Brisbane 2014 - ATP 250

[Front242]

Already 38C (100F) in Brisbane now since 11am apparently. Gonna be brutal heat out there for Roger and Serena in a few hours.

That's where all that Dubai training pays off....in theory.

Yup. Hopefully. I was messing around blasting a few forehands in 36C in Cozumel and I looked like I'd just hopped out the swimming pool and covered myself in baby oil such was the amount of sweat dripping off me in just a few mins. I dunno how they do it!

 

[Moxie]

Hewitt evens the match at 1 set a piece v. Nishikori. Like him or not, I'll never stop being astonished by the fight in Hewitt.

 

[Moxie]

Hewitt up 2-0 in the 3rd with huge crowd support and Kei tiring.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Hewitt won. The final will be interesting assuming Fed wins today.

 

[Moxie]

Nishikori was clearly gassed but great win from Lleyton. With a good draw, don't count him out for a deep run at the AO. He looks to be making a last stand.

 

[Goldenboy]

Well played by Chardy to win the tb.

Still expect Roger to pull through though.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Fed in trouble. Chardy won the second set in tie-breaker. Match moves on to 3rd set.
Fed does not seem to match Chardy if the rally gets going.

If Fed has this much trouble with Chardy, Novak/Nadal will eat him up in baseline
rally points.

Chardy is serving good also.

 

[Goldenboy]

Roger making errors when Chardy hits it deep. Have to admit, I have a hard time seeing him beat the other members of the Big 4 unless today is an exception.

 

[Goldenboy]

The serve is key for both. All Roger needs is one good return game.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Roger's serve is pretty good today. That is what saved him today.

There are two factors in today's game.

1. Heat factor. It was quite hot apparently. Roger changed T-shirts 2 or 3 times
and lot of fans screamed. Usuaully, I see this kind of thing when Nadal changes
T-shirts. This is the first time, I see this happening for Fed.

2. They both have not played each other before and so it was bit tricky may be.
(but, then roger has not played marinko either; however, beat him up easily).

3. As the commentator said, Roger was not showing variety and that made life
easy for Chardy.

While I have not looked up the stats, I have a strong feeling that most of the
rallies that lasted 5 or more shots were won by Chardy.

I don't see Roger winning AO. I will not bet on him.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

For people who did not watch, the score line in 6-3, 6-7, 6-3.

Fed won the first set in 26 minutes. The match went to close to or over two hours
though.

Fed was never broken. Fed broke Chardy exactly two times, the first
service game of Chardy (the second game of the match) and the last
service game of Chardy (the penultimate game of the match).

Chardy almost played well enough to win the match.

On break point in the last set, Chardy dfed.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

I think Hewitt will give lot more trouble to Fed in the finals. Also, the crowd support
will be evenly divided if not more for Hewitt.

It will be a match worth watching.

 

[isabelle]

Youngderer vs Hewitt, two daddys in final interesting to see what Hewitt'll do in front of his homecrowd

 

[GameSetAndMath]

It is amazing that two 32 year olds came up with victory in grueling heat and in
tough three setters.

 

[isabelle]

It is amazing that two 32 year olds came up with victory in grueling heat and in
tough three setters.

Absolutely my dear, where are the young guns ???

 

[Front242]

Didn't bother getting up for Fed's match but reading on tennis.com it seems his serve saved him. 20 aces. Wouldn't count Hewitt out by any means. What a true fighter he is. I think the crowd suport will be pretty evenly balanced though.

 

[DarthFed]

Lleyton will bring it so this is still a good test for Roger. He should show up and try to pummel him like the old days, get this year started out right.

 

[Front242]

Gonna be a few FFFFFFFFAAAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKKs from Lleyton anyway no doubt No chance of censoring them on tv. Always laugh when he shouts it.

 

[DarthFed]

Hopefully more than a few. A tournament like this is small yet given Roger's 2013 it can be bigger than normal. No f-ckups tomorrow.

 

[Front242]

Yeah, Roger really needs this as a confidence boost. It'd do him the world of good to start the year with a title. Imagine winning a title first tournament of the year as opposed to just Halle last year. Certainly make Edberg happy too and make him feel truly confident with the new racquet.