AO 2016 - Day 12

First topic message reminder :

Order of Play - http://www.ausopen.com/en_AU/scores/schedule/schedule17.html

Live Scores - http://www.ausopen.com/en_AU/scores/index.html

Day 12 Preview - http://www.ausopen.com/en_AU/news/articles/2016-01-28/day_12_preview_a_clash_of_opposites.html

Mirza/Hingis in 2.

Murray in 5.

I think Raonic's tank is empty, and the lucky breaks are going Murray's way.

That's not the Canadian way, you have to believe!

O Canada! Beneath thy shining skies
May stalwart sons, and gentle maidens rise,
To keep thee steadfast through the years
From East to Western sea.
Our own beloved native land!
Our True North, strong and free!

Ah...double break.

Go go go Andy

Bum... not in time duty!

Double break. Game over.

CaledonianCraig wrote:

VTR wrote:Is it harsh to say the winner of this should be handed the Runner Up medal as they come of court? Long match with one less day recovery, against a guy who would beat either player 9/10 anyway- will the final even be worth watching?

Watch it for history being made then?

But .... what sort of history exactly .... ??

Three possibilities :

A - the longstanding record of Roy Emerson (although from amateur era) is tied
B- first men's AO title by a Brit
C - first AO title (or ANY Slam ...?) by a Canadian

A is the most likely
B is the one I would most like to see

Raonic looks finished but at least we have seen enough to know this won't be his last slam semi. He has shown how much he has improved in multiple departments. Sure he has been hindered by injury but let's not downplay Andy's guts and will to win and he has played very well when the pressure was intense.

Stan was unfortunate to play Raonic in the heat where his serve is nearly unreturnable.

Do not like the way Andy acts so loud and obnoxious hopefully Novak schools him for the umpteenth time in the finall

lags72 wrote:

CaledonianCraig wrote:

VTR wrote:Is it harsh to say the winner of this should be handed the Runner Up medal as they come of court? Long match with one less day recovery, against a guy who would beat either player 9/10 anyway- will the final even be worth watching?

Watch it for history being made then?

But .... what sort of history exactly .... ??

Three possibilities :

A - the longstanding record of Roy Emerson (although from amateur era) is tied
B-  first men's AO title by a Brit
C - first AO title (or ANY Slam ...?) by a Canadian

A is the most likely
B is the one I would most like to see

Ditto.

CaledonianCraig wrote:Raonic looks finished but at least we have seen enough to know this won't be his last slam semi. He has shown how much he has improved in multiple departments. Sure he has been hindered by injury but let's not downplay Andy's guts and will to win and he has played very well when the pressure was intense.

praise indeed CC.. his stickability has to be commended..

All over, good win for Murray, shame Milos got injured. Don't see anything other than a three or four set Novak win on Sunday

Well the outcome of this tournament was settled before it begun.. who the hell did you expect to beat Novak surely not the serving machine Novak is too good a returner.. so it was all about this match at the end of the day and good for Andy he deserves the win injury or no

Haddie-nuff wrote:Well the outcome of this tournament was settled before it begun.. who the hell did you expect to beat Novak surely not the serving machine Novak is too good a returner.. so it was all about this match at the end of the day and good for Andy he deserves the win injury or no

Agreed. Djokovic is on a level of his own right now above everyone else in the world including Federer. And that isn't any dig but merely emphasising that nobody can touch Novak at present.

This has been so, so impressive from Andy.

And full credit to Raonic - not just for today, but for his entire Melbourne campaign.

Given good health & fitness, I believe Raonic has developed into a contender at every Slam going forward .....

Come on Andy, next is Djoko

Little Murray jnr should be well impressed with Daddy after this.

CaledonianCraig wrote:

Haddie-nuff wrote:Well the outcome of this tournament was settled before it begun.. who the hell did you expect to beat Novak surely not the serving machine Novak is too good a returner.. so it was all about this match at the end of the day and good for Andy he deserves the win injury or no

Agreed. Djokovic is on a level of his own right now above everyone else in the world including Federer. And that isn't any dig but merely emphasising that nobody can touch Novak at present.

This is perfectly true.

But nothing stays the same forever, as the history books remind us.

Yes its not IF but WHEN

lags72 wrote:

CaledonianCraig wrote:

Haddie-nuff wrote:Well the outcome of this tournament was settled before it begun.. who the hell did you expect to beat Novak surely not the serving machine Novak is too good a returner.. so it was all about this match at the end of the day and good for Andy he deserves the win injury or no

Agreed. Djokovic is on a level of his own right now above everyone else in the world including Federer. And that isn't any dig but merely emphasising that nobody can touch Novak at present.

This is perfectly true.

But nothing stays the same forever, as the history books remind us.

Of course not. When Djokovic begins to wane (and the rest of his generation) then on this evidence Raonic will be well placed to become a slam winner.

Great stuff Andy theres nooo dooot abooot it !!!

CC, would be good if you drop a little of Djoko marketing on every post for last week or so.

Djoko is best, Dhoko another level, Djoko this and that.

Chill papi, we are not blind, we're seeing same tennis as you are.

You a secret Djoko fan now since Andy ain't cutting it?

Djoko will lose on Sunday and then all you said will go down the drain.

Well done Andy.

Despite Andy fans here having no faith on their man, he does it

Haddie-nuff wrote:
Great stuff Andy  theres nooo dooot abooot it !!!

Cheers. Andy into his ninth slam final.

Jahu wrote:Well done Andy.

Despite Andy fans here having no faith on their man, he does it

Do you ever post anything sensible and relevant? And read posts fully before commenting eh? I do believe I said Murray would beat Raonic. I think Djokovic wins on Sunday - I am not like you I am not all front and BS.

Anyway that win is important for Andy as it means he keeps hold of the No.2 ranking.

lags72 wrote:

CaledonianCraig wrote:

VTR wrote:Is it harsh to say the winner of this should be handed the Runner Up medal as they come of court? Long match with one less day recovery, against a guy who would beat either player 9/10 anyway- will the final even be worth watching?

Watch it for history being made then?

But .... what sort of history exactly .... ??

Three possibilities :

A - the longstanding record of Roy Emerson (although from amateur era) is tied
B-  first men's AO title by a Brit
C - first AO title (or ANY Slam ...?) by a Canadian

A is the most likely
B is the one I would most like to see

Or D first man to pull out of a final due to the birth of their child?

God knows where Rafa is relegated to the cellar I think... still that where I keep all the wine to drown my sorrows hic

Or D first man to pull out of a final due to the birth of their child? chin

.Im not understanding why this would not seem to have been an undeniable dilemma for Andy.. it was not because of the birth of his first child but the di stance he was from his wife should anything have gone wrong.. it would take over 24 hours to be by her side .. why can nobody see that point is beyond me  

hi everyone. Caught the match from 3-2 second set, so can't comment on much before that, but was quite impressed with Murray's attitude TBH. Seemed pretty fired up, while keeping the shouting at himself to a minimum. I know people say he didn't berate himself under Lendl, but you should watch the US Open 2012 final again; Murray spends most of the match giving a running commentary about why he's just played such a bad shot

Anyway, he played pretty well today, feel he could have gone to the BHDL a bit more (earlier on) to stop Raonic camping in his BH corner and just dominating off the FH, but he returned pretty well, served very well, and was hitting the ball quite nicely.

Raonic has come along very well hasn't he? He's always had decent touch at the net, but seems he's worked on making himself a much bigger target there, Murray really struggled to get past him. His serve is as good as ever, until the injury issues he was banging down second serves at 190+ kph pretty much all the time, and his BH is a much better shot now.

I'm not a huge fan of his game, but it is good to see one of that generation apparently making the necessary improvements to become a threat. As CC said, if he keeps this up this won'tbe his last slam semi, and could conceivably see him win some.

Shame about the injury, which robbed us of what could have been a fascinating fifth set, but credit to Murray for pulling through.

As for the final, if Djokovic played like he did for most of the Feds match no one on tour has any chance, but will he? If he plays more like the Nishikori match (or better still, the Simon one), and Murray can up his level a bit, who knows?

Overall can't see past Djokovic in 3 or 4 sets TBH, but I will keep the faith

CaledonianCraig wrote:

Jahu wrote:Well done Andy.

Despite Andy fans here having no faith on their man, he does it

Do you ever post anything sensible and relevant?

Sensible as you with Djoko crap for last week?

Don't be scared of Andy loses and tire us all with Djoko 24/7. Be a straight fan not a both sides advanced reasons for Andy loss.

Much same as MFC saw from 2-2 in the second set. Missed the start of the match due to Storm Gertrude cutting our power off. Very good match. Well done to Murray for a good performance. Kept his cool and concentration well under a lot of pressure. Hopefully can do the same in the final. Commiserations to Raonic. He looked really good until he felt the injury. If he can stay fit he will definitely win slams and be a top 5 fixture.

Jahu wrote:

CaledonianCraig wrote:

Jahu wrote:Well done Andy.

Despite Andy fans here having no faith on their man, he does it

Do you ever post anything sensible and relevant?

Sensible as you with Djoko crap for last week?

Don't be scared of Andy loses and tire us all with Djoko 24/7. Be a straight fan not a both sides advanced reasons for Andy loss.

Craig, I think Jahu is OK with you praising Djokovic, as long as you also say that he is a tax-avoiding Monaco prince with ugly ears.

Although applying rules to Jahu's mind is never an exact science...

HMM, at least you are a stable Djoko fan and I respect that.

CC is all over the place.

1 week he goes all soft on Nadal to be nice to HN.

Nadal looses, he goes all soft on Djoko and sugar coat everything about him.

Than Andy loses on Sunday and he will say how he said all week that Djoko will win.

Poor fan he is

The fact that Raonic played so crap for 2/3's of the match and still pushed Andy to 5 says alot about Andy's level.

Won't be good enough to do more than 4 sets on Sunday.

Josiah Maiestas wrote:Do not like the way Andy acts so loud and obnoxious

Really?. Those of us that have been on these boards since the beginning didn't know that

There are no rules where Jahu's mind goes.. which is why I have him on ignore .. frankly the best place for him.

Sure, but he is becoming a daddy soon, should behave himself urgently, and not spoil his kid too.

[quote="Josiah Maiestas"]The fact that Raonic played so crap for 2/3's of the match and still pushed Andy to 5 says alot about Andy's level.

Won't be good enough to do more than 4 sets on Sunday.[/quote


Strange... I must have been watching a different match  But then Im in a different country

Jahu wrote:

CaledonianCraig wrote:

Jahu wrote:Well done Andy.

Despite Andy fans here having no faith on their man, he does it

Do you ever post anything sensible and relevant?

Sensible as you with Djoko crap for last week?

Don't be scared of Andy loses and tire us all with Djoko 24/7. Be a straight fan not a both sides advanced reasons for Andy loss.

Obviously us fair minded Murray fans, need to ensure that we always write biased negative comments about his rivals

banbro, no one said write negative comments, I'm here for that so thats covered nicely, thank you very much .

But being a Andy fan and 99% of comments being how Djoko and Nadal are good, blla blla, whats that?

A scared fan preparing the terrain for when Andy loses.

True story this one.

I see this forum still has "The Clown" JM posting  

Great result for Andy and well done to Milos who looks much improved and must be good for more titles in the future!

Jahu wrote:But being a Andy fan and 99% of comments being how Djoko and Nadal are good, blla blla, whats that?

A scared fan preparing the terrain for when Andy loses.

Probably due respect given to his chief rivals of the last seven years or so

In addition I think you'll find that a lot of Murray fans also like Novak, simply because both of them often get zero respect for how they bust open the cozy Rafa/Roger rivalry.

Remember, they both burst onto the scene at the same time and have rarely been more than a half a dozen ranking places apart

If fans of either cannot respect that, then to me it's a poor show

Banbro,

Tell Andy to play better and kick ass on Sunday, respect this and that, no one cares, only titles and money, just ask Djoko, he has understood that no one cares for him and has directed that rage into playing strong, sure still an uneducated peasant he is, but at least looking good for second GOAT after Fed.

Now let's hope Andy saves the tennis world on Sunday

Work caused me to miss the conclusion...

Highlights save me!!

Haddie-nuff wrote:There are no rules where Jahu's mind goes.. which is why I have him on ignore .. frankly the best place for him.

Well I request Jahu puts me on ignore if my posts so upset him. I am here to talk tennis as I see it and if it is too fair and level-headed for him then tough. I am fed up listening to his wet dreams about tennis players or venom against others purely because they dare to challenge his favourite players records. Still this is the last I will say on the subject.

I was on a course this morning, but have now watched the match and thought it was good quality. Raonic played very well, served very well but ultimately Murray worked out his game plan and got a read on his serve and broke down the backhand. It was a good match. Shame Raonic mobility was so affected in the 5th.

Murray will have to come up with an interesting game plan against Novak, as he for sure isn't going to outlast him. I will hope a lot, expect little and see what happens. Good start to the year to reach the final but surely Novak is playing too well.

CaledonianCraig wrote:

Haddie-nuff wrote:There are no rules where Jahu's mind goes.. which is why I have him on ignore .. frankly the best place for him.

Well I request Jahu puts me on ignore if my pists so upset him. I am here to talk tennis as I see it and if it is too fair and level-headed for him then tough. I am fed up listening to his wet dreams about tennis players or venom against others purely because they dare to challenge his favourite players records. Still this is the last I will say on the subject.

That my boy

CaledonianCraig wrote: I am fed up listening to his wet dreams about tennis players or venom against others purely because they dare to challenge his favourite players records. Still this is the last I will say on the subject.

At least be fair, when did I give a toss about Fed records? Or ever shown any kind of dreams (dry or wet) for his records? Find one post of mine where I even mentioned any kind of Fed records? I don't bother with those things.

With a Billion in a Bank, think I care for Fed records?

I only enjoy his play and I don't enjoy Djoko, simple.

Now this is the second time you are imagining things, one more time and I report you for scaring minors

Keep it warm with the HN now and dream of whatever you're missing

True!