2021 Australian Open...ATP 2000...Melbourne, Australia

[stroke]

Thinks its:

Cilic v Dimitrov

and

Sinner v Shapovalov


Sinner is a really good prospect to me. Every time I see Shapovalov it's all 'hell for leather' and nothing in-between. Every player needs some kind of B game even if it's just taking 5% off the pace to get it in! If Roger, Novak and Rafa have taught anything, it's consistency is paramount. Those guys give nothing away.

Nadal and Roger in particular never even go away for a set as almost all other players do when the set seems kinda a lost cause. Not them. Obviously, Nadal keeps it very simple. All he seems to care about is winning the next point. And Roger, one time I saw a stat that he had lost more matches than anyone in matches where he had actually won more total points in the match. At first blush, that mat not look to be a enviable stat, but it speaks volumes to Roger never going away in any match.

[seano]

Looks like Nadal has a "back" issue heading into the Australian Open.

https://www.espn.com/tennis/story/_/id/30851392/rafael-nadal-bothered-lingering-back-injury-entering-australian-open

[stroke]

Sinner just played a tremendous 10th game to break a very testy Denis to extend this very good match to a 5th set. Impossible to pick a winner here. Sinner has an almost Borg like demeanor out there. So in control of his emotions.

[stroke]

Sinner and Denis 3.5 hours so far. The winner to face Bernard Tomic in 2nd round, which hard to believe will probably be the most intriguing 2nd round match of the tournament.

[stroke]

In just under 4 hours, Denis wins. Tremendous match and ball striking. The one thing that separated them to me, Denis' serve is more of a weapon. He has a live arm and his best serve, his lefty slice to the ad court, was a whole match problem for Sinner which he never solved. Sinner returns very deep in the court position wise a la Nadal, and it just did not work vs that serve.

[stroke]

Yahoo Sport Australia: 'Crazy stat' exposed in Bernard Tomic's Aus Open walkover win.

https://au.sports.yahoo.com/australian-open-2021-bernard-tomic-walkover-win-yuichi-sugita-retires-104907559.html

This next match vs Denis, I am interested.

[stotty]

Yahoo Sport Australia: 'Crazy stat' exposed in Bernard Tomic's Aus Open walkover win.

https://au.sports.yahoo.com/australian-open-2021-bernard-tomic-walkover-win-yuichi-sugita-retires-104907559.html

This next match vs Denis, I am interested.

Me too.

[stroke]

Best 2nd round mstchups in order:

Tomic vs Denis(Tennis Australia has relegated to Court 3, no love loss for Tomic there)
Nick vs U. Humbert
Novak vs Tiafoe
Fritz vs Opelka(2 very dangerous floaters)

[stotty]

Everything is very routine at the moment. I was surprised to see Evans go out to Norrie. He really should have gotten through that match the way he has been playing of late. Stephanos looked particularly impressive today the way he swamped poor old Simon. Had it been a boxing match they would have stopped the fight.

I am hoping Nick K will progress because although he's a 'tool' he at least spices things up.

[stroke]

I like to watch Nick also, but he the biggest poser douchebag "I do whatever the Hell I want to bad boy" of all time. I watch him always hoping for him to lose. He probably is the greatest wasted talent of all time. The only player that has his talent level is Fed. That serve also, along with Raonic to me, the best sub 6'10" serve out there. But of course, Nick does everything else better than Raonic.

[stotty]

Although he will probably never amount to much it terms of tennis history, it must be intimidating for the BIG 3 to play Nick, who is easily an equal on a given day...and who doesn't give a damn either way and refuses to work too hard either. Must be galling for a couple of workhorses like Rafa and Novak...and probably Roger too.

[stroke]

Although he will probably never amount to much it terms of tennis history, it must be intimidating for the BIG 3 to play Nick, who is easily an equal on a given day...and who doesn't give a damn either way and refuses to work too hard either. Must be galling for a couple of workhorses like Rafa and Novak...and probably Roger too.

Concur with that. The galling feelings Nick elicits from them is overshadowed by their own accomplishments and a pretty much non existent trophy case of Nick's. Truth be told, Nick is a bit of a joke to them. Kind of like the guy who can win a slam dunk contest yet not really make an impact at all in the NBA. They are not impressed.

[stroke]

Denis has won the 1st 2 sets 1 and 3, looking every bit the heavy favorite he is in this mstch. So far, this match has gone pretty much exactly as one would expect. Tomic simply not physically able to compete point in point out at this pretty much top 10 level.

[stroke]

I think it is more likely than not that is Bernard's last Australian Open main draw match.

[stotty]

It's tough for Tomic to go out and compete against a player who is right in the thick out of it. I was hoping for a slightly better performance from Tomic. His weakness, for me, has always been the physical side...not the fittest or the fastest for sure.

I have just tuned in the Humbert v Kyrgios with Kyrgios somewhat tamely giving up the first set against his workmanlike opponent. I might settle in to watch the second set just to see if Kyrgios puts his socks on and starts playing.

I see Novak struggled a bit versus Tiafoe. I have some film somewhere of Tiafoe from he played at junior Wimbledon some years ago. What a mess his serve was in back then...weirdest ball toss you'll ever see. He had raw power and talent, though. You just got the impression he was daft as a brush and probably difficult to coach. Best thing you can do with a player like that is leave him mostly to it and see how things pan out. For a player to be real good, however, they have to be so receptive...humble in a way...because there is so much to learn and bits to add on to your game along the way. I always think Roger at 35 would have beaten Roger at 25, which kind of highlights my point.