2016 Australian Open Tennis Championships

[stotty]

Here's the latest draw:

http://www.ausopen.com/en_AU/scores/draws/ms/msdraw.pdf

Tsonga and Nishikori could been interesting.

I am looking forward to Tomic and Murray most. Tomic has little to lose at this stage in the contest and will have the home crowd behind him. If Tomic is ever going to justify himself and come of age, this is the match to do it.

I am hoping Stan can take care of Raonic. Raonic is the biggest lumberjack out there and dead dull to watch. He needs to go.

Federer has had the easiest draw and Goffin ought to a formality.

John Isner has a decent chance to make the quarters if he can muster a good performance.

lobndropshot, you have gone all quiet. What matches have you seen? What's the latest lowdown?

[don_budge]

"Baby Fed"…the 28th seed…dispatched

In other news, Federer beat Dimitrov in a mediocre performance from Roger. Numerous errors on the forehand. But more importantly, He won his 300th Grand Slam match. That's 67 more matches than the #2 guy on the list, Jimmy Connors. Impressive figure indeed. To win that many matches, at that level, against the best, 3 out of 5 sets, it's damn remarkable. Perhaps a stat that many overlook, but should be an important figure to measure when a career is over.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

Of course this statistic is a measurement of Roger Federer's career but perhaps more importantly it is an amazing indications of a real lack of depth in men's tennis the last 15 years. The same four have dominated for the last ten years. Supporting cast players such as Tomas Berdych have impressive ball striking capability but consider the fact that he is totally lost in the forecourt. The modern game is a mere shadow of its former self. The fact that it is fast and showy has merely glossed over the fact that in reality it is a dumbed down version.

Roger was impressive against Dimitrov in a sense or at least it was somewhat of an impressive match. He didn't have the "A game" and he went with the "B". Patience takes on a whole new meaning nowadays compared to previous eras. But Roger demonstrated it in the first set as he patiently waited for his opportunity to break the Dimitrov serve. Dimitrov was actually playing rather well and the ball striking between the two was very impressive.

The cloned strokes of "Baby Fed" were holding up under the pressure from the great Swiss player. Grigor took control of the second set with an early break and held on to serve out the set. But he got a little over confident or perhaps he lacked the confidence necessary to continue and once again Federer seized control of the play. Roger kept the Bulgarian Playboy off balance with his net play tactics and he controlled the middle of the playing board…like a master chess player.

Then he just ran out the set and served his way to the locker room. In his post match on-court interview he acknowledged that he was a bit spotty in his play but he patiently let the game come to him. Towards the end he had recovered his rhythm and tactics to dominate his clone. He also thinks it is interesting to play against a player that has emulated his style to such a degree he was once known as "Baby Fed".

[klacr]

Yes from what I saw he did exactly that. He rode out Kyrgios's histrionics and flashes of inspiration. Kyrgios became dangerous in the third set, once he'd semi given up....but Berdych remained rock solid in the fourth and stifled Kyrgios out of it.

One thing Berdych did well was hit a good length. I often think talented players can be negated by hitting such a good length. It stops them using their hands and other skills. Djokovic stifles players when he finds that incredible length of his. It's as old as the hills but hitting a consistent length works.

Berdych one of the finest ball strikers in the biz. When he is playing well, his shots have tremendous depth on them. Hitting deep and penetrating shots certainly neutralizes opponents and Berdych will have to continue this form against Bautista Agut, Federer and Djokovic if he wants to get into finals.

In other news, Federer beat Dimitrov in a mediocre performance from Roger. Numerous errors on the forehand. But more importantly, He won his 300th Grand Slam match. That's 67 more matches than the #2 guy on the list, Jimmy Connors. Impressive figure indeed. To win that many matches, at that level, against the best, 3 out of 5 sets, it's damn remarkable. Perhaps a stat that many overlook, but should be an important figure to measure when a career is over.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[stotty]

Just as I expected. Berdych will remain steady while Kyrgios goes through ups and downs in level. Interesting match up. Berdych just too steady and did great job of getting off to great start to take crowd out of it early with break.

Berdych a professional. He wasn't going to do anything that wasn't going to help him win (a page from Allen Fox's book). Trust your skill set. At the end of the day, that's all you can count on.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

Yes from what I saw he did exactly that. He rode out Kyrgios's histrionics and flashes of inspiration. Kyrgios became dangerous in the third set, once he'd semi given up....but Berdych remained rock solid in the fourth and stifled Kyrgios out of it.

One thing Berdych did well was hit a good length. I often think talented players can be negated by hitting such a good length. It stops them using their hands and other skills. Djokovic stifles players when he finds that incredible length of his. It's as old as the hills but hitting a consistent length works.

[klacr]

My day off

And yes, I stayed up all night to watch all matches on TV. More specifically, The Berdych match. But sometimes when you try to get you you want, you gotta trudge through the BS. In this case, it was every other match before Tberd-Kyrgios. 16 hour time difference makes it tricky, I didn't go to bed until 7:30am this morning...until staff and club members started calling me at 7:32am. Going on exactly 0 hours of sleep and still feel great. But Needless to say, gonna be an early bed time tonight.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[klacr]

Well it's all looking a bit routine at the Aussie Open. You almost feel like they should reintroduce the challenge round.

Berdych played solid throughout his match against the flamboyant Kyrgios. I liked the way he stuck to his guns and rode out the fleeting Kyrgios storm with solid play. It's a shame Berdych is so predictable. Players can tell exactly where he is going to hit to and move there well in advance sometimes. With all that power he has got it would be useful if he had a little more disguise.

Just as I expected. Berdych will remain steady while Kyrgios goes through ups and downs in level. Interesting match up. Berdych just too steady and did great job of getting off to great start to take crowd out of it early with break.

Berdych a professional. He wasn't going to do anything that wasn't going to help him win (a page from Allen Fox's book). Trust your skill set. At the end of the day, that's all you can count on.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[bottle]

Hey, where's our stringer's report? lobndropshot, please get on it. We're going to send you to Havana next. (No, not that kind of a stringer.)

[stotty]

Well it's all looking a bit routine at the Aussie Open. You almost feel like they should reintroduce the challenge round.

Berdych played solid throughout his match against the flamboyant Kyrgios. I liked the way he stuck to his guns and rode out the fleeting Kyrgios storm with solid play. It's a shame Berdych is so predictable. Players can tell exactly where he is going to hit to and move there well in advance sometimes. With all that power he has got it would be useful if he had a little more disguise.

[don_budge]

The Men's Bathroom...

The facilities at Melbourne Park are way better then I expected, the stadiums are stunning, and the bathrooms are clean except for the ones in Rod Laver Arena they smell like 50 thousand have pissed on the floor. Not to mention the floor is a little sticky as well (hey guys let's focus on our aim a little more).

What is it about men and toilets? Men always make such a mess...miss the target half the time. At Wimbledon it sometimes gets the same, and they have someone hosing down every twenty minutes!

What is it with guys missing the mark? Have you ever heard the expression…"Ladies and Germs"?

[stotty]

Shame that Verdasco was so tired today after the 5 hour match against Nadal... Guess it was a Pyrrhic victory...

Pyrrhic indeed....

Thanks for the new word. I hadn't come across it before.

[gzhpcu]

Shame that Verdasco was so tired today after the 5 hour match against Nadal... Guess it was a Pyrrhic victory...

[bottle]

lobndropshot-- congratulations. I love the reportage. Great quality including all the specific tennis observation and the cellphone falling through the crack. Reminds me of when I was Our Man in Eastport for the Maine Times and got run out of town for this quote from Abner Cooke, a Canadian stoker in one of the plants: "You can always tell Eastporters. They're all inbred and they look like fish."

[stroke]

Great to get such a good lowdown from lobndropshot. Seeing world-class tennis live is different from TV, no question. Good analysis from lobndropshot, too, of Jerzy's main problem. When it comes to playing big points, he's a daft as a brush, which is a shame because he is really good...and yes, lobnddropshot, he does move ever so well for a tall man, far better than Isner, who is a tree. Another thing I noticed about Jerzy when I saw him at Wimbledon is how hard and flat he hits his forehand. He takes huge cuts at the ball. God knows how fast it is travelling.

I have heard Melbourne is nice and the stadiums are good. What is it about men and toilets? Men always make such a mess...miss the target half the time. At Wimbledon it sometimes gets the same, and they have someone hosing down every twenty minutes!

Great to hear from lobndropshot at AO. As Lc said, watching thsese pro men play live is so different than seeing them on tv, but to me, I need to be seated behind the players so I can see the ball action from a players perspective, and be sitting somwhat up close, to really get a feel for it. I agree completely about Sock. I saw him play up close in Cincy last year. His forehand racquet head speed was the quickest I have ever seen. What that forehand did when it hit the court was noticeably different. It was just vicious. As I have mentioned before, I saw Tomic play Berdych last year in Miami, also up close on the Grandstand. Thats when I first really came to appreciate Tomic's game. That was the most enjoyable match I have ever seen live. Berdych won in three. We all know Tomic has talent and a somewhat different game, but you just have to see it live. And he was interested on this day. And he can hit the ball very authoritatively when he wishes. Just a such efficient game.

[gzhpcu]

Roger is back on track!
And thanks for the impressions lobndropshot! Makes me feel there!

[stotty]

The facilities at Melbourne Park are way better then I expected, the stadiums are stunning, and the bathrooms are clean except for the ones in Rod Laver Arena they smell like 50 thousand have pissed on the floor. Not to mention the floor is a little sticky as well (hey guys let's focus on our aim a little more).

After viewing the practice courts we decided to head over to show Court three and check out John Isner. I already knew that Isner's serve was shot from a cannon out of a tree. But I didn't realize what a slow awkward mover he was. I knew he was slow, but, I didn't realize he looked like a newborn fawn. The more incredible thing how effective he was while being unbalanced.

Janowiz moves better and smooth but I felt he made a few tactical miscues during the match. For example Isner really struggled on the backhand-body serve placement and didn't have an answer when Jerzy went there. Also, hit the ball at John when he is at net! He is a much better volleyer when he is reaching for the ball. In my mind all the points John won at the net were key and he allowed to use his reach to put them away. This match really came down to several key points and Janowiz made bad choices.

Great to get such a good lowdown from lobndropshot. Seeing world-class tennis live is different from TV, no question. Good analysis from lobndropshot, too, of Jerzy's main problem. When it comes to playing big points, he's a daft as a brush, which is a shame because he is really good...and yes, lobnddropshot, he does move ever so well for a tall man, far better than Isner, who is a tree. Another thing I noticed about Jerzy when I saw him at Wimbledon is how hard and flat he hits his forehand. He takes huge cuts at the ball. God knows how fast it is travelling.

I have heard Melbourne is nice and the stadiums are good. What is it about men and toilets? Men always make such a mess...miss the target half the time. At Wimbledon it sometimes gets the same, and they have someone hosing down every twenty minutes!