2019 AUSTRALIAN OPEN

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.

anisimova up a set on sabalenka

girl is playing amazing & sabalenka is shook/toast

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. Plísková
Osaka - Svitolina
Kvitová - Barty
Pavlyuchenkova - Collins

Djokovic - Nishikori
Raonic - Pouille
Bautista - Tsitsipas
Tiafoe - Nadal

Man, Raonic just stomped Zverev. Zverev looked good in his earlier matches but seemed wild and unfocused.

raonic has looked great from what ive seen, & thru a tuff path obv

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.

titsy dispatches rba, who i think the court time caught up to~

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

pliskova back from 1-5 down in the 3rd to dismiss serena wow

great match

yikes

Kei had to retire :'(
Pouille played a fantastic match against Raonic, his returns were often amazing.

SF:
Plísková - Osaka
Kvitová - Collins

Djokovic - Pouille
Tsitsipas - Nadal

Kei :-(

I see there was an injury with Serena 5-1 up, how serious was it? Just remarkable really

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.

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.

yep pliskova played great, & i was super impressed by luca pouille

kvitova was ruthless as hell in that tiebreak

adjectives commentators are wearing out to describe collins: feisty, animated, sassy

Nadal will be destroying all Fed's records this year...

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.

Nadal will be destroying all Fed's records this year...

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).

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

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.

yep well said
he easily couldve gone out like murray, i think some of it is luck in his knees letting him get back to this level

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. ;)

apparently he did and does (serving)

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.

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.

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.

lol

osaka pulling out of the choke with laudable fortitude

literally as soon as i type that the choke returns. ffs

oh no, saved it. phew

Osaka beating Kvitova on the longer rallies

just outlasting her, 3x for double break

awesome, all saved last one with an ace

that's a great challenge from Osaka 30-0

5-3, come on Petra hold - want to see Osaka serve this out

Petra gets that back for 15-15

Petra's 2nd serving has been good.

Osaka to serve it out

Ace!

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

terrific FH!

3 CPs!!

done!

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!

more untutored thoughts: can they give the women 5-set matches like yesterday ffs

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.

ok I better not formulate any tennis predictions again :P

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.