Australian Open Day 3: Wednesday, Jan 15 - Order of Play

[brokenshoelace]

Davydenko moving surprisingly well. Not sure how long it's going to last but it's nice to see.

 

[Moxie]

In this heat given his age though it's pretty much imperative Davydenko wins the first set. Might get ugly fast if he drops this set.

He gets it to a TB…agree with you he really needs to win this set, because of heat/age, but also because it was his and he let Gasquet back in.

 

[brokenshoelace]

I'll never understand why there are so many foot-faults at the Australian Open, and to a lesser extent, the US Open, but almost none at the French Open and Wimbledon.

 

[Front242]

Great passing shot from Davydenko keeps him alive in the TB.

 

[Front242]

In this heat given his age though it's pretty much imperative Davydenko wins the first set. Might get ugly fast if he drops this set.

He gets it to a TB…agree with you he really needs to win this set, because of heat/age, but also because it was his and he let Gasquet back in.

Yeah he really let this set slide, although Gasquet's backhand really started heating up too.

 

[Front242]

Doh :/

 

[Front242]

Nice opening service game. I'll say one thing...win or lose, Davydenko hits the ball so much cleaner than Fed these days.

 

[Moxie]

I'm not feeling Davydenko's chances now. He's too far out of this level of competition, and Gasquet, in fairness, has renewed his commitment.

 

[Front242]

Only questionable thing at this stage is Gasquet's fitness in this heat. His cardio has been questionable in the past, and while it's improved, it's not often you see him playing in this heat.

 

[brokenshoelace]

Nice opening service game. I'll say one thing...win or lose, Davydenko hits the ball so much cleaner than Fed these days.

Davydenko is one of the cleanest ball strikers in history, and you could make a case for him hitting the ball as cleanly as Fed even in his prime. He, Nalbandian, Mecir, Federer and of course, Agassi stand out as probably the cleanest ball strikers I've ever seen. Thrown in Marat Safin when he's playing well for good measure.

 

[Front242]

Nice opening service game. I'll say one thing...win or lose, Davydenko hits the ball so much cleaner than Fed these days.

Davydenko is one of the cleanest ball strikers in history, and you could make a case for him hitting the ball as cleanly as Fed even in his prime. He, Nalbandian, Mecir, Federer and of course, Agassi stand out as probably the cleanest ball strikers I've ever seen. Thrown in Marat Safin when he's playing well for good measure.

Very much agree. Just find it depressing how Davydenko is still so sharp and still hits so cleanly while Fed has really gone off the radar in a big way.

But then here's the difference in mileage (not to mention mental stress from sheer number of matches played) despite the fact they're still the same age and it goes some way towards explaining how Fed has declined in terms of clean hitting and increased shanks these days.

Singles career record to date. Wins/losses.

Davydenko: 473–316
Federer: 926–216

That's basically a difference of 4 full seasons/4 years worth of matches played.

 

[Moxie]

Only questionable thing at this stage is Gasquet's fitness in this heat. His cardio has been questionable in the past, and while it's improved, it's not often you see him playing in this heat.

But in fairness, WHO plays often in this heat? It's already getting to the point of dangerous. I'd be interested to hear what tournament is routinely hotter than Oz…at any level.

 

[JesuslookslikeBorg]

fed hasn't gone off the radar in a big way..he is world no 6 rank,

the way some folk carry on you'd think he'd been down at world no201 like Hewitt was a few months back.

 

[Front242]

Only questionable thing at this stage is Gasquet's fitness in this heat. His cardio has been questionable in the past, and while it's improved, it's not often you see him playing in this heat.

But in fairness, WHO plays often in this heat? It's already getting to the point of dangerous. I'd be interested to hear what tournament is routinely hotter than Oz…at any level.

True. None. Not even Dubai I'd imagine as it's not played in their summer season. But still, cardio issues are bound to be intensified in this heat.

 

[JesuslookslikeBorg]

anyway, davydenko 'hitting cleanly' is down a set and a break when I checked a couple of mins ago.

 

[Front242]

fed hasn't gone off the radar in a big way..he is world no 6 rank,

the way some folk carry on you'd think he'd been down at world no201 like Hewitt was a few months back.

Well he manages to eek out wins but you'd hardly call a lot of them super convincing is what I mean. Sure that was straight sets yesterday but that level won't beat top ranked players. I sort of felt yesterday he could see Duckworth had a huge serve and was playing well and he was kinda hoping he'd eventually fall out of the zone (which he invariably did) and hit errors to aid Fed's victory rather than him trying to win it as much as he would when he was moving/hitting better. Can't keep hoping they all crumble under the pressure these days as he's easy pickings much of the time when off his game.

 

[Moxie]

fed hasn't gone off the radar in a big way..he is world no 6 rank,

the way some folk carry on you'd think he'd been down at world no201 like Hewitt was a few months back.

Too true, and good for you, JLLB. Has anyone noticed that Davydenko can't keep it up, and that he also had some wild shanks? Clean ball striking and taking the ball early were Davydenko's claim to fame, but has anyone else noticed that he can't take it as early now? Nor hit as cleanly as reliably? Let's not go overboard.

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

fed hasn't gone off the radar in a big way..he is world no 6 rank,

the way some folk carry on you'd think he'd been down at world no201 like Hewitt was a few months back.

Too true, and good for you, JLLB. Has anyone noticed that Davydenko can't keep it up, and that he also had some wild shanks? Clean ball striking and taking the ball early were Davydenko's claim to fame, but has anyone else noticed that he can't take it as early now? Nor hit as cleanly as reliably? Let's not go overboard.

Legs my friend, the legs...

 

[Iona16]

Just reading on twitter that there is a lot of speculation in the press room at the AO as Tomic has called a press conference. About 20 mins or so.

 

[brokenshoelace]

Just reading on twitter that there is a lot of speculation in the press room at the AO as Tomic has called a press conference. About 20 mins or so.

Interesting, what do you think it's about?