2018 Australian Open, Melbourne - ATP GRAND SLAM

[Mastoor]

@herios @Nekro It took me a while to realise that Fucsovics had to be Vučović. Though they call him Mađar Fučović in Serbian media. Anyway - Go Marton!!!

Nole finally got the nighttime slot on Laver. No wonder. The temperature dropped down to 25 degrees in Melbourne so they can allow their delicate flower Federer to play daytime safely without getting tired or sick. I wonder how he didn't get to 30 or 40 slams being treated like that.

I am looking forward to Nole's match with Chung. Chung said he won't be overwhelmed as much as the first time he played his idol Nole. He played well against Tzverev. I watched last two sets of that match.

 

[imjimmy]

Better from Nadal in the final two sets against a really in form opponent, but that second set was flat out ugly. Really needs to kick it up a notch in the second week otherwise Cilic sends him packing.

I'm not sure what the issues are with Nadal's serve. The first 2 sets and the 2nd in particular were so awfully bad that it was laughable. He got almost no free points on serve before set 3 or 4. Serving like this against the likes of Fed/Djokovic would mean that he would be send packing obviously.

The other strange thing was that Diego was serving powderpuff second serves which were almost WTA level in speed. Initially Rafa was handling them well. He was stepping in and hammering them. Then suddenly he went waay back to receive the super slow second serve. That meant he couldn't attack the second serve which was strange to me.

What will win or lose the tournament for Nadal, besides his serve, his ROS. Now Diego is not a big server but Nadal was standing so far back to return his serves that at one point Diego was winning close to 88 percent of first serve points. How does Rafa plan to cope up with the big servers: Cillic, DImi, Edmund and Federer?

This super defensive ROS positioning is one reason why Nadal has been beaten by Federer so comprehensively without the Spaniard even managing to break once in 3 matches . I was hoping Moya might help Nadal with the ROS, but probably not ..

 

[Horsa]

There's a Brit in the Quarter-finals. How do you rate his chances?

 

[herios]

@herios @Nekro It took me a while to realise that Fucsovics had to be Vučović. Though they call him Mađar Fučović in Serbian media. Anyway - Go Marton!!!

Nole finally got the nighttime slot on Laver. No wonder. The temperature dropped down to 25 degrees in Melbourne so they can allow their delicate flower Federer to play daytime safely without getting tired or sick. I wonder how he didn't get to 30 or 40 slams being treated like that.

I am looking forward to Nole's match with Chung. Chung said he won't be overwhelmed as much as the first time he played his idol Nole. He played well against Tzverev. I watched last two sets of that match.

Hey Maastor
Just a little Hungarian lesson for you then: "cs" is pronounced like "ch" in English. Therefore a "ICS" sufix in a family name will most likely hint to a Serbo-Croatian background.

 

[Moxie]

Good lord, what is Fognini wearing? I'm not really a tennis traditionalist, but some of the kits this year are making me understand why Wimbledon sticks to the all-white rule. #loadsofugly.

 

[Moxie]

That was a helluva point for Roger to get the early break.

 

[DarthFed]

That was a helluva point for Roger to get the early break.

You mean Berd right? Roger isn't playing yet

 

[10isfan]

Fog is playing headless again. I’m laughing as I watch him, although not laughing very hard because Berdych will show up fresh for his match against Fed.

 

[Moxie]

You mean Berd right? Roger isn't playing yet

:lulz2: We're cooking and just have tennis on the bkg. Coverage switched to ESPN, and we were watching Fed/DelPo suddenly. TBH, I'd forgotten that Del Po was out.

 

[DarthFed]

Fog is Fog and he usually gets wrecked by big hitters except on clay. He has broken back in the 2nd set but I'm expecting Berd still gets through in straights.

 

[Mastoor]

Hey Maastor
Just a little Hungarian lesson for you then: "cs" is pronounced like "ch" in English. Therefore a "ICS" sufix in a family name will most likely hint to a Serbo-Croatian background.

I realised that when several years ago I read about a footballer named Sabicz or something like that who played for Hungarian national team and I looked at his surname and wondered why it looked familiar to me before figuring out it was Hungarian spelling of one of most common Serbian surnames.

btw Marton was at some stage coached by Janosz Tipsarevics so I guess he may get a hint or two about how to play 5 sets with Federer.


This is one interesting story that involves 3 or 4 tennis greats. I am retelling it from a Serbian journalist’s [Sasha Ozmo] blog.

Yesterday, Becker came to the practice court where he together with all the other journalists waited for Nole’s team to come to his pracice. They were 1 hour and 20 minutes late. At some moment during the practice they stopped speaking German, [obviously for Agassi to understand] and Nole said: “For some of us, life is simple – one shot at the net and that’s it.”

Agassi who was in between Nole and Becker, said: “Yes, and some of us have to work hard.”

Boris to Nole who was turned somewhere in between and smiling: “Yes, but you would pass me at the net.”

Andre (looking at Boris and imitating his service): “I would have a good use of one like that during my career. You know, when I asked Sampras how close do you feel you are to the win when you lead 2-1 in sets and you make a break at the start of the fourth set, he told me “Very close.”. I, on the other hand, felt that I may be two and a half hours away and I always looked for the second break.”

 

[GameSetAndMath]

I think Djoker - Chung match will be the most competitive match of the day on the men's side today.

 

[Moxie]

I think Djoker - Chung match will be the most competitive match of the day on the men's side today.

Maybe. Djokovic is coming back, and Chung is the flavor of the moment, let's be honest.

 

[Moxie]

Let's see how Roger does, then, against everyone's new favorite, Fucsovics.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Fucs is hanging with Roger. Saved four break points in one game, but finally yielded in the last game.

Now may be time for him to vanish.

 

[Nekro]

@herios @Nekro It took me a while to realise that Fucsovics had to be Vučović. Though they call him Mađar Fučović in Serbian media. Anyway - Go Marton!!!

Nole finally got the nighttime slot on Laver. No wonder. The temperature dropped down to 25 degrees in Melbourne so they can allow their delicate flower Federer to play daytime safely without getting tired or sick. I wonder how he didn't get to 30 or 40 slams being treated like that.

I am looking forward to Nole's match with Chung. Chung said he won't be overwhelmed as much as the first time he played his idol Nole. He played well against Tzverev. I watched last two sets of that match.

Hungarian "-ics" ending can come from Polish too, and Fucs from something germanic.....

However, i saw his family, his mom has Hungarian looks but from his dad's looks it's not impossible his dad had serbian, croatian, whatever ancestors...... his first name is latin, well, tbh they're just a regular Hungarian family... and Fucsovics looks Germanic......

Györe László's name is Hungarian, his family is Hungarian, but he's proud he competes under Serbian flag, he's more Serbian for me.....

Anyway, i don't really care about the origin of his family name, i've been following Fucsovics since he was a junior, during his sucky period too, I like him for his elegant game, i'm now just happy he got in the top 100 and can play good matches... Hope like Wawrinka he will grab a GS or 2

 

[DarthFed]

Fed still pretty unimpressive. He has served really well all tournament but thats to be expected. The only thing other than the serve that is encouraging is that he has stepped up big at the business end of sets.

 

[DarthFed]

Roger looks horrific. Terrible play at net has cost him what should've been an easy break

 

[Moxie]

Surely Roger has looked crisper. Probably just a sloppy day at the office, like Nadal yesterday. He'll pull it out. I'm going to bed. May try to wake up to see a set of Djokovic. Mostly just to see how Chung deals with the pressure. I don't see that as an upset, either.

 

[DarthFed]

Coming in off total junk and getting passed at will. Fucs is playing better this set and Roger can't string together two good points in a row on the return.