Tennis: 2021 Australian Open
- Thread starter Tuggy
- Start date
King of the choke up artist, an incredibla talent but cannot take the pressure... Will never become the star player expected ..
Strong start from both players, but Nole takes the tie breaker. He may be in the process of developing a back problem (later: turns out is the right oblique which he injured against Fritz), but too soon to tell if it will be a factor. The faster (than last year) court surface doesn't seem to bother him.
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2nd set: Awesome tennis from Milos who gave Nole nothing to work with, 6-4.
3rd set: Nole gets the early break, 3-1, but his body language says "I am not having a good time."
A pair of laser returns lead to a second break, 5-1....that was some turnaround, 6-1.
3rd set: Nole gets the early break, 3-1, but his body language says "I am not having a good time."
A pair of laser returns lead to a second break, 5-1....that was some turnaround, 6-1.
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Novak Djokovic
#24 and counting... #GOAT
- Dec 10, 2006
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- 1,335
I can't imagine the mental discipline needed to overcome Kyrgios and that wild crowd from two sets down. That was an amazing performance by Thiem. But I thought it might be a Pyrrhic victory at the time, and it was. I don't know how it could have been anything else.
Pegula, looking idiosyncratic but solid, takes the first set from Svitolina. Be interesting to see if Svitiolina can hold her nerve against a player with a different sort of game than she is used to playing against, more public court than tennis academy.
Nerves finally got to Pegula in the second set as it finally dawned on her where she was, but she is doing better and holding serve so far in the third set. Plus, you never know when Svitolina could get nervous at the drop of a hat., 2-1 Pegula....and she immediately gets a strong break, 3-1. This should be interesting from here on out....Svitolina breaks back as Pegula's backhand gets out of gear, 4-3....Svitolina recovers from love-40 on serve to lose the game anyway and now Pegula is serving for the match.
....and Pegula is in to her first and very likely last GS quarterfinal!
Nerves finally got to Pegula in the second set as it finally dawned on her where she was, but she is doing better and holding serve so far in the third set. Plus, you never know when Svitolina could get nervous at the drop of a hat., 2-1 Pegula....and she immediately gets a strong break, 3-1. This should be interesting from here on out....Svitolina breaks back as Pegula's backhand gets out of gear, 4-3....Svitolina recovers from love-40 on serve to lose the game anyway and now Pegula is serving for the match.
....and Pegula is in to her first and very likely last GS quarterfinal!
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John Price
Bet
- Sep 19, 2008
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Rublev looking really sharp versus Ruud, up a set and a break....didn't last long. Andrey lost four games in a row, recovered with a break of his own and then took the tie breaker running away.
Rudd defaulted after the second set. Don't know why.
Rudd defaulted after the second set. Don't know why.
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Novak Djokovic
#24 and counting... #GOAT
- Dec 10, 2006
- 23,097
- 1,335
Know Your Enemy
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it will be interesting to hear Rafa about how his back handled the match. He was serving in the 190s, harder than in the earlier rounds. He is understandably a little out of shape and hit a few running shots like a man with a stiff back, but other than that he didn't hesitate to move all over the place chasing some of Fog's placements. (I didn't see the last set). He's not vintage Rafa or close to it, but he may have enough juice left to challenge for the Championship.
Nole's claim that he has a muscle tear in his right oblique abdominal muscle is met with a healthy skepticism by some of his fellow pros, Fritz (politely) and (not so politely) Kokkinakis and Kyrgios, with Thanasi summing up the general criticism "Recover from a muscle tear in 2 days. Teach me." Pretty clearly it's not a muscle tear, but it could be something else--whatever it is or is not, Nole is making a big deal about it, claiming he would have defaulted by now if he wasn't playing in a GS. Maybe it is a way of taking pressure off himself rather than anything much else. One way or the other, his forehand will be the giveaway. If he really has a serious problem, that is the side it will show up on.
Hsieh has a nothing day and Osaka steamrolls 2 and 2. Every time Naomi wins a GS quarterfinal, she wins the tournament (3 times previously), so this is as about as good as omens get.
As good a mathematical snapshot of Dimitrov's career as you are going to get:
Breakpoints
Dimitrov 3 for 12
Karatsev 2 for 2
Karatsev, looking like he just noticed his carriage turn into a pumpkin, loses the first set badly 6-2 but somehow is up a break 3-2 in the second set.
So Karatsev hands the break right back with a double fault. Grigor then plays a gutless game to get broken again and now Karatsev, against all odds, is serving to get back to even in the match....and thanks to a bunch of jaw-dropping unforced errors by Dimitrov, Karatsev takes the game at love and the second set.
SOFT. SOFT. SOFT.
Breakpoints
Dimitrov 3 for 12
Karatsev 2 for 2
Karatsev, looking like he just noticed his carriage turn into a pumpkin, loses the first set badly 6-2 but somehow is up a break 3-2 in the second set.
So Karatsev hands the break right back with a double fault. Grigor then plays a gutless game to get broken again and now Karatsev, against all odds, is serving to get back to even in the match....and thanks to a bunch of jaw-dropping unforced errors by Dimitrov, Karatsev takes the game at love and the second set.
SOFT. SOFT. SOFT.
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3rd set: early break to Karatsev, 2-1. Dimitrov now in full panic mode....make that, 4-1. Grigor looks stunned....Grigor lollipops his serves and doesn't pursue the returns to lose 6-1. Medical timeout, but I hope that's a psychiatrist because his behaviour is strange. (Apparently it's a lower back injury--or a good excuse, if I'm being cynical).
4th set: Play continues. Grigor holds, questions remain....Karatsev breaks for 3-1. If you had told him about this turnaround in the middle of the first set, he probably would have thought you were crazy...Grigor barely moving on court, serving at about 140 km. He's toast one way or the other.
4th set: Play continues. Grigor holds, questions remain....Karatsev breaks for 3-1. If you had told him about this turnaround in the middle of the first set, he probably would have thought you were crazy...Grigor barely moving on court, serving at about 140 km. He's toast one way or the other.
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Dimitrov is arguably the biggest waste of talent in men's tennis, outside of Kyrgios. He's a mental midget, the ringleader for Generation Useless.
Edit: I know he was injured but he was starting to unravel when he was still moving well.
Edit: I know he was injured but he was starting to unravel when he was still moving well.
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Karatsev has moved up 72 spaces in the rankings in just over a week, from 114 at the beginning of the tournament to 42 today. The 27-year-old's previous career high was 111. He has a career 3-10 record in ATP tournaments before this one. This is the first GS that he has qualified for.
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Powerful first set from vintage Serena, 6-3. Mobility certainly no problem tonight, though she does leave her forehand side open sometimes. But nothing much Halep can do about it as Serena as just been so dominant, errors and all.
Second set: Awesome forehand display and a ton of unforced errors but they are irrelevant as Williams continues to batter Halep...and the set ends 6-3. Just a very aggressive performance that Halep could do nothing about. If Serena can get by Naomi, which should be a very tough match, I can't see Barty coping much better than Halep.
Second set: Awesome forehand display and a ton of unforced errors but they are irrelevant as Williams continues to batter Halep...and the set ends 6-3. Just a very aggressive performance that Halep could do nothing about. If Serena can get by Naomi, which should be a very tough match, I can't see Barty coping much better than Halep.
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