Most boring AO in recent memory?

[auto-pilot]

Apart from Nadal's epic display of pure guts (and forehand brilliance) in Round 2 and Berdych's historical victory over Nadal (Berdych is now part of a tennis saying "Nobody beats Thomas Berdych 18 times in a row"), nothing helped tennis at this AO.
The final between Djokovic/Murray promised a lot but delivered 2 sets of Murray's worst tennis.
And the quarter-finals were snooze-fests (ALL of them were straight sets).

We learned nothing new about tennis-
The AO is Djokovic's pet slam event.
Nadal is doomed at the AO (outside of 2009).
Murray knows how to make the AO final.

But the French Open/Wimbledon always delivers.

 

[Billie]

I thought that this year's AO was epic!!! Nole winning a record 5th title in Open Era made it sweeter. angel:

 

[auto-pilot]

I thought that this year's AO was epic!!! Nole winning a record 5th title in Open Era made it sweeter. angel:

Yep that would be the only note-worthy feature of this AO.
No epics (except for Nadal's R2), even the Djokovic-Wawrinka match ended in a bagel (and Wawrinka didn't play well overall).
It seemed like Djokovic was never challenged in this event, almost a free-bee slam title.

 

[Billie]

I know that everybody's taste is different. The fact that Nole wasn't his possible best yet bageled his last two opponents in the last sets of his semi final and final matches make this tournament so amazing also, I don't think that happened ever before!! Anybody has any stats on this?

 

[Kirijax]

When the QF matchups were set, I was pretty excited. I thought so many guys had a chance for the title. Berdych's win over Nadal was great (sorry Nadal fans) and I really thought he had a chance but not to be. I was surprised at Wawrinka's lvel when he beat Nishikori. It was still entertaining but both semis and the final wer anticlimactic with all the bagels. Has there ever been a Gran Slam where all three matches had a bagel in there? I need to go on a diet after all those carbs. :snicker

 

[Billie]

When the QF matchups were set, I was pretty excited. I thought so many guys had a chance for the title. Berdych's win over Nadal was great (sorry Nadal fans) and I really thought he had a chance but not to be. I was surprised at Wawrinka's lvel when he beat Nishikori. It was still entertaining but both semis and the final wer anticlimactic with all the bagels. Has there ever been a Gran Slam where all three matches had a bagel in there? I need to go on a diet after all those carbs. :snicker

I like Berdych and I was hoping he could make the final. I thought that he lost that match mentally, I think that he was distracted by the antics that happened in that match. I just don't think that Tomas was prepared for that and didn't know how to handle it. But he was playing so cleanly up to that match, hopefully many more positive things happen for him this year.

BTW: Does anybody know if Andy and Dani V. parted their ways amicably or not?

 

[Kirijax]

When the QF matchups were set, I was pretty excited. I thought so many guys had a chance for the title. Berdych's win over Nadal was great (sorry Nadal fans) and I really thought he had a chance but not to be. I was surprised at Wawrinka's lvel when he beat Nishikori. It was still entertaining but both semis and the final wer anticlimactic with all the bagels. Has there ever been a Gran Slam where all three matches had a bagel in there? I need to go on a diet after all those carbs. :snicker

I like Berdych and I was hoping he could make the final. I thought that he lost that match mentally, I think that he was distracted by the antics that happened in that match. I just don't think that Tomas was prepared for that and didn't know how to handle it. But he was playing so cleanly up to that match, hopefully many more positive things happen for him this year.

BTW: Does anybody know if Andy and Dani V. parted their ways amicably or not?

Hard to tell. I've seen different reports. Vallverdu and the others didn't agree with Murray's choice of Mauresmo but I guess they tried to make a go of it. I saw a video of them standing talking or something and Vallverdu made a joke or something and they laughed but Mauresmo got all snippy and barked something at them. So it didn't seem like there was a good atmosphere to the whole thing. I think Vallverdu was ready to move on and maybe Murray wasn't ready for that. And then when Vallverdu signed on with Berdych after Lendl recommended him to Berdych, maybe things got a bit sour. That's why we saw Murray yelling like a loon at Berdych's group during their semifinal. There definitely seems to be some things that need to be aired out. And sailor-mouth Kimmy sure didn't help things! Anyway, no one knows the full story and we may never. It sure would be interesting if Berdych won a GS before Murray won his next. :snicker

 

[Billie]

Thanks Kirijax. I didn't really know the details of the relationship but I did also notice that Murray was yelling and fist pumping at their direction, players usually do this to their own boxes.

We will see what happens. Berdych's forehand is just a thing of beauty to me.

 

[TsarMatt]

No GS with a 19 year old making his second QF is boring.

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

I didnt the quality of this years Australian was at all high quite frankly

Even the s/finals werent that good quality

My fav matches were Warwrinka v Kei,yes I am not a fan of Wawrinka,but I have to give him credit,it was a clinical performance,then he went south in his match against Novak.

Murray v Berdych,after this match I thought Murray might have a chance against Novak,no comment.

Even my husband who has been watching mens tennis for over 40 years,said the quality of the mens final was poor,he went to bed after the 3rd set,he told me he had enough.

 

[Federberg]

These tournaments tend to lose fizzle when the big dogs get knocked out. It would have been nice to see someone coming up with an amazing run, like a Robredo at RG (?) last year. Didn't happen. And the quality of the matches wasn't great. Still it was nice to see Novak do something legends of the game haven't done before. He's really fixing his place amongst the greats. Good for him

 

[auto-pilot]

Yep Djokovic has cemented his reputation absolutely.
His reputation for pretending to fall over and pretending he can't breathe.
It worked, it certainly put Murray off enough, but it was the most pathetic display from a human being I've ever seen.

 

[brokenshoelace]

It was an OK tournament quality wise.

 

[nehmeth]

Even my husband who has been watching mens tennis for over 40 years,said the quality of the mens final was poor, went to bed after the 3rd set,he told me he had enough.

Evidently, it seems Murray did the same.

It wasn't a great tournament.

Enjoyed some of the Murray v. Dimitrov match. I keep waiting for Dimi to make that "push" and start winning the key points in big matches that he so often tends to lose. :cover

Also enjoyed watching Kei hit the fuzz off the ball against Ferrer.

 

[Federberg]

Yep Djokovic has cemented his reputation absolutely.
His reputation for pretending to fall over and pretending he can't breathe.
It worked, it certainly put Murray off enough, but it was the most pathetic display from a human being I've ever seen.

I've seen worse. Murray has done this stuff before. For him to be whining about it just made me laugh to be honest. Now you know how it feels! It would be better if Novak doesn't do stuff like that anymore obviously. He's the number 1 player in the world now. But if anyone other than Murray or Delpo had complained about that I would have given it some thought. But ye reap what ye sow as they said in olden times!

 

[Ilovetennis2]

I know that everybody's taste is different. The fact that Nole wasn't his possible best yet bageled his last two opponents in the last sets of his semi final and final matches make this tournament so amazing also, I don't think that happened ever before!! Anybody has any stats on this?

Not sure about the semi and final each having a bagel, but I do recall Federer serving a double bagel to Hewitt in the USO about 10 years ago.

 

[DarthFed]

Not many great matches which is usually the top criteria for defining what makes a tournament great.

But still a few good narratives: Nole broke the Open Era record for AO wins, Murray seems to be back after a lot of struggles in 2014, Kyrgios made another QF, etc.

 

[Kieran]

The bits I saw of it were okay, but the semi-finals and final were largely not interesting. This tourney was an improvement on the lousy WTF we suffered, but men's tennis is going through a cycle now that's not throwing up many great matches, and the great players are looking a lot less than great, while the also-rans are struggling to breathe when they barely trot.

The USO was a fine template for the way things should be, but it'll take time for that to become more common...

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

Had my predictions for the slam challenge materialized, it would have been a great tournament and I would not have been at the very bottom with 4 points...

 

[auto-pilot]

Hopefully Roland Garros will save tennis again.
Another Djokovic-Nadal epic on the way, assuming Djokovic can overcome the ravages of time (which eventually befalls all challengers to Nadal's throne) and again reach the semi-final/final for Nadal's enjoyment and our entertainment.