Australian Open: Day Two - 2014

First topic message reminder :

http://www.ausopen.com/en_AU/scores/schedule/schedule7.html

Apart from Nadal v Tomic, some other interesting matches on Day 2 are (IMO)..

Murray v Soeda - Murray back at a slam after his back-surgery break.

Two Australian youngsters in Kyrgios and Kokkinakis in their first round matches may have better luck than Tomic.

Will Hogstedt make a difference to Wozniacki's slam aspirations?

Federer plays Duckworth who can be a handful.

Simon breaks to lead 15-14 and will serve for the match. Cilic breaks in the fifth set and leads 4-2.

And Simon wins 16-14 and looks like he will play Cilic in the Second Round. Tsonga potentially awaits in the Third Round and he will be fancying his chances now.

Done deal, Cilic gets in 6-2 in the fifth, battle of the rather shagged blokes in the second round

Mad for Chelsea wrote:Never compromise. Not even in the face of Armageddon. That's always been the difference between us, Jahu.

Flirting with me in a destructive way?  

8 (male) players pulling out in the first round sets a new record apparently. Seems to be a disturbing trend nowadays, players arriving at GS only half-fit, and not able to cope with conditions (Wimbers saw loads of retirements last year too did it not?).

Players fainting, vomiting, ball boys fainting, like playing in desert.

For some reason I doubt players arrived half fit... maybe they arrived too late, and didn't acclimatize in time?

In his loss today, Hewitt has equaled the open era record for 5 set matches played (41, tied with Agassi).

Thanks for the updates through the early hours, Craig.

Well I certainly felt the heat today at Melbourne Park - and I wasn't actually playing   

I pushed my way through a very crowded practice court (No. 16) to watch Rafa hitting for around 40 mins total, with some rest periods between the various routines directed by ever-present Uncle Toni.

Just before leaving the court, he came over to sign autographs for a number of kids (and a couple of over-excited adults too ....) At this point I was just a couple of metres from him, and I was convinced he looked much leaner than in recent years, with rather less muscle and 'bulk' on him. Could be wrong of course, but that was my impression.

Didn't have a ticket for evening session at Rod Laver Arena ; but as things turned out, Rafa's practice lasted longer than his match !

Silver wrote:In his loss today, Hewitt has equaled the open era record for 5 set matches played (41, tied with Agassi).

Thanks for the updates through the early hours, Craig.

No problem and thanks Silver.

Presumably as Novak started on the first day and Murray and Rafa started day 2, that means that should all get through to next week unscathed that Novak's quarter final and semi final will be the day before (tues and thur) and the other half will be a day after (wed and fri)?

Is that right? Trying to make sure I have time off booked for the correct days, in other words Rafa's and Murray's half of the draw.

What a great match the Hewitt and Seppi match, neither guy is an overwhelming server so the final set had so many twists and turns. First Seppi up a break, then hewitt levels, and then Seppi breaks to win the match 7-5 in the fifth. Feel for Hewitt, the guy just has to battle so hard because he lacks the big serve and big forehand of other competitors. Donald young through to the second round and that is news he actually won a match.

socal1976 wrote:What a great match the Hewitt and Seppi match, neither guy is an overwhelming server so the final set had so many twists and turns. First Seppi up a break, then hewitt levels, and then Seppi breaks to win the match 7-5 in the fifth. Feel for Hewitt, the guy just has to battle so hard because he lacks the big serve and big forehand of other competitors. Donald young through to the second round and that is news he actually won a match.

Donald I think was lucky as Haase retired through cramping, but a win is a win.

Would like a Novak v Andy final (third time lucky for Andy!), but he has a tough route in order to get there which I think is asking a bit much especially after a lack of match play.

SL, I still am not convinced Andy has worked out the Nadal matchup. I think in a final against Novak he would have a good shot, Novak would be favored but would not be the heavy favorite. However I want to see Andy take out Nadal at a slam, I know he has done it before but I think Nadal is better now on hardcourts and Andy is better as well it has been some time since they have locked horns in a slam and I think I give the edge to Nadal. Nadal's weight of shot seems to bother Andy more than it bothers Novak.

Socal - agree with most you say, so it may surprise you to hear that the hard court H2H is 6-5 to Rafa. Pretty close, especially considering the player Murray has grown into over the past 2 years, during which they haven't even played.

Essentially though, I would be really surprised if Murray took out Rafa in Melbourne. As we type he's played 3 competetive matches since his surgery in September. You can't beat a man like Rafa in those circumstances.

Silver wrote:In his loss today, Hewitt has equaled the open era record for 5 set matches played (41, tied with Agassi).


......................

Interesting. I assume that includes five setters played across ALL events, ie not just Slams ........?

Hewitt has notched up another milestone, along with Roger Federer : after yesterday, they both now have 59 appearances (non-consecutive) in Slams, two behind Agassi with 61. For consecutive appearances, Federer now stands alone with 57.

Less impressively, I fear Hewitt may have set another, but rather different, sort of record yesterday (or perhaps have even broken his own....??) - this time for the greatest number of first round exits at your 'home' Slam. This was his seventh at the AO (he has chalked up another seven R1 exits across the other Slams combined).

Not sure this has happened before - or at least not by a former World No 1 + double Slam champ. .......  

Danny_1982 wrote:Socal - agree with most you say, so it may surprise you to hear that the hard court H2H is 6-5 to Rafa. Pretty close, especially considering the player Murray has grown into over the past 2 years, during which they haven't even played.

Essentially though, I would be really surprised if Murray took out Rafa in Melbourne. As we type he's played 3 competetive matches since his surgery in September. You can't beat a man like Rafa in those circumstances.

Yes Danny, you have to be in top match form and though Murray is a talent he may still be battling some rust when it comes to the rigors of playing against a Nadal or Djoko in a 5 setter for all the marbles. I am actually not surprised by that statistic on hardcourts. Nadal was vulnerable on hardcourts up until 2010, in fairness he was brilliant in 09 AO as well but then had some injuries. The Nadal of 2010-2014 is different animal on a hardcourt in comparison to the players who used to lose to Blake and Davydenko and even Ferrer on the hardcourts. He has improved his flat forehand and his serve much, much better than earlier in his career. Plus last year he started to step in actually blast some returns for winners on second serves instead of backing up on every second serve return. Murray to me especially on the forehand seems to be bothered by Nadal's heavy spin and angles more than Djokovic is. Possibly it is because Novak stands a bit closer in to the baseline and hits with a more western grip which helps to handle that high ball.

I thought Murray was hugely impressive today. He looks to have got his game at a very high level. I doubt he is fit enough to reach the final but, as it currently stands, I would now be surprised (given his draw and apparent form) if he lost before the QF and I would give him a 50-50 shot against Fed. I can't recall him looking better than that since the end of 2011.

Socal - I always thought the two areas Murray struggled with against Rafa were returning Rafa's serve (which he doesn't struggle with against anyone else) and balls played short to the forehand (Rafa used the short slice so effectively against him in the past).

Today, Murray is much better at dealing with short balls than he used to be, he is much more comfortable attacking them... but his return is the same. So it would be interesting to see how he deals with it. He's said before that Rafa's serve has more spin than anyone's so it's tough to judge. Funny how the other great returner in the game (Novak) doesn't have that problem though.

Rafa's FHDTL is, in my opinion, the best shot on the tour right now and a lot better than it used to be. Murray would struggle with that. Rafa's weight of shot and court position are more aggressive too. Murray unloads way more often on the forehand than he used to and - although he could still do it more - he patrols the baseline far more than the player Rafa used to face.

A lot has changed, which is why I'm eager to see them face each other a few times this season. But given Murray's circumstances and Rafa's form, I would favour Rafa if the meet in Australia.

Danny_1982 wrote: He's said before that Rafa's serve has more spin than anyone's so it's tough to judge. Funny how the other great returner in the game (Novak) doesn't have that problem though.

This really surprises me.

Novak seems to not just cope with Rafa's serve but can often attack it very effectively - it's a key dynamic in that match up.

I can't think of a technical reason why Andy should find it tougher. Maybe he struggles to read it?

I do wonder if its as simple as Andy not playing him as frequently. Certainly he dealt with it with ease in Tokyo 2011 having looked like he was dealing with a spitting cobra for most of the previous match at the US Open. Obviously, he now hasn't played him for over 2 years so I have low expectations for his return game next time he faces Rafa.