Weeks 3-4 - Australian Open 2016 (men's)

Bob in Spain · Tennis legend

Weeks 3-4 - Australian Open 2016 (men's)

rich81 · Social player

Thanks Bob. I agree it looks ok. Tomic in the last 16 is a major banana skin, as he has been looking good this Aussie summer and ready to push higher than he currently is. Wawrinka obviously the semi you would want lined up, but a lot of obstacles for both to negotiate before that becomes an issue.

As an aside, and possibly a bit unfair on my part, the BBC claimed the following

"The Scot has never played 18-year-old Zverev, who is ranked 83rd in the world."

Didnt they play two weeks ago (albeit in a quasi-exhibition)?

indiana · Tennis legend

Tomic has retired at 6-3 3-0 down to Gabashvili in the Sydney QF.

rich81 · Social player

Yes, that's right. I am in Australia, and just watched his press conference (which meant the women's semi final was minimised to a tiny window at the pointy end of the first set...). I think it was a precautionary withdrawal, and don't think it will impact on Melbourne. Regarding the fourth round meeting, Tomic has a few floaters who might stop him getting there (Bolelli and Muller were the names who jumped out when I looked).

Oakland2002 · All-time great

Zevrev will undoubtedly develop into a special player, top 100 at 18 is precocious in the extreme in these days of prolonged careers. He will undoubtedly make his mark on a GS imminently.

I agree the draw could not have been much kinder but, following on from Andys singles loss at the Hopman cup I don't see Zevrev as a given.

TMH · Futures qualifying

Zverev is a big banana skin in the first round. Would have preferred someone a bit less unpredictable. That said, no idea what his stamina is like over potentially 4-5 sets, should he give Andy a run for his money.

Rest of the draw couldn't have been much better. Let's just hope Andy's fully focused and the baby decides to hold off until February.

-- Edited by TMH on Friday 15th of January 2016 07:24:40 AM

Miriambee · Futures level

Kyle was due to play Zverev at Kooyong.

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

I love Sascha Zverev, really great to watch, and such a talent.

Would like him to hold off just a tad, before making his huge break-through though, in fact just a week or two would do.....

AliBlahBlah · All-time great

A mathematically perfect draw.
Drawn against Seeds numbered 32, 16, 8, 4 - the lowest seed possible at each round.
How that translates into reality given the vagaries of form is anyones guess, but it was an interesting oddity.

Spectator · All-time great

Thanks for pointing that out, ABB. Very interesting.
No group is without its perils, but Mr Murray's draw seems relatively kind. That doesn't mean he will make it through, of course - and he's sometimes done best when draws have been wretched. But I am very glad he is not in the Nadal/Wawrinka quarter, which is extremely nasty.

Spectator · All-time great

BTW - I can't remember who posted the link to Mr Murray's article on animals or on which thread, but thank you, whoever it was. I was also pretty impressed by the donation to UNICEF mentioed at the end. They say "raised" but my recollection is that he donated a fair portion of it (if not all of it, I can't quite recall) himself. And £83,000 is, even for the wealthy, quite a nice amount of money. Much needed, at a time when all the agencies are stretched by many disasters. And worth celebrating.

Oakland2002 · All-time great

Yep, very impressive, can't say I am surprised.

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

ATP Media Info ‏@ATPMediaInfo 2h2 hours ago

UPDATE: @NoahRubin & @andy_murray = only teenagers outside Top 300 to defeat a Top 20 in #GrandSlam in last 30 yrs. #AusOpen

indiana · Tennis legend

As easy as 1,2,3 for Andy

steven · Tennis legend

indiana wrote:
As easy as 1,2,3 for Andy

So much for me thinking that might be original wink (though I did get there a minute earlier on Twitter, so it's not all bad LOL)

L128: (2) Andy Murray WR 2 beat Sascha Zverev GER WR 83 (CH 74 last Jun) 6-1 6-2 6-3

L64: (2) Andy Murray WR 2 v Sam Groth (AUS) WR 67 (CH 53 last Aug)

A top Brit-basher, Groth is 41-9 v Brits in singles over his pro career, including 11-match, 15-match and (the current) 9-match Brit-bashing streaks but he has never played Andy before, though they did meet in doubles in Davis Cup last year.