Aussie, Aussie Aussie.
Murray gets broken 1st game, 4th set.
Murray gets broken 1st game, 4th set.
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Aussie, Aussie Aussie.
Evans takes the first set on a tiebreak.Comment
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Aussie, Aussie Aussie.
Murray serving to stay in the match at 3-5.Comment
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Aussie, Aussie Aussie.
And he loses in 4 sets.
He couldn't cope with the volleying, and Zverev played exceptionally well.Comment
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Aussie, Aussie Aussie.
Evans now two sets to one down. Tsonga is like a circling shark at the moment.
Djokovic and Murray's defeats means it's a huge opportunity for, well, everybody. But particularly for players like Tsonga.Comment
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Aussie, Aussie Aussie.
Federer - Nadal final anyone?Comment
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Aussie, Aussie Aussie.
Federer will have to improve some. 1-4 to Nishikori in the first set.Comment
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Aussie, Aussie Aussie.
Well, he's clearly listening to me.Comment
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Aussie, Aussie Aussie.
So, Murray's deflating defeat aside, Konta was really good again. Istomin is kicking Dmitrov's arse, and Goffin is through, which I though was a bit of a surprise, against Thiem.Comment
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Aussie, Aussie Aussie.
That is now 18 straight sets won by Konta, and, Arina Rodionova in R1 of Sydney aside, all against very respectable opponents. She hasn't even needed a tie-break in that period, the closest score being 7-5 twice (Flipkens and Kasatkina). Game count in that run is 110-51.
If she can bring that form on to court with Serena, it will be fascinating. It genuinely feels like the biggest match that will happen in the Women's draw this tournament.Comment
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Aussie, Aussie Aussie.
It's only 23 January, and she's already collected more ranking points (in "live"/"real time" terms) this calendar year than any other British woman player has done in the current rolling 12 months.Comment
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Aussie, Aussie Aussie.
Away from the Brits, there are some good stories in this years event. Mischa Zverev for one (kind of away from the Brits in his case). It almost like he came back onto the tour after serious injury to act as a mentor for his little brother, of whom he is fiercely protective. But now he has the scalp of a world no.1 and a grand slam QF against Roger Federer to look forward to off his own bat. He might join Sascha in being seeded for the French Open.
And there is also Mirjana Lucic-Baroni. Her story has been mentioned before on our Tennis threads, but I didn't realise she hadn't won a main draw match in Melbourne since her first career. Surely 18 years between Slam QF appearances is a record, and one that is likely to stand for all time. Her match with Pliskova will feature lots of shuddering ball striking. Both give the ball an utter wallop.
I'm hopeful for the current Monfils vs Nadal match. Could be a fine one if Gael's head is in the right place. It feels really weird for Monfils to be the higher seed in this match-up, though!Comment
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Aussie, Aussie Aussie.
I've not had an opportunity to write previews for the QFs. So sorry about that. My picks, without reasons, FWIW are Federer in four, Wawrinka in four, Muguruza in two and Pavlyuchenkova in three.Comment
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Aussie, Aussie Aussie.
Glad I didn't expend more words, as I was completely wrong about the Women's matches.
Vandeweghe backed up beating the no.1 seed with a further win over a Slam champion. Omen for Zverev vs Federer? Roger has had trouble with serve-volleyers before, most notably Stakhovskiy at Wimbledon.Comment
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Aussie, Aussie Aussie.
More and more get the feeling that Federer may break his long drought here.Comment
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Aussie, Aussie Aussie.
I'd bet on Raonic. Or, if Nadal beats him tonight, Nadal.Comment
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Aussie, Aussie Aussie.
Hopeully not Raonic. *Anybody* but Raonic. I thought we'd left the era of one-dimensional metronomes behind us, although perhaps that was just because we were spoilt by the Big 4 for so long.Comment
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Aussie, Aussie Aussie.
Federer's injury woes of last year do make this run surprising but to be fair to him, before that, Djokovic was the only man stopping him dominating like the days of old.
He would have probably won Wimbledon, the US Open and the Aussie Open had someone taken out Djokovic early.
By the time Raonic got to him at Wimbledon I think he was ready for the lay off.Comment
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Aussie, Aussie Aussie.
Serena beats Konta convincingly, but Joanna played OK. Just not quite there yet.
I think I am getting spoiled as I seriously thought Konta was going to win that.
Oh, and the Pliskova v Lucic-Somethingorother was superb. A typical women's match of the 70's/80's, where neither could hold their serve. Lucic won in three sets, and was in tears for about 10 minutes.
A nice story, even if Venus beats her.Comment
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Aussie, Aussie Aussie.
Yes, that post-match interview with Lucic-Baroni was quite something. Amazing story.
So Coco Vandeweghe is the only woman in the (singles) SFs aged under 34!
Federer - Nadal final and Williams sisters final anyone?Federer - Nadal final anyone?Comment
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Aussie, Aussie Aussie.
Oh please please for the first one - I could feel 10 years younger again for at least 4, maybe 5 hours. It would be the biggest thing since Rosewall reached the Wimbledon final in 1974. Bigger, probably.Evariste Euler Gauss wrote: Federer - Nadal final and Williams sisters final anyone?
As for the second, I really hope not. Has Serena already broken Margaret Court's GS record yet (I can't remember)? If she has, I can imagine another pat - pat affair where Serena might even let her sister win. If she hasn't, it would probably be the same thing with the opposite result.
Some of their previous finals have been so dull as to almost be an insult to the other players in the competition.
Much as I admire her, I've never really warmed to Serena. Way too much slowing things down, sudden grunting and shreiking sessions, even feigning injury when things start to against her on court. Having said that, with the possible exception of Navratilova, she's undoubtedly the best female player of all time.Comment
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Aussie, Aussie Aussie.
It will be a nice story if Venus beats her. Because that will mean Lucic-Baroni has beaten Serena in the semi to make her first Slam Final. ;-)Gerontophile wrote: Oh, and the Pliskova v Lucic-Somethingorother was superb. A typical women's match of the 70's/80's, where neither could hold their serve. Lucic won in three sets, and was in tears for about 10 minutes.
A nice story, even if Venus beats her.
And yes, it really feels like it's going to be Roger vs Rafa and Venus vs Serena. What is this, 2007?Comment
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Aussie, Aussie Aussie.
So, the probability as of now of that double nostalgia-fest finals line-up? If all SFs were 50-50, the probability would only be 1 in 16 (= 2x2x2x2), equivalently 0.0625.
I'd give the 4 players the following probabilities of winning their semis:
Federer 0.6
Nadal 0.8
Serena 0.9
Venus 0.5
making an overall probability of (0.6 x 0.8) x (0.9 x0.5) = 0.48 x 0.45 = 0.216, or about 1 in 4 and a half.Comment
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Aussie, Aussie Aussie.
Currently watching a televised match between two people I've met for I think the first time (I've watched matches between Venus and Serena before, of course, but not since meeting them). Venus was a much cooler interviewee than I expected, but I'm team Coco here, she's a lovely girl.
And moments after I finish typing that paragraph, she takes the first set tiebreak!Comment
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Aussie, Aussie Aussie.
And Venus takes the other two sets. 6-7 6-2 6-3. She seems quite happy about it.Comment
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