Tennis: 2021 Australian Open

[punk_o_holic]

Glad Osaka bounced back after Serena tied it at 4. Now serving for the W

 

[punk_o_holic]

Osaka off to the finals. One more win please.

 

[Cloned]

Serena is gonna see Osaka in her nightmares for years to come

 

[kihei]

Serena showing some respect at the end of this one, so good on that. Osaka was at about 75% today, but Serena very rarely looked dangerous.

 

[Hadoop]

Damn I'm late to this pandemic party down under.

Hoping Djokovic loses in the final... the guy is insufferable, especially during these insufferable times.

Also fully expecting to see Osaka win another major here to cement her status as women's tennis' new top dog, at least on the hard courts.

 

[CupofOil]

What a clinic. There's nothing, outside of injury (knock on wood), that will prevent Osaka from winning 10+ majors. Her A game is a few levels above every other women's player currently.

 

[JetsWillFly4Ever]

I’m so happy Serena lost I don’t think i could handle the best athlete ever talk if she won.

 

[kihei]

The second semi feels like a first-round match. Erratic power hitter versus competent but uninspired defender. Brady should get a boost of confidence winning the first set that might make her prone to fewer errors.

Unfortunately she did no such thing. Set to Muchova, the Steady

3rd set: Onward to an exciting finale, I'm sure. No? Okay, how about just a quick one, then? Well, the last game was exciting, in which Brady needed five match points to secure the win. Muchova who makes far fewer errors, would have probably been more competitive in the final, but I doubt Osaka is getting beat by anybody now.

 

[MsMeow]

Osaka is an absolute gem. She has such a nice game and she's so humble and down to earth.

 

[punk_o_holic]

Brady wins the other semi finals match. Ending was entertaining. Muchova blew it. Had a chance to tie it up at 5

 

[c9777666]

Jennifer Brady? Never heard of her. Seems like one of the more unexpected major finalists.

 

[Filppula]

Jennifer Brady? Never heard of her. Seems like one of the more unexpected major finalists.

She’s improved substantially over the past 12-15 months but yeah, it’s a a surprise nonetheless. Wanted Muchova to win.

Easy win as expected for Djoko tonight.

 

[kihei]

Picking Medvedev tonight for a lot of reasons. For starters, he is the best player in the world not named Novak and Rod Laver Stadium is close to his ideal hard court surface. Second, Tsitsipas has just completed a match that must have been draining emotionally and physically. If he can't control a majority of points against Daniil, which he likely can't, then his conditioning will be exposed ala Rublev. Third, I think Tsitsipas has more weaknesses overall than Medvedev. One caveat, though: Stefanos was eerily, uncharacteristically calm in the tie breaker and the final two gruelling sets against Rafa. One possible reason: no crowd to respond to and make him nervous. I don't think that will be a deciding factor in the match, but it is an interesting variable to watch.

 

[MsMeow]

Picking Medvedev tonight for a lot of reasons. For starters, he is the best player in the world not named Novak and Rod Laver Stadium is close to his ideal hard court surface. Second, Tsitsipas has just completed a match that must have been draining emotionally and physically. If he can't control a majority of points against Deniis, which he likely can't, then his conditioning will be exposed ala Rublev. Third, I think Tsitsipas has more weaknesses overall than Medvedev. One caveat, though: Stefanos was eerily, uncharacteristically calm in the tie breaker and the final two gruelling sets against Rafa. One possible reason: no crowd to respond to. I don't think that will be a deciding factor in the match, but it is an interesting variable to watch.

Why do you call him Deniis?

 

[kihei]

Why do you call him Deniis?

Sleep deprivation. Will fix.

 

[MsMeow]

Sleep depredation. Will fix.

Ha! I thought you had given him a nickname for some reason!

 

[kihei]

No matter what happens the rest of the way at Melbourne, Nole will break Roger's record of 310 weeks at #1. Hell of a case building if he wins the requisite number of Slams., So he better win this one.

 

[kihei]

Intimidating opening set from Medvedev who controlled the match from the baseline, 6-4. Some powerful serving also contributed to the one-sided nature of the set, and this with Tsitsipas playing not badly either.

2nd set: Somehow Stefanos needs to get to the net more, where he had some success in the first set, and also draw Medvedev to the net more where Tsitsipas can use his passing shots. But good luck on actually doing that....Medvedev is using his high precision backhand to mercilessly pound Stefanos' backhand into an error or an opportunity....and gets another early break, 2-1....and adds another break with three brilliant passing shots of his own, 5-2....and serves it out at love, 6-2.

28 winners, 13 errors and 11 aces in 18 games. This guy is not a pusher.

3rd set: Daniil breaks in the first game; he broke a little earlier each set so far....Daniil has his first loose game of any kind and Tsitsipas breaks for 3-all. Got the feeling this is not the start of a prolonged comeback this time....Daniil's play drops a level, giving Stefanos a much needed replenishment of energy, 5-4 on serve....with some excellent play, Daniil gets the late break and takes the set 7-5.

If Medvedev plays like this in the final, Nole better bring his "A+" game.

 

[MsMeow]

Medvedev's has just enough of an edge to his personality to win this. Fingers crossed that he does.

 

[Tuggy]

Medvedev would move to #2 in the world with a win.

It's a tough call. Obviously the AO is Nole's tournament but Medvedev is playing at a very high level right now and looks poised to make that breakthrough.

I like Medvedev's chances but I'm not sure I'm confident enough to bet on it.

 

[kihei]

Medvedev would move to #2 in the world with a win.

It's a tough call. Obviously the AO is Nole's tournament but Medvedev is playing at a very high level right now and looks poised to make that breakthrough.

I like Medvedev's chances but I'm not sure I'm confident enough to bet on it.

Precisely. Nole is like the poor man's Rafa in this case. How do you bet against a guy who has won the tournament eight times?

 

[Incubajerks]

I like Medvedev chance too, thinking of betting on him, maybe live.

 

[Tuggy]

I like Medvedev chance too, thinking of betting on him, maybe live.

I probably will end up betting on him, since I figure the odds will be decent.

Probably pick him and Osaka on a ticket.

 

[Cruor]

Those two and a half sets of Medvedev against Tsitispas was nuts. He looked like a world beater, you would swear he was off balance as he turned into a pretzel and returned straight winners from impossible positions. I think I like this guy, I felt bad for him after his loss to Rafa in the USO 2019 final. Let's hope he brings it against Djokovic who I feel plays a similar game.

 

[kihei]

I like Medvedev chance too, thinking of betting on him, maybe live.

I probably will end up betting on him, since I figure the odds will be decent.

Maybe we have already seen this movie before, and not that long ago. I'm thinking of the ATP final, especially the first seven games that took nearly 40 minutes to play and how Nole basically chose to go after shorter points to avoid the long drawn out physical onslaughts that Daniil was providing. That's not a GS situation, but Novak basically said "no mas" and took the loss. Is Nole still willing to take the kind of punishment he will have to endure from Medvedev is a big question.

One thing about Medvedev if you have any doubts about what a player's weaknesses are, he will demonstrate them for you: Nole: psychological readiness; McDonald: lack of fire power; Rublev: conditioning; Tsitsipas: return game and backhand consistency. Daniil is certainly great at making players uncomfortable on the court.