Merry Christmas - 2022 Slam Predictions

[jimlosaltos]

The issues with Djokovic's visa might be getting sticker as time passes and outrage grows.

As Australian MP and Home Affairs Secretary has posted that: "

While the Victorian Government and Tennis Australia may permit a non-vaccinated player to compete in the Australian Open, it is the Commonwealth Government that will enforce our requirements at the Australian border."

https://minister.homeaffairs.gov.au/KarenAndrews/Pages/australias-border-rules-apply-to-everyone.aspx

The PM, after trying to punt to the Victorian state govt, which passed the hot potato promptly back to him, now says: "Scott Morrison, Australia’s prime minister, had put Djokovic’s appearance at the Australian Open in doubt, warning the world tennis No 1 that he must prove that he cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons."

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/novak-djokovic-granted-medical-exemption-to-play-in-australian-open-dx6gss525

Australia sports celebrities haven't exactly rushed to Novak's aid. de Minaur and other Au players on podiums basically said "It is what it is" in skeptical tones. "Apparently it’s an independent panel. He must have fit the criteria somehow,” Duckworth said.

Former AFL star Kevin Bartlett said the Australian people are being "taken for fools".

Former AMA head doc:
"After everything Victorians have been through, Novak Djokovic getting a vaccine exemption is nothing short of a kick in the guts. All those lockdowns, all that suffering. Seriously?"

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2022/jan/05/appalling-message-outrage-over-novak-djokovics-medical-exemption-to-play-australian-open

NYT:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/05/s...smid=url-share

[jimlosaltos]

Looks like there is a problem with his visa application which is apparently now being refused.

'

Oh, this is priceless. Karma much?

Yes, Djokovic is being held in a hotel room without access to his mobile phone.

After getting a medical exemption, his staff messed up and didn't get the visa for that extraordinary entry. He was on a 14 hour commercial flight from Dubai to Melbourne when Australian Border Patrol discovered he didn't have a Visa to justify medical exemption.

The Victorian (state) govt, after being blamed for Novak's special exemption is being quite caty.

The Times: "An attempt had been made by national federal authorities to resolve the situation by correcting the application, but support for this has been refused by the Victorian state government. While Djokovic’s exemption had been approved by two independent panels of health experts, authorisation for a visa is considered a separate process.

filedata/fetch?id=96238&d=1641408818&type=thumb

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/n...box=1641393397

[glacierguy]

Looks like there is a problem with his visa application which is apparently now being refused.

'

Wow, this is a bad situation.

[stotty]

I like Maria Sakkari for one Major this year.

And my Aussie brother-in-law told me this morning that "Novax Djokovic" is taking off down under.

Looks like there is a problem with his visa application which is apparently now being refused.

'

Djokovic is presently unable to proceed through passport control after a member of his support team made a critical mistake in requesting a sub-class of visa that does not apply to those who have received medical exemptions from a Covid-19 vaccine. The error had been discovered by the Australian border force while Djokovic was already travelling on a 14-hour commercial flight from Dubai to Melbourne.

[glacierguy]

I like Maria Sakkari for one Major this year.

And my Aussie brother-in-law told me this morning that "Novax Djokovic" is taking off down under.

[jimlosaltos]

I certainly like to make predictions, which are almost always wrong. I am picking Alcaraz to win the FO.

Now, that's bold. Like it

[stotty]

That's interesting because the first thing one smells is a rat: he's worth a lot to a tournament so he's in. But the fact things are set by the government dispels all that. I wonder why he is exempt in that case? I don't suppose he's going to tell us but no doubt some ferret will find out further down the line.

[stroke]

I am glad he is in. These asymptomatic cases are ridiculous.

[jimlosaltos]

FYI - Djokovic just released fact that he got a "medical exemption" into the Australian Open.

Apparently, if I read the rules right, he gets the same treatment as a person that is fully vaccinated -- in a complete departure from last year's AO, and from any major sports' policies that I can think of.

Some locals are mad at what they see as preferential treatment for a celebrity and blaming Tennis Australia, but it appears to not have any role here since the rules are set by the federal govt and exemptions are done by two medial boards that do "blind" reviews of information, i.e. don't know who is involved, supposedly.

Regardless, Djokovic is in.

[stroke]

Predictions are great fun...nothing wrong in sticking one's neck out. God knows what Novak is playing at and why he won't let fans and organisers know his intentions...bizarre. He can't leave it any longer, surely. Nadal must be licking his lips at the mere thought of Novak being absent...and the rest of the pack.

I certainly like to make predictions, which are almost always wrong. I am picking Alcaraz to win the FO.

[stotty]

Predictions are great fun...nothing wrong in sticking one's neck out. God knows what Novak is playing at and why he won't let fans and organisers know his intentions...bizarre. He can't leave it any longer, surely. Nadal must be licking his lips at the mere thought of Novak being absent...and the rest of the pack.

[jimlosaltos]

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Apologies for not being consistent enough on this forum. 2021 has been a wildly busy and prosperous year. I cannot wait for 2022 to be even bigger and better.

Here are my predictions: Australian Open: Medvedev/Muguruza
French Open: Djokovic/Badosa
Wimbledon: Federer/Barty
US Open: Djokovic/Pliskova


Kyle LaCroix USPTA, PTR
Delray Beach
SETS Consulting

http://www.setsconsult.org

Against my better judgment I'll jump in. Normally, I am reluctant to make projections for any event before I see the draws, let alone months in advance, but I'll be a good sport and stick my neck out < g >.
.
.

Australian: Medvedev / Barty
French: Nadal / Badosa or Świątek
Wimbledon: Djokovic / Barty
US Open: Zverev / Osaka

I almost picked Tsitsipas for Roland Garros after his great run this year and his 2 set lead of Novak there before succumbing. Thiem's comeback from injury seems impossible for me to judge. He might win the French or have his career truncated. I don't know. I wanted to pick someone to break through for the men at Wimbledon, but none of the 20-something's seems to move and return well on grass, for whatever reason.

As for Fed, I hope Kyle's bold prediction is right. It would be historic. But Fed's said coming back by Wimbledon would be difficult and -- it's his fourth knee operation. Fourth/ 3 on this one. It would be a miracle. We don't know what the surgery was. By 3/4 it must be regenerative surgery. The record of elite athletes coming back from microfracture is dismal, but the record for grafting a slim slice of bone top from a cadaver -- with a "seed" of cartilage -- is supposedly better. {That's reportedly what NFL 49ers star running back Raheem Mostert had early this year.}.

My guess is that we'll be fortunate to see Fed by the Laver Cup, perhaps with a swan song back home in Basil. Sorry if that's too negative.

#

[klacr]

Merry Christmas to all on the forum! It's gone deathly quiet the last week or so.

What will happen this year in the slams? Who will feature and who will win?

Novak has to be favourite for the Aussie Open if he is eligible and decides to play. Failing that, Meddy would be my bet. Novak and Meddy are about level at the moment but Novak always plays his best down under.

Rafa and Novak will be equal favourites for me at the FO but I honestly think Novak might just have his nose in front if they meet there again.

Novak must be favourite at SW19. He plays so well and grass and has gotten better each year.

I would put Meddy down for the US Open...or one of the other newcomers.

I think Roger is probably all done and would be surprised if he can put himself into any kind of contention.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Apologies for not being consistent enough on this forum. 2021 has been a wildly busy and prosperous year. I cannot wait for 2022 to be even bigger and better.

Here are my predictions: Australian Open: Medvedev/Muguruza
French Open: Djokovic/Badosa
Wimbledon: Federer/Barty
US Open: Djokovic/Pliskova


Kyle LaCroix USPTA, PTR
Delray Beach
SETS Consulting

http://www.setsconsult.org

[jimlosaltos]

Well I should have flown to America yesterday to visit my 89-year-old mother who lives in Maine. I was all packed and ready to go but then got a text at 3am in the morning telling me the flight to Philadelphia (the first leg of my journey before flying on to Bangor) was cancelled due to the flight crew testing positive. There was no option to rebook without long layovers so I had to cancel my trip.

It's annoying because every time I fly to my mother's I usually have to fly right over her house and a further 500 miles to Philadelphia only to then get a propellor plane back again, which takes a further two hours. Next time I was thinking of flying to Boston (just 7 hours form Heathrow) then getting the train from Boston to Bangor. I think it might work out quicker. I don't like Philadelphia airport either because getting anything decent to eat is a challenge. I did stop over at Detroit airport once which was significantly better.

Boston looks a nice place. I was reading about it this afternoon oddly enough.

Maine is scenic but bloody cold at this time of year.

What part of the country are you from, Jim, if you don't mind my asking?

Not at all, California. Silicon Valley to be more specific.

Pouring rain here the last week or so. Unusually cold (for this region, anyway) so loads of snow in nearby Tahoe, normally a few hours drive away.

Some would-be weekend skiers spent 26 hours in their cars, stopped on the road to Tahoe. Makes cleaning the leaves out of the rain gutters seem less a pain <g>.

But in a years' long drought, it's all good. We could use more British weather. Or Maine's

[stotty]

Meanwhile, add Rublev to the list of players testing positive for Covid after Doha. {Doha is turning into the Adria Tour Redux}.

Most if not all of those players were vaccinated. Two report significant symptoms, Bencic is "ill", can't recall who the second one with bad symptoms is.

Shapo traveled to Australia before testing positive and now in isolation there.

Andrey Rublev in turn positive for Covid-19. After Raducanu, Bencic, Jabeur, Nadal and Shapovalov, the Russian is the 6th player who was present in Abu Dhabi to have contracted the virus.

With the contagion levels of Omicron approaching those of the measles the Australian events will be "interesting'.

Well I should have flown to America yesterday to visit my 89-year-old mother who lives in Maine. I was all packed and ready to go but then got a text at 3am in the morning telling me the flight to Philadelphia (the first leg of my journey before flying on to Bangor) was cancelled due to the flight crew testing positive. There was no option to rebook without long layovers so I had to cancel my trip.

It's annoying because every time I fly to my mother's I usually have to fly right over her house and a further 500 miles to Philadelphia only to then get a propellor plane back again, which takes a further two hours. Next time I was thinking of flying to Boston (just 7 hours form Heathrow) then getting the train from Boston to Bangor. I think it might work out quicker. I don't like Philadelphia airport either because getting anything decent to eat is a challenge. I did stop over at Detroit airport once which was significantly better.

Boston looks a nice place. I was reading about it this afternoon oddly enough.

Maine is scenic but bloody cold at this time of year.

What part of the country are you from, Jim, if you don't mind my asking?