Australian Open - 2020

5:2 up go go go

Match point!

FFS!

About bloody time!

This result will mean nothing like with many others who have beaten the Big 3 at the Slams unless they go on and win the whole thing. Which is why I have huge respect for Wawrinka. Cashed in when the opportunity presented itself. It’s what the younger brigade need to look at. Cashing in when the cheque has been written, rather than bouncing the damn thing!

Good boy and good win

Much much closer than I thought it would be but is mainly due to Thiem immaturity. he is not cool under pressure.

Nadal played much better than v Kyrgios. He knew he had to.

Thiem to take AO!!!

At last a good news in this AO. Nadal will have to wait for number 20. We will have a youngish player in the final.

Tenez wrote:
Nadal played much better than v Kyrgios. He knew he had to.

Yeah I agree. Thought he played at a high level. Game of such fine margins.

If Thiem wins this event I’ll be very happy and even look back at this match as a positive sacrifice.
If Djokovic wins I’ll be pissed off

BEL19VE wrote:If Thiem wins this event I’ll be very happy and even look back at this match as a positive sacrifice.
If Djokovic wins I’ll be pissed off

Zverev will pose a different problem than Nadal. I think it will be close.

In either case Djoko will be the favourite but me think Djoko will get more trouble handling Zverev than Thiem...unless Thiem manages to make him run...which I doubt.

The only hope we have is that Djoko is also a nervous player and can drop form within sets and matches though we have yet to see that this year.

What?

Djokovic will destroy Zverev.
Thiem best Djokovic at both FO and WTF last year. This court is perfect for Thiem.

Tenez wrote:
The only hope we have is that Djoko is also a nervous player and can drop form within sets and matches though we have yet to see that this year.

Hope for what?
For "your man" to keep his slam count?
Don't you think it's cowardly to expect others to do Federer's work.


If he is that good he should go and win the title himself.

NITB, you and Djokovic seem to be on the same page with this anti Fed stuff lol.

Read in an interview a 2 days ago where Djokovic ‘praised’ Federer by saying that his exploits in this event has proven why he’s ‘one of the greatest’ of all time.

He’s said that sort of things a few times in the past year, and Fed has picked up on it. Fed after the WTF vs Nole said that he’d been partly motivated by stopping Djokovic get to number 1, and also said in December that he gets on better with Rafa than Novak which is not as diplomatic as you’d expect from him.

Yeeeeeeeeeehawwwwwwwwwwww


Shame I didn't put money on it.  Was always the likely outcome. I'm afraid Nadal is and has always been a one trick pony.  Either outlast him or out hit him... preferable both as Thiem and Soderling and Djok can do.  And he's just powerless.

Totally exposed.

BEL19VE wrote:NITB, you and Djokovic seem to be on the same page with this anti Fed stuff lol.

Read in an interview a 2 days ago where Djokovic ‘praised’ Federer by saying that his exploits in this event has proven why he’s ‘one of the greatest’ of all time.

He’s said that sort of things a few times in the past year, and Fed has picked up on it. Fed after the WTF vs Nole said that he’d been partly motivated by stopping Djokovic get to number 1, and also said in December that he gets on better with Rafa than Novak which is not as diplomatic as you’d expect from him.

This is not anti-Fed stuff. It's just common sense.

Imagine you regularly beating someone who won more than you due to favourable circumstances and then force yourself to lie and say how he/she is the greatest. It would be plain stupid.
If you are better than someone you clearly cannot call that player the greatest.

The onus is on Federer to keep winning.
Anyway, Nole gifted Fed enough already by being absent due to injury back in 2017.
Granted, it was great to see Federer overcome his nemesis in 5 sets (OZ 17 final) and continue to dominate him from then onwards, but he is yet to prove himself vs Nole.
And tomorrow is his chance.
No ifs and buts I'm afraid.

Great match from Thiem, congrats to him!

Is bad news for me as I always want Rafa to win, but honestly, one can only feel admiration for such a great performance.

Very well done! and good luck

Tenez wrote:Much much closer than I thought it would be but is mainly due to Thiem immaturity. he is not cool under pressure.

Nadal played much better than v Kyrgios. He knew he had to.

In the last 2 slam wins against Nadal, Fed himself was shaky to put the final service game away. He even gave many BPs for Nadal to even things out.

Nadal is not easy for anyone to beat. Even on the last point he will make the opponent earn every bit of it.

noleisthebest wrote:Imagine you regularly beating someone who won more than you due to favourable circumstances

What are you referring to specifically?

noleisthebest wrote:If you are better than someone you clearly cannot call that player the greatest.

By the end of his career Djokovic may be the best statistically but right now he’s simply not.

noleisthebest wrote:he is yet to prove himself vs Nole.
And tomorrow is his chance.
No ifs and buts I'm afraid.

I don’t see tomorrow as a significant match for the GOAT debate. For starters, Federer isn’t even fully fit.

BEL19VE wrote:NITB, you and Djokovic seem to be on the same page with this anti Fed stuff lol.

Read in an interview a 2 days ago where Djokovic ‘praised’ Federer by saying that his exploits in this event has proven why he’s ‘one of the greatest’ of all time.

He’s said that sort of things a few times in the past year, and Fed has picked up on it. Fed after the WTF vs Nole said that he’d been partly motivated by stopping Djokovic get to number 1, and also said in December that he gets on better with Rafa than Novak which is not as diplomatic as you’d expect from him.

Basically, Novak is a dick. I think that simple truth covers the whole thing.

I think Novak is a good guy

of course I know nothing about him personally, but from what I see, he seems like a nice person

I always saw him as a good winner and a good loser

Perhaps he is damaged by his neediness for approval and the recognition that fans around the World don't like him much.

It’s clearly not offensive to refer to Federer as one of the greatest. There’s no clear test to prove he’s “greater” than Laver for example. 

Worth noting that Rafa’s defeat today means that Novak will be back to number 1 if he wins the tournament, with pretty much no points to defend until the clay. He’s 35 weeks behind Fed’s weeks at number 1 record. I think that’s in real danger if Novak wins here and improves last years form slightly. Realistically, I think he’d be safe until at least Wimbledon.

Good win for Thiem.  Does Nadal have any legitimate excuses, or was this him at the best form he can muster being beaten by the better man?  Let's hope it's a portent for 2020 and beyond.

noleisthebest wrote:

Tenez wrote:
The only hope we have is that Djoko is also a nervous player and can drop form within sets and matches though we have yet to see that this year.

Hope for what?
For "your man" to keep his slam count?
Don't you think it's cowardly to expect others to do Federer's work.


If he is that good he should go and win the title himself.

No I do not think it is cowardly.

Fed has done its fair share of adapting to new strings, new racquet size, slower courts, bigger balls, and those RRunners who developed their games on these new conds and material (and I am not including new "training diets".

It is about time those 2 RRunners who have had 12 years of the same everything get to adapt and face a new generation.

barrystar wrote:Good win for Thiem.  Does Nadal have any legitimate excuses, or was this him at the best form he can muster being beaten by the better man?  Let's hope it's a portent for 2020 and beyond.

Nadal summarised it accurately here

https://twitter.com/atptour/status/1222525974845317121?s=21

barrystar wrote:Good win for Thiem.  Does Nadal have any legitimate excuses, or was this him at the best form he can muster being beaten by the better man?  Let's hope it's a portent for 2020 and beyond.

he gave no excuses, he said the better player won

in the end it was a close match 76 76 46 76

nadal will regret being ahead in the first two sets and still losing them. thiem was superb

Nadal was too busy abusing the umpire for calling him out on his cheating.  Honestly, "you don't like good tennis"  - he's a narcissistic idiot and a spoiled baby.  

When he loses, we see the mask drop. He's a turd.

Also, NITB, you are suffering from brain damage if you think Djok beating a way past it Federer at 38 years of age is any meaningful stat.  The meaningful stat is that Fed is ahead in grass and HC slams - and holds the majority of records that Nole never will.

Favourable opposition?  lmao... The last 5 years have been the weakest time in tennis and Nole has capaitalized on it.  Even a 37 year old Fed had 2 champ points at wimb against him.

Yeah the mighty era of Dimi, Raonic, Nishikori, and the other bottlers.  Djok's had it so tough!

If you call what Nadal said as ‘abuse’, then you are a snowflake. He was in the wrong, and whining, but in no way was it even close to abuse.

Secondly, you didn’t comment on Federer’s outburst yesterday, which is a sign of complete hypocrisy Im afraid.
Federer got caught swearing, and got code violation. Both umpire and line judge heard it. Federer was first angry at the umpire, and then went and expressed his displeasure at the line judge too. This was at 30-40 break point btw, which meant Sandgren was made to wait around 2 minutes before the break point.

rather than being butt hurt that the one dimensional chancer was sent packing you should remove yourself from his penis and realize it takes am exceptional piece of shittery to break the rules repeatedly and then abuse the ref for enforcing the rules. you're a fanatic.

Could you not read what I wrote? I said Nadal was in the wrong as he went over the timer.
However the fact you think his whining was abuse means you’re being a snowflake. Also you ignored the fact Federer also crossed the line during his QF.

I am a Nadal fan, but I’m also fair and reasonable. You on the other hand have blatant double standards while being hysterical.

Top half was loaded with the youngsters, and finally it showed.

My takeways from Rafa - Thiem:

Positives:
1. Even though Rafa was playing quite well - about as well as he can these days - Thiem managed to win and was clearly the better player.
2. Thiem did not have to play above himself.  The way he played was much like he has been playing recently, he just keeps getting a little better at it.  Some of his gets were Rafaesque or Nolesque.
3. Ergo, the youngsters may finally be starting to have the game to stop the Big 3.

Negative:
1.  Rafa was playing very well.  At this level of play one would think he would have a few more slams in him.  It would certainly be a nailbiter every slam from now for a good while.  He definitely did not look finished.

Funny to hear this line from Rafa:

The ball became so heavy. With these heavy balls, it's difficult to produce winners sometimes.
He has a lot of power, so he's able to produce these amazing shots from a very difficult position.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/tennis/51295106

Cannot see Fed challenging Nole.  In the other SF I am probably going with Thiem.  Zverev did not look convincing vs Wawrinka.  Wawrinka was cruising but then somehow ran out of steam or something - it was not Zverev upping his game to win.

If it is Nole vs Zverev in the final, I am not waking up early to watch on Sunday.  Otherwise I will probably try to.

Slippy wrote:It’s clearly not offensive to refer to Federer as one of the greatest.

Not offensive?  Blasphemous even.

as usual you equate petulant swearing... in german... to cheating and abusing umpires for enforcing rules. if you can't see why one is worse than another you're brain dead. cheating is the worst thing you can do in sport and Nadal starts on the umpire when he's reprimanded for it he's got no dignity at all and all your fangirl appeasement won't change it. also, hes been booted out the second he had a tough draw.... unlike us open cake walk. deal with it

Ridiculous BH.

Breaks and gifts it back ffs, be stable !!

Idemo MAJSTOREEEEE!!!!!

Jahu wrote:Breaks and gifts it back ffs, be stable !!

Dunno if I would call if a gift. Not sure of stats, though I bet for break backs Djokovic would lead by a country mile. It’s a knack he has of breaking back immediately, though a frustrating one.

noleisthebest wrote:Idemo MAJSTOREEEEE!!!!!

You're gonna look a right dick if 38 year old fed beats Novak.

Well breaks him again, come onnnnnnn crush this green fuck

4:1 go go go break his fucking legs

He has consolidated the break. Just needs to hold serve for 2 games and the set is his.

Jahu wrote:4:1 go go go break his fucking legs

Calm down lad 

One thing going into this that I saw as a positive for Federer is that he may hold a small psychological edge after beating Novak at ATP finals and denying him YEN1.   And Fed will be up for this match too to deny Novak a slam, N1, and to increase lead over Cheat.

legendkillar wrote:

Jahu wrote:4:1 go go go break his fucking legs

Calm down lad 

hahahah sorry Sir 

3 BPs. Got to take one of these.