Weeks 3 & 4 - Australian Open - men's singles main draw (hard)

TMH · Futures qualifying

RE: Weeks 3 & 4 - Australian Open - men's singles main draw (hard)

TMH · Futures qualifying

Murray leaving the door open to carrying on. Sounds like he considers it likely he will call it a day, but doesn't want to completely commit to it yet.

"If this was my last match then an amazing way to end."

"Maybe I'll see you again. I'll do everything possible to try. If I want to go again, I'll need to have a big operation, which there's no guarantee I'll be able to come back from anyway, but I'll give it my best shot."

flamingowings · All-time great

Berdych was very good, watched most of it. Kyle just wasn't getting anything on the Berdych serve and he was all over Kyle's. Some erratic shots from Kyle. Berdych v much a rubbish draw and did make a final on his comeback injury. Kyle, as already been said, hasn't really gotten going yet this year.

seagull · Hall of fame

With perhaps exception of Wawrinka, I think Berdych was the worst draw possible. Has a great record at Aus Open and apparently was the first time since 2005 he has not been seeded at a slam!!

The Knight · Challenger qualifying

Bob in Spain wrote:
TMH wrote:
Murray is a warrior. If this is to be it, I'm glad it could end in such a typical spirited Murray-esque fightback even despite ultimately going down in five.

What happened to Edmund and what does this mean for his ranking? Was it a case of Berdych back to his best, Edmund completely off the boil or a combination of? 720 points is a hell of a lot to lose at his rank. Disappointing to see Norrie lose to a player he beat last week but do wonder if his efforts last week may have seen him a bit tired, he's barely had a chance to recover. Bit unfair sticking him out on day 1 (can't remember if AO have three days for first round or two, if it's the latter then understandable I guess). Great to see Dan winning.
Didn't see any of Kyle's match but Berdych has been coming back after 6 months out through injury and by all accounts has had a really strong start to the year. Kyle on the other hand is playing only his 2nd match. He lost the first match and then withdrew the following week with a knee injury. He is down to 25 in the live rankings but is likely to drop a few more places over the course of the next couple of weeks.
However, he has ZERO points to defend until April. So there is a good chance to move himself back up somewhat and hopefully he will have a good clay court season on what is his favourite surface.

Yep and not having to worry about defending these semi points any more should be a load off his mind. Maybe that run did inflate his ranking somewhat, but if his form of the end of last year is anything to go by he looks like a top 20 player still at least

wolf · Tennis legend

Mike Dickson
@Mike_Dickson_DM
·
17m
Andy Murray stating 2 options: Spend next 5/6 months preparing for a farewell appearance at Wimbledon or undergo an operation with no certain outcome and no certain timeframe.

JonH · All-time great

Dan should rise to somewhere in the 160's now after this week, good place to be. And banked points.

Not sure of his exact schedule but a couple more months at Challenger level and we could see him getting into top 100 and starting to play ATP 250 events again. Certainly by the time of the US summer hardcourt season, I would hope Dan is starting to enter those main tour events as of right?

Oakland2002 · All-time great

Not a bad day really, Kyle on one knee, Andy one hip and Cam having had to fly back across the Tasmin after an amazing week.

So pleased for Evo back in the big time! Lets hope he keeps his sensible head on for a couple of years and we could be for some fun!

-- Edited by Oakland2002 on Monday 14th of January 2019 03:14:22 PM

Born2WinTennis · Club Coach

That was so awkward the retirement video montage...just after he said he might be back next year! If Bob Bryan can do it then why can't he? Assuming the op makes him better, it's not like he was terrible today!

Jan · Hall of fame

I had to scoot out after Andy's match. I actually couldn't really believe the level he played at given injury, lack of match practice etc. Obviously not as mobile but still some great vintage shots. A real treat. Not really his style to go out with a whimper. Tricky decision coming up for him now. Would love him to make an appearance at Wimbledon.

indiana · Tennis legend

Jaggy1876 wrote:
Kyle out in straight sets as predicted, back to his par ranking Id say now. Cam will catch him by Wimbledon injuries permitting. Dan might as well. Be interesting fight for GB number 1 between these 3 this year end I think.

No he won't how ever often you repeat it. Kyle will see out the year in May from a year after you first predicted that Cam would overtake Kyle in the rankings in a year's time still ahead, and comfortably so, unless possibly for any reason he is hardly able to play. He simply has so much more proven quality and high level at his best and has become better at getting over the line.

Poor match by Kyle today but as has been said he did come in with just the one match in Brisbane so far this year and then some sort of slight injury.

Don't see Evo catching Kyle this year but that seems much more possible than Cam overtaking Kyle anytime in the next year or so. Though I still expect Cam to move up the world rankings.

Oakland2002 · All-time great

Potentially a blessing in disguise for Kyle if he has tweaked his knee he will now have the opportunity to rest it, relentlessly hammering your body when injured is not the way forward. I agree with Indy, while Cam has had a great start to the year I dont see him as a threat to Kyles ranking as the British no 1, similarly Evo.

thejester · Satellite level

I do see Cam and Evo as a threat to Kyles top dog status, but not for a while at least. I think this time next year Dan could be very close as I think Kyle will find it hard to maintain his ranking. Cam could be a threat too but again I dont see it happening this year. Of course, Id love for the 3 of them to be chasing each other up the rankings in the months and years to come, but as Dans my personal favourite I hope to see him claim the British Number 1 spot at some point.

Constant · Lower Club Player

I'm awake after the day before. Red knees which isnt a surprise since watched 3 matches out in the sticks.

First I decided to watch Boulter as had not seen her before. Boulter had plenty of brits supporting her and when Heather lost more came. (we could see Heather's score board from our court and it seemed to move a lot quicker). Boulter had plenty of fight and ran for everything. After a line call in the 4th game Makarova looked to just decide to save herself for the 2nd set. Paid off because she started to get her length and was game on. Was tense the rest of the match with Boulter regulary hitting the lines. Was funny near end when most people thought she had won the tie break. Took a few minutes to get ready again.
Don't think during my whole time at the tennis that the serve clock was regulary hitting 0 and no violation called.

Had to walk to the other side of the grounds for Evo. He hasn't changed. Talks to himself a lot. First set was tight, then after Ito called the trainer Evo seemed to step up a gear. The 3rd set was a comfortable stroll which was just as well since it was heating up.

Plan then was to try get into Melbourne Arena(old Hisense) for Edmund and Murray, but queue was very long. So grabbed a couple of beers and headed back to other side of grounds again to watch Corrie. The gits changed courts so like a muppet was waiting at crt 12 when they had started on 14. Only noticed when i checked the live scores. Anyway missed first 3 games

After the evo match with plenty of atmosphere, this one was dead. Crowd was more interested in talking about food than watching the game. It was a very even match and really either of them could of won it's just Fritz took his chances at the right time. You could use The exertions of the week had taken its toll on Norrie but it didn't look like that. He looked sharp but just didn't couldn't break Fritz enough.

Took a slow walk back to Melbourne arena and checked out the shops (didn't expect to get into see Murray). First queue was long, so decided to walk around to other side and up the stairs and was rewarded by only seeing a queue of 10 people. Next change of ends and a stream of people left and I was in at 8.49 pm.
Murray mania was experienced first hand and this was the closest I had been to experiencing a Davis Cup like crowd. The guy chased everything and if you want to show a young tennis player what needs to be done to win then show them that match. Keep the ball in play and make the opponent move. It's pretty easy really.

One final note.
What is it with every single British player wasting a challenge in the first 2 games of a set. Some where clearly out. Is it a tempo thing.

p.p.s.
Posted a few videos and picture on my twitter
twitter.com/AEConstant

davidn · Junior player

Cam no chance to recover from his great week in Auckland. Both Struff and Sandgren who went deep in Auckland also out first round so its real. Very hard to back up at this level so just v tough scheduling. Great start to Cam's year though despite the disappointment of Saturday and Monday. Notably the big guns that gave Auckland a miss, BA, Berdych and Monfils all won. Managing your body as illustrated this week by Andy remains a huge challenge for players as players hit their late 20's early 30's.