General Tennis Discussion Thread

[Troy]

Djokovic better take this. Sick of the Federer fan brigade thinking that the only real name in Tennis is Federer. Crowd last night was awful.

People respect Novak but Federer is the GOAT, it is very rare for people to get to watch the greatest ever perform and we are lucky that he has come along during our generation. The amazing thing with Federer is how everyone wrote him off a few years back yet he has come back, won Grand Slams and took back the number one ranking.

 

[Troy]

Big news with Nadal withdrawing from the Australian Open due to illness. He will drop out of the top four because of this as he won't be able to defend his runner-up points from last year. Opens up one side of the draw a bit with him not being there.

Sam Stosur has started the season terribly again after losing in the first round of the Brisbane International. So frustrating.

 

[Andrew]

Sucks Nadal is out. Hoping Djokovic takes the Aus Open. Am going on 3rd night. I will be sitting near players entrance

 

[Troy]

I am hoping that maybe Murray can get a win here after his breakthrough win at the US Open. I hope that Tomic and Stosur can get their heads together and make it into the second week.

 

[Prodigy]

Wow been a great couple of weeks with Tennis season down under/in the middle east. Murray retained the Brisbane title, whilst Gasquet prevailed against an inspired Davydenko in Doha! In the women's side of things Serena is still dominant winning WTA Brisbane, but I'd watch out for A Radwanksa as she's doing great as well, winning the ASB Classic and reaching the final of Sydney.

 

[Troy]

Been great with so many tournaments on at once. Hewitt has somehow made the final at the Kooyong Classic and will face Istomin, will be a good tune up for him but I still don't hold out much hope for the actual Open. Tomic has been in top form through the Hopman Cup and now at the APIA International where he is into the final. What I have liked so far this summer from him is he doesn't give up, even if he is a set down he fights back. He faces Kevin Anderson in the final tomorrow night and I hope he can win his maiden ATP title.

 

[Aniking]

Been great with so many tournaments on at once. Hewitt has somehow made the final at the Kooyong Classic and will face Istomin, will be a good tune up for him but I still don't hold out much hope for the actual Open. Tomic has been in top form through the Hopman Cup and now at the APIA International where he is into the final. What I have liked so far this summer from him is he doesn't give up, even if he is a set down he fights back. He faces Kevin Anderson in the final tomorrow night and I hope he can win his maiden ATP title.

Hewitt actually has to face Del Potro, although I wish it was Istomin. Theoretically he'd be an easier match, but still Hewitt's done well to get to the Final. After all he is the lowest seed of the 8 and beat the top seed, Berdych, 6-3 6-2. It's encouraging and I'd give him a chance considering he won the tournament in 2011, followed by Tomic in 2012. Let's hope it's a hat-trick!

As for Tomic, he's undefeated so far across the Hopman Cup and now the Sydney International, and he's beaten some names too. Tommy Haas, Novak Djokovic, Florian Mayer, Jarkko Nieminen (who won it last year) and Andres Seppi twice. He's in good form, but unfortunately for him his Australian Open could be done in the 3rd Round. If he beats Leonardo Mayer, then Martin Klizan (#27)/a Qualifier, he'll probably be faced with Roger Federer. Only Nikolay Davydenko is any chance of preventing that from happening, and even if he does Davydenko's no slouch either. It's likely Federer will knock Tomic out for a second consecutive year, this time a round earlier, but if he pulls off the biggest win of his career to date then he'd likely land Milos Raonic (#13) or Philipp Kohlschreiber (#17) in the 4th Round.

Hewitt's got Janko Tipsarevic (#8) first, but that's his toughest challenge for the first 4 rounds. If he gets through him, the next seed he could face is Julien Benneteau (#32) in the 3rd Round, which could leave him facing Nicolas Almagro (#10) or Jerzy Janowicz (#24) in the 4th Round. To me, Hewitt's draw is the better one IF he gets through the 1st Round.

 

[Prodigy]

Janowicz and Almagro would be VERY tough for Hewitt but Rusty can still do well.

Holy shit any one see WTA Apia final then? 6-0 6-0 to Radwanska! I might bet on her to win the AO

 

[Troy]

I have no idea why I wrote Istomin, they weren't even playing in the same tournament! Hewitt managed to defeat Del Potro in straights sets to win the title, he also won the same title back in 2011. Good form leading into the Australian Open but his first round match is a tough match but as you pointed out Aniking if he can get through that he has a good run.

Tomic will hopefully be able to perform at home and at least get to the third round to face Federer. The APIA International final starts in about an hour, will be tuning in to see how he goes.

Radwanska winning to love each set I didnt expect to see, never expect to see that in the final of a tournament. She has a great run in the first week and with the form she is in she has to be one of the favourites.

 

[PHIL DUNPHY'S MOUSTACHE]

Radwanska will get demolished against the likes of Serena, Azarenka and Sharapova.

 

[Troy]

I am not sure how Sharapova will go this tournament because she is still coming back from injury. She hasn't played in any tournaments before the open so she won't have much game fitness. She actually played against a couple of Australian junior players today just to get some practice in. She has found great form over the past couple of years, just want to see how her recovery goes during this tournament.

 

[Aniking]

The Kooyong final was perfectly timed for me. Worked 10am to 2pm, it started at about 2:30, watched the match, went back to work at 6.

Hewitt played great today. He smashed Del Potro in the first set 6-1, then had it 4-1 in the 2nd set until he looked a little shaky. Pulled it off 6-4, but very encouraging signs leading into the Aussie Open. I've honestly never rated Tipsarevic and every time I watch him he's nothing impressive, yet he always seems to be in the Top 10 (or close to) and it puzzles me. If Hewitt plays like he did throughout Kooyong, he should surely get to the 4th Round.

Didn't get to watch Tomic's match but it was awesome to read he won. I can't believe he's 5 months younger than me...

 

[Troy]

Apparently Hewitt has won three of his last four matches against Tipsarevic so he does have good recent form against him even if Tips is top ten right now.

Tomic looked good out there tonight. Dominated the first set but started to get lazy in the second. For whatever reason he went on the defense rather than continuing to attack and it cost him the set. Thankfully he got back on track in the third and closed it out nicely. First 20 year old to win that title since Federer in 2002, hopefully it doesn't go to his head though. That is the battle with Tomic, his ego is quite large so he needs someone to keep him grounded.

 

[Aniking]

Yeah exactly. I'm sure he'll be made aware of that stat, so hopefully he doesn't start thinking he's destined to emulate Federer or something along the lines.

I read he said something like "It's been a while coming" regarding his win for his first real trophy. He's 20. Makes it sound like he's been on the Pro circuit for 6 or 7 years and has missed out on a trophy here and there and has finally won one.

 

[Prodigy]

Great confidence booster for Tomic. If he makes it to facing Federer and manages to beat him, he will certainly have a great 2013.

Never knew you liked Tennis btw Aniking, always good to have another fan on the Forum.