We have say this is another Nadal vs Djokovic Final this year if both are healthy and playing well. Whatever confidence Rafa lost against Serbia in the ATP Cup last week, we should assume that he, Moya and Co. will be ready to rumble in Melbourne. Looks like Nadal could have, potentially, a tricky R16 …
Category: Australian Open
Nadalism in the AO Aftermath
Did you read Steve Tignor's really poor reflection after the Nadal v Djokovic AO final? The guy makes a ridiculous comparison between this 2019 AO final and those of Federer v Djokovic a few years ago. He actually wrote this line here: "The Serb’s startlingly one-sided 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 win was reminiscent of some of …
2019 AO: Djokovic Wins #7
What I really liked about the 2019 AO final last night between Novak and Rafa, their 53rd meeting, is how, true to form, this in-form Djokovic makes things so crystal clear for the audience, a crowd we could describe as a bit unhinged in their fanaticism, delusional perhaps: certainly unbalanced. Djokovic's balanced tennis brings all …
Djokodal By the Numbers
Ha ha. No, I'm not going to parade a bunch of statistics before your eyes and say: "therefore, . . . " That's not usually what we do. We'll make some references, push a superficial tennis sabermetrics alongside our more interesting analysis, but I leave the numbers galleries to the tongue-tied stat boy and stat …
We Need Djokodal LIII
Or do we? Pouille's run has been a brilliant surprise. If this was closer to 2017, we'd have given him more consideration. But he's been in a bit of a spiral. No question. He stone-walled Raonic. The Canadian had converted 94% of his serve coming-in, had shown glimpses of a 2016 Milos, Wimbledon finalist, etc. …
Last Two Semi-finals
I will not be watching tonight's matches. I hope Pouille can hang with Raonic (and this appears to be the case in the first set; the Frenchman was down a break early but now they're in a first set TB!). Update: Pouille takes the first set. I lied -- I'm going to watch a bit …
The Business End of AO 2019
Tsitsipas has overcome "Robbie Bats" (Brad Gilbert's genius nickname for RBA) in the first QF match. The Greek awaits the winner of Nadal v Tiafoe that's set to toss in about an hour. We have been talking about Stefanos for about a year. There's really nothing surprising about this run. Even his success last year …
Tsitsipas, Bautista Agut, Tiafoe … What’s Going on Here?
Not sure if you saw my Live Blog last night during the Federer v Tsitsipas R16 match. Yeah, it is what it is -- my live blog. I don't do Twitter really, so this was just some mid-match "commentary." The tone, if you think it too caustic, then either you're new here or you need …
Continue reading Tsitsipas, Bautista Agut, Tiafoe … What’s Going on Here?
Federer v Tsitsipas – Live Blog
If you’re not watching this match (or when you do finally see it) and you’re not impressed with this style and level of play, stop reading my blog and go lock yourself in the bathroom and stay there for a while. My preview nailed this one. This is my brand of tennis. This is timeless. …
Notadraw and Dimwitrov
I watched the entirety of the Tiafoe v Dimitrov match. As close as it seemed on the score board, this was just classic Grigor, playing small in all the wrong places (as if there's a time to play small). Even when the American started to crack physically and the entire crowd including the call of …
