Aussie Tennis Open

Well done Bartoli for knocking Jankovic out. Jankovic didn't make too many friends with the ball kids with her bad attitude.
 
horselesspaul said:
Murray takes Meltzer to the cleaners after a difficult first set: 7-5 6-0 6-3.
His variety of shots made Meltzer's brain ache, fwiw...sorry couldn't resist, brophs.
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My friend had tickets to the game, so I went along. First proper game of tennis I've watched, other than bits and peices on TV. Surprisingly good atmosphere, a lot of Scots. Poor Melzer :(. I didn't think tennis would be a good game to watch live, but it wasn't too bad.

Funniest moment was someone shouting at Murray, "Don't give up Andy" in the last few minutes of the game. :lol:
 
Berdych in full control until now. Let's see if the Fed can make of this a classic.
 
This has been bugging me. What are all the off the field issues that Dokic has had to deal with?
 
uae said:
This has been bugging me. What are all the off the field issues that Dokic has had to deal with?
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Family issues. I don't think she has any contact at all with her father. Not sure about the rest of her family.
 
You'd think it'd be a bit more than that the way the commentators keep harping on about it.
 
http://www.skysports.com/tennis/tournaments/story/0,25174,15663_4847623,00.html

Roger Federer insists he would take on super-fit Briton Andy Murray "any day" over five sets after surviving a marathon match in the Australian Open fourth round.

The Swiss insisted he felt fresh as a daisy after his three-and-a-half-hour work-out against Tomas Berdych and could easily go the distance with Murray despite their six-year age gap.

"I don't know how fit Murray is. I'll take him on any day in a five-setter," said Federer, who has lost his last four matches against the Scot.

"He's younger so he's probably not so experienced. In the end it becomes very mental, and I know that this is where my biggest strength always comes into play. That's why I'm always going to favour myself in a fifth set."
Words

Federer, 27, has fought a low-key war of words with the British number one since arriving in Melbourne.

The 13-time Grand Slam champion pointedly questioned Murray's status as bookies' favourite at the start of the tournament, prompting his rival to point out "contradictions" in Federer's comments.

The two remain on course to meet in next Sunday's final in a rematch of the US Open title match, where Federer recorded his last win over the 21-year-old.

The world number two fought back to seal a dramatic 4-6 6-7 6-4 6-4 6-2 victory against Berdych, retaining his hopes of winning a 14th Grand Slam.

Federer, who has come back from two sets down three times previously, has not been knocked out of a major before the semi-finals since he lost to Brazil's Gustavo Kuerten in the third round at Roland Garros in 2004.

And the former world number one maintained the thought of losing in the fourth round had never entered mind.

"I wasn't thinking of losing, that's for sure," Federer said. "The finish line was still very far for Tomas. I knew that.

"You can still concentrate on playing just the points instead of thinking, 'Oh, my God, what's going to happen?' I didn't feel that way.

"I kind of felt after a terrible first set from my side that if I probably want to win this it's going to go to five sets. I just felt it.

"I knew Tomas was dangerous, and if I played even still a great set or three great sets it's probably not going to happen.

"He would squeeze one great set in there somewhere, second, third, or fourth.

"That's why I kind of was prepared for five from the start. I think that's what made me be so determined towards the end. "I believed in it all the way, and I think that was key in the end."

Federer admitted he had got off to a slow start, but Berdych had also played extremely well for the first two sets and not allowed him to get into any rhythm.

"I was feeling fine. I just had a bad start.

"Once you start running behind against a player who can take such huge cuts at the ball, he was only getting more and more confident and that made that really, really difficult for me to find rhythm.

"Yeah, it was tough for me today. I found a way. I'm very happy about my performance in the end."

Hindsight advice

Berdych, who has not beaten Federer since the 2004 Olympics in Athens - a streak now running to eight games - also admitted he was not close to winning despite taking the early lead.

"I wouldn't say I was so close," the Czech said. "I won two sets and then I was three-all (in the third).

"Even if you have a match point you're closer, but not close enough to beat him.

"When the last ball is finished, the referee calls the score, then it's finished. I was quite far from this situation."

While disappointed to lose, Berdych had some advice for Federer's future opponents, starting with Juan Martin Del Potro in the quarter-finals.

"I think to beat him, especially on the grand slam, is to win in three sets.

"If you leave him to win one, two sets, then he's going to be stronger and stronger.

"That's just happened today. I wanted to finish in the third set, but unfortunately it doesn't work well."
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It seems like Murray may have Federer rattled, he doesn't usually have to resort to this sort of stuff.
 
uae said:
You'd think it'd be a bit more than that the way the commentators keep harping on about it.
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It's a lot more than that. Her father "forced" her to leave Australia and switched to Serbia, now she's left her family and suffered from depression. And for a long time she has been at war with Australian tennis and the media
 
marchi-91 said:
Didn't the prick argue about a Sausage roll ffs and get thrown out of one of the opens?
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Refused to pay $20 for fish (I think) at the players' cafe. Got thrown out of another Open after calling the officials a bunch of Nazis. He's a nutter alright.
 
Really dissapointed that Murray went out today.

I can only guess that he let his level drop and Verdasco played very well. He is a dangerous opponent but if Murray played well he really shouldn't have had too many problems with him. I didn't get to watch the match but i guess that must be the case.
 
Did we have any crazy folks get up at silly o'clock to watch the Murray match? So what went wrong for him? Did it look like his illness was affecting him at all?

Very disappointed that he went out, as he was a genuine potential winner. With all due respect, Verdasco isn't. This just opens things up for Nadal, Federer and Djokovic, and the tournament is starting to have a familiar feel.
 
He just wasn't aggressive enough. Far too passive at times, handing the initiative to Verdasco.

Verdasco's usually a hit or miss kinda player, and Murray gave him too many opportunities to really fire up that forehand of his.
 
FranklyVulgar said:
I can only guess that he let his level drop and Verdasco played very well.
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He didn't, just that Verdasco played extremely well, especially on his serve.

Murray was inconsistent at the crucial points, adding to stupid drop shots and missed volleys.
 
I'm not a Murray fan so I'm sort of glad I don't have to endure the hype for another few weeks. Hope Fed goes on to win now.
 
Looks like Federer and Djokovic were right.
 
A scot isnt going to last 2wks in the Melbourne sun at this time of the year. Fed was right as usual. The bookies got it terribly wrong and Murray is just not up to it yet. Feds and Nadal are on a different planet to him when it really counts.
 
mjdj said:
A scot isnt going to last 2wks in the Melbourne sun at this time of the year. Fed was right as usual. The bookies got it terribly wrong and Murray is just not up to it yet. Feds and Nadal are on a different planet to him when it really counts.
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He's up to it. Just got it wrong today, as long as he keeps learning from these defeats he'll be in great shape.
 
marchi-91 said:
Didn't the prick argue about a Sausage roll ffs and get thrown out of one of the opens?
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Smashed a cameraman's camera at Wimbledon, was ejected for being drunk, complained about the price of fish at the US Open again ejected.
 
The difference is, it's 5 sets. He would have won this match in the last few months 2-1.
 
zing said:
What did they say?
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Well both of them didn't agree that Murray was the favourite for the tournament. Djokovic got irritated by it and Federer basically said he'd beat Murray in 5 sets.
 
Murray came off second best in the 5th set. Verdasco outhit and outserved him and made Murray look worse than he really is. Verdasco is a leftie, which means he has a strong forehand - up there with Federer's as the best in the game. Murray is the only on of the top 8 seeds not to make the last 8. This could be a good lesson for him because he was getting over-hyped in some quarters.
 
The Melb heat will get to a lot of people. Its going to be 40 for the next few days.
 
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