Australian Open 2018 - Day 9 & 10 - I need some Halep to find a decent Tennys streaming site

First topic message reminder :

Onto the quarter-finals, the men's line-up consisting of 5 players we'd expect to reach the last 8 and 3 surprises, and the womens' has a strong looking line-up in top-half with a couple of surprises in the lower half.

Womens quarter-finals:

Halep vs Pliskova
Kerber vs Keys
Svitolina vs Mertens
Suarez Navarro vs Wozniacki

Mens quarter-finals:

Nadal vs Cilic
Dimitrov vs Edmund
Chung vs Sandgren
Federer vs Berdych

On the women's whilst I like Halep and have enjoyed her run through the tournament I think Pliskova will prove bit too strong for her.  I think Kerber vs Keys will go to 3 sets, with the German prevailing, and in the bottom half I think Svitolina and Wozniacki will win their matches pretty comfortably.

Onto the mens', its worth looking at how our quarter-finalists have reached the last 8:

Nadal has arguably had the easiest draw (as we should expect for a world no. 1 from time to time), although the often under-estimated Schwartzman proved no pushover in the 4th round.
Cilic has played a couple of tricky opponents, Pospisil in 1st round, the in-form Harrison in 3rd round and tough competitor Carreno Busta in 4th round.
Dimitrov started with a nice easy 1st round match, but then hand to fend off in-form qualifier Macdonald, then fast improving Rublev before the bruising encounter with Kyrgios in 4th round - quite a tough draw thus far.
Edmund started with the big win over Anderson which really opened up things for him.  That said, its not been plain sailing since then - he had a 2nd round encounter with Istomin (who beat Djokovic last year), the epic 5 setter in the heat against Basilashvili and then a hard-fought win over the v solid Seppi.
Next we have Mr Tennys himself, Sandgren, arguably something of a journeyman with no slam match wins before this tournament.  However, whilst he did have a slice of fortune in playing a far from fit Wawrinka, he did beat Chardy in the 1st round and had to see off world top 5 Thiem in 4th round - yes, he's had his luck but Sandgren's run is no fluke.
Chung I would argue is also a contender for toughest draw to contend with despite an unfinished match against Mischa Zverev who retired in 1st round,  as he then beat up and coming young Russian Medvedev, Alex Zverev in a 5 setter and of course Djokovic in the 4th round.
Berdych - every slam tournament you always get one player quietly and effectively working their way through the draw, and Berdych has been doing that this tournament.  Another quarter-finalist with a tough draw, he's dispatched 'next big thing' De Minaur, then Garcia Lopez, Del Potro and Fognini with a minimum of fuss - best form he's been in for a little while.
Federer - bit of a contrast to last year's tough sequence of opponents, he's faced Bedene, Struff, Gasquet and Fucsovics, the sort of line-up he'd expect at Halle or Basel rather than in a slam, but its the sort of a draw a no. 2 seeded player would expect from time to time.

Onto the matches, on paper Cilic has the sort of game that poses problems for Nadal - hard flat groundstrokes and an effective backhand down the line.  However the head to head is 5-1 in Nadal's favour and Cilic has only won 1 set over the past 5 matches they've played.  Cilic is in good form and should pose a stern test, but I'm going for Nadal in 5 sets.  
Dimitrov vs Edmund - clearly Edmund is in great form, serving well, moving well, hitting lots of those big crunching forehands and winning some clutch points.  However, Dimitrov, with his variety, slices and net forays will pose a v different challenge, and whilst I think Edmund will give him a scare early on, I see Dimitrov winning that one in 4 competitive sets.
Chung vs Sandgren - the young Korean will have to deal with the pressure and expectation, but I think Sandgren will run out of steam here - Chung to win in 4 sets.
Berdych vs Federer - I think this one will be a bit different to last year - Berdych is in great form and Federer's not been properly tested yet - I'm going for Federer in 5 sets here.

lags72 wrote:He didn’t so much take that set as stole it. But very cleanly once it went to TB.

Maybe Federer won’t be quite so tetchy and error-strewn now.

Does Berdych have anything that Federer would consider worth stealing? If Berdych was a workman who left his tools outside and Federer just happened to be passing, do you think Federer would steal Berdych's tools? I mean Federer's tools are precision made and made out of the finest chrome hardened steel, albeit a little tarnished and bashed with age, whereas Berdych's tools are a cheap and cheerful low precision tools for the journeyman.

Federer up a break in the third set, and gives it back. ... and breaks again. Berdych seems to be playing pretty badly now.

Consolidates the break, one step closer to the SF.

Federer giveth and then he taketh. He works in mysterious ways to us mortals too limited to work out his ways.

... and for the 14th time in 15 years (!!) Federer is in the AO semifinals. There is only that odd loss to Seppi in 2015 (Federer has a 13-1 H2H with Seppi).

Federer through to SF in straight sets.

Bit of a scrappy match by all accounts. First time I checked the scores Fed was 5-2 down in the first set and I feared for him. Despite their recent one-sided head-to-head, Berdych has beaten Rog TWICE at GS, so to potentially go a set down was dangerous for Fed.
   Having sneaked that first set, he must have been far more relaxed. I hear Tomas needed to leave the court after set two. Wonder if he was fully fit.
   Asking a lot of Chung to win the semi now. We could be getting a repeat of the 2017 Wimbledon final. For me, though, an Edmund-Federer final would be ideal. A kinda win-win situation.

Nadal is back.  News from Nadal - his injury has nothing to do with his knees but is a muscle strain in his thigh.  So he should be back in about three weeks to ensure he doesn't lose his No 1 spot and to conquer all for the clay season.  That said it is unusual for Nadal to develop this type of injury late in a match when he was well and truly warmed up.  "A scan on Wednesday showed a grade one injury on the iliopsoas on his right leg". Nadal was complaining of the hard surface and so presumably he won't get this type of injury on clay(?).
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/42799830

As good as Federer was (he played some lovely stuff, especially in sets 2 and 3), this match demonstrates why Berdych is not going to do a Wawrinka and win a slam or 2 in the latter stage of his career. Despite the quality of his shots and getting the right tactics mostly in this match, there's a lack of self-belief there - you can see it in his body language.

Didn't see the Chung match but I'm impressed with the Korean following up his high profile Djokovic match with a straight sets win over Sandgren. Chung's run so far reminds me of Baghdatis reaching the final back in 2006 - a player in the up and coming generation (but not one seen at the forefront of the new cohort), spurred on by lots of supporters in the crowd, and taking out some big names before inevitably falling to the mighty Federer. Well, the last bit hasn't taken place yet but I think it will.

Why does it still happen you ask .... ?

All down to a shortage of self-belief and inner confidence, I would say. As you highlight, he does have all the qualities and skill required to compete at the very highest level. But his focus does seem to dip at key moments. Plus, staying with Federer is never easy once he hits a purple patch.

Federer should be grateful to Berdych for taking out Del Potro, otherwise Federer v Del Potro (which is a who-can-hit-the-hardest contest) is a nightmare for Federer.

Berdych has troubled Federer since 2004. 2009 AO is probably Berdych's best match v Federer.

Fed admitted that he got lucky, angry and frustrated in the first set and that that opening set was the key to the match.
   Ominously for Chung - and probably for Cilic - Fed has not had one really stand-out performance so far. OK, he's done enough to win and has not had a long match. It all means that should he need his best tennis at some stage - and he might in the final should he get there - then he might be able to unleash.

Federer has always had the ability to beat big powerful servers, that is one of the reasons for his consistency on the grass and the hard courts. Probably the best of all time in overcoming them.

laverfan wrote:Federer should be grateful to Berdych for taking out Del Potro, otherwise Federer v Del Potro (which is a who-can-hit-the-hardest contest) is a nightmare for Federer.

Berdych has troubled Federer since 2004. 2009 AO is probably Berdych's best match v Federer.

I certainly agree that Del Potro is invariably a serious challenge for Federer. But I’d also say that ‘nightmare’ might be over-dramatising things when you hold a 18-6 lead over someone. And even in Slams, Federer is still on top, with a 5-2 record over JMDP - even with all that hard-hitting you (rightly) mention.

In general, players have a lot more to fear from Federer - even a veteran-age Federer - than he does from them.

Federer was hitting very hard and clean in the last set. And moving to exceptionally as well. There was a cross court scorcher from Berdych which would have won him the point against 99.9 % players. Federer reached it, twisted his racket and returned on a player who wasn’t ready.

Am I the only one, or does everybody want to Wang Chung tonight?

You might be alone JHM. Although .....I’m not entirely sure what the question is !

Whenever I hear about Chung I think of this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoXu6QmxpJE

The same way whenever Kevin Anderson plays I think of this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XooISvoZ_rs

Ha ha, good stuff JHM.

On the first clip : maybe they could show that (up on the big hawkeye screen) to the crowd during the warm-up for Chung’s match.

Re the second : amazing how a banal name such as Anderson can be made to sound quite so threatening !

But my favourite of your many word plays is from some years ago, when you said that you always lived in hope that Juan Monaco (now retired ?) would one day win .... Monaco. The ultimate headline

It is an interesting point about Federer having a great record against the big hitters and massive servers. I would agree with it but it does surprise me as I wouldn't put Federer up there among the best returners in the game. I would rate Djokovic, Nadal, Murray and arguably even David Ferrer (at his peak) as better returners than Federer.

Federer tends to block returns back rather than put any real pace or depth on his return so in theory big hitters should be able to step in and put away the next ball. however Federer does defend very well so maybe it is simply his ability to neutralise the rally that enables him to overcome the bigger hitters over the course of a match.

I also think that because Federer has such a great serve himself and holds serve more often the other top players, that in turn probably puts more pressure on the big servers to deliver on their service games. They probably feel against the other top players they have more chance of squeezing a break and therefore feel less pressure.

What do others think in relation to the Federer return? Am I alone in thinking his return is less impressive than say Djokovic, Murray, Nadal, peak Ferrer?

lags72 wrote:Ha ha, good stuff JHM.

On the first clip : maybe they could show that (up on the big hawkeye screen) to the crowd during the warm-up for Chung’s match.

Re the second : amazing how a banal name such as Anderson can be made to sound quite so threatening !

But my favourite of your many word plays is from some years ago, when you said that you always lived in hope that Juan Monaco (now retired ?) would one day win .... Monaco. The ultimate headline

Yeah, I think he's retired. We'll have to wait for someone called Monty Carlo to take up the game.

JuliusHMarx wrote:

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

Yeah, I think he's retired. We'll have to wait for someone called Monty Carlo to take up the game.

Indeed.

And if that doesn’t work out, maybe Don Wimble could get through qualifying at SW19 ........

Mel Bourne at Australia?

That’s better still. Wouldn’t be surprised if there really is one...... currently ranked something like 782.

Next thing you know, someone will say there’s a guy on the Tour named Tennys.......

lags72 wrote:That’s better still. Wouldn’t be surprised if there really is one...... currently ranked something like 782.

Next thing you know, someone will say there’s a guy on the Tour named Tennys.......

Don't be daft, no-one would believe that.

slashermcguirk wrote:It is an interesting point about Federer having a great record against the big hitters and massive servers. I would agree with it but it does surprise me as I wouldn't put Federer up there among the best returners in the game. I would rate Djokovic, Nadal, Murray and arguably even David Ferrer (at his peak) as better returners than Federer.

Federer tends to block returns back rather than put any real pace or depth on his return so in theory big hitters should be able to step in and put away the next ball. however Federer does defend very well so maybe it is simply his ability to neutralise the rally that enables him to overcome the bigger hitters over the course of a match.

I also think that because Federer has such a great serve himself and holds serve more often the other top players, that in turn probably puts more pressure on the big servers to deliver on their service games. They probably feel against the other top players they have more chance of squeezing a break and therefore feel less pressure.

What do others think in relation to the Federer return? Am I alone in thinking his return is less impressive than say Djokovic, Murray, Nadal, peak Ferrer?

Agreed Federer's return.of serve is not as good as Murray, Djokovic and Nadal.

I think the secret is in the proceeding shots. He can return excellently with good depth and most opponents will then instictively look to then develop a rally with their next shot after Federer's return. The shot after that and Federer hits aggresdively with either a winner or a shot that gives him the upper hand in a rally. In short pure aggression aids him very well.

I think CC sums it up pretty well there.

Federer is certainly not seen as one of the very best returners (à la Murray, Djokovic), but we know he has the ability to break down his opponents - in the tennis / metaphorical sense.

Over the years, so many of his Bo3 matches against quality opponents have been won with only the one break in each set eg 6-4 6-4 (eg. that was the sort of tally in his victories over Rafa in Shanghai and Miami last year). His own serve is so solid that he can generally afford to be patient and bide his time to get the one crucial break to edge out an opponent.

Better returners than Federer have won Slams with a different approach. One of the very best returners, in times past, was Jimmy Connors - and in his case the return was the very cornerstone of his game, especially when you factor in that he had a (relatively !) weak serve.

I don't see Nadal's return of serve as at the same level or Djokovic or Murray, at least on faster courts anyway. He stood ludicrously far back behind the baseline to return Cilic's serve and in doing so allowed the Croat to dictate almost every point behind his serve,

He does stand very far back to receive.  So much so, that the TV cameras have to be repositioned / re-focussed just to keep him in shot

Berdych missed a chance there. Could have been a different match with the first set in the bag. Federer was in poor form at the beginning of the first set, Berdych just needed to serve out the set but couldn't.

Henman Bill wrote:Berdych missed a chance there. Could have been a different match with the first set in the bag. Federer was in poor form at the beginning of the first set, Berdych just needed to serve out the set but couldn't.

Absolutely right.

Federer was very lacklustre at the start, and misfiring in game after game. You really have to take your chances in such scenarios, because there’s always the prospect of him suddenly finding his form ; which is exactly what happened, once he had forced a TB. And although Berdy continued to battle well in the second, there was soon an air of inevitability as to the outcome.

Go Kyle !!

Edmund loses to Cilic in straight sets. Tame match, IMO.