-Will Nadal do it? That is, will he win four in a row? I think he will.
-Will Henin win any majors this year? I would like to think so, but for some reason or another I don’t think she will.
-Will Novak keep raising his game and win another major (this one?)?
-Thoughts on Federer’s game at all?
Nadal has to be the favorite with all the improvements he made in his game last year, and he won in Australia only two years ago. There could be some tough matches for him, including Lopez or Falla (the guy who almost beat Federer at Wimbledon) in the third round and Isner or Cilic in the fourth.
Federer has tinkered with his style since he hired Paul Annacone last summer and it worked out very well for him. He played more aggressively and was much more successful in the second half of the year. If he keeps playing that way and stops giving away break points - well, he’s already won this tournament four times, so it goes without saying he can do it.
If it’s not one of those two, I think it’ll be Soderling. The Davis Cup win could be big for Djokovic but even after his US Open win over Federer, I don’t think he’s on the level of the top two guys. Ordinarily you couldn’t suggest someone ranked #4 was a dark horse, but Nadal and Federer have dominated the sport so thoroughly over the last six-plus years that it’s a surprise when they don’t win a tournament. Just a reminder: Federer and Nadal have won 24 of the last 26 majors dating back to Wimbledon 2004. That’s insane.
I’ll tell you who got a really bad break here: Andy Murray. He could get Del Potro in the fourth round. Del Potro can’t be all the way back yet and he’d have to beat several lower seeds first, but if Del Potro is match ready, Murray could be in serious trouble. Berdych and Verdasco could play in the fourth round, which would be a really interesting matchup. If they meet and they play well you’d have to estimate around 4 million winners in that one.
Interesting first round matches: people are already talking about Hewitt and Nalbandian (rematch of the 2002 Wimbledon final). I’m interested in De Bakker vs. Monfils and Wawrinka vs. Gabashvili.
In the women’s tournament, who the hell knows what’s going to happen? With Serena Williams out it looks like anybody’s game. It’s a great shot for Wozniacki but I think the idea of one of the veterans seizing the opportunity makes more sense. Clijsters looked great at the US Open. Henin isn’t totally healthy. I’m not sure how Venus is doing. If she can’t win here then there may be no chance she wins any major but Wimbledon again. Wozniacki and Henin could meet in the quarters, which might be a very good one. Radwanski and Date-Krumm could make for a fun first round match.
I hope it is a Roger/Nadal final. We haven’t had them play in a major in forever, though they did just play in the championship final(which was a pretty good match, by the way).
Qualifying is still going on, if anyone is interested. It looks good for Coco Vandeweghe (niece of Kiki), who is the top qualifier seed on the women’s side. Sania Mirza is through two rounds. I know she hasn’t won anything in ages, but I’m still a little surprised she has to qualify.
Sharapova wins her first round match. And the chair umpire sounded like a French Barry White. That should be an amusing distraction for the next two weeks. And De Bakker is up a set and a break on Monfils.
I like Venus’s outfit but it’s way too tight. Does she find that wearing ill fitting garments help sales in her fashion line? A shame she & Errani met so early. it was a very good match & I like Errani’s attitude.
I would normally expect Nalbandian to prevail over Hewitt but Nalbandian got very badly sunburnt in Auckland last weekend & I did wonder if that was why he was so flat against Ferrer.
To win Men’s singles Nadal
Women’s Azarenka
Men’s doubles Bryan Brothere
Women’s doubles Srebotnik & partner. (I’d be happy to be wrong about this one, as they are meeting the only kiwi, Erakovic, in the first round. But they demolished Erakovic & Arvidsonn in the final of the ASB Classic a couple of weeks ago & look to be in marvellous form.
Nadal would get a non-calendar year Slam if he wins this one. Unless you’re predicting he wins this one and then the next three!
De Bakker pulled off a serious choke against Monfils. He was up two sets and had a break later in the third, but managed to lose. That was very disappointing. All the big names won easily except for Querrey, who’s made a real habit of losing in the first round at majors.
My new favorite player - Kimiko Date-Krumm! 40 years old and tied one set all with #12 seed Radwanska! I doubt she will win the match, but she makes old people look good!
By “calendar slam” I actually meant rolling calendar, as in 4 in a row in 12 months, but not contained to one year. Though a 2011 Grand Slam is not outside the realm of possibility the way he was beating the ball yesterday. Holy moley.
I missed Federer and DelPotro’s matches. How did they look?
I didn’t get to see much of Del Potro, but he did win in three. He gets Baghdatis next, which should be a bigger test even though Baghdatis usually finds a way to come up small these days. Federer looked great. Murray also won easily. Tsonga almost got beaten, but he came back from two sets down.
Date-Krumm has been really impressive in her comeback. I’m sure it helped that after she retired, she started running marathons and then decided to give tennis another try. She put Radwanska on the ropes but didn’t have quite enough to finish it off. She did push her to 7-5 in the third. Props to Radwanska for not losing her focus when her racquet broke during the final game. I didn’t hear anyone explain what happened, but during one point - I think at deuce - she hit the ball and the head of her racquet flew off. I’ve never seen anything like that.
I’m guessing most people have given up on Safina by now, but Clijsters crushed her 6-0, 6-0. It doesn’t help that Clijsters has to be one of the favorites, but it’s hard to see Safina getting her head back together.
Two points prior, she had smashed the ground with her racquet a few times. The announcers opined that she didn’t go and get a new racquet at that time because she’d already been warned about her behavior earlier and risked getting a penalty.
Which brings me to another point. I didn’t see it live but my friend told me that Date-Krumm had been up something like 4-1 in the third set, and Radwanska took an injury time-out. Date-Krumm tried to stay warm by jogging in place, etc., but when the time-up was over, she lost all momentum.
IMO, they simply MUST do something about these injury time-outs. Players are using these phantom injuries to ice their opponent when they’re getting their asses kicked. Personally, I think they should lose one game. There has to be SOME downside to halting the game and, in the process, ruining your opponent’s momentum. It’s not sportsmanlike, it’s not fair, and no other sport allows it.
Sounds like Safina made her usual dismal showing. Wisely, Sky over here elected to stay with the Ivanovic Makarova match - which Makarova won. Very cool customer.
I thought Hewitt had it in the bag so I went to bed, but I see Nalbandian won!
I really liked Safina when she first started playing, but it has been painful to watch her head ruin her game. I wish she could find her game again. She was fun to watch.
Venus’ dress was horrible. As much tennis as I play, I have never seen anyone wearing something from her line. Is anyone besides Venus wearing it?
Have to wonder what Stella McCartney was thinking when she designed Wozniacki’s outfit. Way to make a young, fit tennis player look frumpy!
Meh. The NFL allows it by virtue of coaches throwing a challenge flag. Takes a while, and totally kills momentum. Costs you a timeout, plus you only get two challenges all game (with a bonus third if you get both right) so it’s not exactly free, but hey, if the opponent is whuppin’ your butt you may as well throw it and try to regroup.
I tend not to have sympathy for a side that loses momentum from stoppages, but I also cannot stand “free” stoppages. Every time the action stops, there should be consequences. For example, again in the NFL, if a player goes down with an injury, no matter what he cannot play the next play. This gives disincentive for faking injuries, which is good.
Maybe some kind of disincentive system for stoppages is in order. How about every unplanned stoppage, regardless of reason, costs a challenge? When out of challenges, it costs you a point, up to awarding a game but not a set or match.
Despite all the work he’s put in to improving his defense and movement, Roddick is back to standing way behind the baseline and he’s not playing aggressively. It’s not going to hurt him against Kunitsyn, but I see him losing soon if he keeps playing like this. In the next round he could get Haase in the next round and Wawrinka or Monfils after that. Haase has a huge serve and an aggressive style, and Wawrinka has that great backhand. Monfils can track anything down and hit winners from all over, but he doesn’t dictate play either.
Tipsarevic, the guy who beat Roddick at the U.S. Open last year, is up two sets on Verdasco. Henin won her match against Baltacha (there’s a name nobody deserves) so Henin gets Kuznetsova on Thursday. They have nine major titles between them (seven for Henin), which is a lot to be meeting in the third round of a major.
Spoiler below for the folks who are going to watch the Federer match taped:
Simon took 2 sets off of Federer and they are now tied at 2 sets all, and on serve in the 5th. Simon has a 2-0 record against Federer. And, even more telling, Federer looks worried. I really want to see a Federer/Nadal final, but it’s hard to root against a whippersnapper taking on a giant.