I hope Rafa wins this and gets the double career slam. He will need to serve well and return as well as he did in Montreal.
affirmative.
that is absolutely key on the hard courts:
you have to take care of your serve and you have to be able to return well enough to secure your break points.
nadal is my pick for the title at the Australian open.
I've noticed that whenever Rafa serves well, he ends up winning the tournament more times than not. In his victories over Novak in 2013, I think he was returning better than Novak.
here is a question for you general backspin:
if Rafa could have only one of these, which one would you suggest that he take?
1. a great serve
or
2. a great return of serve
by the way nole has both which is why he is so tough to deal with on hard courts.
For Nadal, I'd go with a. A great serve. He already has a good ROS, just not a great one like Djokovic's.
I agree Djokovic has good serve and an amazing RoS. However, he tends to struggle against good servers on a good day. And right now, Nadal's biggest obstacle to winning more slams is Novak Djokovic.
If Nadal has a great serve, his ground game is so good, I think he'd be the favorite or co-favorite in all the slams.
I don't think Nole is his biggest obstacle in winning Slams right now. He has after all beaten him on two Major occasions - RG and USO. Going forward of course things may change. And sometimes they change when we least expect them.
I hope Rafa wins this and gets the double career slam. He will need to serve well and return as well as he did in Montreal.
affirmative.
that is absolutely key on the hard courts:
you have to take care of your serve and you have to be able to return well enough to secure your break points.
nadal is my pick for the title at the Australian open.
I've noticed that whenever Rafa serves well, he ends up winning the tournament more times than not. In his victories over Novak in 2013, I think he was returning better than Novak.
here is a question for you general backspin:
if Rafa could have only one of these, which one would you suggest that he take?
1. a great serve
or
2. a great return of serve
by the way nole has both which is why he is so tough to deal with on hard courts.
For Nadal, I'd go with a. A great serve. He already has a good ROS, just not a great one like Djokovic's.
I agree Djokovic has good serve and an amazing RoS. However, he tends to struggle against good servers on a good day. And right now, Nadal's biggest obstacle to winning more slams is Novak Djokovic.
If Nadal has a great serve, his ground game is so good, I think he'd be the favorite or co-favorite in all the slams.
affirmative. I could not agree more.
we are down to just 27 days now folks.
lets get fired up.
from a historical perspective, this particular slam may be the single most important slam ever.
that is how I am seeing it.
Don't be surprised if Mr. Murray, OBE, doesn't play in the Australian Open. His match against the #2129 in the world, Mousa Shanan Zayed told us nothing. His match against #40 Florian Mayer told us more. Yes, Mayer played well, but Murray didn't appear fit to play in a seriously competitive best of 3 match, much less best of 5.
This is hardly surprising given that he had back surgery and had 3-4 months off. Training is one thing, match play is another. The normal pattern for return following injury and time off is that it takes roughly twice as long to return to one's best form than the amount of time off. And that supposes that one is completely recovered from the injury. It was worrying that his service speed dropped so much during the latter part of the match. One doesn't know if he may have strained his back or if he was protecting it.
If Mr. Murray's back is completely well, and that is by no means a given, then as I've said elsewhere, one would expect that he might return to his best form somewhere between June and August. I would consider him to be very fortunate to win a title prior to that unless he drops down in class to playing more 250 events.
But the question here is whether he'll give it a go in the Australian Open, or not. He said previously that he would only play if he were 100% ready. But the AO comes a little earlier this year - Jan 13. It's going to be tough. Maybe he'll take a wildcard in Sydney or Auckland, but the top players (other than Ferrer), rarely enter an event the week prior to a major. Frankly, I would be surprised to see him trying to play himself into some kind of shape in the Australian Open.
I think he should take a page out of Nadal's book last year, not travel down under, and skip the Australian Open.
The way to go might be South America as he might get more work on his ground game on clay, but since the clay is not his forte, he might opt toward going to North America and playing in Memphis, perhaps Delray Beach, and then Acapulco (on hard court this year), before going to the Masters 1000's in Indian Wells and Miami. Let's see what he ends up doing. Most of all let's wish him a continued good recovery with his back.
Respectfully,
masterclass
Don't be surprised if Mr. Murray, OBE, doesn't play in the Australian Open. His match against the #2129 in the world, Mousa Shanan Zayed told us nothing. His match against #40 Florian Mayer told us more. Yes, Mayer played well, but Murray didn't appear fit to play in a seriously competitive best of 3 match, much less best of 5.
This is hardly surprising given that he had back surgery and had 3-4 months off. Training is one thing, match play is another. The normal pattern for return following injury and time off is that it takes roughly twice as long to return to one's best form than the amount of time off. And that supposes that one is completely recovered from the injury. It was worrying that his service speed dropped so much during the latter part of the match. One doesn't know if he may have strained his back or if he was protecting it.
If Mr. Murray's back is completely well, and that is by no means a given, then as I've said elsewhere, one would expect that he might return to his best form somewhere between June and August. I would consider him to be very fortunate to win a title prior to that unless he drops down in class to playing more 250 events.
But the question here is whether he'll give it a go in the Australian Open, or not. He said previously that he would only play if he were 100% ready. But the AO comes a little earlier this year - Jan 13. It's going to be tough. Maybe he'll take a wildcard in Sydney or Auckland, but the top players (other than Ferrer), rarely enter an event the week prior to a major. Frankly, I would be surprised to see him trying to play himself into some kind of shape in the Australian Open.
I think he should take a page out of Nadal's book last year, not travel down under, and skip the Australian Open.
The way to go might be South America as he might get more work on his ground game on clay, but since the clay is not his forte, he might opt toward going to North America and playing in Memphis, perhaps Delray Beach, and then Acapulco (on hard court this year), before going to the Masters 1000's in Indian Wells and Miami. Let's see what he ends up doing. Most of all let's wish him a continued good recovery with his back.
Respectfully,
masterclass
A great post, masterclass. I do worry that he's coming back too soon. Skipping the Australian would be hard for him since he got so close last year, but it might prove necessary, and better in the long run. In any case, I know that he'll back, I just hope he's not pressuring himself unnecessarily.
Don't be surprised if Mr. Murray, OBE, doesn't play in the Australian Open. His match against the #2129 in the world, Mousa Shanan Zayed told us nothing. His match against #40 Florian Mayer told us more. Yes, Mayer played well, but Murray didn't appear fit to play in a seriously competitive best of 3 match, much less best of 5.
This is hardly surprising given that he had back surgery and had 3-4 months off. Training is one thing, match play is another. The normal pattern for return following injury and time off is that it takes roughly twice as long to return to one's best form than the amount of time off. And that supposes that one is completely recovered from the injury. It was worrying that his service speed dropped so much during the latter part of the match. One doesn't know if he may have strained his back or if he was protecting it.
If Mr. Murray's back is completely well, and that is by no means a given, then as I've said elsewhere, one would expect that he might return to his best form somewhere between June and August. I would consider him to be very fortunate to win a title prior to that unless he drops down in class to playing more 250 events.
But the question here is whether he'll give it a go in the Australian Open, or not. He said previously that he would only play if he were 100% ready. But the AO comes a little earlier this year - Jan 13. It's going to be tough. Maybe he'll take a wildcard in Sydney or Auckland, but the top players (other than Ferrer), rarely enter an event the week prior to a major. Frankly, I would be surprised to see him trying to play himself into some kind of shape in the Australian Open.
I think he should take a page out of Nadal's book last year, not travel down under, and skip the Australian Open.
The way to go might be South America as he might get more work on his ground game on clay, but since the clay is not his forte, he might opt toward going to North America and playing in Memphis, perhaps Delray Beach, and then Acapulco (on hard court this year), before going to the Masters 1000's in Indian Wells and Miami. Let's see what he ends up doing. Most of all let's wish him a continued good recovery with his back.
Respectfully,
masterclass
To be honest, I'll be greatly surprised if Andy skips AO so I fully expect him to play. The only reason for him to not play if he's still having issues with the back and needs more recovery time, but judging by some of his comments of late, it doesn't seem that way. So he should be ready though perhaps won't go too deep but then again, you never know. He can totally use the first 3/4 rounds for match practice and get ready for the 2nd week once he feels more in shape. It's going to be tough but then again, that's what is required at the moment. If he's not carrying an injury then he must play everything tournament that he's originally meant to play. That's only how he is going to get match fit and that's only what he needs right now.
AO main draw Out! Draw in Post #1. And Mr. Murray is scheduled to play! Looks like he'll have 3 rounds to round into form before it starts getting tougher.
Respectfully,
masterclass
thanks general masterclass.
at first glance, nadal has a rough deal. he has the toughest players in his draw.
nole might just coast to the final unless wawrinka can slow him down.
wawa is playing well and looks ready. he won Chennai without dropping a set.
top 1/2 is ultra mega monster super loaded.
I am not believing this.
thanks general masterclass.
at first glance, nadal has a rough deal. he has the toughest players in his draw.
nole might just coast to the final unless wawrinka can slow him down.
wawa is playing well and looks ready. he won Chennai without dropping a set.
Agreed general hercules.
Top 4 roads (potential roadblocks in bold):
Nadal's likely road - Tomic , Sijsling,
Monfils,
Hewitt/Nishikori,
Del Potro/Dimitrov,
Murray/Isner/Tsonga/Federer,
DjokovicMurray's likely road - Go Saeda, Qualifier, Lopez/Llodra,
Isner/Kohlschreiber,
Tsonga/Federer,
Nadal/Del Potro, DjokovicFerrer's likely road - Gonzalez, Mannarino/Johnson, Chardy/Dolgopolov,
Janowicz/Youzhny,
Berdych/Haas,
Djokovic,
Top Half winnerDjokovic's likely road - Lacko, Montanes, Baghdatis/Istomin/Tursunov, Gulbis,
Wawrinka, Ferrer,
Top Half winnerRespectfully,
masterclass
affirmative general masterclass.
I don't think I have ever seen a draw this tough for one player and so easy for the other one.
nole owns everybody in his 1/2. berdy is not really consistent enough for nole.
ferru is too small. nole can easily overpower him on quicker hard courts.
now I will say this: I believe that nadal will be far better prepared for the final if he is able naviagate his turbulent and shark infested waters.
so this might work to his advantage but only if he can do it without spending all of his mental and physical capital.
I believe roger is going to get it together here so it is possible that he can sneak into the final.
it is a tough ask but basically nadal pretty much has be ultra efficient and not let any match go to 5 sets. absent that and he could be in trouble deep in the event.
these courts are faster this year. that will work to roger's advantage. he prefers a faster, low bouncing court.
how the hell did the draw get so one sided?
General, I think it will be a minor miracle if anyone from the top half can win the tournament. They'll be worn out unless the draw somehow opens up for one of them.
Novak Djokovic and Boris Becker were both at the draw ceremony... >> Tio Toni
Check out the last pic in the series (Djokovic's quarter) and look at Becker's reaction.
Some last minute hijinks?
Respectfully,
masterclass
I could not agree more general masterclass.
even nadal's first match is no easy matter. tomic is tough as nails at home. tomic is about 6 foot 4 and has a pretty tough game.
he has easy power and he has silky smooth ground game.
what he is missing is the mental part.
