The Official Tennis Thread (Vol. 2024 Oz Open Nadal Out)

otakuant · Jan 16, 2015

Vika vs Sloane in the first round.

The winner plays Woz or Taylor Townsend in round 2...

aepps20 · Jan 16, 2015

Sharapova stays getting easy draws. [emoji]128514[/emoji]

thadangerousmind · Jan 16, 2015

Anything to keep (The Great White) hope alive.

Sinner · Jan 17, 2015

2015+Australian+Open+Previews+tMv4PBA_E2Wx.jpg

aepps20 · Jan 17, 2015

Lol, great pic SP

richiemcfly · Jan 17, 2015

predictions for the AO ?

:nerd:

champcruthik · Jan 18, 2015

proto onslaught said:
predictions for the AO ?

Genie and Nole.

otakuant · Jan 18, 2015

For the men, Nole. Fed's my second choice, but the bottom half of the draw is pretty stacked.

For the women... I don't know. I think pretty much anyone in the top 8 has a legit shot, though. I kinda have the feeling that someone unexpected might win, whether it be someone winning Grand Slam #1 or a player winning a GS for first time in a while.

Sinner · Jan 18, 2015

thadangerousmind · Jan 18, 2015

I'm not making any predictions this go around. Rafa thinks he's going down early.

aepps20 · Jan 18, 2015

This is the first time in a long time that we have a complete toss up in both the men's and women's fields. On the Men's side, I can see Stan doing really well but I never count out Rafa no matter his form. On the women's side, Sharapova has looked good this year and her draw fits really well. I can see her winning but only if she doesn't have to play Serena. Venus and Woz can make deep runs based on their form. Aga looks sharp but I don't think she has grand slam winning power. I don't want to count out Vika, who is in my opinion the best female hard court player on tour, but her draw is brutal. Last but certainly not least we have Serena. She hasn't looked sharp this year and her draw is very tough, but if she plays anywhere close to how she did at the U.S Open or at the Tour Championship, she has an excellent shot. The only thing that concerns me with Serena at this age is that as she has gotten older her mental strength has waned slightly. Physically she is the best she's ever been but her mental strength is nowhere near where it was.

champcruthik · Jan 18, 2015

I'd like to see Raonic or Grigor seize the moment and make deep runs on the men's side.

Anyone like Stosur or Garbine on the women's side?

thadangerousmind · Jan 18, 2015

Stosur is never winning another Grand Slam. She caught Serena on a bad day and that will be her claim to fame for the rest of her career.

otakuant · Jan 18, 2015

aepps20 said:
On the women's side, Sharapova has looked good this year and her draw fits really well. I can see her winning but only if she doesn't have to play Serena. Venus and Woz can make deep runs based on their form. Aga looks sharp but I don't think she has grand slam winning power. I don't want to count out Vika, who is in my opinion the best female hard court player on tour, but her draw is brutal. Last but certainly not least we have Serena. She hasn't looked sharp this year and her draw is very tough, but if she plays anywhere close to how she did at the U.S Open or at the Tour Championship, she has an excellent shot. The only thing that concerns me with Serena at this age is that as she has gotten older her mental strength has waned slightly. Physically she is the best she's ever been but her mental strength is nowhere near where it was.

I agree with pretty much everything said here. After losing to both Genie and Radwanska (and receiving a bagel against Pennetta) this year, I really don't feel confident about Serena leaving Australia with #19 or her World No. 1 ranking. Still, you can never really count her out. I think Aga will be a player to watch out for this season with Navratilova on her side. The victory at the Hopman Cup shows that the pairing has already paid off.

thadangerousmind · Jan 18, 2015

Ana Chokevanovic is a first round upset out here guys.

otakuant · Jan 18, 2015

Ana...

thadangerousmind · Jan 18, 2015

Lisicki is up next on the Summer Jam screen.

richiemcfly · Jan 18, 2015

Nadal is up :smokin

illmaticsoulchild · Jan 18, 2015

Wow, I haven't watched tennis consistently since '08 or so, but how the heck did Youzhny fall this far in the rankings? Yikes..

thadangerousmind · Jan 19, 2015

Down goes Kerber! It's been a hell of a day down under.

shogun · Jan 19, 2015

It's been a long sports day. Didn't even know the AO started.

Right now they're showing this women's match on the smallest court i've seen at a tournament. The crowd seating is small as hell.