WARNING: SPOILERS IN THIS THREAD, READ CAREFULLY -- ESPN2 gives two telecasts of the tournament, one live late night/early morning and the other taped in US primetime. Since some of us watch it live at night, we might be posting score updates in real time. If you watch the taped telecasts in primetime, keep in mind that you might get spoilers when you come to this thread. Might be a good idea to stay away from it until you have already seen match results, or if you are coming here to specifically find out match results. (Thanks Loopy)The draw is out. Here is how the projected men's seeds play out (in the 3rd round) ... Top Half, First Quarter: (1) Roger Federer (25) Fernando Verdasco (21) Juan Monaco (13) Tomas Berdych (12) James Blake (17) Ivan Ljubicic (27) Nicolas Almagro (7) Fernando Gonzalez Other Notables: Fabrice Santoro, Sebastien Grosjean Top Half, Second Quarter: (3) Novak Djokovic (32) Dmitry Tursunov (19) Lleyton Hewitt (15) Marcos Bhagdatis (10) David Nalbandian (22) Juan Carlos Ferrero (30) Radek Stepanek (5) David Ferrer Other Notables: Marat Safin, Thomas Johansson, Nicolas Kiefer Bottom Half, First Quarter: (8) Richard Gasquet (31) Igor Andreev (18) Juan Ignacio Chela (9) Andy Murray (14) Mikhail Youzhny (20) Ivo Karlovic (26) Stanislas Warwrinka (4) Nikolay Davydenko Bottom Half, Second Quarter: (6) Andy Roddick (29) Philipp Kohlschreiber (24) Jarko Nieminen (11) Tommy Robredo (16) Carlos Moya (23) Paul-Henri Mathieu (28) Gilles Simon (2) Rafael Nadal Other Notables: Mardy Fish, Arnaud Clement To me, the top half is loaded, especially the second quarter of it. Djokovic got a tough quarter, and is in Roger's half. Sucks for him. Roger should easily blow through to the semis to possibly face Djokovic. I actually think Rafa got a real favorable draw. Moya played him as tough as possible last week, so that might be a big 4th round match. But Andycakes in the quarters and Davydenko/Murray/Youzhny/Gasquet in the semis? It's not a cakewalk, but it is easier that Roger's or Novak's path. Can't wait for this to get started. Should be a great slam!
Women's seeds ... 1 Justine Henin 2 Svetlana Kuznetsova 3 Jelena Jankovic 4 Ana Ivanovic 5 Maria Sharapova 6 Anna Chakvetadze 7 Serena Williams 8 Venus Williams 9 Daniela Hantuchova 10 Marion Bartoli 11 Elena Dementieva 12 Nicole Vaidisova 13 Tatiana Golovin 14 Nadia Petrova 15 Patty Schnyder 16 Dinara Safina 17 Shahar Peer 18 Amelie Mauresmo 19 Sybille Bammer 20 Agnes Szavay 21 Alona Bondarenko 22 Lucie Safarova 23 Vera Zvonareva 24 Na Li 25 Francesca Schiavone 26 Victoria Azarenka 27 Maria Kirilenko 28 Katarina Srebotnik 29 Agnieszka Radwanska 30 Virginie Razzano 31 Sania Mirza 32 Julia Vakulenko
Tough draw for Djokovic. He better not have a tough time closing out matches against inferior opponents (like he often does) if he wants to bet Federer and Nadal.
So the tournament finally begins today! Morning session begins at 6:00 p.m. central on ESPN2. Bottom half of the draw are on court today. Rafa plays the last match of the night session, which will probably come on at the start of the 2:30 a.m. telecast. Of course, all of these times are central time, our time. Melbourne time is 17 hours ahead of us. Top half (Federer, Djokovic, Hewitt, etc.) are all on court tomorrow.
Just flipped to ESPN2 to watch a bit of tennis in the commercial break of the Cowboys game ... IT'S IN HD!!! Allsome! I don't remember it being in HD last year. Looks badass! Serena is playing right now. Ok, back to the Cowboys for the end of the game ...
The Women's side had a scare in the first round. (3) Jelena Jankovic fought off 3 match points to beat Paszek 2-6, 6-2, 12-10. Paszek, a young 17 year old, served for the match four different times in the 3rd set, and got broken back all four times. 14 total breaks in the third set alone. The match was sloppy. Paszek had it so many times. Even had open court on two of her match points, and unnecessarily went for too much each time. A match like that is hard to watch.
I found it fun to watch since somebody had to hold serve eventually! I like when they interview the players from previous matches during matches to hear their commentary about it. Those of us who enjoy other sports don't really have that bad of an offseason if you think about it. This year we have more soccer to watch, various tennis tourneys and things like that.
andy murray falls in 4 sets to tsonga, someone i've never heard of. it was close in the 4th set tiebreak to force a 5th set, but tsonga holds on, aided by a couple late unforced errors by andy murray. andy might have been able to pull it out if it went to 5 sets, since tsonga looked worn out near the end of the match 7-5 6-4 0-6 7-6 tsonga
Women's tennis hasn't been fun since Hingis and the Williams sisters used to have cat fights when they were 17 years old.
Well, the first round had some upsets on the men's side ... Guillermo Garcia-Lopez took down (18) Juan Ignacio Chela 6-4, 6-2, 1-6, 6-2. Garcia-Lopez is decent, but a bit surprised. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga beat (9) Andy Murray 7-5, 6-4, 0-6, 7-6 (5). This wasn't a complete surprise to me. Obviously I thought Andy was going to win, but Tsonga isn't dogmeat. He beat Hewitt and got to the semis in Adelaide two weeks ago. He's capable of pulling off an upset here and there. Stefan Koubek beat (16) Carlos Moya 7-6 (5), 6-7 (7), 7-5, 6-4. This was surprising. Moya had such a great season last year, especially at his age. Plus, he played Rafa tough as hell a few weeks ago in the semis of Chennai. I thought Moya might make a run here, at least to possibly the quarters. Even though it was a tough match, surprised he lost. Glad Rafa won this morning, and the way he won. Had to fight at bit at 7-6 (3), 7-5, 6-1. Good to get on court and play an opponent who fought. Didn't spend a ton of time on court, but still had a competitive match. He next plays Florent Serra in the 2nd round. Tonight's live telecast begins at 8:00 p.m. central. Djokovic is on court first. Hewitt is on third. Venus and Federer are the night session, which begins at 2:30 a.m. central.
Another day ... another three seeds go down in the first round! Robin Hasse beat (17) Ivan Ljubicic 6-7 (2), 6-3, 6-0, 7-6 (1). Marin Cilic beat (27) Nicolas Almagro 7-6 (4), 7-5, 6-2 Vincent Spadea beat (30) Radek Stepanek 2-6, 2-6, 7-5, 6-2, 6-3. All the other top half seeds moved in. Today is the bottom half second round. The biggest matchup I see is Mardy Fish vs. (11) Tommy Robredo. In tomorrow's top half second round, the big matchup will be Marat Safin vs. (15) Marcos Baghdatis. Tonight has Henin opening, with Rafa following her. The late session has a good match in unseeded Lindsay Davenport vs. (5) Maria Sharapova. Andycakes follows.
So the bottom half completed the second round ... Marc Gicquel beat (26) Stanislav Warwrinka 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (5), 2-1 (ret.). Like I mentioned before, the upset special came through. Mardy Fish upset (11) Tommy Robredo 1, 2, and 3. Rafa, Davy, Andycakes, Youzhny, and Gasquet all moved on. Today, Federer is on second, with Hewitt following. Both should be on Tennis Channel at 6:00 p.m., with Hewitt flowing into the ESPN2 10:00 p.m. telecast. The big second rounder, Safin vs. (15) Baghdatis will come on last in the late session, which will probably be around 4:00 a.m.-ish.
(15) Baghdatis and Safin are in a pretty good match right now live on ESPN2. Baghdatis won the first 2 sets at 4. Marat won the 3rd at 2. On serve in the 4th at 1-0, with Baghdatis serving. Winner gets Hewitt in the next round.
Safin, serving at 5-3 and down 0-40, roared back and won the 4th set 6-3! This is a pretty good match! Important fact of note, Marat has never come back from 2 sets down.
Baghdatis broke Marat again to win the 5th 6-2. This certainly didn't feel like a 2nd round match. Safin has this, and in typical Marat fashion, he gave it up. He is getting better, and looks as healthy as he has been in a few years ... but he still has to work on between-the-ears. Baghdatis vs. Hewitt in the 3rd round. With all of the Cyps and Aussies in that crowd ... Rod Laver Arena is going to be rockin'!
So the bottom half of the 3rd round will be played today. Matchups are ... (8) Richard Gasquet (31) Igor Andreev Guillermo Garcia-Lopez Jo-Wilfriend Tsonga (14) Mikhail Youzhny (20) Ivo Karlovic Marc Gicquel (4) Nikolay Davydenko (6) Andy Roddick (29) Phillip Kohlschreiber (last on main court night session ... ESPN2 late night probably around 4:00 a.m.) (24) Jarkko Nieminen Mardy Fish Stefan Koubek (23) Paul-Henri Mathieu (28) Gilles Simon (2) Rafael Nadal (third on main court morning session ... ESPN2 night telecast, beginning at 8:00 p.m.)
I caught the 5th set of the Safin match. I love watching his strokes, but he is messed in the head. He is probably top 5 in talent on the tour.
Ol Andy goes down early in a major yet again. Will that dude ever win another major, don't think so. El Fed looks to be in top form but I'm gonna pick Rafa to get his first Aussie open. Vamos Rafa Vamos!!
vy, I hope you are right about your pick! Andycakes did go down. Normally I am bagging on him because a poor effort, but he actually played a damn fine match. He and Kohlschreiber went at it. Kohlschreiber finally pulled it out 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (9), 6-7 (3), 8-6. Andy hit 72% on his serve, 42 aces to only 3 doubles, 79 winners to only 14 unforced. Kohlschreiber went 65%, 32 to 2, and 104 winners to 33 unforced. Very high quality tennis. I was really looking forward to a Roddick/Nadal quarter matchup. So tonight brings the other 3rd rounds. It is live on Tennis Channel until 9:00 p.m., with ESPN2 picking it up at that time until 12:30 a.m., and picks up again at 2:30 a.m. for the night session. Gonzalez and Federer matches are in the morning session. The headliner of the night session is Baghdatis and Hewitt. The crowd should be crazy for that!
Good match for James Blake coming back from 2 sets down for the first time in his career to beat a pretty tough game opponent in Grojean. I really like Blakes game better than Roddicks. Andy seems to stiff out there hitting in rallies where James looks smooth and will go for sick winners, which are high percentage for him. Can't wait for Hewitt/Bagdhatis match.
Anyone else up watching. El Fed is in big trouble down 2 sets to 1 to the cerb Tipsaveric. Lets see if the kid can pull off the big upset or El Fed comes back. Good stuff here!
Looks like we are going to a 5th set. Tipsarevic looks like he is getting tired. Should be an interesting finishing set.
