Australian Open 2020

First topic message reminder :

The main draw has been made. Djoko and Fed are in the same half, which means Rafa gets Medvedev in his half.

Djoko plays Struff first up, while Nadal has Dellien, Fed plays Johnson and Medvedev has a potentially tough opener against Tiafoe. Other first-rounders include Thiem v Mannarino, Zverev v Cecchinato and Tsitsipas v Caruso.

Evans has McKenzie MacDonald in the first round while Edmund takes on Lajovic.

In the women there's a repeat of the Wimbledon first round, with Coco Gauff again taking on Venus. Barty opens against Tsurenko while Osaka has Bouzkova. Konta gets Jabeur while Heather Watson has the lower-ranked Pliskova twin.

Djoko, to me, is clear favourite but the women, as ever of late, is really difficult to predict.

Caught up with highlights of both finals today.  The Kenin v Muguruza one was too patchy to be a classic (and what on earth was going on with Muguruza's serve at the end) but there were some quality rallies, especially in 1st two sets.  Was impressed with Kenin's positive attitude throughout the final - she was the more confident accomplished looking player - no sign of nerves.  Kenin has a good game for hardcourts - flat hitter, takes it early, good down the line backhand and has a good temperament.  She may not win another slam this year but ought to add to her slam tally if she remains injury-free.

I'm glad with how Thiem applied himself in the final, but I feel ultimately all that tennis he played caught up with him, and Djokovic, even when not at his best (compare and contrast with how he was against Nadal in the final last year), finds a way to win when a match goes the distance.  Really hope that Thiem can continue to perform at this level on the hardcourts as he had until recently been looking like he was going to remain a claycourt specialist.  Hopefully Thiem can win a slam - he's proven last couple of years he's a better claycourter than Djokovic (but still not quite good enough to beat Nadal), and showed he can now get the better of Nadal on hardcourts (but not quite enough to beat Djokovic over 5 sets).

An exciting tournament for Federer fans.  The thrills and spills in his matches and a run to the semi-final helped light up the tournament.  Truth be told though, if Federer had had a tougher draw he would have been unlikely to make the 2nd week.  I do feel that reaching the semis of a slam is the minimum that Federer probably feels he needs to justify the hard work in continuing to compete at this level at his age.  I predict he'll call it a day at end of this year after competing final time in Olympics.  If Nadal matches his slam tally though, maybe he carries on another couple of years with reduced schedule centred around Wimbledon, the one slam where he still does genuinely have a chance.

laverfan wrote:

sirfredperry wrote:Agree with Atila above that Novak will end up with the most GS. The Fed 310-total-weeks-at-the-top could be surpassed this year, too.

Do you recall socal1976 on these boards?

Wasn't he the one that was a tad, er......controversial?

Well, what to say about the 2020 AO? Most thought that Djoko would triumph again and he did, but only just, after a gallant effort from Thiem.

Tjiem and Zverev got further than some had predicted while Medvedev and Shapovalov were among those who could have been expected to go further.

Most of the drama was supplied by Federer who somehow made the semis.

The women's tournament was predictable, in that it was, as has become customary of late, totally unpredictable. There are now, and it's easy to lose count, 15 current players with a Slam.

I fancied Kenin might do well, but not win it. Gauff again showed that she has enormous potential but Serena, you feel, won't win another Slam.

Don't be surprised if we get four different winners of the Slams this year as we have for the last three years in the women's.

As for the men, you can certainly make a good case out for Djoko winning at least one more Slam this year as he closes in on Fed's most-weeks-at-the-top record.

Thiem needs an easier GS final! But you feel he will win one eventually.

He needs an opponent who doesn't play act when things aren't going his way, how anyone can respect Djokovic when he goes about things so petulantly?

Give it a rest with the Djokovic digs. Just accept he is one of the greatest players of all time. Federer took breaks against both Sandgren and Djokovic but no complaints there.

The reality is Djokovic has won 17 slams and look at the opponents he has come through vs Federer.

I just love how Novak keeps winning and silencing all his critics.

slashermcguirk wrote:Give it a rest with the Djokovic digs. Just accept he is one of the greatest players of all time. Federer took breaks against both Sandgren and Djokovic but no complaints there.

The reality is Djokovic has won 17 slams and look at the opponents he has come through vs Federer.

I just love how Novak keeps winning and silencing all his critics.

I'll call out cheating as much as I like cheers.

slashermcguirk wrote:Federer took breaks against both Sandgren and Djokovic but no complaints there.

Justifying individual behavior using such techniques is not good. You will get into a fan-fight (it almost is one!).

slashermcguirk wrote:The reality is Djokovic has won 17 slams and look at the opponents he has come through vs Federer.

... and he can win more. 11, 14, 20, 25,... (Fan-fight...). Enjoy your favorite players' success.

Soul Requiem wrote:I'll call out cheating as much as I like cheers.

Djokovic lost two sets, when he was given two time violations. There are officials implementing rules who have been given the authority to do so.

sirfredperry wrote:

laverfan wrote:

sirfredperry wrote:Agree with Atila above that Novak will end up with the most GS. The Fed 310-total-weeks-at-the-top could be surpassed this year, too.

Do you recall socal1976 on these boards?

Wasn't he the one that was a tad, er......controversial?

Certainly!

For the last time djokovic wasn’t cheating, lots of players do it because the rules allow it. Should the players do it, probably not but it’s within the rules and therefore not cheating. There is probably not a single player on the ATP tour that has not taken a break between sets. Get over it

laverfan wrote:

slashermcguirk wrote:Federer took breaks against both Sandgren and Djokovic but no complaints there.

Justifying individual behavior using such techniques is not good. You will get into a fan-fight (it almost is one!).

Fan fights generate a lot of hot air just like the jet-setting ATP & WTA tours.

Tennis fans are among the most naive there is, either Djokovic wasn't ill or injured and manipulated the system to suit himself or made the most miraculous recovery known to man and not for the first time either.

Djoko has apologised for his outburst at the umpire, during which he put his hand on the ump's shoes.

It's always astonishing that abuse of an umpire that would get you sent off in football is tolerated in tennis. Djoko is an experienced old hand and, really, his behaviour was poor.

@SFP: How did you get on in the Tennis Dream Team contest for the Australian Open?  After my sensational start (2nd place at one point in the first couple of days!) I couldn't quite sustain the momentum, but ended up with my best ever finish, 50th.  I had Kenin in my team which made all the difference, and compensated for flops like Konta, Tsitsipas and Dimitrov (the first rule of these type of contests should be 'never pick Dimitrov!').

Summing up on the tournament the highlights for me were:

* Federer's houdini act against Millman and Sandgren *
* Gauff beating Venus and Osaka - worth noting she lost to eventual champion Kenin *
* Djokovic's resilience - was it a vintage tournament for him, no, but the mark of a great champion is digging deep and finding a way to win even when up against it *
* Thiem proving finally he's not just a claycourt specialist in the slams *
* Some v entertaining 5 setters - most notably Wawrinka v Medvedev *
* Kenin's assured confident performance throughout, and especially in final *
* Kyrgios playing with focus and sense of purpose - hope its not just a one-off *

MrI
My men's Dream Team was a disaster, with one of my guys not even making it on court for the first round. Consequently finished only a couple of places off the bottom in the men's leaderboard.

Women went much better and finished 39th, thanks mainly to Kenin and Barty. Overall finished joint 251th.

Not sure I'm that enamoured about the scoring for the dream team competition. They should award far more points for a straight-sets win to counter big accumulations by guys churning out five-setters with lots of tiebreaks.

Still, it adds to the enjoyment of a tournament and I'm looking forward to the rest of the year's slams which I can confidently predict will be won by Rafa (the French), Djoko (Wimbledon) and Djoko (USO).