2018 Australian Open - Early Chatter

[Fiero425]

Fiero tell it like it is..hey Rafa lost ..there isnt anything that can change it now..what do you want me to do, jump on an anti Fed soapbox like Darth does about Wimbledon 08 or USO 09 Fed getting spanked by JMDP..no i am not built that way my friend
Cheers

I blew that since it's so hard to watch any Rafa match; the stalling, the toweling off, the grunting, and challenging of so many calls! Still recovering from '12 AO final vs Nole! Someone must have forgotten Fabio took out Rafa in the 3rd Rd. at the 2015 USO when up 2-0 in sets in the upset of the tournament! That was embarrassing; I think he had been 150-0 when up 2 sets to love! :whistle:

 

[Moxie]

Here we go again. Honestly, is there anything new to say in the Fedal Wars?

It doesn't matter. We'll just keep going over it all. In any case, it is relevant to this thread. Rafa is the #1 seed, Roger the #2, and they played the final last year. They are completely relevant as competitors, at the moment, lest we forget.

 

[Moxie]

Novak has a winning record against both, yet has managed to put himself (temporarily) outside of the GOAT conversation.

Last year was a crucial year to reel in fedal, yet he managed to concede 2 slams to each. I’m a bit more pessimistic now but he should start winning slams again and keep fedal from doing just that.

I hate to be painful, but I will point out how long it took Novak to get over the hump of a winning record against each of them, which happened when they were both pretty lame. He did get there, though, to his credit, by a little. And yes, he lost a lot of ground last year, in the hunt. Since we haven't had much participation from Nole fans for a while, I'd be curious as to your take on his injury/motivation issues over the last some 20 months, including his personnel changes. Let's face it, it was kind of a weirdly long walkabout.

 

[DarthFed]

"Found a way" ..No..you are a gambler at heart and you know damn well there are no Absolutes in sports. NONE...Roger couldnt stop what was coming..Nadal..Thats why to loosing to Novak in 2012 ..last year loss at AO was the 2nd worst GS title for Rafa. Heck, his recent mastery over Roger in grand slams encounters was about as close as absolute could be .

It's all good. Roger's 08 Wimbledon loss was far worse than Nadal's loss last year and it sent Roger down the road of being Rafa's bitch for many years. Hopefully Roger keeps making your boy bend over to touch his ankles. That H2H is weak unless Roger wins 8 more in a row

 

[DarthFed]

Fiero tell it like it is..hey Rafa lost ..there isnt anything that can change it now..what do you want me to do, jump on an anti Fed soapbox like Darth does about Wimbledon 08 or USO 09 Fed getting spanked by JMDP..no i am not built that way my friend
Cheers

Spanked by JMDP? You mean the match where Roger was serving for a 2 set lead, was up 2 sets to 1, was 2 points from winning the match? That spanking?

 

[10isfan]

What idiot made up these rules??!!! If Wawrinka withdraws, Kyrgios moves to Fed’s half. The only dangerous opponent gets removed from Nadal’s path. This could be USO all over again where Murray messed up the draw. Does anyone know how much time Wawrinka has before a lucky loser replaces him?

 

[Fiero425]

What idiot made up these rules??!!! If Wawrinka withdraws, Kyrgios moves to Fed’s half. The only dangerous opponent gets removed from Nadal’s path. This could be USO all over again where Murray messed up the draw. Does anyone know how much time Wawrinka has before a lucky loser replaces him?

Murray did the same thing @ the FO back in '13 forcing Nadal & Nole to play in the SF instead of the Final if they made it! :whistle:

 

[Moxie]

What idiot made up these rules??!!! If Wawrinka withdraws, Kyrgios moves to Fed’s half. The only dangerous opponent gets removed from Nadal’s path. This could be USO all over again where Murray messed up the draw. Does anyone know how much time Wawrinka has before a lucky loser replaces him?

Where'd you get that from? I don't think that can happen. I figure there's a good chance that Stan withdraws. I think he has until just before he's due to play. LL's have been known to drop in at the last second. But that doesn't mean they rejigger the draw. The LL would most likely take Stan's slot. Even when Murray withdrew from the USO, they didn't move Federer to the bottom half, which would have been the most logical. They moved Cilic to his slot so as not to anchor the bottom with a LL. But they didn't move players across halves of the draw.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

What idiot made up these rules??!!! If Wawrinka withdraws, Kyrgios moves to Fed’s half. The only dangerous opponent gets removed from Nadal’s path. This could be USO all over again where Murray messed up the draw. Does anyone know how much time Wawrinka has before a lucky loser replaces him?

I didn't think of it. Yes, if Stan withdraws and they rebalance the draw, they will move Nick into his slot. Filip Karjinovic will move into Nick's Slot and Filip's current spot will be taken by LL.

Now, whether they rebalance the draw is determined by the following three rules.

1. If Stan withdraws after the first ball is struck, then they are NOT ALLOWED to rebalance the draw.
Stan's spot will be directly given to LL.
2. If Stan withdraws before the schedule for the opening day's play is released, they MUST rebalance
the draw.
3. If Stan withdraws after the schedule for the opening day's play is released and before the first
ball is struck, then it is up to the DISCRETION of the tournament organizers as to whether to rebalance or not.

In this case, we actually want Stan to wait for long time before withdrawing (that will ensure that the draw
is relatively balanced in reality), if he chooses to withdraw.

 

[Moxie]

Wow, I'm impressed that you even know that. Now I think Stan will probably try to hang around for a round or 2. Or at the very least, not screw the tournament and Roger around that much by waiting too long to pull the plug.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Wow, I'm impressed that you even know that. Now I think Stan will probably try to hang around for a round or 2. Or at the very least, not screw the tournament and Roger around that much by waiting too long to pull the plug.

You are not getting the point. Stan will be screwing the tournament if he withdraws early. He should wait long to pull out to save the tournament.

 

[Moxie]

You are not getting the point. Stan will be screwing the tournament if he withdraws early. He should wait long to pull out to save the tournament.

No, I did get that. I misspoke. There are just so many double-negatives involved.

 

[Moxie]

Stan says he's playing, as of an hour ago.

 

[10isfan]

Yay, Stan. If his friendship with Fed means anything to him, he should wait until the first match to withdraw.

 

[Fiero425]

Yay, Stan. If his friendship with Fed means anything to him, he should wait until the first match to withdraw.

Friendship? Doubtful, no matter what they say! Between beating him like a drum and Mirka talking trash at the YEC a few years ago when they were playing, I couldn't imagine Stan being that close to Roger! I thought Stan was going to "throw" the DC final they were in a week later! :whistle:

 

[10isfan]

Djoke’s elbow isn’t fully healed. He says the doctors gave him the green light; they believe playing won’t aggravate it. I find that very hard to believe.

 

[Denis]

Yay, Stan. If his friendship with Fed means anything to him, he should wait until the first match to withdraw.

Doesn’t it mean that he cashes in too?

Didn’t Fed say something a year ago or so that would go against Feds interests here. Surely nick needs to stay put.

 

[Denis]

Djoke’s elbow isn’t fully healed. He says the doctors gave him the green light; they believe playing won’t aggravate it. I find that very hard to believe.

Do you have a source?

 

[10isfan]

Fed said his favorite person to hang out with is Stan. Maybe the friendship goes one way??

Analysts are predicting a Fed vs Kyrgios final. I’m thinking Potro might beat Fed (although his loss to Agut just now indicates I’m giving Potro too much credit.)

 

[Fiero425]

Doesn’t it mean that he cashes in too?

Didn’t Fed say something a year ago or so that would go against Feds interests here. Surely nick needs to stay put.

Didn't I read somewhere the tour was going to a system to avoid a lot of that WD of matches or defaulting in the middle? They were to offer some points and cash beforehand or something because it got ridiculous last season! :whistle: