2016 Australian Open Tennis Championships

[don_budge]

Fast Courts…a thing of the past

Our only hope is that they quicken the speed of the courts. I had the impression that they were quick when Verdasco was thumping Nadal. Quicker than molasses anyways.

This Roger's is biggest hope and Novak Djokovic's only fear. Quicker courts somewhat negate the younger legs. But there is a lot of tennis to be played.

The next round is looming large as Grigor Dimitrov will be looking for some substantial revenge. There is the intriguing matchup of Dominic Thiem and David Goffin. Nick Kyrgios is also lurking but is he serious?

The shape of things to come…is coming.

lobndropshot…great that you went to see Jack Sock and Taylor Fritz. Do you think Sock can go deeper…or is he still sick. He looked like he was going to throw in the towel against Fritz after the bagel…but he regrouped.

[lobndropshot]

Courts are pretty fast.

[don_budge]

Sleep Walking…Dangerous Dolgopolov

Speaking of living dangerously…Dolgopolov up next for Roger Federer. When this guy catches fire look out. Federer normally knows how to put out the fire but last year he was surprised by Andreas Seppi who caught on fire on a very hot day when it looked like maybe Roger had not slept all that well. Jet lag can be a very funny thing…particularly when you may be be recovering from the flu.

[klacr]

We made the choice to stay at an Air B&B and let me tell you it is the way to go. We found a fantastic place right next to the Royal Botanical Gardens and we can simply walk through the gardens on our way to the Australian Open. The other advantage to an AirB&B is a kitchen and we have made our own breakfast each day ( scrambled eggs with spinach, black beans, and sausage). A good breakfast saves you from buying a 8 dollar piece of pizza. Even if the place is no bigger than a shoebox.

After breakfast we decided to walk downtown and then back along the Yarra river. Aside form the stagnant smell of the river is was fun to see people being active and Melbourne is beautiful.

We got to the event around 1pm later than I would have liked. We walked around the grounds grounds taking it all while simultaneously avoiding eye contact with anyone I felt what is associated with a sponsor. I wanting to say, I am here for tennis not for a Kia Sorento.

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). The food and is expensive but it's not like going to a NFL football game where all you get is shitty nachos and two beers for $35. The food is good and there are good options. For example, we had barbecue chicken and quinoa salad for about $13 ASD and it was kinda good.

Our first tennis of the day was watching Kerber practice her return of serve with her coach. One thing you don't get from studying video is a feeling of the direction and magnitude of a player's body weight. Watching Kerber blast service returns gave me a feeling of the importance of a balanced forward move on the return of serve. In any case I'm going to make it a point to focus on my return of serve more often.

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.

After the Isner match we went back to the practice courts and momentarily watched people watching Djokovic practice. But I didn't head over to the practice courts for the world #1 I came for Martina Hingis. It was fun to watch her because she was clearly having fun with Mirza. It is important that you enjoy playing with your partner.

Because my wife enjoyed watching Kerber warm up we decided to watch her match against Doi. She pulled off the second set despite how short she was hitting the ball. A simple adjustment of deep the middle and she would have sent Doi home easily. But she was trying to hit too many angles and Doi made things interesting.
We got to catch the end of Ferrer's opener and he is every bit of a physical beast as I expected. Had total control over the match and almost every point. We didn't get to see much.

After all tennis we saw it was clear that my wife was hitting her limit but quickly mentioned that two Americans were playing on court seven and we should go check them out for a bit. Sock and Fritz was our match of the day and I was impressed with both players but were we getting hungry do we decided (1-0 in the 2nd) to leave after the 2nd set. When she stood up her phone which was on her lap fell through a crack in the stands and disappeared. So she had to find help to get her phone back and I got to see the match.

Sock has the most racket head speed of anyone I have see so far and his forehead really dips and kicks. When he hits it deep there isn't much you can do. However, Firtz was very impressive, a clean ball striker who had sock going crazy for sets 2,3,&4. Until sock rolled his ankle and cleared his head like a hard slap to the face. Sock got lucky.

What a day! Rainy day today so we are figuring out what to do. Thank you for the kind words of encouragement.

You rock! Living vicariously through you.
Give Berdych a look when you get the chance. Great ball striking from the czech.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[lobndropshot]

Day 2 what a day

We made the choice to stay at an Air B&B and let me tell you it is the way to go. We found a fantastic place right next to the Royal Botanical Gardens and we can simply walk through the gardens on our way to the Australian Open. The other advantage to an AirB&B is a kitchen and we have made our own breakfast each day ( scrambled eggs with spinach, black beans, and sausage). A good breakfast saves you from buying a 8 dollar piece of pizza. Even if the place is no bigger than a shoebox.

After breakfast we decided to walk downtown and then back along the Yarra river. Aside form the stagnant smell of the river is was fun to see people being active and Melbourne is beautiful.

We got to the event around 1pm later than I would have liked. We walked around the grounds grounds taking it all while simultaneously avoiding eye contact with anyone I felt what is associated with a sponsor. I wanting to say, I am here for tennis not for a Kia Sorento.

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). The food and is expensive but it's not like going to a NFL football game where all you get is shitty nachos and two beers for $35. The food is good and there are good options. For example, we had barbecue chicken and quinoa salad for about $13 ASD and it was kinda good.

Our first tennis of the day was watching Kerber practice her return of serve with her coach. One thing you don't get from studying video is a feeling of the direction and magnitude of a player's body weight. Watching Kerber blast service returns gave me a feeling of the importance of a balanced forward move on the return of serve. In any case I'm going to make it a point to focus on my return of serve more often.

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.

After the Isner match we went back to the practice courts and momentarily watched people watching Djokovic practice. But I didn't head over to the practice courts for the world #1 I came for Martina Hingis. It was fun to watch her because she was clearly having fun with Mirza. It is important that you enjoy playing with your partner.

Because my wife enjoyed watching Kerber warm up we decided to watch her match against Doi. She pulled off the second set despite how short she was hitting the ball. A simple adjustment of deep the middle and she would have sent Doi home easily. But she was trying to hit too many angles and Doi made things interesting.
We got to catch the end of Ferrer's opener and he is every bit of a physical beast as I expected. Had total control over the match and almost every point. We didn't get to see much.

After all tennis we saw it was clear that my wife was hitting her limit but quickly mentioned that two Americans were playing on court seven and we should go check them out for a bit. Sock and Fritz was our match of the day and I was impressed with both players but were we getting hungry do we decided (1-0 in the 2nd) to leave after the 2nd set. When she stood up her phone which was on her lap fell through a crack in the stands and disappeared. So she had to find help to get her phone back and I got to see the match.

Sock has the most racket head speed of anyone I have see so far and his forehead really dips and kicks. When he hits it deep there isn't much you can do. However, Firtz was very impressive, a clean ball striker who had sock going crazy for sets 2,3,&4. Until sock rolled his ankle and cleared his head like a hard slap to the face. Sock got lucky.

What a day! Rainy day today so we are figuring out what to do. Thank you for the kind words of encouragement.

[klacr]

Verdasco...straight arm forehand...beautiful sight.

Nadal will have some serious question marks going into clay court season.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[stotty]

Apparently it is all in his head they say, chokes often...

Sure, but not all the time and not for a whole career. Everyone gets a respite here and there from their afflictions. He was definitely slam finalist material, yet never made it that far.

I think there might be more to it than a weak nerve. He has a beautiful forehand but it only does one thing. It doesn't have a safety element to it that Nadal can employ with his....or Djokovic with his...or Roger with his for that matter. When I saw Verdasco at Wimbledon he just belted it...took huge risks. You can't play like that ALL the time.

[gzhpcu]

I have seen Verdasco's forehand up close and personal. It's one of the great sights in modern tennis. He has many other good qualities too. It's a mystery to me why he hasn't achieved more.

Apparently it is all in his head they say, chokes often...

[bottle]

lobndropshot-- Our Man in Melbourne

There simply is nothing like a good first hand man. And he doesn't need to do anything but be himself!

[stotty]

Thank you, don_budge, Klacr and stroke for the lowdown on Verdasco and Nadal. I figured it was a combination of Nadal losing penetration and power coupled with Verdasco playing out of his skin.

I have seen Verdasco's forehand up close and personal. It's one of the great sights in modern tennis. He has many other good qualities too. It's a mystery to me why he hasn't achieved more.

[stroke]

I agree completely. Verdasco embraces the match up with Nadal. 90 winners. Verdasco's forehand technique wise to me has always looked like some kind cross between Nadal and Federer, and it was on brutal display vs Nadal. It would be nice to see Verdasco maintain that form, but unlikely.

[klacr]

Nadal's forehand started to lose some depth, Verdasco said "thank you very much" and started dictating. And yes, the 25 out of 27 net points won was lovely to see. Verdasco, to his credit was a top 10 doubles player not too long ago and had some great success winning the ATP World Tour Finals a few years back. He's not a stranger to the forecourt.

here are some stats
http://www.ausopen.com/en_AU/scores/...y7/1133ms.html

I knew that match would be a tricky one for Nadal. Verdasco has beaten him 2 out of the last 3 times before that Melbourne encounter. Verdasco has game and mentality to upset Rafa. And he did. Kudos to him for believing in it, executing it and embracing the net.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[don_budge]

Fernando Verdasco vs. Rafael Nadal...

I didn't see the Verdasco/Nadal match. From what I read it sounds like a sensational performance by Verdasco.

But doesn't the ball have to be sitting up a bit to allow someone to clean that many winners? It sounds like Verdasco was getting to play completely on his own terms in the last three sets. I just wonder if Nadal has lost penetration on his forehand and he has come to rely mostly on movement to eke out wins these days? At the end of the day, a human can move at a maximum of 28mph while ground shots can be struck in excess of 90mph...so only one winner.

I wonder what Nadal's penetration and length were like in that match? Did anyone watch it?

I watched the tie-break in the fourth and the last set. You have long been a fan of Verdasco's forehand and you have posted a clip of it from Wimbledon. The ball must have been setting up at least as much as it was on the velcro grass. But Nadal's ball does sit up a bit with the topspin and as you point out…it is questionable just how much "penetration" there is on his ball. Verdasco was taking some devastating shots at the backhand as well…he sort of applied the Djokovic tactic. He went aggressively at the forehand and opened up the backhand side. He definitely had Nadal on the run and all he could do in the last set was try to defend.

But it was totally futile…after he go up 2-0 he seemed to lose his concentration and at the same time Fernando turned on the afterburners. Mats Wilander was very impressed with the performance. He was commenting on the lack of service dominance with regard to Nadal. Nadal's nerves seemed to be a bit shaky in the end…particular with respect to his serve. It sort of let him down. I seem to remember someone writing about a service motion that when suspect might get a bit shaky when the chips are down. Verdasco was tagging his returns on both sides.

Verdasco's forehand was very impressive but I was also impressed with his backhand. He had the pedal to the metal on both sides and what is more I seem to recall that he had won 25 of 27 net approaches as well.

[stotty]

I didn't see the Verdasco/Nadal match. From what I read it sounds like a sensational performance by Verdasco.

But doesn't the ball have to be sitting up a bit to allow someone to clean that many winners? It sounds like Verdasco was getting to play completely on his own terms in the last three sets. I just wonder if Nadal has lost penetration on his forehand and he has come to rely mostly on movement to eke out wins these days? At the end of the day, a human can move at a maximum of 28mph while ground shots can be struck in excess of 90mph...so only one winner.

I wonder what Nadal's penetration and length were like in that match? Did anyone watch it?

[klacr]

Adios Rafa!!!

Verdasco was not intimidated nor aware that Nadal was the favorite. Verdasco thumped that forehand. What a beautiful shot that is.

Nadal out in 1st round.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton