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

[lags72]

Wow !!! (Both Laura and the song....)

[super_realist]

She's playing someone who is exactly like her except is in better shape. That's the difference. Laura's defence will improve as she plays the better players.

Have you seen Kvitova's beer belly?

[lags72]

Kvitova is in decent shape. You don't get through seven rounds of Wimbledon if you're not fit.

As for Laura.....her fitness has improved dramatically.

[Jeremy_Kyle]

Kvitova is a giant pill of viagra.

[The Special Juan]

Whatever happens, it's good to see Robson's kept up the good work and is improving all the time.

[super_realist]

Kvitova is a giant pill of viagra.

She's no looker

[Jeremy_Kyle]

she's got something

[laverfan]

Come on Laura, finish it now!

[Guest]

Go on the Robbo!!!

[The Special Juan]

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSS!!!

[Mad for Chelsea]

GOT IT! Brilliant!

[carrieg4]

[Guest]

Robboooooo!!!

She has balls of steel!

[time please]

Bravo Laura Robson, bravo

Very gritty performance.

[The Special Juan]

"I do not believe my goggly bins!!"

She's starting to make a habit of beating these big seeds. Sloane Stephens is next for her which will be very tough, however it is winnable.

[User 774433]

VAMOSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
LAURAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

[super_realist]

Kvitova will be hitting the Budvar

[Guest]

ALLE Robson! Wow how she came back 3-0 down, then blew serving for it once... brilliant

[laverfan]

Very glad for Robson!

[lags72]

Agree re Kvitova JK. And it's sort of indefinable.

Tremendous effort by Laura, great stuff

[User 774433]

When Nadal retires I'm quitting ATp to just watch Laura on the WTA.
She's fecking insane.

[User 774433]

There's something I like about watching left handed players.

[dummy_half]

Wow, Robson 11-9 in the third. Wonder what odds you'd have got on that at the end of Robson's rather abject first set.

Fantastic bottle, having failed to serve out for the match at (iirc) 5-4, then having to hold serve repeatedly to stay in it. Sounds like a match that improved in quality the longer it went on, even if the BBC were exagerating slightly that Kvitova had just served her 342nd double fault (I only made it the 338th).

Another former GS winner to add to Robson's role call.

Presumably the points from this will see her return quite securely into the top 50.

[Mad for Chelsea]

Really impressed by Robson's physical fitness out there, she didn't look like she was particularly struggling even after three hours of play in intense heat. So much improvement in that department. Also mentally really strong, held serve brilliantly on each occasion she was serving to stay in the match, and to fight back from 3-0 and 4-2 down in the decider was a great effort.

A word of criticism would be that she let Kvitova get ahead way too easily at the start of the third, when the Czech looked rather cooked to me, felt Robson should have forged ahead there. Not fussed about her dropping serve when trying to serve it out for the first time, Kvitova played some great points, and nerves in that situation totally understandable really. Delighted she served it out so convincingly second time around.

Not really a brilliant match, though the latter stages of the third were of very high quality, but nonetheless a brilliant win for Robson, who just goes from strength to strength.

Stephens next up, I actually watched their recent match in Hobart (?), and TBH it was very much a case of Robson losing it by making way too many errors. Stephens doesn't really have any huge weapons, and Robson if she plays well has a very decent chance.

[seanmichaels]

Really impressed by Robson's physical fitness out there

Aye, me too.

[The Special Juan]

If I dare to look past Sloane Stephens in the next round, it's Jovanovski or Date-Krumm in the 4th round. Both girls will have ideas on reaching the quarter finals but that's as far as any of them will get because Serena is waiting there. Still, it's a great chance for Laura to better her fantastic US Open run. The future is bright. The future is Robson.

[laverfan]

Fantastic bottle, having failed to serve out for the match at (iirc) 5-4, then having to hold serve repeatedly to stay in it. Sounds like a match that improved in quality the longer it went on, even if the BBC were exagerating slightly that Kvitova had just served her 342nd double fault (I only made it the 338th).

I think she served for the match at 6-5 and then 10-9. She did have BPs which she did not make. Kvitova was almost in tears many a time.

[daraghj82]

great win for laura robson, a great week for british ladies tennis so far this week

[CaledonianCraig]

What a fantastic win for Laura Robson. Great stuff. There is no doubting this girl has the temperament to go very far and if she can improve some facets of her game even more she certainly can make the top ten in my opinion and remember she is only 19 so time is on her side. I never saw the match today (followed the scores on the official app) but evidently she has a lot of bottle. She has shown she fears no one and the growing list of top players and slam winners she has beaten proves she can mix it with the very best. Onwards and upwards.

PS Any idea when Britain last had three players in the Third Round of a slam?

[dummy_half]

PS Any idea when Britain last had three players in the Third Round of a slam?

Was going to suggest 1998, when Sam Smith made the 4th round at Wimbledon - Henman made the semi-final that year, but Rusedski retired from his first round match. So you are probably looking back to the late 70s, with the likes of Wade, Barker, Lloyd and Mottram...

[monty junior]

British domination of Men's and Women's tennis nears

[newballs]

Hate to sound like a party pooper but here goes.

Kvitova served almost as many double faults as she made unforced errors. Laura for large parts of the match was no better.

OK now I got that off my chest yes Robson showed great fighting spirit to turn things around in the third set and played some half decent tennis. Having said that Kvitova was there for the taking and didn't look anything like the player that won Wimbledon in 2011.

Expectations? Well Laura's making a habit of beating top 10 player in slams and winning ugly (dare anyone to suggest otherwise!) is not a bad habit to acquire. Stephens though will come into the next round not short of confidence herself and (unlike MfC) I think she'll provide a much sterner test for Laura. Evidence for that comes from her performance recently against Serena when she was the only player in the draw not to get blown away by William's power game.

Robson can beat Stephens but she's going to have to make much fewer unforced errors than today. Maybe even following Heather's lead perhaps and sometimes letting Stephens make the unforced errors rather than going for too much too soon?

[ChequeredJersey]

She's 19 and beating players more 40 ranking positions ahead of her. Laura may not have played much better than Kvitova but as a more experienced player and a GS winner, if both players get nervy you'd expect the more experienced one to win. That this didn't happen is testament to Robson. Nobody is expecting her to win the AO so every scalp taken is fantastic

[LuvSports!]

even better shes only 18!

[newballs]

... for another 4 days

[invisiblecoolers]

Really a stunning win for cute Laura, hope she ends with something special here.

[User 774433]

IC

[The Special Juan]

First time two British women have gotten this far since 1991. No answer yet for the last time 3 Brits got this far.

[CaledonianCraig]

She's 19 and beating players more 40 ranking positions ahead of her. Laura may not have played much better than Kvitova but as a more experienced player and a GS winner, if both players get nervy you'd expect the more experienced one to win. That this didn't happen is testament to Robson. Nobody is expecting her to win the AO so every scalp taken is fantastic

Absolutely spot on.

[lags72]

Not all junior champs go on to have successful careers on the main tour as we know, but I distinctly remember telling myself when Laura won Wimbledon that she looked even then to be a little special, with a confidence & maturity that belied her tender age .........

[djlovesyou]

Not all junior champs go on to have successful careers on the main tour as we know, but I distinctly remember telling myself when Laura won Wimbledon that she looked even then to be a little special, with a confidence & maturity that belied her tender age .........

Winning a junior slam as a girl is much more of an indicator than winning a boy's slam.

The vast majority spend most of their career in the top 50, and a big percentage make the top 10.

It's not, however, an indicator of winning senior slams as so few players actually manage this.

[HM Murdock]

Hate to sound like a party pooper but here goes.

Kvitova served almost as many double faults as she made unforced errors. Laura for large parts of the match was no better.

I tend to agree. It was a match where Kvitova came down to Laura's level (and below) rather than Laura having to step up.

But that's taking it in isolation. Looking at the overall picture, it was a continuation of Laura beating higher ranked players and making a dent in slams. Keeping this trend going is the important thing, even if there are a few wobbly performances along the way.

[newballs]

HMH absolutely. Both Laura and Heather won playing nowhere near the tennis they are capable of for large parts of their respective matches.

There is a lot more to come, certainly from Robson who may well find herself in the second week of this slam, but also from Watson who hopefully will give Radwanska more to think about than at their Wimbledon meeting.

[Dave.]

Ginny Wade approves.

[The Special Juan]

Ginny Wade approves.

Love it.

[Mad for Chelsea]

just to point out that I don't think I ever said I didn't see Robson struggling with Stephens (if I did I didn't mean it). What I did mean ist that when they met it was more a case of Robson losing the match than Stephens winning it, Robson made so many errors. As such I expect the match to be very much on Robson's racquet. This is not an attack on Stephens, who strikes me as rather similar to Watson in that she has a very good tennis brain, excellent movement and shot selection, great fighting spirit, but limited power (certainly compared to Robson).

[Dave.]

Ginny Wade approves.

Love it.

You still have that meme thing you made?

[The Special Juan]

Ginny Wade approves.

Love it.

You still have that meme thing you made?

I think so. I'll dig it out.

[The Special Juan]

Spoiler:

[Silver]

Watson vs Radwanska coming up - my two favourite players so I'm definitely stopping up for this one! Really enjoy watching them both. I think it'll be more competitive than last time out, but I still see a fairly straightforward straight sets win for Agnieszka.

Anyone else tuning in live...?

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