Australian Open 2015: Matches of the day : Day 1 19-Jan-2015

Kim Jong-Un wrote:Court seems quite fast this year.

Kokki won... Gulbis ...

2 DFs in that last game from Gulbis who was so close to breaking KK the previous game.

Crowd was absurd, as was KK with his girly outfit and mushroom hair cut!

raiders_of_the_lost_ark wrote:

Kim Jong-Un wrote:Court seems quite fast this year.

Yes, and Nadal looked very rusty and slow today with his back/wrist/knee/brain injury!

raiders_of_the_lost_ark wrote:

summerblues wrote:Chardy ultimately took care of Coric in 4.  Murray is two sets up on Bhambri and Goffin a set up on Russell.   Also Klizan easily through, and Seppi beat Istomin in 5.

Rafa up next on Laver.

Murray has a new clothing line deal?

 Some news in this regard. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/tennis/article-2890993/Andy-Murray-signs-four-year-kit-deal-Armour-adidas-contract-comes-end.html

Sad Earnie lost.
Looks like he is happy to play only in Europe on nice, natural surfaces.

Didn't see any of it, had a little play myself, such a beautiful day!

Tenez wrote:I knew Vesely would lose v Troicki. Troicki is indeed even fitter than Vesely and certainly more experienced in slams.

Disappointing though,.

I didn't see it, but knew Troicki was going to win, he is hitting the ball very hard and going for his shots.
He must have trained a lot as he has got himself into good form esp on serving.

If he can keep his head screwed on and play relaxed like he did in Sydney, Berdych is going to have to work hard.
Berdich hits the ball harder than Vesely but his movement is not as good as Vesely's (and neither is his serve)

I haven't seen him play with this new/Murray's ex-coach, though.

Kim Jong-Un wrote:Court seems quite fast this year.

Did you watch Nadal's match?

noleisthebest wrote:

Kim Jong-Un wrote:Court seems quite fast this year.

Did you watch Nadal's match?

Yes, of course.

I was just saying over on v2; I really loved the Eurosport commentary.
Did you hear Mats and Chris analyse Nadal's press conference?, it was vintage stuff.

No, I didn't see the match or any interviews and analysis, I prefer to watch without the commentary, which is why I really like Eurosport slam cover.
I saw a bit of Dimi-Brown day match and saw the ball was very high-bouncing, Nadal must have had a feast.

His draw is dead easy, but Nole will take care of him in the final.

I can't believe there are so many people/women that get off on this infantile, dull way of carrying on.
It really fries my brain...
Nothing wrong in being simple, but trying to milk it and take the Mickey out of his fan base is just so....

The most annoying thing about the Eurosport coverage: Kia commercials. If I had ever thought about buying a Kia, I would have been convinced otherwise by now. 

Matches: Should Troicki beat Berdych, what a treat of a QF will await us. 

Nadal - Youzhny: haven't watched, sadly expected result. Wonder how Nadal finds good form just in time for a slam again.   

Fed - Lu: Fed won't win anything playing like this, maybe QF. Liked the first set and a half, lost sharpness after that, looked sluggish.

Pity for Gulbis, forehand a big liability today, kept leaking errors. (saw only a bit)

Robredo retiring after 5 games - opens up the draw for Kyrgios (iirc he lost to him in USO).

rotla, 

thanks for starting the game, can we try have day 2 picks when you've got a spare moment, please, order of play is out  .

By the by: AO outfits look atrocious this year. Standouts for ugliness: Nadal, Fed, all young aussie players, Nike designers missed the plot big time. Really, who would wear that stuff irl? It will look even worse on club players. Eye-injury inducing stuff.

Nadal is now rapidly losing his hair, incredible how much of his skull is already visible in the merciless Australian sun. Gotta wonder how this will affect his popularity among his adoring fans. Did he bulk up since last year?

[quote="Autumnleaf"]By the by: AO outfits look atrocious this year. Standouts for ugliness: Nadal, Fed, all young aussie players, Nike designers missed the plot big time. Really, who would wear that stuff irl? It will look even worse on club players. Eye-injury inducing stuff.

Nadal is now rapidly losing his hair, incredible how much of his skull is already visible in the merciless Australian sun. Gotta wonder how this will affect his popularity among his adoring fans. Did he bulk up since last year?[/quote]


I'm glad you noticed the transformation of extreme loss of hair that Nadal is once again experiencing. Not normal male pattern baldness either, but patch spots of bald spots throughout and overall thinness -even on the side.   Amri inadvertently has exposed his peds cycling by claiming 2 and 3 weeks ago that Nadal has "never had this much hair on his head before" that he had regrown hair and Armi couldn't even see where he was balding..  and this coincided with form that to our resident Nadal expert Armi looked like he needed to retire.  Now- in just a matter of weeks, Nadals form and fitness are miraculously in great form for all to see and he has suddenly lost so much hair that the sun was glinting off his scalp from every angle.  That lady's and gentleman is for anyone with open eyes and a little knowledge- a classic massive cycling up of Peds to be in prime and beastly shape for the big game/match.

The sad thing is every Wada and ATP tester sees and knows the same signs, but won't do a thing about it.

Thanks to Amri though for fighting so hard with pictures to show us that Nadal had suddenly been blessed with a full head of hair at the beginning of the year. Now it's all gone and we can see the drastic transformation in his body and game.

He has as much hair as he did as few weeks ago ?

http://static.ibnlive.in.com/ibnlive/pix/sitepix/01_2015/nadal-getty1901-630.jpg

@truffin 

Is steroid induced hair loss reversible? I know it can induce hair loss, just don't know whether it's possible to regrow. These pictures from the beginning of the year could very easily be photoshopped or taken in softer light. But there is no hiding it during a match in the sun.

raiders_of_the_lost_ark wrote:

Kim Jong-Un wrote:Court seems quite fast this year.

Courts looks slow to me and the US comms. Even McEnroe said this "is the type of hard court, Rafa can thrive on. The players will have a hard time hitting through him"


Federer's presser was even more telling.      
"I think conditions slowed down a bit. Actually quite drastically in my mind from 7pm and 8:30pm. Because of the coolness and the night coming in, I felt it was hard to generate stuff (and) it became a very interesting third set. Instead of sort of just steamrolling through him he really made it tough for me."

Of course, this change as the night comes in is going to weigh on him mentally if he and Nadal make it to the semis. Guarateed the night match as those two always get the prime tv spot- he will know that by the time the night settles in, Nadal will have the massive slow court advantage.

truffin1 wrote:

raiders_of_the_lost_ark wrote:

Kim Jong-Un wrote:Court seems quite fast this year.

Courts looks slow to me and the US comms. Even McEnroe said this "is the type of hard court, Rafa can thrive on. (...)

It may quicken a bit with more play, the way the outer courts are already said to be a bit quicker. It seems unusually cool too at the moment in Melbourne, it might get hotter next week in time for that potential semi. I like Nadal's chances anyway - or rather, not. 

Autumnleaf wrote:@truffin 

Is steroid induced hair loss reversible? I know it can induce hair loss, just don't know whether it's possible to regrow. These pictures from the beginning of the year could very easily be photoshopped or taken in softer light. But there is no hiding it during a match in the sun.

Armi and I- mostly I went into this in detail on the other thread early in the year.  Armi claimed Nadal suddenly had a full head of hair- said "I've never seen him with so much hair on his head"   I explained that there are currently only three ways to NATURALLY grow back hair if you are experiencing natural male pattern hair loss.   The two approved drugs or hair transplant.

Hair loss from Peds  (btw- I think the word you used steroid isn't really the issue with nadal)  is similar to what we would see with someone on chemo or other powerful medical drugs, or who had a unnatural food or vitamin deficiency.  The body is in a sense being poisoned by the medicines, esp chemo, and hair loss is the body's reaction to it. This is indisputably medical fact and seen in nearly every PEDs abuser out there.  Absolutely, once you get off the medicines, chemo, restore your body's health- the hair will grow back.

A cancer patient is certainly an extreme example- but a perfect one.. they lose their hair on chemo, and then grow it back when in remission and off the medicine. One of my best friends lost his blond straight hair during mouth cancer, and now has a full head of black curly hair once it was cured :-)  chemo has been known to change the actual hair type.

Since Amri showed us Nadal with thicker hair then he had in the past-- and suddenly a few weeks later- he's balder than I've ever seen him and the whole world could see it- that rules out regrowth through transplant as that is a permenant solution or the two hair loss drugs- which if you stop and why would he? take around 6 months to lose what you gained.

The only logical conclusion and it just so happens to coincide with a poor form Nadal that Amri thinks should retire was that during the break and early part of year, Nadal wisely cycled down and his loss of form showed it, and now he has ramped up the PEDs massively- and his form is top notch and his body is screaming with rejection by losing his hair in clumps.   

This is just pure medical fact mixed in with what we all see.

Autumnleaf wrote:

truffin1 wrote:

raiders_of_the_lost_ark wrote:

Kim Jong-Un wrote:Court seems quite fast this year.

Courts looks slow to me and the US comms. Even McEnroe said this "is the type of hard court, Rafa can thrive on. (...)

It may quicken a bit with more play, the way the outer courts are already said to be a bit quicker. It seems unusually cool too at the moment in Melbourne, it might get hotter next week in time for that potential semi. I like Nadal's chances anyway - or rather, not. 

The semi will be played at night though-  which is always cooler and slower.

Could be annoying for Berdych when he has his semi against Federer.

Thanks for the explanation, truffin. I wasn't aware of that thread. 

I certainly think that Nadal uses a whole cocktail of PEDs, but some of them don't induce baldness afaik (i.e. blood parameter changing drugs, HGH/IGF1), that's why I thought it might be his use of steroids. But of course no idea what he's actually using.

Kim Jong-Un wrote:Could be annoying for Berdych when he has his semi against Federer.

No, it will be annoying for Berdych when he has his quarter against Nadal and his only chance will be to hit through him- -which will be impossible in the slow conditions..

I will agree that if Berdyh had drawn Federer before Nadal and actually got to play Fed, that Fed would have had the advantage as well-  blunting Berdychs' power is a good thing for any opponent.

btw- since you are posting again- you never produced those "experts" and that you stated had concluded Nadal would not be able to get past the 1st week.  I had asked for the experts names and their quotes..  Please produce these tennis media experts you claimed you were using as sources.... it would be really interesting to read

Kim Jong-Un wrote:Could be annoying for Berdych when he has his semi against Federer.

Is this another jinx? Berdych very likely won't even make SF + he got some possible banana skins in his section of the draw.

Autumnleaf wrote:By the by: AO outfits look atrocious this year. Standouts for ugliness: Nadal, Fed, all young aussie players, Nike designers missed the plot big time. Really, who would wear that stuff irl? It will look even worse on club players. Eye-injury inducing stuff

LOL! You would be surprised!

Nadal is now rapidly losing his hair, incredible how much of his skull is already visible in the merciless Australian sun. Gotta wonder how this will affect his popularity among his adoring fans. Did he bulk up since last year?

I guess he'll end up like Agassi! Agassi was still successful bald. Though shaved skulls are a bit out of fashion nowadays.

...oops sorry SB!

truffin1 wrote:
btw- since you are posting again- you never produced those "experts" and that you stated had concluded Nadal would not be able to get past the 1st week.  I had asked for the experts names and their quotes..  Please produce these tennis media experts you claimed you were using as sources.... it would be really interesting to read

I never said tennis media experts, I said tennis experts.

You want names ? There's this guy on 606v2 forum on the tennis section, can't remember the username exactly, I think it's 'It Must Love' or something ??

Kim Jong-Un wrote:

truffin1 wrote:
btw- since you are posting again- you never produced those "experts" and that you stated had concluded Nadal would not be able to get past the 1st week.  I had asked for the experts names and their quotes..  Please produce these tennis media experts you claimed you were using as sources.... it would be really interesting to read

I never said tennis media experts, I said tennis experts.

You want names ? There's this guy on 606v2 forum on the tennis section, can't remember the username exactly, I think it's 'It Must Love' or something ??

I guess your definition of tennis experts is different than most.  You also used the plural so who were the others?  Perhaps you used the same sources you said were at the highest levels of the atp that told you last year about the "lightening quick" AO surface that never appeared?

Shot of the tournament so far :O
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKjM6t16G98

luvsports! wrote:Shot of the tournament so far :O
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKjM6t16G98

Grigor will try very hard to beat this upstart! 

Funny, that it's the second time already Fed succeeds in hitting a shot around the net posts against Lu.

I remember a shot like that from in Wimbledon for his first round (2007 or 08?) it was v an asian player but not Lu.

Interesting info from Stan: saying that during 1st set of fed\gasquet dc match, luthi texted him in the lockeroom to "get ready" becaue fed might have to retire mismatch. Said the back was a major issue for fed throughout the weekend.

Federer comfirmed during his presser that he had a spasm out of nowhere in the 1st set of the gasquet match and told luthi to contact Stan, but fed gutted through it.

A true warrior. Sadly- it's just confirmation the back can and will go at any point now. Just leaves his chances alway in doubt.

Is texting for coaches on the court allowed ?

In dc- the coaches are allowed to talk and contact the rest of the team. You only have to watch the mafch and see the coach interacting with the team and other coaches behind him. The bench coaches and team are also allowed to freely come and go to the lockeroom and arena. They showed Stan and some assistants coming and going to the lockeroom several times durging that match.The interview is translated from French so I'm not sure if it's exactly translated but the translation says from Stan "he texted me"

Reading it again it almost could read Roger texted him but that wouldn't make sense.

In Federers swiss presser also in French he confirms the issue and it says in translation " I went to the bench and warned the staff members to contact Stan to be ready".

In my quick recap I took all that to mean luthi texted him, but I assume it could also be he turned to the assistants and told them to contact stan. Either way it's fine.

The main point being that federer continues to have issues even when not apparent.

truffin1 wrote:Interesting info from Stan:  saying that during 1st set of fed\gasquet dc match, luthi texted him in the lockeroom to "get ready" becaue fed might have to retire mismatch. Said the back was a major issue for fed throughout the weekend.    

Federer comfirmed during his presser that he had a spasm out of nowhere in the 1st set of the gasquet match and told luthi to contact Stan, but fed gutted through it.

A true warrior. Sadly- it's just confirmation the back can and will go at any point now.  Just leaves his chances alway in doubt.

And I am pretty sure this is what we saw in that Brisbane final, last week.

It's such a shame as he would be able to play even better without it....and Wimby and USO 14 woudl probably be his!..with the number 1 spot!

Tenez wrote:
And I am pretty sure this is what we saw in that Brisbane final, last week.

How ?

Kim Jong-Un wrote:

Tenez wrote:
And I am pretty sure this is what we saw in that Brisbane final, last week.

How ?

A serious drop of form from set 1 and a break up in the second to being broken back and losing the set. he even took a break at that stage. Not often you see Fed disappearing from the court for a moment.

But unlike your man....he doesn't talk about it. We hear it from his close friends and partners.