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Post by ckwatt on Jan 18, 2007 15:47:03 GMT -5
Any predictions for the Australian Open? Do you think there will be any shocks in the later rounds? Or will the usual suspects come out on top again? I'm going to be very adventurous with the men's and go for Federer again. The rest of the field seem to pale in comparison to him, he has the perfect all round game, and is, in my opinion, the most naturally talented player ever. As a Brit, I'd love Andy Murray to make the final alongside him. Andy has improved so much since winning the junior US open a couple of years ago, and is not inside the world's top 20. He's still a youngster and I believe that if he lives up to his potential, he can be a grand slam winner of the future. As for the women's, have to go for Sharapova. She is another young player who I expect to have too much in the locker for her opponents. The women's is a lot harder to predict than the men's however, so expect to see Mauresmo, Clijsters and possibly Kuznetsova up there as well.
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Post by GEO on Jan 18, 2007 16:06:31 GMT -5
Sharapova's first round match against Pin was incredible. Up 5-0 and almost losing is a feat in itself. But she really looked better today. I'll agree that she will win for the women. She has matured so much. I do think that the winner of the Clijsters-Sharapova match, which is bound to happen, will be the one who goes on to win the tournament.
As for the men, it's impossible to pick agaisnt Federer. Nadal hasn't looked like himself since Wimbledon, and I'll be surprised if he even makes it to the semi-finals. As you have Murray, I have James Blake, and will be rooting for him, ahead of Roddick all tournament.
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Post by ckwatt on Jan 18, 2007 16:17:36 GMT -5
Sharapova's first round match against Pin was incredible. Up 5-0 and almost losing is a feat in itself. But she really looked better today. I'll agree that she will win for the women. She has matured so much. I do think that the winner of the Clijsters-Sharapova match, which is bound to happen, will be the one who goes on to win the tournament. As for the men, it's impossible to pick agaisnt Federer. Nadal hasn't looked like himself since Wimbledon, and I'll be surprised if he even makes it to the semi-finals. As you have Murray, I have James Blake, and will be rooting for him, ahead of Rodd ick all tournament. Blake can definitely make the semis I reckon, he needs to get past Ginepri and possibly Hewitt, which i think he has the ability to do. If Murray beats Chela he'll face Nadal in the last 16, and as you said the Spaniard hasn't been at his best...don't want to put any curses on either of them, but we could well see a Murray - Blake semi. What a match that would be! Speaking of Rodd ick, I'm looking forward to his match against Marat Safin. Safin won the Aussie Open a few years ago, beating Federer in the semis that year. When Marat plays his best he is very hard to beat, but he's also inconsistent. I think that'll be one to watch in the third round.
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Post by GEO on Jan 18, 2007 16:20:36 GMT -5
I hate the way Roddick plays. He doesn't have a backhand. When he has to hit it there, he either does a slice shot or a simple flat shot. A slice shot from the baseline doesn't work. It should only be used as an approach shot, and even them, a slice isn't the way to go. As for the simple flat shot, everyone in the Top 10 has a better one. So he has some weakenesses that are easy to exploit. I haven't seen much of Andy Murrary, but they were talking about him during their coverage today.
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Post by ckwatt on Jan 19, 2007 7:13:02 GMT -5
I hate the way Rodd ick plays. He doesn't have a backhand. When he has to hit it there, he either does a slice shot or a simple flat shot. A slice shot from the baseline doesn't work. It should only be used as an approach shot, and even them, a slice isn't the way to go. As for the simple flat shot, everyone in the Top 10 has a better one. So he has some weakenesses that are easy to exploit. I haven't seen much of Andy Murrary, but they were talking about him during their coverage today. Well, despite Rodd ick's weaknesses, he won through against Safin by 3 sets to 1. He'll face Croatian Mario Ancic in the next round, and if he gets past him he looks to have a decent passage through to the semis. Wouldn't think he'd stand much of a chance against Federer, but semi finals would be a good finish for him. In the other half of the draw, anything can happen.
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Post by GEO on Jan 19, 2007 15:01:04 GMT -5
Aw, you spoiled it. That match was played at 3 AM here, but they're putting it on TV in the next hour Boo. As for beating Safin, it's great for him. But if he hadn't beaten Safin, I would have been worried. He really needs to figure out how to beat Federer. Andy will never win another grand slam unless he figures out a way to exploit Roger somehow, which no one seems to be ale to do. His best shot would be at the US Open, and that's torture because he has to wait all year for it. Did you see the Serena Williams match? Really sad to see her playing like crap in that first set. She did end up winning in a hard fought three sets, but she is well past her old form.
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Post by ckwatt on Jan 19, 2007 17:33:08 GMT -5
Aw, you spoiled it. That match was played at 3 AM here, but they're putting it on TV in the next hour Boo. As for beating Safin, it's great for him. But if he hadn't beaten Safin, I would have been worried. He really needs to figure out how to beat Federer. Andy will never win another grand slam unless he figures out a way to exploit Roger somehow, which no one seems to be ale to do. His best shot would be at the US Open, and that's torture because he has to wait all year for it. Did you see the Serena Williams match? Really sad to see her playing like crap in that first set. She did end up winning in a hard fought three sets, but she is well past her old form. Oh...sorry about that...will have to remember in future not to put up anything, but as I saw the game live I wasn't sure what time it'd be shown in the US. Safin was a terrible sportsman today...complaining at the umpire, going on about postponing the match for a few minutes even though the surface looked very playable. He got himself too worked up about nothing and couldn't concentrate on his game. The difference when Federer plays Rodd ick is that he knows how to exploit every one of Andy's weaknesses. As yet Andy has not been able to adapt his game sufficiently to get rid of those weaknesses, and cannot seem to exploit any in Federer. When they both made the Wimbledon final a few years ago I thought that these 2 would dominate tennis for years to come. Federer has done it so far, but Rodd ick has faded since then. He really needs to work hard with Jimmy Connors on his game if he's to be up there challenging for the Slams. The 1st set was some of the worst tennis I've seen Serena play, but she recovered well. I didn't fancy her chances going into the game, so coming back from the 1st set will be a boost to her confidence, even if the 1st set was the worst she's played in a while. Can't see her going much further in the tournament unless she improves, that's why I'd say she'll have a better chance in the other slams than this.
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Post by GEO on Jan 19, 2007 17:52:18 GMT -5
Well Rodd has improved with Connors. He showed it last year, but he'll need to do even better to beat Federer, Nadal, and even Blake.
Another surprising upset was Nalbandian. Guess the injuries finally caught up to him.
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Post by ckwatt on Jan 21, 2007 7:10:26 GMT -5
Was surprised to see Lleyton Hewitt go out - he was beaten 3 - 1 by Fernando Gonzalez. I thought he might figure in the later rounds, especially with home support behind him, but it wasn't to be.
As for Federer, he just keeps stream rolling his way through his opponents, and looks pretty much unstoppable.
Someone we haven't mentioned in the women's as yet is Martina Hingus. She's in the last 16, so much be doing something right, and if she beats Li Na, she looks likely to face Clijsters in the quarters. I'd fancy Clijsters to win that if both were playing their best, but if Martina raises her game a bit, you never know...
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Post by GEO on Jan 22, 2007 21:27:02 GMT -5
Pissed that Blake is out. Fernando Gonzalez is playing good tennis apparently. First Hewitt, now Blake.
Murray is out, too. He had control of the match against Nadal, but his intensity level really dropped. He's made dramatic improvements, and I think as you said, he'll challenge for a grand slam this year.
Hingis needs to add power back into her game, until then, the quarters is as far as she'll go.
The Peer-Williams match is on now, and I'm really pulling for Peer. She's up 3-0 at the moment, and Serena is off to another slow start. With the absense of some big names, Peer could reach the finals.
Federer-Roddick semi-final looks to be almost set. Should be a good one considering Andy is playing his best tennis at the moment.
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Post by ckwatt on Jan 23, 2007 12:22:08 GMT -5
Pissed that Blake is out. Fernando Gonzalez is playing good tennis apparently. First Hewitt, now Blake. Murray is out, too. He had control of the match against Nadal, but his intensity level really dropped. He's made dramatic improvements, and I think as you said, he'll challenge for a grand slam this year. Hingis needs to add power back into her game, until then, the quarters is as far as she'll go. The Peer-Williams match is on now, and I'm really pulling for Peer. She's up 3-0 at the moment, and Serena is off to another slow start. With the absense of some big names, Peer could reach the finals. Federer-Rodd ick semi-final looks to be almost set. Should be a good one considering Andy is playing his best tennis at the moment.Gonzalez - Nadal will be a good match, they play doubles together at a lot of tournaments, so they'll know quite a lot about each others game. It'll be very interesting to watch. I was glad that Murray managed to take Nadal to the full 5 sets, but at 2 - 1 up he was in a commanding position and had a chance to pull out a fantastic win, which he didn't take. He needs to improve his fitness, because he sometimes fades away a bit in the last set of 5 set matches. He is god enough to win Slams in future, with a few more years experience behind him, and could be a top 10 player for a long time. Hingis plays Clijsters in the quarters, Clijsters has to be favourite and it'd be a great achievement for Martina to beat her and reach the semis. Great comeback by Serena, that took a lot of guts. I'm hugely surprised that she's done so well. She plays 17 year old Nicole Vaidisova in the semis. I think that's a very winnable match for her, and we could see her in the final. I still think the winner will come from the other semi, but I'd love to see a Sharapova - Williams final. The Federer - Rodd ick semi has been set up. Should be very interesting but obviously if you were to make a prediction you'd have to go with Roger, although I think Andy will give him more problems than his previous opponents, for the first time in the tournament Federer could actually drop a set or two...
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Post by GEO on Jan 23, 2007 16:57:01 GMT -5
Ugh. Paer had thatmatch big time. All she had to do was serve it out. Bad taste in my mouth right now.
When is the Roddick-Federer match? Tomorrow? The past few meetings have been four setters, and I think Andy might win. I actually give him a good chance, only because he's so hot right now. I also want to see Andy play Nadal, which I can't remember happening in a Grand Slam.
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Post by GEO on Jan 24, 2007 18:50:36 GMT -5
UPSET!
Fernando Gonzalez has defeated #2 Rafael Nadal in three sets! Gonzalez now has knocked out two Top 5 players (Nadal and Blake) and Leyton Hewitt. He has advanced to the semi-finals. Unbelievable.
The semi-finals are set:
Gonzalez vs. Haas Roddick vs. Federer
You have to believe that the winner of the Roddick and Federer match have the best chance to win the whole thing.
Tonight, Serena will play, as will Martin Hingis, in the match I'm most looking foward to.
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Post by ckwatt on Jan 26, 2007 14:47:13 GMT -5
The finals have been set up!
Women's final: Sharapova - Williams. I'm expecting this to be a great game. A lot will depend on who gets out of the blocks quickest, because if either player can dominate the first set they're in with a great chance of winning. Going into the tournament I thought Sharapova would win it, and I didn't give Serena much of a chance of getting to the latter stages. I still think Sharapova will win, but I'm expecting a close and highly competitive game.
The men's final will be contested by Federer and Gonzalez. In all honesty I don't think this will be as competitive as the womens, because if Federer plays to near his potential he'll have far too much for Gonzalez. Saying that, the Chilean has played some great tennis during the tournament and as the big underdog for the final he'll feel he has nothing to lose. I think Roger will win this by 3 sets to 1.
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Post by GEO on Jan 26, 2007 14:52:34 GMT -5
I just want to say that the Andy-Federer match was a disgrace to US Tennis. I've never seen dominance like that. And Andy wasn't even playing that badly. But I think you'll agree that Roddick needs to learn how to volley.
As for the matches, I'll take Sharapova. It should be a good game, because you have two power players. Serena has struggled in every match, but she hasn't played someone like Maria yet.
As for the men's final, of course you have to take Federer. I'll say he gets through without dropping a set, which would be truly amazing.
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