Pre Aus Open 2018 warm-up tournaments

Now the season is properly underway I thought I'd start a thread dedicated to the various warm-up tournaments taking place ahead of the Australian Open. Whilst the Australian Open is the one slam where pre tournament form doesn't tend to matter as much as elsewhere, its nice nevertheless to take a look at which players are making the early running and how the various comebacks are going.

The Murray injury situation and to a lesser extent Djokovic's elbow woes, are covered in fair bit of depth elsewhere, but what about the other players?

At the Brisbane International, Edmund managed to see of Shapovalov in 3 tight sets yesterday whilst earlier today, Kyrgios had a struggle beating countryman Ebden in 3 sets and Raonic lost to De Minaur (another Aussie).

Elsewhere at the Qatar Open, where Thiem is top seed, Coric managed to beat 2nd seed Carreno Busta in a v tight 3 setter yesterday and Rublev had a good win against Verdasco earlier today.

Nishikori: out (wrist issue since Aug 2017)
Murray: out (hip issue since Jun 2017)
Nadal: to be confirmed (knee issue - ongoing)
Wawrinka: to be confirmed (knee issue)
Djokovic: says needs to test self competitively (elbow issue)
Raonic: will be playing.

With some of these big names out does anyone sense an opportunity for Dimitrov in this year's Australian Open? He got to semis last year, ultimately outlasted by Nadal in a titanic encounter, and was one of the form players at end of year winning the year end Masters.

Yes, he's the sort of player who's more likely to crash out in 1st round, but I do feel he's turned a corner, and that the tournament could provide an opportunity.

Federer is another obvious beneficiary of some of the big names missing, and surely Alex Zverev can improve on his slam record at this year's Aus Open. I have a feeling at least one out of Nadal and Djokovic will play and should be reasonably competitive, going quite far if they don't aggravate injuries in 1st couple of rounds.

MrI - Dimi had a great start and a great finish to 2017, but some very surprising and disappointing defeats in between. If Rafa doesn't play, Dimi will be the second seed and will avoid being in Fed's half.
   Fed has to be the bookmakers' favourite, simply as he is sure to turn up! Even if Rafa and Djoko play they may be short of full fitness.
   Another tight match - and a win - for Kyle Edmund today. I've just seen that Dimi had to save 2MPs to win his match.

This could be an opportunity for Kyle Edmund to make his next move up the rankings. He has been hovering in the forties - fifties for over a year now. Certainly this is the year for many to push on given the times are a changing and opportunities are opening up. It still could be a Nadal - Federer year, but Federer will be turning 38 this year while Nadal yet again pushed himself beyond breaking point at the end of last season and now hopes to heal himself back below the pain level again for the start of the new season.

Edmund lost a tight 3 set quarter-final match at Brisbane to Dimitrov, and had something of an injury scare with his ankle in the final set - fingers crossed he's OK for Australian Open. Kyrgios also won his match and will meet Dimitrov in the semis.

Meanwhile, Rublev has reached the final at Doha where he'll meet Monfils, and Simon will play Anderson at the Tata Open final in India.

Kyrgios has beaten Dimi in three sets to make the final in Brisbane (will play Harrison for the title). Simon upset Cilic in Pune.
   If fit Kyrgios could do well at the AO, especially if some of the big stars don't turn up/are only half fit.

In the end Rublev lost in final to Monfils in straight sets at Doha, but its been a great tournament for the young Russian. A good weekend all round for the French as Simon beat Anderson in the final at Pune - his 1st title since 2015.

Regarding Kyrgios, he's got to be a strong favourite in Brisbane final against Harrison, and I agree he ought to do well at Australian Open - just needs to keep his head down, mouth shut and avoid making headlines for the wrong reason (easier said than done for the young Aussie!).

Kyrgios has just beaten Harrison 4 and 2 to take the Brisbane title. Amazing win by Simon who had slipped right down the rankings but will come zooming up now.

Federer obvious favourite.

Others worth a mention - Dimitrov (didn't look great in Brisbane), Goffin, Kyrgios.

Zverev has a very poor record since he won in Canada. Raonic lost to Alex De Minuar in Brisbane.

Wait to see how Nadal, Djokovic and Stan look in the tie break tens. Djokovic and Stan will be rusty if they play.

Yes, Federer looks a shoo-in but he is now nearly 37 - at some stage age has to have some impact! As Guest says, everyone else seems to be returning from injury or out of form. Should make for an intriguing first week though!

By all accounts Novak Djokovic came through an exhibition match against Dominic Thiem with flying colours. A comprehensive win and Novak says the elbow felt good and he seems raring to go for the Australian Open.

Didn't see the Djokovic-Thiem match but heard the latter did not cover himself in glory. Only an exhibition but Novak lost a Tie Break Tens match to Lleyton Hewitt (!), Novak's serve in particular looked awful and his groundstrokes somewhat timid. To be fair, Hewitt's level was quite impressive for someone retired for 18 months.

I heard that Djokovic's service motion is different now but that he is serving bigger, apparently he hit 3 aces in one game against Thiem. The serve was the really noticeable decline in Novaks game since his form slipped after winning the French open. His average serve speed had really dipped which was clearly linked to his elbow injury.

Apparently against Thiem his serve had more power behind it and he was serving well. I also read on one of the main tennis websites that he had more penetration in his ground strokes.

However theslostly you are saying the opposite. I didn't see the match but only going by what I have read.

Either way these were only exhibition matches so I would definitely take them with a pinch of salt

slashermcguirk wrote:I heard that Djokovic's service motion is different now but that he is serving bigger, apparently he hit 3 aces in one game against Thiem. The serve was the really noticeable decline in Novaks game since his form slipped after winning the French open. His average serve speed had really dipped which was clearly linked to his elbow injury.

Apparently against Thiem his serve had more power behind it and he was serving well. I also read on one of the main tennis websites that he had more penetration in his ground strokes.

However theslostly you are saying the opposite. I didn't see the match but only going by what I have read.

Either way these were only exhibition matches so I would definitely take them with a pinch of salt

Yes Novak himself, I read, was very happy in particular with his serve.