Australian Open: Day Five - 2014

First topic message reminder :

http://www.ausopen.com/en_AU/scores/schedule/schedule10.html

Chardy v Ferrer on RLA (Prediction Ferrer in 4).

Stosur v Ivanovic on RLA (Stosur in 3).

Djokovic in 3.

Looking forward to Berdych v Dzumhur on HiSense.

Gasquet in 3.

ERV v Anderson (ERV may upset Anderson).

Fognini v Querrey (with the usual Fognini drama).

It would be nice to see Dellacqua win over Zheng (but unlikely).

Enjoy.

suspect Anderson Berdych is a bit like Ferrer Nadal, facing someone who does everything you do well, he does elite.

Gasquet a set and a break up against Robredo.

socal1976 wrote:Anderson 0-9 against Berdych with 5 losses to Berdych in 2013.  Not a good matchup. Am I correct that we could have Djoko v. Foggy match in the round of 16?

No, Foggy already has plans to withdraw on the eve of the match.

Yes socal if Fogging wins today he will play Djokovic in the next round should he win later. Raining heavily now and play is suspended.

Ana Ivanovic looks thinner every time I see her... So heartbreaking. Oh, and she's down a set.

Robredo takes the second set to level things up with Richard Gasquet.

Fognini now two sets up on Sam Querrey. Gasquet looks set to take the third set.

I think Ferrer's win now means that if Andy fails to defend his final points he will definitely drop to 5.

Gasquet showed his mental frailty from being 4-1 up in 4th set TB to lose it at 8-6.

Djokovic just had a brain fart serving for the match... I thought Becker was supposed to fix this? Second bite at serving for the match now... here goes

I was just thinking to myself that it's been a while since I saw a Djokovic brain fart.

Lo and behold, he fails to serve out a match he had all but wrapped up.

Just like old times!

And promptly gets annoyed, breaks straight back and serves out the set at the second time of asking!

Problem is.... against better players, it's probably too late to get annoyed. Was solid for most of the game, though. Looking real good is the Djoker.

Berdych vs Anderson for the 2000th time at a grand slam next round

Novak is in good form and it bodes well for another title challenge. However, I still think Wawrinka and Berdych are looking very dangerous and on a good day could be a very real threat. I think some are underestimating Novak's side of the draw and only concentrating on the other side of the draw. With Del Potro going out, Nadals draw has opened a bit and Murrays first tough match is likely to be Federer in the quarters.

Will be interesting to see what happens if Federer ends up playing Tsonga in the 4th round, will be a tough one to call. I would fancy Murray to beat both of them but he definitely has Tsongas number.

I think Berdych is looking increasingly ominous. It's hard to judge though as his opposition thus far has been pretty weak. Anderson may be a better indicator of Berdych's form.

Stan is a threat but the lack of match play won't have helped him. His first round opponent retired and his third round was a walkover. He's in the 4th round having only played six sets of tennis!

Nadal's draw hasn't opened a bit - it's parted like the read sea... with the exception of Murray (the extent of his match fitness not even being known), everyone in his half probably has to redline and then hope Nadal is a little off.

I wouldn't worry about Berdych from a Novak perspective, HM. He has virtually no chance (IMO, of course!) - see previous comments on serve versus return in that matchup. Also...

Silver wrote:Think we could see an upset in the Gasquet match. Robredo was on the comeback trail last year and remains dangerous, he looked good against Benneteau. Gasquet will need to hang tough.

Called it! Stan vs Robredo will be a good match.

I think Stan's probably got a bit too much weight of shot for Tommy R. However, Robredo certainly will need beating - if he wins in comfortable straight sets that will send out a message.

I see Andy has a "not before 2 30pm" slot on Hisense tonight. Not sure that could be worse - are temperatures expected to be 40c+ again?

I don't know how much trouble Lopez will be for Murray - the heat will be trickier than the opponent. I think the commentators said their US Open match was the best Lopez has ever played and he still got beat!

HM Murdoch wrote:I think Berdych is looking increasingly ominous. It's hard to judge though as his opposition thus far has been pretty weak. Anderson may be a better indicator of Berdych's form.

Stan is a threat but the lack of match play won't have helped him. His first round opponent retired and his third round was a walkover. He's in the 4th round having only played six sets of tennis!

I don't think Berdy has a good shout against Novak. He hits the ball consistently hard and fairly accurate, which is effective against most... But not Novak. It gives him rhythm, and he's awesome when playing against someone who gives him the same pace all the time. It's the same against Ferrer.

You have to be able to hit a lot of different shots to get Novak out of his rhythm, different paces and spins. It's the only way you get short balls off him to attack. Berdy is too predictable.

Born Slippy wrote:I see Andy has a "not before 2 30pm" slot on Hisense tonight. Not sure that could be worse - are temperatures expected to be 40c+ again?

No BS, it's going to be 10-15 degrees cooler. Warm still, but back to normal really. The time is a pain though. Thank god for Sky+

slashermcguirk wrote:Novak is in good form and it bodes well for another title challenge. However, I still think Wawrinka and Berdych are looking very dangerous and on a good day could be a very real threat. I think some are underestimating Novak's side of the draw and only concentrating on the other side of the draw. With Del Potro going out, Nadals draw has opened a bit and Murrays first tough match is likely to be Federer in the quarters.

Will be interesting to see what happens if Federer ends up playing Tsonga in the 4th round, will be a tough one to call. I would fancy Murray to beat both of them but he definitely has Tsongas number.

Wawrinka is going to be a very tough match because the new and improved aggression from Stan. Stan has a very poor return in general in his career especially on the forehand side where he chips a great deal of the time on the FH. Last couple of times he has played Novak he has really given Novak trouble by going after the second serve and coming over the return on both sides where in the past he would chip every return on both sides. Doing that against a player that moves like Novak and has the fh Novak has is usually suicidal. You have to make an impact on second serve and the last couple of matches he actually has done that. Stan's biggest weakness in his career has always been his passive return now that he has addressed that and added belief he has become a better player.

As for Berdych, Novak on this surface will make swiss cheese of him. He likes all that repetitve pace fed to him on this slower court. He will use his superior change of direction and angles on his shots to open him up like a tin of beans. Berdy has been his patsy for quite some time and I have to see something to change that belief. Novak also has a great record against Stan but recent matches especially in slams have been tougher, real tough actually.

HM Murdoch wrote:And promptly gets annoyed, breaks straight back and serves out the set at the second time of asking!

By this time, Djokovic was annoyed, with Istomin and his crowd-pleasing winners, and with members of the crowd who had distracted him by calling out in the middle of points. Djokovic, more agitated than we usually see him at this stage of a tournament, punctuated winning points with yells in Istomin’s direction, and steely stares into the crowd. If we’re looking for early influences of Boris Becker on Djokovic, maybe we've found one—the young Boom Boom liked to stare people down, too.

http://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2014/01/australian-open-djokovic-d-istomin/50300/#.UtmYWrTFI1k

I see this as a step back not a step forward. I thought Djokovic had good enough backhands and forehands and had no need of the sort of tactics that lower ranked players resort to. Yelling in the direction of a player ranked 49 is not something the likes of Federer or Nadal would ever lower themselves to do... and if Djokovic wants to be included in that top class of player it's not something he should do either. It sends a message and the message isn't strength it is weakness.

by the way Istomin hit the shot of the match so far in this tournament a running winner, driven like a bullet around the post, a foot off the ground like a rocket into the corner.

hawkeye wrote:

HM Murdoch wrote:And promptly gets annoyed, breaks straight back and serves out the set at the second time of asking!

By this time, Djokovic was annoyed, with Istomin and his crowd-pleasing winners, and with members of the crowd who had distracted him by calling out in the middle of points. Djokovic, more agitated than we usually see him at this stage of a tournament, punctuated winning points with yells in Istomin’s direction, and steely stares into the crowd. If we’re looking for early influences of Boris Becker on Djokovic, maybe we've found one—the young Boom Boom liked to stare people down, too.

http://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2014/01/australian-open-djokovic-d-istomin/50300/#.UtmYWrTFI1k

I see this as a step back not a step forward. I thought Djokovic had good enough backhands and forehands and had no need of the sort of tactics that lower ranked players resort to. Yelling in the direction of a player ranked 49 is not something the likes of Federer or Nadal would ever lower themselves to do... and if Djokovic wants to be included in that top class of player it's not something he should do either. It sends a message and the message isn't strength it is weakness.

What are you talking about, Nadal never gives steely stares or flexes his muscles, or makes any yells on the court. Your interpretation of Djokovic getting a tiny bit frustrated on the court with himself when he misses a couple of times is really silly. More silly than the average of silliness you post.

kingraf wrote:Nadal's draw hasn't opened a bit - it's parted like the read sea... with the exception of Murray (the extent of his match fitness not even being known), everyone in his half  probably has to redline and then hope Nadal is a little off.  

I don't think there is any player that doesn't have to red line it and hope that Nadal is also a little off or preferably a lot off if they want to win  

I am really looking forward to the Milos v. Dimitrov match. The fans will have to be careful with their beers as they will have expect a large number of 140 mile an hour serves being returned into the seats if at all. A battle of who has the best and the worst return. Both guys are huge servers but I think I could hold my serve against either one of their returns.

I think if Nole trusts the processes, and keeps it there or thereabouts, he's generally going to take Nadal to troubled waters. It takes a lot out of him though, so I suppose physically he has to red line

hawkeye wrote:

HM Murdoch wrote:And promptly gets annoyed, breaks straight back and serves out the set at the second time of asking!

By this time, Djokovic was annoyed, with Istomin and his crowd-pleasing winners, and with members of the crowd who had distracted him by calling out in the middle of points. Djokovic, more agitated than we usually see him at this stage of a tournament, punctuated winning points with yells in Istomin’s direction, and steely stares into the crowd. If we’re looking for early influences of Boris Becker on Djokovic, maybe we've found one—the young Boom Boom liked to stare people down, too.

http://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2014/01/australian-open-djokovic-d-istomin/50300/#.UtmYWrTFI1k

I see this as a step back not a step forward. I thought Djokovic had good enough backhands and forehands and had no need of the sort of tactics that lower ranked players resort to. Yelling in the direction of a player ranked 49 is not something the likes of Federer or Nadal would ever lower themselves to do... and if Djokovic wants to be included in that top class of player it's not something he should do either. It sends a message and the message isn't strength it is weakness.

Yeah, appalling behaviour from Novak. Next he'll be making players wait at the net for the coin toss, or barging into them. Seriously, nobody in the game today uses mental intimidation like Nadal, nobody even close... And I admire him for it. Great competitor... And you're criticising Novak for bringing it into his game?

Can I borrow your blinkers?

That seventeen year old Nadal faced had pretty night Kahunas, I thought, making Nadal wait at the toss... Turns out that isnt the source of his as he saw him off quite easily. Just leaves the water bottles now

Danny_. There is a difference between being consistent and controlled in your actions and direct confrontation. If you want to talk about the isolated incident where some say Nadal did try direct confrontation as in the infamous Rosol bump as an example (personally I'm not convinced it was deliberate). Well all I can say is that this approach clearly didn't work.

I think Djokovic is a great player it is a complement that I expect high standards from him  

Well I agree there's a difference. Novak bringing in some mental intimidation (if indeed he is, I've not seen the match) is new. Whereas Rafa has been doing it for years and years.

Perfect gent off the court, playground bully on it. Perfect combination. As much as I'm a fan of that, if you're so against intimidation I'm amazed you're a Rafa fan!

But I guess those blinkers see what they want to see, no?

kingraf wrote:That seventeen year old Nadal faced had pretty night Kahunas, I thought, making Nadal wait at the toss... Turns out that isnt the source of his as he saw him off quite easily. Just leaves the water bottles now

The water bottles have also been done. I can't remember who the player was that did it but Rafa just laughed and rolled his eyes at Uncle Toni and carried on with winning the match. So I'm afraid that wasn't effective either.

I bet if Novak tried yelling in the direction of Rafa during a match as he did at Istomin Rafa might find it amusing. He would quite rightly see it as a sign of weakness. If he tried it against Federer I imagine he would just explain calmly afterwards at his packed press conference how he was surprised and wouldn't expect a player of Djokovic's standard to resort to such things.

I don't think Djokovic really was staring anyone down though. He fumed for a bit when he failed to serve out and let out a huge roar when he broke back. Beyond that, I didn't see much going on.

On a related note, our friend Neil Harman said earlier that Djokovic didn't fail to serve sets out before he was involved with Becker! Did he watch any tennis last year?!

HM Murdoch wrote:I don't think Djokovic really was staring anyone down though. He fumed for a bit when he failed to serve out and let out a huge roar when he broke back. Beyond that, I didn't see much going on.

But that implies that HE is making something out of nothing, which I frankly REFUSE to believe!

hawkeye wrote:If he tried it against Federer I imagine he would just explain calmly afterwards at his packed press conference how he was surprised and wouldn't expect a player of Djokovic's standard to resort to such things.

Would Federer say that if Novak yelled "you f***ing stopped" at him?

HM Murdoch wrote: Neil Harman said earlier that Djokovic didn't fail to serve sets out before he was involved with Becker! Did he watch any tennis last year?!

   That's one of the most ridiculous comments ever (Harman, not you HM). There's 3 in slam finals alone, and one rather famous net related incident in a semi.

That's like saying "I don't remember Janowicz excessively playing drop shots before!"

HM Murdoch wrote:

hawkeye wrote:If he tried it against Federer I imagine he would just explain calmly afterwards at his packed press conference how he was surprised and wouldn't expect a player of Djokovic's standard to resort to such things.

Would Federer say that if Novak yelled "you f***ing stopped" at him?

  

I agree with Murdoch, there was no direct confrontation or fed going postal moment at an opponents box or rafa getting caught coaching moment. A player got upset by serving for the match and being upset at it. There was no intimidation of Istomin. She just made it up, there was no bogbrush/SoCal battle going on, is a player allowed to not like dropping serve when serving for the match?

Storm in a teacup. Why did you insist on trying to blow this sort of thing up, hawkeye? You try it virtually every other post you make, almost always to no avail. All four top players are a credit to the sport, let's not try and create gaping deficiencies where there are none.

Here's the "incident". Nothing to it.

HM Murdoch wrote:Here's the "incident". Nothing to it.

Is that Murray in the crowd giving the finger to Istomin? Hawkeye, what do you think?

Oh yeah it is Murray, he's the one in the white t-shirt with "f*** you Nadal & Federer" written on it!

Wonder what the back says...

Danny_1982 wrote:Oh yeah it is Murray, he's the one in the white t-shirt with "f*** you Nadal & Federer" written on it!

Wonder what the back says...

An arrow with the words "It hurts here"

hawkeye wrote:I thought Djokovic had good enough backhands and forehands and had no need of the sort of tactics that lower ranked players resort to. Yelling in the direction of a player ranked 49 is not something the likes of Federer or Nadal would ever lower themselves to do...

Did not see it myself so do not know what he did or did not do, but I am also not a huge fan of the kind of behavior you describe (not that it bothers me much either though).

That said, surely Rafa is worse than Nole when it comes to a bit of cheap bullying and mind games?

Have a look at HM's video above summerblues, and watch the horror unfold for yourself. If you can handle it that is. It's pretty rough.

Danny_1982 wrote:Have a look at HM's video above summerblues, and watch the horror unfold for yourself. If you can handle it that is. It's pretty rough.

I see.  Pretty rough stuff that.

kingraf wrote:I think if Nole trusts the processes, and keeps it there or thereabouts, he's generally going to take Nadal to troubled waters. It takes a lot out of him though, so I suppose physically he has to red line

I think this sums it up very well.