2017 Australian Open Day 10: Wednesday, Jan 25 - Order of Play

[mrzz]

When you see these things you are simply sure nobody out of the big 4 + Wawrinka will ever win a slam till the end of times.

 

[the AntiPusher]

can't wait to see if Lord Carlos's better than Krajicek.... maybe Manacor's bull can blast big Milos ? any opinions or predictions about this match ? the Spaniard's favourite for me

It's funny most of the so called tennis experts are picking a Milos by a slight favorite on paper..however this tennis board is smarter..Rafa could win this in straight or 4 sets if the combination of both happens: Milos has an off day serving and Rafa stands closer to the baseline line instead of returning from almost ten feet behind at the Melbourne sign..However there's hope. If you noticed later during the later stages of Rafa vs Monfils , when Gael continued to serve 135-139 bombs and playing first strike tennis, Rafa made a huge adjustment because he saw the Ghost of Rafa's grand slams recent past. Rafa began to crank his backhand return of serves. Also, during the rallies he drop some balls short, to draw Gael into the net.. All this will work vs Milos.. Rafa serving is key, 65-70 first serve percentage will help Rafa's cause. A course the dtl fh is Rafa's bread and butter but during the early Rafa's matches, some of the analysts feel what I have been saying for years..Rafa other most prominent weapon is his CC bh..this will pull Milos off the court and force Milos to began to go for broke. Moya will address all of this because he is Rafa's technical coach/mentor/friend and he is getting paid too.

Carol and PM..I think I was spot on with my prematch analysis prediction :clap

 

[lob]

Wimbledon 2016 SF was a Roger choke. Rafa put Milos in his place. To me, and I may be wrong, Milos' tennis IQ is lowish.

Sent from my 6045O using Tapatalk

 

[Puppet Master]

Alright, quick question for everyone:
Which hype train will you join?
Will it be:
1) Bel18ve
2) Bel15ve
3) B4lieve
4) Bel1eve
:laydownlaughing

 

[mightyjeditribble]

Impressive play by Nadal against Raonic. Haven't seen him play this well for a long time (he slowed down a little in the second stage of the second set, and could have lost it - Raonic had about 5 set points I think - but in the end did what he does, or used to do, best and won in straight sets).

If he can keep up this level, I don't see Dimitrov being able to put up much resistence. He may have won their most recent meeting, but a) that's his only win, and b) it was 2016 Beijing, which doesn't really count.

Given that the match was in straight sets, and dominated (from bits that I've seen) by fairly short points, it's pretty astonishing that it lasted 2h 44min though ...

 

[mightyjeditribble]

Wimbledon 2016 SF was a Roger choke. Rafa put Milos in his place. To me, and I may be wrong, Milos' tennis IQ is lowish.

Sent from my 6045O using Tapatalk

I was on Court 1 for the doubles so didn't get to see Fed v Raonic. However, I thought he re-injured his knee in the fifth set, so calling it a choke may be a little unfair?

 

[atttomole]

Alright, quick question for everyone:
Which hype train will you join?
Will it be:
1) Bel18ve
2) Bel15ve
3) B4lieve
4) Bel1eve
:laydownlaughing

Bel15ve.

 

[Carol]

Well, it seems when Rafa plays well makes his opponent to suffer a lot, in this case was Raonic under the impecable backhand of Rafa going straight to his his feet several times it made him to feel a low back pain or maybe he needed to take a break trying to break too the rhythm of his opponent?. What ever was that Rafa is bringing back his confidence because he clearly has not forgot to play

 

[mightyjeditribble]

Well, it seems when Rafa plays well makes his opponent to suffer a lot, in this case was Raonic under the impecable backhand to his his feet that makes him to feel a low back pain or maybe he needed to take a break trying to break too the rithm of his opponent?. What ever was that Rafa is bringing back his confidence because he clearly has not forgot to play

According to Raonic, it is an adductor injury

http://www.ausopen.com/en_AU/news/interviews/2017-01-25/milos_raonic_250117.html

I don't think it is right to insinuate gamesmanship. I know he seemed to be moving fine afterwards, but a) I don't think there is any history of Raonic that suggests him playing games, and b) there is a history of adductor injuries, and you can't really blame him for wanting to be safe and have it looked at.

Anyway, always good to see one of Rafa's amazing comebacks. In the last couple of years, I had genuinely started to think that the strain on his body might have caught up with him. But he seems fit and healthy, and hungry for wins after his absence. The addition of Moya to his team may also have done him good.

 

[mightyjeditribble]

Alright, quick question for everyone:
Which hype train will you join?
Will it be:
1) Bel18ve
2) Bel15ve
3) B4lieve
4) Bel1eve
:laydownlaughing

Heh.

I'm going to jump onboard the Bel18ve train, but my brain says Bel15ve is more likely ... Rafa's game is Fed's kryptonite. Of course, we shouldn't count out Stanimal, who can beat anyone when his game is on.

(Feel free to count out Dimitrov :laydownlaughing ...)

 

[Shivashish Sarkar]

So Nadal has made it to his first hard court slam semi-final since Australian Open 2014. So, he is back to being a contender for hard courts slams. A top player on this court. Impressive from Rafa. He is playing some fantastic tennis.

Raonic, well, he doesn't have anything tangible apart from his serve. I think it's his tower-like stature which is the problem. How can he possibly be agile or reflexive? I really think he might not win a slam. He needs to drastically improve his rally-play. When put under pressure in a rally he can play no more than 6 or 7 shots and he doesn't have the shots to win rallies before reaching his limit. This is where he is stuck. He will continue to make QF or SF runs but I can't see him causing any major upset unless a big 4 guy has a real bad day. Alas!

Federer facing Nadal on Sunday will give us a rematch of Aus Open 2009 final. How amazing is this possibility now after what we saw happen in the last 6 months? Unbelievable stuff.

 

[Puppet Master]

Alright, quick question for everyone:
Which hype train will you join?
Will it be:
1) Bel18ve
2) Bel15ve
3) B4lieve
4) Bel1eve
:laydownlaughing

Heh.

I'm going to jump onboard the Bel18ve train, but my brain says Bel15ve is more likely ... Rafa's game is Fed's kryptonite. Of course, we shouldn't count out Stanimal, who can beat anyone when his game is on.

(Feel free to count out Dimitrov :laydownlaughing ...)

Personally, I would have nothing against Stan or Dimitrov winning the whole thing, I love them both as players, but not at the expense of Nadal/Fed, no way.

 

[crystalfire]

im gonna get my tissues ready for sunday rip #18

 

[atttomole]

Alright, quick question for everyone:
Which hype train will you join?
Will it be:
1) Bel18ve
2) Bel15ve
3) B4lieve
4) Bel1eve
:laydownlaughing

Heh.

I'm going to jump onboard the Bel18ve train, but my brain says Bel15ve is more likely ... Rafa's game is Fed's kryptonite. Of course, we shouldn't count out Stanimal, who can beat anyone when his game is on.

(Feel free to count out Dimitrov :laydownlaughing ...)

Personally, I would have nothing against Stan or Dimitrov winning the whole thing, I love them both as players, but not at the expense of Nadal/Fed, no way.

So you are a Nadal-Federer fan? You are lucky because either way, you will be celebrating on Sunday.

 

[Frode789]

In case we get another Fedal final, here are some Fedal stats so far for AO 2017:

Rafael Nadal -- Roger Federer
174 TOTAL GAMES 175
175 WINNERS 282
146 UNFORCED ERRORS 154
369 SERVICE POINTS WON 364
22 RETURN GAMES WON 27
74 % FIRST SERVES IN 64
28 TOTAL ACES 77
9 TOTAL DOUBLE FAULTS 12
75 % FIRST SERVES WON 81
65 % SECOND SERVES WON 57

Notable differences:
Incredible winner statistics so far for Federer. Pounding down both forehand and backhand winners left and right. Also as with Federer in his best, a lot of aces and thus a very high percentage on the points where his 1st serve goes in.
For Nadal, he's got a really impressive 1st serve percentage. 74% for all the matches so far is.. Well, very good. He's just so solid on his serve. Will be exciting to see if he keeps it up.

 

[Puppet Master]

Heh.

I'm going to jump onboard the Bel18ve train, but my brain says Bel15ve is more likely ... Rafa's game is Fed's kryptonite. Of course, we shouldn't count out Stanimal, who can beat anyone when his game is on.

(Feel free to count out Dimitrov :laydownlaughing ...)

Personally, I would have nothing against Stan or Dimitrov winning the whole thing, I love them both as players, but not at the expense of Nadal/Fed, no way.

So you are a Nadal-Federer fan? You are lucky because either way, you will be celebrating on Sunday.

You will be shcoked.
I said this many times, but I am a fan of both haha.
I started watching tennis with my father a bit before Roger arrived on the scene. My dad was a massive Sampras fan ( he switched to Novak later on...) by the way. I always found Pete a bit boring for some reason. And I immediately fell in love with Fed's game. When Fed brought him down in Wimbledon 2001 I barely watched any of it, I was just a kid and coulnd't focus for more than 30 minutes. But at the time of Fed's first grand slam win ( 2003 Wimbo) I already knew when and where all the slams were played, knew a bit of tennis trivia, obviously I knew the rules etc.
Then Rafael Nadal arrived. I didn't like him at first, and I was mad that he could chase down every ball Roger hit, but it was clear even to me as a kid that Nadal was in a league of his own, talent wise. During 2008 I became a fan of both about equally. I cried when Fed cried at AO 2009 :laydownlaughing . With Roger getting older this was quite convenient,to be a fan of both. Around 2008 or so, I became certain that they would both surpass Sampras, who was the goat previously. My dad would go on and on about it. It was even worse than the forum fights we have here sometimes.
I am so sorry I wrote such a long story for you to read And I didn't even mention my feud with Novak arriving on the scene. But in short, yes, I am happy with whatever result come Sunday.

 

[Front242]

praying rafa loses. cant watch another beat down hes gonna give fed. had enough of those in the last decade *cries*

There won't be any beat down on this surface.

however well fed is playing heading into their match rafa has gotten the better of him. at this point im sure even with a broken arm rafa can somehow win against fed :nono

I didn't say he'd win, I said there'd be no beatdown on this surface Anyway, neither guy is in the final yet.

 

[mightyjeditribble]

There won't be any beat down on this surface.

however well fed is playing heading into their match rafa has gotten the better of him. at this point im sure even with a broken arm rafa can somehow win against fed :nono

I didn't say he'd win, I said there'd be no beatdown on this surface Anyway, neither guy is in the final yet.

Assuming they both make the final, it would be a dream come true if Fed could beat Nadal to take GS title #18. And it is true that he has had some success against Rafa on fast surfaces ...

But I believe that the last time Roger has beaten Rafa in best-of-5 was 2007 Wimbledon. Nadal's game is almost perfectly designed to neutralise Fed, so I'm afraid this will just stay a dream ...

 

[Front242]

My point was a beat down is when the opponent wins around 6-8 games max. That is about as likely to happen as OlegMacNoLeg winning the NYC marathon. Even Wimbledon 2008 Nadal won by a mere 2 games 9-7 in the 5th.

 

[mightyjeditribble]

My point was a beat down is when the opponent wins around 6-8 games max. That is about as likely to happen as OlegMacNoLeg winning the NYC marathon. Even Wimbledon 2008 Nadal won by a mere 2 games 9-7 in the 5th.

I agree. I'm not sure there was ever a real "beat down" of Fed by Nadal outside of clay. Closest was probably IW 2013 6-4 6-2. IIRC, Nadal was coming back from injury then as well; it was the start of an amazing year for Rafa.