2011 Tennis Thread (Grand Slams, ATP World Tour, Davis Cup)

[lechepicha]

I will guess that Troicki wins in Sydney against Simon.

i thought that too, but...

Simon downs Troicki for title

http://www.iol.co.za/sport/tennis/simon-downs-troicki-for-title-1.1012315

It was his fifth victory in five matches against the Serbian. :eek:
(what would have happen if Simon plays the Davis Cup final rubber against Troicki?)

It was his 8th career title, 2nd in four months. Now he's confident to beat Lu in Oz 1st round, BUT beating Roger in 2nd round? well, that's kinda hard.

For Viktor, it was his 4th career final, 2nd in four months. He will face Tursunov in Oz (wins it with no problems), then Dabul in 2nd round (even easier) and then, the match of his life, against his buddy Novak Djokovic. He must defeat him to finally overcome mentally the fact that Nole is the main man in Serb (actually he was pretty close in US Open 2010, taking him to 5 sets)

 

[Lungzyn]

TV coverage starts in about 12.5 hours, so more 'expert' picks!
http://tennis.com/articles/templates/features.aspx?articleid=9757&zoneid=9
Fed gets love, Bodo is Bodo and picks Soderling.
Also he is the only one to pick Caro, while McGrogan picks Venus because not winning a slam outside of Wimbledon in a decade means she is 'due'. Ok...?
She has also never won the AO so I guess she is extra due.
Tsonga gets some dark horse votes. If he plays like he did in 2008 then it would be a good choice.

 

[lechepicha]

Bodo is Bodo and picks Soderling.
Also he is the only one to pick Caro

not THAT unbelievable, you know?

if you remember, my final is Roger vs Robin.

And my women SFs are: Wozzie-Sharapova and Kim-Vera, and the final is the dream one: Wozzie-Kim, and Kim kicks her ass... again.

Tsonga gets some dark horse votes. If he plays like he did in 2008 then it would be a good choice.

strongly disagree.

my dark horse is Nalbandian and Troicki.

we'll see

 

[Lungzyn]

Fed on court now
His road is easier now that Querrey is out already, lost to Kubot 5-7 6-2 6-3 1-6 8-6.
That is his 3rd consecutive first round exit at the AO. Whats up Samurai :dunno:

De Bakker blew his chance against Monfils losing 6-7 2-6 7-5 6-2 6-1. He is supposed to be the most talented Dutchman to come along in a while, I guess he needs more experience. At least the other good Dutch guy Haase made it through in straight sets.

Sharapova won easy enough in the end but she is still double faulting a lot. If her serve doesnt get fixed soon she is likely to lose to a top player.
Wozniacki wins too although she hardly hits any winners. At one point in the second set Dulko was up 18-6 in winners but she was losing 4-2.

 

[Lungzyn]

Big matchup Nalbandian/Hewitt coming up.
So...
Davydenko out in 4.
Gulbis out in 3.
Karlovic out in 5 so Djokovic doesnt have to worry.

Safina double bagled :o
Ivanovic out in 3 (10-8)

 

[Lungzyn]

Big matchup Nalbandian/Hewitt coming up.

Big, big matchup

4 hours,48 minutes. 193 points Hewitt, 193 points Nalbandian who wins 9-7 in the fifth set. :bowdown:
Dave saves two match points I think.

Now bedtime

 

[Bloodshot Scott]

Can't believe my boy Hewitt goes out in the 1st round of the most important tournament to him. Oh well, he can now bang his wife some more. But very disapointing.

Other than that, both Roddick and Isner cruise to straigt sets victories and both look to be in good form. We'll see.

 

[lechepicha]

more good news for Roger: Fish lost against Robredo

So, the two highest seeds of Fed's section are out. :nanner:

We'll see how he does tonight against his black beast (0-2), Gilles Simon. Roger in straights, IMHO.

 

[Bloodshot Scott]

more good news for Roger: Fish lost against Robredo

So, the two highest seeds of Fed's section are out. :nanner:

We'll see how he does tonight against his black beast (0-2), Gilles Simon. Roger in straights, IMHO.

I predict Feds will win this one, but then again, Rafa had an easy early exit when what's his name got injured.

 

[Bloodshot Scott]

That Williams/Zahlorova match was the loudest match I have ever heard, and that is saying something. My god, I thought both of them were being stabbed with a knife every damn swing they took.

The WTA needs to put a stop to those sort of blood-curdling grunts because that sort of gamesmanship is of really poor character. I had to turn it on mute they were so loud.

 

[Lungzyn]

^Venus will play Sharapova in the fourth round if they both win their next matches :uohs:

Feds match should be the highlight tonight. His path to finals is good for him - Malisse, Robredo/Stakhovsky, then likely Roddick, likely Djokovic. No one who he cant beat or hasnt beaten many times before. Djokovic is looking good so far, but I'm not sure if he can beat Federer in two consectutive slams.
Roddick has Haase next who is not bad at all, so he will have to be careful. Haase lost to Isner in Auckland, but he probably should have won. He got pissed at the line judges in that match(I remember you from yesterday!). Guy seems to have a temper but he can channel it and not lose concentration.

 

[Lungzyn]

Fed turns on best class, Simon played great after losing the first two sets though.
Another classic 5 set night match :bowdown:

'Le Mur' Simon :hammer:
Respect to him :hatsoff: :clap:

 

[Bloodshot Scott]

Fed turns on best class, Simon played great after losing the first two sets though.
Another classic 5 set night match :bowdown:

'Le Mur' Simon :hammer:
Respect to him :hatsoff: :clap:

Simon was just bananas. I seem to have forgoten how tallented he is, but he played wicked good. Feds had to sweat that one out.

 

[lechepicha]

Fed turns on best class, Simon played great after losing the first two sets though.
Another classic 5 set night match :bowdown:

'Le Mur' Simon :hammer:
Respect to him :hatsoff: :clap:

Simon was just bananas. I seem to have forgoten how tallented he is, but he played wicked good. Feds had to sweat that one out.

yeah. Simon is a hell of a player. Not everybody can be the no. 6 in the world and make a world tour finals and win 8 titles, and beat roger AND rafa... the guy is just unlucky with his knees. Otherwise, he will be a solid top 10, for sure.

and he seemed to remember that in this match. The level of play in the first two sets were just ridiculous. Both were playing extremelly fast and precise.

but like in his pre-Annacone era, the evil twin of Roger showed up for the 3rd and 4th set. but he dig deep, as the champion as he is, and escape of an embarrasing 2nd-set exit.

next, Malisse, should be a walk in the park (or at least, not as hard as Simon). Same with Stakovsky/Robredo. Then, in QF, against Roddick, well, we all know their head-to-head... and then, the SF, if Nole meet him there, IMO, there's a real danger for roger, since Nole is playing VERY good, and he will remember that he beat roger in this same stage 3 years ago.

but let's not get ahead of ourselves, and just let's enjoy the tournament, who has give us extraordinarie matches: Federer-Simon, the 5-setter of Monfils, the 5-setter of Fish, the 5-setter of Verdasco, and the best of them all: Nalbandian-Hewitt, a match that you can already booked for the top-10 of the 2011... :nanner:

 

[Bloodshot Scott]

yeah. Simon is a hell of a player. Not everybody can be the no. 6 in the world and make a world tour finals and win 8 titles, and beat roger AND rafa... the guy is just unlucky with his knees. Otherwise, he will be a solid top 10, for sure.

and he seemed to remember that in this match. The level of play in the first two sets were just ridiculous. Both were playing extremelly fast and precise.

but like in his pre-Annacone era, the evil twin of Roger showed up for the 3rd and 4th set. but he dig deep, as the champion as he is, and escape of an embarrasing 2nd-set exit.

next, Malisse, should be a walk in the park (or at least, not as hard as Simon). Same with Stakovsky/Robredo. Then, in QF, against Roddick, well, we all know their head-to-head... and then, the SF, if Nole meet him there, IMO, there's a real danger for roger, since Nole is playing VERY good, and he will remember that he beat roger in this same stage 3 years ago.

but let's not get ahead of ourselves, and just let's enjoy the tournament, who has give us extraordinarie matches: Federer-Simon, the 5-setter of Monfils, the 5-setter of Fish, the 5-setter of Verdasco, and the best of them all: Nalbandian-Hewitt, a match that you can already booked for the top-10 of the 2011... :nanner:

There have been some real great matches. Unfortunately for me I have to be up from 1 in the morning to about 7 to catch the Aussie, but I have been alright with TiVo as well.

 

[yes yes yes]

2011 is the year of Nadal. :yesyes: :yesyes: :yesyes: :thumbsup:

 

[Lungzyn]

Sweeting must have the worst serve of any tall pro player in the top 200.
6'5" and his average first serve speed was 95 mph. Nadals average second serve was 90
Nadal hasnt had to move out of second gear yet. Next matches should give him a bit more of a challenge.

Del Potro/Baghdatis sounds like the most interesting match tonight.

 

[lechepicha]

Djokovic, Wozniacki advance to fourth round in Oz

http://www.tennis.com/articles/templates/news.aspx?articleid=9966&zoneid=25

Also: Henin lost, Roddick won in 4, Almagro will meet Nole...

Roger's match is about to begin... BYE!

 

[Lungzyn]

Roger had a 0.0002% chance of losing that match, and played like he knew that in parts.
Robredo probably has a similar chance of winning, if not worse. 0-9 against Federer, winning two sets. Fed is the only one of the top 4 not to get a win by retirement yet btw.
--segue--
Crowd got short changed in the night session with Venus pulling out after one game. They must have known she was injured and tried to give her as much time as possible, but it ended up failing.
Stan/Monfils was obviously the better match with Swiss-2 looking good. He has a mean backhand. Might beat Roddick, who he is 2-1 against. Both his wins were first set retirements though and Andy is ahead on sets won.

 

[lechepicha]

Roger had a 0.0002% chance of losing that match, and played like he knew that in parts.
Robredo probably has a similar chance of winning, if not worse.

worst, IMO.

Malisse is more talented than Tommy, and quicker.

Robredo's game is the one that Roger loves the most: baseliner, slow, not quick serve. That's why Ferrer haven't be able to beat Roger.

Straight sets, FOR SURE.

Stan/Monfils was obviously the better match with Swiss-2 looking good. He has a mean backhand. Might beat Roddick, who he is 2-1 against.

Like i said before, Stan will beat Roddick. Is playing better, not as shaking as Andy (Haase lose the match, instead of A-Rod win it)
Besides, Stan is coming from a title this month, and his first ever major QF in NY. And from getting Monfils in straight. High hopes for him.

And all-swiss QF!

On the other quarter of the draw, the best possible outcome for Roger is Almagro-Verdasco, since Nole or Berdych are trouble for Roger...

but the most likely results are that both spaniards lose... but no matter, VAMOS ESPAÑA!!!!! :thumbsup: