AO 2015 Week 1: Impressions

I don't know if the end of round 3 qualifies as the end of week 1, but since it's the weekend and the draw has gone from the original 128 to the last 16, here are some of my impressions.

I haven't seen much tennis but I noticed that unlike in previous years, the contrast between the day and evening sessions is bigger than ever.

in daylight, courts play almost fast compared to the evening when they look depressingly slow - made for hard physical tennis and endurance.

I don't think anyone, maybe not even Nadal would enjoy those and I think they will suit Stan best: he is fit but not too fast on his feet, yet fast enough to get to any ball and then go for his shots.

Unless he is injured I can see him defend his title.

Nole looked quite sluggish against Verdasco, I think this was his first night match, and he won it in second gear.
He comes out as fresh out of week one, and I doubt Muller will drain him in R4.

Sadly, the player who lights up every tournament is out. Federer injured his back against Raonic in Brisbane and hasn't seemed to be able to fix it for AO.
Great shame, but in my opinion he is still in a better place than last year, despite the SF he reached in 2014. Reason: he is now used to his racquet and his game with it is working.
I expect him to rest and come back playing great tennis on grass and clay, even in fast Dubai.

Nadal...I wish I could take some pleasure in being right about draw-fixing, but I can't. His first three opponents have been beyond joke and he nearly lost to one of them!!!

I dare say, had he and Federer swapped, Nadal would be now fishing in Malorca, with Fed getting ready for week 2.

My highlight of the week was Lucas Pouille and his match against Monfils which he lost so unluckily. A wonderful young player I can't wait to see again!

Berd and Ferrer who I haven't seen play are predictably through, maintaining their top ten existence and still dreaming of winning a slam knowing that dream will never come true.

Two young Aussies still in the draw, it will be interesting how far Kyrgios can go with his quarter open after Federer's exit.

Should he make it to play Murray it could be an interesting one as Murray seems to be back to his form.

Nishikori also through but struggling more than expected, mainly physically.

Nice to see the Lopez SBH duo through!

I saw only a little bit of Raonic and he didn't play as well as against Federer, same old wobbliness, but the serve enough to bail him out as he didn't have to face any good returners.

So....there it is from me, still waiting for a match to bring this AO to life for me!

Ahhh let down. I thought you were going to post a video of your best impersonations.

Cheeky!

One of the reasons I like Nole, I get him 100% in many ways...I used to be famous at school for impersonations believe it or not

SOmething we ahve in common

This is not you, is it?

I'm Facebook friends with Josh Berry, just saying.

You want a medal?