Tennis

[Miner Willy]

7 minutes ago, Minion said:

 

Is that right? According to The Guardian they are doing this:

 

 

Yeah, sorry. That's what I was referring to. I didn't realise they did that - assumed a lucky loser just got moved to his slot. 

[Minion]

I don't think Nadal will be challenging for the title, he might go deep but if Djokovic is absent I think the most likely contenders are Medvedev and Zverev based on last seasons performance (a safe and boring bet I know), but you never know the form after the off season. I don't think Nadal is ready though, he lost to Andy in a warm up tourny and I think he will be focussing on maintaining ranking points for RG which will be his main goal as it always is.

[Miner Willy]

6 minutes ago, Minion said:

I don't think Nadal will be challenging for the title, he might go deep but if Djokovic is absent I think the most likely contenders are Medvedev and Zverev based on last seasons performance (a safe and boring bet I know), but you never know the form after the off season. I don't think Nadal is ready though, he lost to Andy in a warm up tourny and I think he will be focussing on maintaining ranking points for RG which will be his main goal as it always is.

 

Yeah, agree. I don't really think Nadal can win it. But I'd like him to have a run. I think Zverev and Medvedev are the clear standouts, but it's certainly a tournament with potential for a breakout from someone like Tsitsipas, Rublev or Berretini.

[Miner Willy]

So he's still there until Sunday it looks like? Unless he gives up and heads home in the meantime.

 

No matter what I read, I still can't say I'm entirely sure he won't play. He's become a fucking movie supervillain.

[hmm]

Not that I have any sympathy for him or think he should be in the country, but kicking him out after he's been wandering around freely and unmasked for a week maybe slightly undermines the public health justification. It's genuinely hard to imagine how the various Australian authorities involved could have done a much worse job of handling this.

[Miner Willy]

Yeah I agree with that. And certainly the anti vaxxers I anonymously watch on Facebook have taken all this as validation on multiple levels.

[Minion]

I reckon Djokovic might get away with this, the arguments put forth by the Immigration Minister seem to be very open to challenge. Popcorn at the ready.

[ilpostino]

Hooray, it's been rejected!

[Smoothy]

Thank God common sense has prevailed.

[Minion]

Lol that's incredible but one has to wonder how and why he was given a visa in the first place. But yes glad common sense prevailed.

[hmm]

He absolute got what he deserves but I would disagree that much common sense has been involved in any of this.

[Minion]

9 minutes ago, hmm said:

He absolute got what he deserves but I would disagree that much common sense has been involved in any of this.

 

Yeah I see what you mean, the Australian government handled this terribly I agree. 

[merman]

2 hours ago, Minion said:

Lol that's incredible but one has to wonder how and why he was given a visa in the first place. But yes glad common sense prevailed.

 

Two health panels independent of the Government granted him the exemption, one commissioned by Tennis Australia and the other by the state of Victoria. Federal rules and the Immigration Minister overrule them.

[Smoothy]

It's like the US - they may grant you a visa beforehand but they reserve the right to refuse you anyway at the border for whatever reason - the visa is not an automatic pass.

[merman]

Disappointing for Norrie, even with his preparation disrupted by COVID.

[Smoothy]

Now his French Open participation is in doubt.

If only there was an easy way of solving this...

 

🤔

[Miner Willy]

So pleased to see Murray win that. To be honest I didn't think he was going to. Hope he's got enough in the tank for a few more rounds. 

[hmm]

He's looking great at the moment, but he is going to stymie his own run again if he's still grinding out 5 setters every time. Of course, it's not that Basilashvili is anything like an easy match, and going in on a wildcard, rather than a ranking that represents his level, is always going to make life tougher.

 

Hope that Raducanu makes a solid start later and gives herself something to work from. Being billed as the headline match for her opener - again - is certainly not going to help with the pressure and I fear that it's going to be tough to recover from another slow start. I feel like a win could set her on the way to a solid run but it's very difficult when she has just played so few competitive matches since the US Open, and even those she has managed haven't gone well. Fingers crossed anyway.

[Miner Willy]

I dunno, I think winning matches like this is why he's here. The days where he can roll past guys ranked 30 in the world, and think about conserving energy while doing so, are in the past. It feels like the game has moved on a bit and Murray just doesn't have the natural power to take those guys on without doing an awful lot of running. It makes what he's doing even more impressive really, but it will be very interesting to see if he can keep it much shorter against a lower ranked player next round.

 

I think there's very little chance Raducanu beats Stephens, but then I do have a soft spot for Stephens, who is maybe my favourite player on the women's side. She's such a nice player: I saw her at Wimbledon three or four years ago and just loved her technique, variety and the way she constructs points. 

[Miner Willy]

Heh, five minutes in and it's already looking like I called this one badly wrong. Raducanu straight back in her US Open returning mode, while Stephens can hardly get a ball in court.

[hmm]

She can only be bothered to turn up to the majors!

[Miner Willy]

Fucking hell. 17 minutes. Stephens admittedly playing very poorly, but Raducanu is back to being unplayably amazing in a slam.

 

Love that she gave it a big "come on" after the first point, in which she only hit a serve and forehand. Statement of intent.

[John0]

Raducanu digging deep. This is a heck of a match now!

[Miner Willy]

It's certainly very entertaining, but the quality is all over the place from both of them. Would be a very good one for Raducanu to find a way through though. 

[John0]

Woohoo! C'mon Emma!

 

As someone who is very much a fairweather tennis watcher, what's the deal with Raducanu? I watched the US Open final, but as far as I understand things haven't been so good since then? Is jury still out a bit on whether that was a one-off? Or has she just been keeping her schedule light?

[Miner Willy]

Well, there won't be many stranger matches than that at this tournament. Raducanu was inconsistent, but Stephens was just really disappointing. My god her volleys were so bad!

 

Still impressive that Raducanu can play worse than in any match at the US, and still get through one of the toughest first rounders (on paper, anyway) for any seed here.

[Eighthours]

Well done, Emma! Hopefully on the comeback trail after some disappointing results since the US Open. She's so young, it's not surprising it was a bit overwhelming for her afterwards, but she certainly looks back in the zone based on today's result. Any player who really turns up for the Slams is a winner.

[milko]

9 hours ago, John0 said:

As someone who is very much a fairweather tennis watcher, what's the deal with Raducanu? I watched the US Open final, but as far as I understand things haven't been so good since then? Is jury still out a bit on whether that was a one-off? Or has she just been keeping her schedule light?

It’s way too early to know how far she can go, right? Today was the first time she’s played a three set match on the WTA tour or something crazy like that - she didn’t lose a set in the entire US Open + qualifying, and in the very few matches she’s played since, she’s been beaten in two. Stephens sounds like she didn’t get great prep for this tournament either, but that’s still a pretty big scalp in the first round of a grand slam. 

[Miner Willy]

Really liking the look of Alcaraz - of all the very young guys he looks the most complete and closest to a big breakthrough. Berrettini in round 3 should be a cracker.

[hmm]

Medvedev - Kyrgios could be fun too.

 

Great to see Osaka back in form and looking confident. Wouldn't be surprised to see her lifting the trophy again.