Federer did take the fourth set 6-0. This match really turned around in the 12th game of set three, when Federer hit a backhand slice off the net cord and Andreev couldn’t return it in the court. This doesn’t bode well for Federer but Andreev is a really tough first round opponent.
And that’s an extremely disappointing loss for Robin Soderling. He won the first two sets against Marcel Granollers. He faded badly. I like him and I like his game (I think all the tennis Dopers do), but that’s a bad start to his first year as an official elite player.
I didn’t see any of it but there was a first round match today that I think was the longest women’s match in Australian history, or maybe Grand Slam history. Barbora Zahlavova Strycova of the Czech Republic beat Regina Kulikova of Russia by the score of 7-6 (5), 6-7 (10), 6-3. The match took 4 hours and 19 minutes- three minutes more than the five-set Federer-Roddick Wimbledon final last year. The sets took 86 minutes, 96 minutes, and then a brisk 77 minutes. I’m guessing these two women are very much at home on clay.
Henin looks sharp. Fell asleep three points after the Serena match started at 9pm. I had been watching the Verdasco match on TennisChannel and when coverage ended at 9pm, switched to ESPN2. They decided to cover the Serena match.
Sigh.
Oh, and the designers who created the monstrosities that Sharapova and Nadal were donning should be fired.
The Strycova/Kulikova marathon is indeed now the longest women’s match in Australian Open history. It beats the previous record of 3 hours 33 minutes, after which time Chandra Rubin emerged victorious by 6-4, 2-6, 16-14 over Arantxa Sanchez Vicario in the 1996 quarter-final.
It is also now the longest women’s match in Grand Slam history, beating the 4 hours 7 minutes occupation of the court by by Virginie Buisson and Noelle Van Lottum, the former winning 6-7 (3), 7-5, 6-2 in the 1995 French Open first round.
Juan Martin del Potro is playing James Blake tonight, but I don’t know if I can watch. If I heard Brad Gilbert call him “DelPo” one more time I’m going to scream, and it’s only been one match.
The announcers said that Louk Sorensen was the first Irishman to win a grand slam match in the Open era. Wow. 40+ yrs of Open Tennis and no Irishman has ever won a Grand Slam match?
I think Roddick acted like a jackass in the end of his match. yet it was obvious that he had a play on that shot, but it was equally obvious that he was going to challenge the call if the linesman called it “in”.
I wonder how the ball-boys feel about wearing hot pink shirts and those silly hot pink hats. I guess the hats have the flaps because of UV radiation, but wouldn’t some 40 SPF sunblock work just as well?
I like Henin (despite The Incident) and am glad she’s kicking so much ass. Unfortunately said ass kicking had to be aimed at Dementieva, whom I have no problems with.
Now, replace “Henin” with “Del Potro” and “Dementieva” with “Blake” and you’ll have my feelings on the two late night (to us Americans) matches.
I watched about two sets of del Potro-Blake and a few games of Henin-Dementieva before it just got too late last night. The del Potro match looked like a barnburner and it was good to see Blake step up and play well. It feels like he hadn’t done that in about two years. And props to Henin on a huge win. As well as Dementieva has played lately, it really looks like she just doesn’t have it in her to win a big one.
Something I’ve been meaning to ask: Where exactly do the women players put that extra ball for hitting second serves quickly? I could speculate but let’s just go with the facts for now.
Did anyone see the Tsonga/Dent match? I slept through it last night and wasn’t able to catch it this morning.
I really like both of the players and hated to see them facing each other in the early rounds. I was just curious how they both looked. Was Dent playing a lot of S&V? Were there a lot of good points or was it pretty lopsided? Was Tsonga baseline bashing only, or has he added anything new to his game?
I don’t see how Federer isn’t the odds on favorite. He’s been tested in the early rounds - but that’s very common for him. 5 Setters are not at all unusual for him the first week of majors. Even later on - it’s not uncommon to see him drop the first set before turning it on and dominating the next 3. I think he just needs a while to warm up.
On the women’s side - I’d have to put money on Serena - but emotionally I’ll be pulling for Henin. And based on the last match, I’d say Henin has a pretty solid chance to make it well into the 2nd week. Shoot - if she can get a first serve in - she can do better then that.
It hadn’t happened to him in a first-round match in a very long time. I think the last time was in the 2003 U.S. Open. (He lost the first set to Jose Acasuso and then steamrolled him.) I’d have to check what his record in the first few rounds has looked like over the years but I’d guess this has been happening a little more often lately. Which is not unexpected. In 2007, by the way, Federer won the Australian Open without losing even one a set. I didn’t get to see the Hanescu match, unfortunately. I fell asleep very early last night because I’d been up late the last few days watching tennis.
It was just a joke, unless the woman player is from Thailand. Then it’s a whole different ball game (but still tennis). I figured it was just in their shorts but thought maybe there was some kind of fancy pocket or something in there.
