Topic: 2012 ATP Australian Open

[falcon]

Rafa contrary to what many presume is a smart player during a match. He just has a few dimensions to his game and he puts them all to good use in a match and that's something I love to watch from a player that doesn't boast of variety. If he doesn't win against a particular player, he will lose to him a dozen times but eventually will add that skill to his small repertoire and then use it smartly the 13th time he's playing the guy and will win.

[Dallas]

Uhm... who should I pull for - Rafa or Novak?  Well, when Novak first came up on the scene - I didn't like him - or rather, I didn't like his parents!   Now that they are not on the scene, I'm warming up more to Novak.  I've never had a problem with Rafa (other than the fact that he beats my Roger all the time)

So...I guess for this championship, I'll probably be rooting for................ (where's Alex?)..............Let's go Novak!!!! (wow, did I just say that????)

[Babblelot]

Alex is on everyday but likely won't post until after Nole wins... I guess   

[Gawdblessya]

Today tennis was the only winner,no matter who your a fan of.This top 4 we have entertain.Going back the competition was a lot weaker than this.I can't believe how some of you pick faults in the tennis players.The work these guys put in is amazing.

Great comment, SID   Well it was a superb SF from both Djokovic & Murray, each having to survive dips in consistency & fight for survival. I saw the highlights & to see Murray play like this gives me heart looking forward for the rest of the season.  Good man he.

As for Djokovic,  this win is the hallmark of a great champion. Not playing his best tennis and up against a determined opponent in great form, he kept his resolve & created his chances when it mattered.   

In the final, expecting Nadal to do anything other than to put up a good fight would be wide of the mark.  This promises to be a great match & I can't wait to see it.   I pick Djokovic for the win, but it won't be easy.  In the end it is likely to come down to who can remain on his feet for longer.   If these two decide to outplay each other via MTO's, it could go on all night! 

[Tennis4you]

Today tennis was the only winner,no matter who your a fan of.This top 4 we have entertain.Going back the competition was a lot weaker than this.I can't believe how some of you pick faults in the tennis players.The work these guys put in is amazing.

Great comment, SID   Well it was a superb SF from both Djokovic & Murray, each having to survive dips in consistency & fight for survival. I saw the highlights & to see Murray play like this gives me heart looking forward for the rest of the season.  Good man he.

As for Djokovic,  this win is the hallmark of a great champion. Not playing his best tennis and up against a determined opponent in great form, he kept his resolve & created his chances when it mattered.   

In the final, expecting Nadal to do anything other than to put up a good fight would be wide of the mark.  This promises to be a great match & I can't wait to see it.   I pick Djokovic for the win, but it won't be easy.  In the end it is likely to come down to who can remain on his feet for longer.   If these two decide to outplay each other via MTO's, it could go on all night! 

Should be fun!  And regardless if you think the SF was good tennis or not, it sure was entertaining!

[garion]

I thought both semis were pretty good. I still haven't finished watching the Nadal/Fed match. Just the first 2 sets... but I think it's looked pretty good so far.    And Fed had looked really good coming into the semis.

[propstoart]

Guys, some credit must be given to these guys for playing such an excellent return game. Muzza and Djoker are 2 of the best returners in the business and they were belting the ball back at the servers' shoelaces all night long.. The last game in the 4th set, Djoker won with 3 consecutive return winners.. Just sick..I know Muzza does not have the biggest serve in the game , but still, playing nigh on 4 hours, at that stage, for Nole to turn it on like that was mind-blowing..
Roger needs to look at the consistency and depth of the baseline rallies in this SF as the standard he has to achieve to hang with the the Top 3 (to me Murray is the World No. 3).. especially when spring rolls around on the European clay.. I admit, Rafa seems to have a great chance at breaking Djokovic's jinx on him, especially if the Serb falters so badly on serve again.. Neverthelss, if Novak is is good mental and physical shape and his baseline game remains as rampant, then Rafa will have a fight on his hands.. 

[Babblelot]

Today tennis was the only winner,no matter who your a fan of.This top 4 we have entertain.Going back the competition was a lot weaker than this.I can't believe how some of you pick faults in the tennis players.The work these guys put in is amazing.

This is coming from sid?     

Good stuff, sid 

[Babblelot]

Today tennis was the only winner,no matter who your a fan of.This top 4 we have entertain.Going back the competition was a lot weaker than this.I can't believe how some of you pick faults in the tennis players.The work these guys put in is amazing.

Great comment, SID   Well it was a superb SF from both Djokovic & Murray, each having to survive dips in consistency & fight for survival. I saw the highlights & to see Murray play like this gives me heart looking forward for the rest of the season.  Good man he.

As for Djokovic,  this win is the hallmark of a great champion. Not playing his best tennis and up against a determined opponent in great form, he kept his resolve & created his chances when it mattered.   

In the final, expecting Nadal to do anything other than to put up a good fight would be wide of the mark.  This promises to be a great match & I can't wait to see it.   I pick Djokovic for the win, but it won't be easy.  In the end it is likely to come down to who can remain on his feet for longer.   If these two decide to outplay each other via MTO's, it could go on all night! 

Should be fun!  And regardless if you think the SF was good tennis or not, it sure was entertaining!

And regardless of whether you thought the second SF was "ALL THAT" or not, it doesn't deserve the label "the real final" just because Nadal is in the real final.

[Babblelot]

forget djokovic 2.0, forget the rest day, forget everything........nadal wants this slam so badly that he will come there to fight for 6 hours if it goes that long.......he will show absolutely no mercy now that the opponent is djokovic.......

nadal just needs to take one of the first two sets and he will win the final in 4 or 5 sets.......he will come there to fight like never before.......he was not well rested for us open final 3 best of 5 sets matches in 4 days and despite all that he lasted for 4 hours.......imagine what a fully rested and determined nadal will do.......

there is no way in heaven or earth or hell that djokovic wins this match.......he is going down! nadal will fight one of the greatest fights and take it all.......

I do not see Nole not winning over Rafa!  He has his number!  When a player has your number; you need to change your game - improve upon it to meet or be better some how.  Nadal still has the same game as 2011!  Just an opinion based on Djokovic's dominance over Nadal in 2011!  I think it was 6 times straight or something to that number.

That was my thought, too, Harry. In this match, I'm thinking

Match up > rest

A Nole victory wouldn't be amazing based on his struggle past Murray alone.

[Bazcovic]

I was thinking that, since Nadal is a "rhythm player", this extra day off may not be optimal in terms of his tennis.
Djokovic will probably want to avoid the longer rallies against Nadal as much as possible, given the match he had vs. Murray.

An aggressive Djokovic vs. a fit and running Nadal, yields a four-set win of Djokovic over Nadal.

Simple, huh? 

[mikey11]

Yet again the Women's tennis is a dud! (6-3, 6-0 an hour and quarter and shrieking galore)

They don't deserve the prize money, if you ask me. WTA is far inferior to the ATP.

WTA needs a real superstar.

[Babblelot]

That's why no one is talking about it in this thread. 

[Gawdblessya]

Guys, some credit must be given to these guys for playing such an excellent return game. Muzza and Djoker are 2 of the best returners in the business and they were belting the ball back at the servers' shoelaces all night long.. The last game in the 4th set, Djoker won with 3 consecutive return winners.. Just sick..I know Muzza does not have the biggest serve in the game , but still, playing nigh on 4 hours, at that stage, for Nole to turn it on like that was mind-blowing..
Roger needs to look at the consistency and depth of the baseline rallies in this SF as the standard he has to achieve to hang with the the Top 3 (to me Murray is the World No. 3).. especially when spring rolls around on the European clay.. I admit, Rafa seems to have a great chance at breaking Djokovic's jinx on him, especially if the Serb falters so badly on serve again.. Neverthelss, if Novak is is good mental and physical shape and his baseline game remains as rampant, then Rafa will have a fight on his hands.. 

I enjoyed your analysis, PROPSTOART.  What is clear looking forward is that, all else being equal, it will take no more than a slight dip in the form of one for the others to get past.  In other words, there is little in it between them, from what I can tell at present.  And although it hurts me to say this, I agree that from what I've seen in this tournament, Federer looks more vulnerable than Murray, if only because I can't see Federer surviving a well contested 5 set match against the other 3, whereas Murray could conceivably hold his own.

And I love the quote from Socrates. He was a truly inspired sportsman, an artist. He played the beautiful game, beautifully.

[Babblelot]

Guys, some credit must be given to these guys for playing such an excellent return game. Muzza and Djoker are 2 of the best returners in the business and they were belting the ball back at the servers' shoelaces all night long.. The last game in the 4th set, Djoker won with 3 consecutive return winners.. Just sick..I know Muzza does not have the biggest serve in the game , but still, playing nigh on 4 hours, at that stage, for Nole to turn it on like that was mind-blowing..
Roger needs to look at the consistency and depth of the baseline rallies in this SF as the standard he has to achieve to hang with the the Top 3 (to me Murray is the World No. 3).. especially when spring rolls around on the European clay.. I admit, Rafa seems to have a great chance at breaking Djokovic's jinx on him, especially if the Serb falters so badly on serve again.. Neverthelss, if Novak is is good mental and physical shape and his baseline game remains as rampant, then Rafa will have a fight on his hands.. 

No one has argued that the final games of an otherwise crap match weren't exciting.

"Fear/Prowess of the returner" had nothing to do with the first 4 hours of this mess.

Again, did people actually watch the entire match?

At what point did people who thought this match was special tune in?

[monstertruck]

I was thinking that, since Nadal is a "rhythm player", this extra day off may not be optimal in terms of his tennis.
Djokovic will probably want to avoid the longer rallies against Nadal as much as possible, given the match he had vs. Murray.

An aggressive Djokovic vs. a fit and running Nadal, yields a four-set win of Djokovic over Nadal.

Simple, huh? 

Rest assured Nadal will hit tons of balls between his semi & the final.  I'd say look for the usual slow start from Raf until he gets his feel for Nole's ball. 

I'll go with the Clubber Lang prediction for another match full of PAIN!!!

[monstertruck]

Guys, some credit must be given to these guys for playing such an excellent return game. Muzza and Djoker are 2 of the best returners in the business and they were belting the ball back at the servers' shoelaces all night long.. The last game in the 4th set, Djoker won with 3 consecutive return winners.. Just sick..I know Muzza does not have the biggest serve in the game , but still, playing nigh on 4 hours, at that stage, for Nole to turn it on like that was mind-blowing..
Roger needs to look at the consistency and depth of the baseline rallies in this SF as the standard he has to achieve to hang with the the Top 3 (to me Murray is the World No. 3).. especially when spring rolls around on the European clay.. I admit, Rafa seems to have a great chance at breaking Djokovic's jinx on him, especially if the Serb falters so badly on serve again.. Neverthelss, if Novak is is good mental and physical shape and his baseline game remains as rampant, then Rafa will have a fight on his hands.. 

No one has argued that the final games of an otherwise crap match weren't exciting.

"Fear/Prowess of the returner" had nothing to do with the first 4 hours of this mess.

Again, did people actually watch the entire match?

At what point did people who thought this match was special tune in?

I guess the eyes see what the mind believes.....

Hell, even Nole acknowledged as much in his thanks to Laver for sticking around to the end of the match!

[Start da Game]

forget djokovic 2.0, forget the rest day, forget everything........nadal wants this slam so badly that he will come there to fight for 6 hours if it goes that long.......he will show absolutely no mercy now that the opponent is djokovic.......

nadal just needs to take one of the first two sets and he will win the final in 4 or 5 sets.......he will come there to fight like never before.......he was not well rested for us open final 3 best of 5 sets matches in 4 days and despite all that he lasted for 4 hours.......imagine what a fully rested and determined nadal will do.......

there is no way in heaven or earth or hell that djokovic wins this match.......he is going down! nadal will fight one of the greatest fights and take it all.......

I do not see Nole not winning over Rafa!  He has his number!  When a player has your number; you need to change your game - improve upon it to meet or be better some how.  Nadal still has the same game as 2011!  Just an opinion based on Djokovic's dominance over Nadal in 2011!  I think it was 6 times straight or something to that number.

nadal can play the exact same 2011 game and get it done in 6 hours if the match goes that long.......he has the physical reserves for such a match, something which he lacked for the us final because of obvious scheduling mess.......and the fact of the matter is that he is actually playing better than his ultra muggy 2011 level.......now that is something we really need to take into account......

when it's nadal and djokovic, tennis court appears to have shrunk to the size of a 3/6 wooden cot.......with both players moving like crazy and covering acres of real estate, margins are so tight for either player to strike clean winners.......

so the keys to either player is going to be depth and physical stamina.......whoever maintains solid depth and wears down the other is the winner......nadal can compensate for slight lack of depth with his extraordinary physical reserves and movement but the moment djokovic starts dropping short, he will be punished this time......mark my words......the balls don't bounce that high on this surface and novak won't have the same comfort he enjoyed on high bouncing IW, miami, rome, madrid and us open to swing freely from height......

nadal will bring his off forehand into play and test him with slices and do a lot of other things......

[Start da Game]

Rafa contrary to what many presume is a smart player during a match. He just has a few dimensions to his game and he puts them all to good use in a match and that's something I love to watch from a player that doesn't boast of variety. If he doesn't win against a particular player, he will lose to him a dozen times but eventually will add that skill to his small repertoire and then use it smartly the 13th time he's playing the guy and will win.

exactly......he makes the best use of whatever he's got......the only thing that could peg him back is if he starts moonballing off his backhand, he will lose the direction very rapidly.......but i don't think that happens because i saw his intent against fed with the backhand......he was prepared to hit a lot of flat groundstrokes off either wing and intitally made a few errors too, but found his range eventually......

rafa needs to ensure he takes one of the first two sets.......he will grind the match out from there.......

[falcon]

This is Rafa's slam to win! vamos Rafa