usual, wild on the WTA side of things. While only Jarry out of the tournament in the ATP. 4 Russian women seeded are out within 2 days. 10 more days to go for a Champ to be declared.

An interesting match between FAA vs Thiem, and now the fourth set after the third set Thiem managed to take it to make the match longer and in the tie break FAA made several mistakes that gave points to Thiem, this is still difficult to predict even though FAA is the favorite to win but it is very possible that this will go to five sets.

Naomi Osaka was not smooth in her comeback in Australia Open, she did not play poorly but Caroline Garcia managed to overcome the pressure well because the crowd was on Osaka's side, and the match lasted two sets with the second tie break.

Meanwhile, the two play against each other and as expected it is not an easy game for FAA. The first two sets went to FAA, but Thiem already showed more resistance in set 2 and now he has won set 3 in tiebreak. FAA was only 2 serves away from a victory. But Thiem has now forced him into set 4 and it looks like it will be a longer match.

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Such matches made Dokovic stronger. He has certainly already analysed his mistakes and his next opponent, Popyrin, will have no chance.  

Yeah, I mostly agree. In WTA draw, I'm not sure about Gauff. I don't believe she can win AO this year. Sabalenka, Rybakina and Swiatek are turning into something like the big trio of men's tennis: Federer, Rafa and Djokovic. Sabalenka is just sooo good! I followed her matches in Australia and I have to say I haven't seen such tennis since Serena!