Weeks 3/4 - Australian Open - Melbourne, Australia - Hard

JonH · All-time great

RE: Weeks 3/4 - Australian Open - Melbourne, Australia - Hard

Jaggy1876 · Grand Slam Champion

Just imagine Federer v Nadal in the men's final and Venus V Serena in the women's. Would be like turning the clock back 10years

!

indiana · Tennis legend

Roger lodging in Rod Laver night sessions.

Five rounds - 4 RLA night, 1 RLA day.

Oakland2002 · All-time great

I see Dan mentioned I his press interview reported in the Guardian yesterday that to compete with the likes of Tsonga he needs to improve his fitness.

JonH · All-time great

JonH wrote:
thejester wrote:
Still plenty of matches to play but I seem to recall somebody on here asking what the odds would be on a Rafa-Roger final. Whilst part of me would love to see a complete underdog win the whole thing I must admit I'd love to see the two guys who have been written off in some quarters grace the big stage once more. Though I'd make Wawrinka favourite now, this is one of the most open tournaments in a long time.

Dan should take huge positives from the last couple of weeks. It's worth bearing in mind that was his 9th match in 14 days I think and so it's no surprise he ran out of steam against JWT. He's covered a huge amount of points already and now has a great platform to build from. Andy shouldn't be too down, yes it was a great opportunity to win the tournament but these things happen in sport and you can't really legislate for an unorthodox player throwing in a match from the gods.

Anyway, all eyes on Ms Konta now!
I think it was me - I worked out the head to heads at the last 32 stage and it pointed to a Roger v Rafa final...still possible!

Down to 4 - one match each away from Roger v Rafa being reality. What a story that would be. Been a really great event this year.

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Looking good, JonH

So, we've got a 35 year-old, a 31 year-old, a 30 year-old - and young whipper-snapper, Grig, at 25.

indiana · Tennis legend

Fed wins the first set 7-5 against the Swiss #1.

But can he keep it going in 2017, the age of the Williams sisters and Bryan brothers ...

Stircrazy · Tennis legend

And Roger the Lodger nails it, defeating Stan the Man by 7-5 6-3 -6 4-6 6-3 in three hours & four minutes - not that long for a five-setter!

Spectator · All-time great

Yes, he can. Remarkable. Finalists so far are 35, 35, 36, 38, 38, 30, 31,31, one week off of 30 (Safarova) with only Kontinen (26) and Peers (28) emphatically still in their third decade.

TMH · Futures qualifying

I would so love to see Nadal win here.

Not a fan of Federer but you've got to say he's had a remarkable comeback tournament. Glad to see him beat Wawrinka.

Been a real weird tournament this. It's like we've gone 10 years back in time. Talk about resurgences.

Spectator · All-time great

This may be slightly heretical, but ... for me this has actually been one of the most enjoyable Grand Slams in ages. Normally, I spend much time thinking "Will Andy Murray win?" "Will anyone stop Novak Djokovic?" While I would have loved to see AM finally win this tournament, it's been rather pleasant, in his absence, simply to follow the storylines without having any particular investment. And I'm glad of the remaining options: Roger/Rafa/Dimitrov as winners ... each would make a super story. And on the women's side, while I'd love to have seen Jo Konta go all the way, she did well, she defended enough points to keep her in a super position for the start of the year, and the Williams, Williams, Lucic-Baroni progress was a delight (barring Serena Williams' QF) to follow.

Stircrazy · Tennis legend

Rafa's now two-thirds of the way to an appointment with Roger the Lodger in the Rod Laver Arena on Sunday: he leads Dimi by 6-3 5-7 7-6(5)...

TMH · Futures qualifying

Turning into an epic. Dimitrov takes it to a fifth on a tie-break.

I will be surprised if Federer doesn't cream the victor in the final.

Stircrazy · Tennis legend

Rafa finally takes it by 6-4 in the fifth, Dimi having won the fourth by 7-6(4). The match really was an epic: it lasted for four hours & 54 minutes!

JonH · All-time great

JonH wrote:

If you take the remaining draw and look at it on head to heads then you get last 8 onwards of:

Murray v Federer
Wawrinka v Tsonga
Nadal v Ferrer
Thiem v Carreno Busta

Federer (sorry!) v Wawrinka
Nadal v Thiem

Federer v Nadal (odds for this??)

winner FEDERER (beat Nadal last time out in Basle October 2015).

Note I just took result of last time they played and where no H2H, highest ranked won it.

Clearly wont work out this way but fun nonetheless!

Not sure of odds for a Federer win, personallly I think this is bunkum and my money is now on Andy for certain!

-- Edited by JonH on Thursday 19th of January 2017 04:08:07 PM

Ignoring the fact the quarters were largely wrong, I take great pride in getting the finalists correct (and Stan of course!)

Federer beat Nadal last time out, albeit 15 months ago, and in Basle, should be a stonking final.

Ignore the fact this approach got the womens side horribly wrong!

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