Australian Open 2013 Match Thread

[User 774433]

First topic message reminder :

Australian Open 2013:

Information: The Australian Open is a major tennis tournament held annually over the last fortnight of January in Melbourne, Australia. First held in 1905, the tournament is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events of the year – the other three being the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open. It features men's and women's singles; men's, women's, and mixed doubles and junior's championships; as well as wheelchair, legends and exhibition events. Since 1988 the tournament has been played on hard courts at Melbourne Park.
The Australian Open typically has very high attendance, second only to the US Open. It was also the first Grand Slam tournament to feature indoor play during wet weather or extreme heat with its two primary courts, Rod Laver Arena and Hisense Arena, equipped with retractable roofs.

Day by Day Match Reports: http://www.sportpulse.net/category/tennis

v2 Preview: https://www.606v2.com/t39437-australian-open-2013-the-contenders#1785084

Dates: January 14 - January 27

Draw: http://www.australianopen.com/en_AU/scores/draws/ms/index.html

Schedule: http://www.australianopen.com/en_AU/scores/schedule/index.html

AO Rankings Points Tracker: https://www.606v2.com/t39351-points-tracker-ao-2013


Ready? Play.

Amritia3ee

[Mad for Chelsea]

has Davydenko turned Ukrainian while I had my back turned?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2013/jan/15/andy-murray-roger-federer-australian-open

[lags72]

Have dear old Roger play during the day where he might suffer in the conditions? Come on now!!
.........................................................

Well he's always said he doesn't mind playing in the heat and of course spends so much of his practise time in Dubai that he's more than accustomed to extremes of temperature.

Can't say I've ever noticed him 'suffer' before under a hot sun - although as the years catch up, even the cool one's shirt might actually get wet .........

[djlovesyou]

has Davydenko turned Ukrainian while I had my back turned?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2013/jan/15/andy-murray-roger-federer-australian-open

He's Ukrainian born, but he's never played for them.

[hawkeye]

Good Grief! Roger has got Davydenko in the third round. How fair is that? Davydenko was looking scary good in Doha demolishing Ferrer 6-2 6-3. He also looked very good against Gasquet in the fist set and a half. What a shame for Davydenko. Against any other player he would have a good chance of coming through.

[carrieg4]

Good Grief! Roger has got Davydenko in the third round. How fair is that? Davydenko was looking scary good in Doha demolishing Ferrer 6-2 6-3. He also looked very good against Gasquet in the fist set and a half. What a shame for Davydenko. Against any other player he would have a good chance of coming through.

Maybe in Ferrers quarter. He hasn't beaten Djokovic or Murray since 2008.

[Dave.]

What grit from Watson today, brilliant to see. Makes a change from some of the Brit women who forget to play tennis a set and a break up!

[invisiblecoolers]

Good Grief! Roger has got Davydenko in the third round. How fair is that? Davydenko was looking scary good in Doha demolishing Ferrer 6-2 6-3. He also looked very good against Gasquet in the fist set and a half. What a shame for Davydenko. Against any other player he would have a good chance of coming through.

Neither at their best, could be interesting.

[Danny_1982]

I think Mats Willander has been drinking... I heard him say earlier that Murray is the favourite and yet I've just heard him say that Novak is favourite because he's "the greatest hard court player of all time, or at worst will be within a few years"

A couple of very odd statements.

[Mad for Chelsea]

whatever Willander's been smoking, I want some of that, seems like powerful stuff

Djokovic is probably well on his way to being in the top 5 HC players of all time, to be fair, but has quite a way to go before he can be up for discussions with the greatest.

[LuvSports!]

HE you mean hes got him this round, the 2nd round, tomic or brands in the 3rd.

[The Special Juan]

Mayer's dropped the first set again

[laverfan]

Watching two SHBHs, Weintraub v Kohlschreiber. Nice FH and BH from Amir so far, a bit error-prone, but still a good youngster to watch.

I am not sure Mayer will get through this round.

[The Special Juan]

I've never heard of Weintraub before. He looks to be putting up a better fight in the second set. Mayer's struggling to hold serve at 5-3.

[laverfan]

Mayer seems to heading towards an exit, down two sets now, with Berankis to server first in the third set. Terrible net play.

[CaledonianCraig]

Tsonga wins the first set but trails Soeda 4-1 in the second set.

[The Special Juan]

I'm just going by the scores so I can't see anything but Mayer's had a shocker so far in this tournament. After the first round though I can't rule out a comeback but even if he does make it through, what shape will he be in?

[The Special Juan]

Azarenka through for the loss of a solitary game. Now that was quick.

[laverfan]

Mayer broken again in the first game. The comeback looks very tough now.

[The Special Juan]

Up a break now in the 3rd is Berankis. Bodes reasonably well for Mr Murray. His opponents are getting ranked lower (or is it higher?) with each match!

[The Special Juan]

55 minutes for Azza. Someone was in a mighty hurry.

[laverfan]

Weintraub had an SP against Kohli.

[The Special Juan]

Come on Go, here's your chance.

[The Special Juan]

Berankis 2 games away from the match. I should go to bed......

[laverfan]

Berankis to serve for the match with a double break.

[The Special Juan]

Come on Florian, the comeback is on

[laverfan]

Mayer gone. TSJ and commiserations.

[The Special Juan]

We're a bunch of vultures!!

I'm away now, come on Andy

[CaledonianCraig]

Tsonga back in the second set and about to serve at 5-6 with a tie-break beckoning.

[CaledonianCraig]

Crisis over. Tsonga races through the tie-break dropping only one point and leads 6-3 7-6. Game over me thinks. I suspect the third set will be far more straight forward for Jo.

[ryan86]

Adidas must be raking it in with that yellow and grey dress, every womens match I've seen appears to have had at least one player wearing it.

[CaledonianCraig]

And Tsonga wraps up the win against Go Soeda winning 6-3 7-6 6-3 in a fraction over two hours. A typical Tsonga performance with some great inventive shots, powerful play interspersed with spells of rash unforced errors and mental walkabouts. Straight forward in the end though. However, better players take full advantage of his slips hence why he has never been able to break into the top four. Potential is there but he just lacks in one or two key departments for me.

[Mad for Chelsea]

first thoughts on Sousa is that he simply doesn't have the weapons to bother a decent Murray out there, Murray breaks comfortably for 2-1.

[Mad for Chelsea]

Murray breaks again, 4-1, rather gifted that one did Sousa. The problem is you just don't get the feeling he's in control of any rallies so far, he just can't hit through Murray and doesn't have the consistency to stay with him. Murray less impressive than against Haase so far, but you feel he doesn't need to be.

[Mad for Chelsea]

comfortable first set for Murray 6-2, solid enough against a limited opponent.

[CaledonianCraig]

Murray in control at 6-2 4-0 getting the job done with the minimum fuss so far. Meanwhile, Raonic looks set to progress as he leads Rosol by two sets to love.

[Mad for Chelsea]

that's how to serve out a set: ace, ace, big serve and drive volley winner, big serve and FH winner. Murray leads 6-2 6-2.

[CaledonianCraig]

A slight dip in that set from Murray but nowadays he doesn't let them bother him like they used to. Another similar type set here and Andy will have this wrapped up in around an hour and a half.

[CaledonianCraig]

Meanwhile, Bernard Tomic has lost a first set tie-break against world No.120 Daniel Brands of Germany.

[Mad for Chelsea]

Tomic looks like he's struggling with the heat out there, hardly pushing up on serve at all. Brands looks a decent enough player, but really shouldn't be troubling someone with Tomic's skill set.

[Mad for Chelsea]

that'll do, Murray clearly looking to save energy in the third set there once he got the early break, not chasing down so many balls, and looking to save his legs in the heat. He goes through 6-2 6-2 6-4 in a very polished performance.

[CaledonianCraig]

Yes a competent win in testing conditions for Andy. Tomic becoming embroiled in a real battle.

[Mad for Chelsea]

didn't face a BP I think? That's always nice. On and off quickly, just what the doctor ordered really.

[Mad for Chelsea]

wow! Tomic breaks Brands with some great hustling finished off by a passing winner Murray would have been proud of. He'll serve for the second set at 6-5, is that the moment he needs to finally get going here?

[CaledonianCraig]

Tomic breaks serve at the end of the second set and looks poised to level the match up at one set all

[bogbrush]

The upcoming Federer /Davydenko match brings to mind their meeting in 2010 played in the same slot, when Federer couldn't cope at all until the Sun dipped below the stands. He not want a similar start against a guy showing form.

[CaledonianCraig]

Head-to-Head record - Federer 17 Davydenko 2. Does that put your mind at rest?

[laverfan]

First set in the bag for the has-been GOAT.

[Guest]

Davy???

[laverfan]

Davy???

The Other GOAT.

[The Special Juan]

Just the 29 double faults for Monfils today!!

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