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Re: 2014 Australian Open

Reply #135 –
Quote from: Mantis – on
Did you just see him choke in the 3rd set tie break ? What was he 6-3 or 6-4 up and had the 2 serves to go to close out the set. Ends up losing 8-6 ? Its like he is just chipping the ball back straight to Murray and depending on Murray missing a shot to win the point. This style of tennis will not beat a Wawrinka, Nadal or any decent player.

He played way too passively - granted but better to do it 2-0 up against Murray than Rafa.....

Hopefully, he'll learn from it.

Finals, then 4 in a row!

Re: 2014 Australian Open

Reply #136 –
Id be getting on Wawrinka or Byrdich from here.  Dont think the winner will come from this side of the draw.
"everything you know is wrong"

Paul Hewson

Re: 2014 Australian Open

Reply #137 –
Quote from: Thryleon – on
Id be getting on Wawrinka or Byrdich from here.  Dont think the winner will come from this side of the draw.

Went for the Djoker initially but I think the Fed Express and Li Na will take the money......

Re: 2014 Australian Open

Reply #138 –
Quote from: Thryleon – on
Id be getting on Wawrinka or Byrdich from here.  Dont think the winner will come from this side of the draw.

Quote
The Wawrinka vs Berdych Head to Head stands at 8-5, with three consecutive victories for the Swiss out of four meetings in 2013.

http://www.stevegtennis.com/2014/01/stanislas-wawrinka-vs-tomas-berdych-preview-australian-open-2014-sf/

Don't see either beating Rafa or Roger in a Slam final....

http://www.atpworldtour.com/Players/Head-To-Head.aspx?pId=F324&oId=W367

http://www.atpworldtour.com/Players/Head-To-Head.aspx?pId=N409&oId=W367

Finals, then 4 in a row!

Re: 2014 Australian Open

Reply #139 –
Wawrinka into his first grand slam final. Great work and wouldn't it be great to see an all Swiss final. It ain't going to happen. Nadal will thrash the pants off Fed Ex and take another title for his efforts for certain. If only Dimitrov missed less of his shots, it could have been a completely different story. The womens final are not 2 of the original favourites. Completely against what I thought, but the mens only has Djokovic missing. The rest is no surprise at all.
This digital world is too much for us insects to understand.

Re: 2014 Australian Open

Reply #140 –
Quote from: Mantis – on
Wawrinka into his first grand slam final. Great work and wouldn't it be great to see an all Swiss final. It ain't going to happen. Nadal will thrash the pants off Fed Ex and take another title for his efforts for certain. If only Dimitrov missed less of his shots, it could have been a completely different story. The womens final are not 2 of the original favourites. Completely against what I thought, but the mens only has Djokovic missing. The rest is no surprise at all.

Nadal having all sorts of issues with blisters on his playing hand. Certainly not at his best atm.

Re: 2014 Australian Open

Reply #141 –
Quote from: flyboy77 – on
Quote from: Thryleon – on
Id be getting on Wawrinka or Byrdich from here.  Dont think the winner will come from this side of the draw.

Quote
The Wawrinka vs Berdych Head to Head stands at 8-5, with three consecutive victories for the Swiss out of four meetings in 2013.

http://www.stevegtennis.com/2014/01/stanislas-wawrinka-vs-tomas-berdych-preview-australian-open-2014-sf/

Don't see either beating Rafa or Roger in a Slam final....

http://www.atpworldtour.com/Players/Head-To-Head.aspx?pId=F324&oId=W367

http://www.atpworldtour.com/Players/Head-To-Head.aspx?pId=N409&oId=W367

Its odd, but there is one thing that goes out of the window in a "grand final" and that is previous records.

History shows, that it doesnt really make too much of a difference (unless you look at records in a grand slam final).

In any case, based on the data I have (which is my own eyes watching matches) I would say that Federer has been exceptional at preventing himself from getting involved in baseline rallies, and has used this to keep himself in the competition.  Thing is, against Murray I saw the cracks appearing in his game.  Murray with a bad back and limited motion was able to win the third set against Roger.  He is clearly past his best, and I would think that he would be playing his grand final to get past Nadal, and then have to repeat the effort in 2 days.  Wawrinka gets the benefit of an extra day's break prior to the mens final so he will be "fresher" than the victor of Rafa or Roger.

Rafa has the blisters which are clearly preventing him from being able to play his usual game.

Either way, (I hate to say it as I dont find him endearing) I think Wawrinka will win.

I want Rafa to win it, but I think he is going to struggle against Federer tonight but will ensure that Federer is taxed to get through the match.
"everything you know is wrong"

Paul Hewson

Re: 2014 Australian Open

Reply #142 –
Actually, I think this has all the hallmarks of a smashing. Good luck to Fed, would love to see him make a final (and then win it) but I see reality hitting hard tonight.

Re: 2014 Australian Open

Reply #143 –
Thry, Federer has finally conceded that he needs to make changes.  He's a bit of a fuddy-duddy.  He tends to spurn changes in the game rather than embracing them.  For instance, he hates Hawk/Eagle Eye and for a long time was pathetic in his use of it.  His success rate was ridiculously low for a guy whose eye must be so much better than the ordinary bloke.  He has clung onto the smaller raquet while everyone else has milked every possible benefit from bigger raquets and the latest developments.  It was a bit like Bjorn Borg trying to use a wooden raquet when he attempted a comeback after everyone else had moved to composite raquets.  And this tendency has been magnified by refusing to hire a coach for anything more than ad hoc advice. 

It seems that all this has now changed.  I'd imagine Boris Becker is there to modify his game strategies rather than honing his well-settled technique.  He has moved to a bigger raquet to generate more power.  And physically, he's over the injuries which restricted him last year, at least for the moment.

The only question is whether he's had enough time to settle into those changes.  But he has shown during this Australian Open that he's working towards attacking the net periodically with a view no doubt to combat Nadal's strategy of kicking the ball high against his single-handed backhand.  That means that he should be more able to pursue that strategy than when he was coaching himself and had no one who could pressure him to stay aggressive.

Then we have the issue of how much the blisters on Nadal's hand will affect him.  And then there's the issue of whether the roof will be closed and whether the cooler temperature will favour Nadal by slowing up the ball, and whether it will also help Federer by reducing the kick Nadal's top spin can produce. 

Re: 2014 Australian Open

Reply #144 –
Stefan Edberg, Mav ;-)

Re: 2014 Australian Open

Reply #145 –
Yep, wrong old guy!  An interesting choice to go after such a great serve-volleyer. 

Re: 2014 Australian Open

Reply #146 –
Federer changing racquets would do little for his game, it may even make things worse!

There is little evidence in elite sports, at least those that require anything more than pure power, that a power benefit helps.

Tennis like golf is mostly about control and consistency, playing and practicing with consistent equipment to minimise variation offers far greater benefit than upgrading every five minutes. Federer has decades of muscle memory developed around the type of racquet that he uses, changing at his age might help his serve but could be very detrimental to his control. Once he starts to lose control things may change, but at the moment he has control a plenty. If his game lacks anything I would say it is motivation!

As for the myriad of hacks using jumbo racquets, perhaps they are just has-beens looking for some psychological "Mine is bigger than yours" boost!
"Extremists on either side will always meet in the Middle!"

Re: 2014 Australian Open

Reply #147 –
Not sure that there's much need to look for evidence that improvements in raquet technology can improve performance.  It's not just an issue of increasing power, although that is part of it.  A larger raquet can have a larger sweet spot which in turn helps with control when heavy spin is being imparted.  Then you have recent developments in synthetic strings which allow better spin as well.  Taken together, the advantages are considerable. 

But you don't have to look too far to see evidence that playing equipment that allows greater power to be generated helps elite athletes.  For a start, Tennis is an obvious example.  Modern raquets have changed the game.  Serve-volleying was a strong strategy with smaller wooden raquets but is now a thing of the past as modern raquets allow more accurate and powerful passing shots.  Cricket is another example.  Thin bats have been replaced by softer but thicker bats and that has enable bigger hitting.  Not sure your search for evidence has been very thorough. 

Re: 2014 Australian Open

Reply #148 –
http://www.businessinsider.com.au/roger-federer-racket-switch-2014-1

Fed went from a 90 sq. in. (crazy man) to a 98 sq. in. (finally). Not moving sooner most likely cost him 3-5 majors imo.

Nadal has been using a 100 sq. in. bat for years....

http://www.tennis-warehouse.com/Babolat_AeroPro_Drive/descpageRCBAB-APD13.html
Finals, then 4 in a row!
 

Re: 2014 Australian Open

Reply #149 –
How can the greatest player of the modern era  (RF) have an opponent lurking around who has a 22 / 10  winning record against him??  The stas aren't even close.  Where does that leave Rafa?