rog still not looking sharp, just broken serving for set 2
― johnny crunch, Wednesday, 16 January 2019 05:29 (five years ago) link
Fabbiano prevails in 5th set t/b over Opelka despite being out-aced...67-2. (First set breaker also went to 32pts).
― Michael Jones, Wednesday, 16 January 2019 09:50 (five years ago) link
Also a little painful to see Harriet Dart get double-bagelled by her idol Sharapova. One of those matches where the loser still won 30-ish points, so most games were tight. Remember seeing Dart lose 11-13 in the third in the last round of Wimb qualifying at Roehampton a couple of years back.
Still, the Brit gals got to christen the AO champions' tie-break - both Konta and Boulter had to go the distance in R1 (think they beat Chardy-Humbert to it on Monday).
― Michael Jones, Wednesday, 16 January 2019 10:10 (five years ago) link
yep i think boulters rd 1 match was the first ~ i was watching, bolter mini-celebrated getting to 7 pts & later said she forgot it was to 10
― johnny crunch, Wednesday, 16 January 2019 15:04 (five years ago) link
Ha! I don't think we've seen a would've-won-at-7 turned into a defeat-at-10 yet. Was quite excited for De Minaur-Nadal but the four-hour struggle vs the qualifier today doesn't bode well for the youngster.
― Michael Jones, Wednesday, 16 January 2019 15:47 (five years ago) link
dr ivo abt to go 5 w kei~
― johnny crunch, Thursday, 17 January 2019 03:02 (five years ago) link
kei survives! 10-7 in a tiebreak
― johnny crunch, Thursday, 17 January 2019 04:05 (five years ago) link
stan/milos is a battle damn
― johnny crunch, Thursday, 17 January 2019 06:21 (five years ago) link
milos has served incredibly & otherwise played well/smart too
― johnny crunch, Thursday, 17 January 2019 06:22 (five years ago) link
I guess we need Shapovalov, Fritz (or likelier Tsitsipas in the next round) and De Minaur to step up now and give us our first Big Three-free Slam second week in 15+ years.
― Michael Jones, Thursday, 17 January 2019 13:58 (five years ago) link
anisimova up a set on sabalenka
― johnny crunch, Friday, 18 January 2019 04:03 (five years ago) link
girl is playing amazing & sabalenka is shook/toast
― johnny crunch, Friday, 18 January 2019 04:33 (five years ago) link
Haven't seen much, unfortunately. Love Svitolina's playing. Collins kicking Kerber 62 60 was also pretty impressive. Nishikori's fighting his way through, all but one match in five sets. Tsitsipas - Federer was an awesome match, the Greek nullifying all of Fed's breakpoints.Tsitsipas! Such a great match
Quarter finals:
S. Williams - K. PlískováOsaka - SvitolinaKvitová - BartyPavlyuchenkova - Collins
Djokovic - NishikoriRaonic - PouilleBautista - TsitsipasTiafoe - Nadal
― willem, Monday, 21 January 2019 14:05 (five years ago) link
Man, Raonic just stomped Zverev. Zverev looked good in his earlier matches but seemed wild and unfocused.
― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Monday, 21 January 2019 19:48 (five years ago) link
raonic has looked great from what ive seen, & thru a tuff path obv
― johnny crunch, Monday, 21 January 2019 20:56 (five years ago) link
Novak having mid-match wobbles but they only seem to focus him. Unfortunate that Kei will have so much tennis in his legs in their QF. If we are to have an intermediate Slam winner before we jump straight from GsOAT wins to NextGen wins, would love it to be Kei. Haven’t yet see the incident at 5-8 in the breaker that turned the match against Carreño Busta. Zverev is such a flake; getting to the point where you can no longer say “ah but Fed at that age...” Rooting for Tiafoe overnight.
― Michael Jones, Monday, 21 January 2019 22:07 (five years ago) link
titsy dispatches rba, who i think the court time caught up to~
― johnny crunch, Tuesday, 22 January 2019 05:37 (five years ago) link
Haven’t yet see the incident at 5-8 in the breaker that turned the match against Carreño Busta.
yea imo he had cause to be pissed off
― johnny crunch, Tuesday, 22 January 2019 05:41 (five years ago) link
pliskova back from 1-5 down in the 3rd to dismiss serena wow
― johnny crunch, Wednesday, 23 January 2019 04:20 (five years ago) link
great match
yikes
― mookieproof, Wednesday, 23 January 2019 08:20 (five years ago) link
Kei had to retire :'(Pouille played a fantastic match against Raonic, his returns were often amazing.
SF:Plísková - OsakaKvitová - Collins
Djokovic - PouilleTsitsipas - Nadal
― willem, Wednesday, 23 January 2019 09:59 (five years ago) link
Kei :-(
I see there was an injury with Serena 5-1 up, how serious was it? Just remarkable really
― xyzzzz__, Wednesday, 23 January 2019 12:16 (five years ago) link
SW rolled her ankle on a foot fault at 5-1 40/30 (the serve was a clean ace, if she hadn't foot-faulted). Her movement was a little inhibited thereafter but she was still very much functioning. Pliskova just played the MPs outstandingly well.
― Michael Jones, Wednesday, 23 January 2019 14:10 (five years ago) link
it didn't seem like much, but it really seemed to rattle serena. but props to pliskova, who just kept hammering away and making the shots. solid stuff.
― andrew m., Wednesday, 23 January 2019 15:05 (five years ago) link
yep pliskova played great, & i was super impressed by luca pouille
― johnny crunch, Wednesday, 23 January 2019 15:55 (five years ago) link
kvitova was ruthless as hell in that tiebreak
― johnny crunch, Thursday, 24 January 2019 04:16 (five years ago) link
adjectives commentators are wearing out to describe collins: feisty, animated, sassy
― johnny crunch, Thursday, 24 January 2019 04:18 (five years ago) link
Nadal will be destroying all Fed's records this year...
― Ludo, Thursday, 24 January 2019 11:09 (five years ago) link
He might have to get past Djokovic first (should he get through).
Excited for the Kvitova - Osaka final. Really happy for both of them. Kvitova's career could have been long over and for Osaka its just great she picked up from where she left off after her win at the US in uniquely weird circumstances.
― xyzzzz__, Thursday, 24 January 2019 13:27 (five years ago) link
Hmm, he is three Slams, 19 career titles and 114 weeks as #1 behind, y'know? He may take the lot eventually but only the Slam total is under threat in 2019 (and he's not going to do a Laver, I wouldn't have thought). The injuries are getting more frequent too.
But still, he has been pretty amazing for the last year, when fit. Only two defeats (and two retirements).
― Michael Jones, Thursday, 24 January 2019 14:12 (five years ago) link
rafa is obv in amazing form, tho prob wont beat novak in the final ~ wrt records, this yr he'll likely further distance himself from every one whose ever lived on clay & thats all
― johnny crunch, Thursday, 24 January 2019 14:30 (five years ago) link
Thinking back to 2015-16 - Nadal lost 34 matches across those two years, to people like Cuevas on clay, first week exits at Slams, only five titles (one Masters). There was no suggestion that he would not only come back to form/peak health, but he'd been routinely battering the very best of the NextGen. Obv, Thiem has pushed him hard over the last couple of years, and Khachanov took him to the limit in NY, and Zverev should've beaten him in Rome, but generally he grinds the kids into the ground. Honestly thought he was in inevitable decline and would barely be top 10, or still playing, by now. Fed was a diff story - change-up in his style w/Edberg bought him a few more years after the 2013 slump and he was playing great before his injury in 2016.
― Michael Jones, Thursday, 24 January 2019 15:29 (five years ago) link
yep well saidhe easily couldve gone out like murray, i think some of it is luck in his knees letting him get back to this level
― johnny crunch, Thursday, 24 January 2019 17:14 (five years ago) link
Also: folks are talking about Nadal's new service action? I need to watch some highlights to see this, I've not seen any live Nadal since the Thiem USO QF last Sept. If he's suddenly, at 32, built himself a first serve that gets him free points then holy moly. Maybe he's been watching those tutorials that play on YT before I get to watch Vilas-Wilander '82 or whatever. ;)
― Michael Jones, Thursday, 24 January 2019 17:54 (five years ago) link
apparently he did and does (serving)
this is true, i am not a tennis crack :P
but if he beats Djoko in the final, i think he'll pull that 19 this year.
― Ludo, Thursday, 24 January 2019 18:00 (five years ago) link
I hadn't heard about this change in Nadal's serve but as long as the final is broadcast on Eurosport I should be able to watch it.
So Djokovic was pretty much ruthless in the SF. He has never lost an AUS open final which is quite amazing. Its been depressing how these kids haven't come through to a slam win but I am sure I'll forget about it if its another classic on Sunday.
― xyzzzz__, Friday, 25 January 2019 17:11 (five years ago) link
lol
― imago, Saturday, 26 January 2019 10:34 (five years ago) link
osaka pulling out of the choke with laudable fortitude
― imago, Saturday, 26 January 2019 10:51 (five years ago) link
literally as soon as i type that the choke returns. ffs
― imago, Saturday, 26 January 2019 10:58 (five years ago) link
oh no, saved it. phew
― imago, Saturday, 26 January 2019 10:59 (five years ago) link
Osaka beating Kvitova on the longer rallies
― xyzzzz__, Saturday, 26 January 2019 10:59 (five years ago) link
just outlasting her, 3x for double break
― xyzzzz__, Saturday, 26 January 2019 11:00 (five years ago) link
awesome, all saved last one with an ace
― xyzzzz__, Saturday, 26 January 2019 11:01 (five years ago) link
that's a great challenge from Osaka 30-0
― xyzzzz__, Saturday, 26 January 2019 11:05 (five years ago) link
5-3, come on Petra hold - want to see Osaka serve this out
― xyzzzz__, Saturday, 26 January 2019 11:06 (five years ago) link
Petra gets that back for 15-15
― xyzzzz__, Saturday, 26 January 2019 11:08 (five years ago) link
Petra's 2nd serving has been good.
― xyzzzz__, Saturday, 26 January 2019 11:09 (five years ago) link
Osaka to serve it out
Ace!
― xyzzzz__, Saturday, 26 January 2019 11:11 (five years ago) link
from my untutored perspective, osaka seems a much better and more versatile player, but with a tendency to make unforced errors. definitely would be a shame if she lost this
― imago, Saturday, 26 January 2019 11:12 (five years ago) link
terrific FH!
― xyzzzz__, Saturday, 26 January 2019 11:12 (five years ago) link
3 CPs!!
done!
― xyzzzz__, Saturday, 26 January 2019 11:13 (five years ago) link
Poor Petra, wanted her a bit more but its been such a comeback from the double Wimbeldon Champion. But Osaka can properly enjoy after the mad vibes around that US Open win!
― xyzzzz__, Saturday, 26 January 2019 11:15 (five years ago) link
more untutored thoughts: can they give the women 5-set matches like yesterday ffs
― imago, Saturday, 26 January 2019 11:23 (five years ago) link
they all want it iirc
Really enjoyed that final. I like both of them, but I was happy for Osaka because it’s great for her to get a do over at winning a final without all the weirdness of the U.S. Open. She is still kind of raw, but that’s in her favor – there are a lot of ways she can get better. Also nice to see a young player win back to back grand slams, maybe a sign of some actual generational turnover.
― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Saturday, 26 January 2019 18:03 (five years ago) link
ok I better not formulate any tennis predictions again :P
― Ludo, Sunday, 27 January 2019 10:09 (five years ago) link
Saw a bit of the 1st set before I went out and yeah basically there is no zip from Nadal's racket on this surface. On reflection, its incredible what he has done on surfaces other than clay.
And men's tennis is boring these days - we need these kids to come through.
― xyzzzz__, Sunday, 27 January 2019 11:42 (five years ago) link