# Australian Open 2008 (tennis) **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [January 17, 2008, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-open-2008-tennis/433944 "2008-01-17T22:55:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-open-2008-tennis/433944/21 "2008-01-24T15:48:27Z")
The real final is Federer-Djokovic. No way Nadal should be seeded above Djokovic in any other major but the French until he proves he can win one. Unless seeding is mandated by ranking, I really question what they were doing seeding Nadal second- they could have had an awesome final but now probably won’t. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-open-2008-tennis/433944/22 "2008-01-24T15:50:38Z")
[QUOTE=Wee Bairn] Unless seeding is mandated by ranking [/QUOTE] It is. The exception is Wimbledon, where they take past results (and maybe other grass court results) into account and make their own seedings. ---
**Author:** ![abbeytxs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@abbeytxs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abbeytxs)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-open-2008-tennis/433944/23 "2008-01-24T16:53:41Z")
The blond cheering on Hewitt was his sister. She is a professional body builder. My two cents, I think that Fed is not looking quite as sharp as usual because the surface is a slightly slower surface. Fed just doesn’t do as well on the slower surfaces (French anyone?) I think the men’s side has been really fun to watch this year. Lots of close five set matches! The women’s not so much. Sharapova is definitely on, much to my dismay as I loathe her. The shrieking, the one dimensional game, the lunatic dad - no thanks. I knew Blake was going to lose to Federer, but he held up much better than in the past. I think in a year or two he will finally be able to see Fed as human and actually beat him. I loved watching Tsonga beat Nadal using Nadal’s style. Those two were just knocking the ever living crap out of the ball! I hope he doesn’t go the way of Baghdatis. ---
**Author:** ![drm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e57/32.png) [@drm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drm)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-open-2008-tennis/433944/24 "2008-01-24T17:06:13Z")
[QUOTE=abbeytxs] I knew Blake was going to lose to Federer, but he held up much better than in the past. I think in a year or two he will finally be able to see Fed as human and actually beat him. [/QUOTE] In 2 years Blake is 30 and he’s older than Fed. I doubt there will ever be a period where Blake will be beating Fed consistently. The guy to do that will be Djokovic. Tsonga looked good yesterday. ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-open-2008-tennis/433944/25 "2008-01-24T18:43:22Z")
[QUOTE=drm] In 2 years Blake is 30 and he’s older than Fed. I doubt there will ever be a period where Blake will be beating Fed consistently. The guy to do that will be Djokovic. [/QUOTE] What I was going to say- Blake will decline with age before Roger will, and if he can’t beat him now… ---
**Author:** ![abbeytxs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@abbeytxs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abbeytxs)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-open-2008-tennis/433944/26 "2008-01-24T21:31:07Z")
I don’t think Blake will ever be able to beat Fed conistently. I do think he stands a chance of beating him at least once. Blake just doesn’t believe he can beat Fed yet. It’s a head thing. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2008, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-open-2008-tennis/433944/27 "2008-01-25T00:15:33Z")
The only way that Blake will ever consistently beat Fed is if Fed, I dunno, breaks an ankle. He gave Federer all he had, but it simply wasn’t enough. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2008, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-open-2008-tennis/433944/28 "2008-01-25T00:18:47Z")
[QUOTE=PunditLisa] I don’t understand why Sharapova’s visors has little gold stars on just the one side. Not a fan of Ivanovic’s outfit, which has a weird seam which encircles her boobs. It’s not attractive. [/QUOTE] Same here and same here. Particularly Ivanovic, whose outfit looks like huge sweat-stains. Especially near here lower back, where the border between the darker blue and lighter blue looks ragged and random, exactly like a sweat stain. I know some of it is sweat stains and some of it is design, but it looks very much like it’s all sweat. Of course, I don’t really have a problem with it since that’s the look I’d like to bring her to, but still, it’s odd looking. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2008, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-open-2008-tennis/433944/29 "2008-01-25T01:21:11Z")
[QUOTE=Ellis Dee] Same here and same here. Particularly Ivanovic, whose outfit looks like huge sweat-stains. Especially near here lower back, where the border between the darker blue and lighter blue looks ragged and random, exactly like a sweat stain. [/QUOTE] It WAS sweat that made it darker. When she started the match it was all a solid blue. But as she sweated, the material around her boobs and stomach darkened, while the rest did not. The result was rather bizarre and not appealing, IMO. (However, it looked lovely on her when it was dry.) I wondered if the designer did that on purpose or it was an unfortunate mistake (a la Gwyneth Paltrow’s see through dress). ---
**Author:** ![ColonelDax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@ColonelDax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ColonelDax)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2008, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-open-2008-tennis/433944/30 "2008-01-25T11:31:36Z")
[QUOTE=drm] The guy to do that will be Djokovic. [/QUOTE] Nice call - Federer just lost the semi to Djokovic in straight sets. It’s the first defeat in 35 semis for the Fed, according to Bloomberg. No web link available yet. ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2008, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-open-2008-tennis/433944/31 "2008-01-25T13:16:31Z")
[QUOTE=ColonelDax] Nice call - Federer just lost the semi to Djokovic in straight sets. It’s the first defeat in 35 semis for the Fed, according to Bloomberg. No web link available yet. [/QUOTE] Djokovic could have beaten Roger if he had won an early tiebreaker at the US Open- perhaps there’s a new best player in mens tennis? ---
**Author:** ![hawthorne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@hawthorne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawthorne)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2008, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-open-2008-tennis/433944/32 "2008-01-25T13:43:38Z")
Maybe. Federer looked listless - as he has throughout the tournament. He showed signs of life in the third, but he just wasn’t himself. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2008, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-open-2008-tennis/433944/33 "2008-01-25T14:10:07Z")
Djokovic is excellent and has become a top player very fast, and should stay there for a long time. But it’s too soon to say he’s better than Federer in my opinion. ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2008, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-open-2008-tennis/433944/34 "2008-01-25T14:21:00Z")
I’m a huge Roger fan but am now very concerned. I think he’ll still be able to do like Sampras and have a good chance at winning at Wimbledon for years to come, though. And its not like everyone’s caught up to him, just Djokovic, and Nadal on clay. ---
**Author:** ![Windwalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/5e9695/32.png) [@Windwalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Windwalker)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2008, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-open-2008-tennis/433944/35 "2008-01-25T16:27:36Z")
[QUOTE=Wee Bairn] I’m a huge Roger fan but am now very concerned. I think he’ll still be able to do like Sampras and have a good chance at winning at Wimbledon for years to come, though. And its not like everyone’s caught up to him, just Djokovic, and Nadal on clay. [/QUOTE] Perhaps Roger is losing his motivation to go all out and seize the championship. Which is understandable, if you’ve so dominated the sport in the last few years; there’s nothing left to prove. I suspect he’ll win a few more Grand Slams (taking the all-time record in the process), but his reign of absolute terror outside of clay may be over. I hope Tsonga stays healthy and keeps fit; if he does, I can see him becoming the next Pete Sampras, but more fun to watch. The guy certainly has all the tools to do it. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2008, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-open-2008-tennis/433944/36 "2008-01-25T19:49:57Z")
You heard it here first: Someone drugged the Williams sisters and Roger Federer. I’ve never seen Serena look so listless in a game. Evah. Don’t laugh. There was a father who was convicted of murder after one of his daughter’s opponents fell asleep at the wheel after a tennis tourney. Turned out he’d been putting something (sedative?) in her opponent’s water bottles. [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/03/02/wfauv02.xml](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/03/02/wfauv02.xml) Besides, if the Russian mafia is threatening Davedenko’s family (as McEnroe has hinted) in order to get him to throw a game, I wouldn’t past them to drug the players. There’s a lot of money to be had when a non-favorite wins. (I’m turning into one of those mumbling conspiracy theorists.) ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2008, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-open-2008-tennis/433944/37 "2008-01-25T19:54:46Z")
[QUOTE=PunditLisa] Besides, if the Russian mafia is threatening Davedenko’s family (as McEnroe has hinted) in order to get him to throw a game, I wouldn’t past them to drug the players. There’s a lot of money to be had when a non-favorite wins. [/QUOTE] I didn’t hear McEnroe say that, but I’d love to know his basis for the idea. My read on the Davydenko thing was that somebody who treated him for the ankle problem gave that information to gamblers. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2008, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-open-2008-tennis/433944/38 "2008-01-25T20:43:21Z")
[QUOTE=Marley23] I didn’t hear McEnroe say that, but I’d love to know his basis for the idea. My read on the Davydenko thing was that somebody who treated him for the ankle problem gave that information to gamblers. [/QUOTE] I may have read it in “Tennis” magazine. ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2008, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-open-2008-tennis/433944/39 "2008-01-25T20:54:29Z")
[QUOTE=Marley23] I didn’t hear McEnroe say that, but I’d love to know his basis for the idea. My read on the Davydenko thing was that somebody who treated him for the ankle problem gave that information to gamblers. [/QUOTE] The odd thing though is from what I read the bets came in after Davydenko had won the first set 6-2. A trainer could have called the Russians during the match of course. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2008, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-open-2008-tennis/433944/40 "2008-01-25T21:10:15Z")
Does the Men’s Final air on ESPN2 any other time than live? I don’t see it listed on [tennis.com](http://tennis.com) or in zap2it. I see it airs 3:30 am to 6:30 am on Sunday, but never again on ESPN2? I really want to see it, but I can’t stay awake to see it live. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-open-2008-tennis/433944.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-open-2008-tennis/433944.md?page=3)