Australian Open Day 10-14 - Djokurray! And others! :P

First topic message reminder :

Also not Berdych's biggest fan, but I do like him, and he's a watch connoisseur, I'm an amateur watch maker... Gotta support the market!

Djokovic a bit passive in these rallies. Looks like he is waiting for opponent error.

That approach never ends well for him.

good good, get it to TB boy.

Tip top serving now it's lottery time

Headcase miloservic. Sure this means Novak is cruising to the semi with no lost sets

not gooooddddd

That's all she wrote

Hopefully that will free Novak up a bit. He looks nervous to me.

Advantage Djoko, but I reckon this one has a way to go yet.

Milo will melt quickly now.

Lovely pass to break from Novak!

Wowo wowowow what a shot from Djoko.

Come on you Big STONE, move it, serve it, do something you Dinosaur.

Novak in command and he hasn't even needed to be at his best.

Only Stan can show Djoko it's place.

4th round/QF is about Milos real level.

Hard to see him doing better than that on this surface.

If his serve is at high level, he should take these QF matches to 5 or a SF here and there, but somehow he melts before these top 4.

Jahu wrote:Only Stan can show Djoko it's place.

It will be like Skywalker (Stan) vs Darth Vader (Novak). Can good triumph over evil?

It better, or we are all doomed!! I mean tennis world

I blame that stupid sleeve!

Looks like we are on track for a SF where the youngest player is 27 year old Novak Djokovic. Will this be the last time that will be the case?

Thats it boy, get those rockets going.

If Novak closes out Raonic here, I think I am right in saying that the four SFs will have dropped a total of 2 sets (I may have missed Stan dropping a set early on). It can't often have been the case that they have all had such easy journeys. They should all be fresh to provide two blockbusters!

Stan lost 1 to Garcia Lopez. For a big guy Raonic net skills are kinda poo.

Josiah Maiestas wrote:4th round/QF is about Milos real level.

Hard to see him doing better than that on this surface.

Can't help but agree with this. There is a lot to like about Raonic. But...he is so mechanical. He doesn't have that flair, or that fabled of things, natural talent, to be able to really trouble the best. It is a shame because I get the impression he works hard and is dedicated.

Someone teach Raonic how to return!

Can he get him to another tiebreak?..

I enjoyed the French QF's more than the Australian. Should NEVER be the case!

Someone wake up tomorrow for Berdy-Andy, this match is challenger quality.

Very boring almost like a dead rubber in Davis Cup.

Top 8 player that cannot point construct.

Not a single BP chance created.

Just don't know what to say to that.

Djokovic really got a read on that serve right now. Last few Milos service games have been real struggles

Milos is an awful returner. I think he would struggle to break most WTA servers on a consistent basis.

Thank god that's done. Murray and Berd tomorrow, Novak Stan on Friday

legendkillarV2 wrote:Not a single BP chance created.

Just don't know what to say to that.

Let's be honest he's a classic servebot. Not expecting him to return serve like Novak just top 20 level would be nice.

Not quite sure what to make of that.

Despite not being at his best for much of the match, Djokovic beat a tricky opponent in straight sets.

I'm a bit concerned that he wasn't at his best though. It's late in the tournament to be a bit patchy.

I'll chalk that up to Raonic though. Novak hates playing those big servers who don't give him any rhythm.

The SF v Stan looks to be very interesting. Too close to call.

HM Murdoch wrote:Not quite sure what to make of that.

Despite not being at his best for much of the match, Djokovic beat a tricky opponent in straight sets.

I'm a bit concerned that he wasn't at his best though. It's late in the tournament to be a bit patchy.

I'll chalk that up to Raonic though. Novak hates playing those big servers who don't give him any rhythm.

The SF v Stan looks to be very interesting. Too close to call.

I thought he was patchy in set 1 but once he won the first set I think he played really well in the last two sets. The Stan match will be another matter. I honestly think it is 50-50. Stan really troubles Novak on this surface. The slow high bouncing surface negates Novak's advantage of taking the ball earlier while helping Stan's big heavy swings.

Stan has to absolutely red-line it to make it a 50:50 shot even if Novak just plays a solid match. He has successfully done it two years in a row. I suspect this year Novak will be better than just solid and Stan won't be able to quite bring the same level. Novak in a reasonably comfortable 4 (at most) sets.

If Novak plays aggressively, with confidence, I think he'll beat Stan.

If he plays in that cautious "rally until the opponent makes an error" way, Stan will be all over him. His groundstrokes are too powerful for Novak to keep the rally passive.

Novak's big advantage at the moment is his serve. I've never seen him serve as well as has over the last 3 months or so.

I have to say though, Murray is looking very dangerous in the other side of the draw.

I agree with that Murdoch he can't do what he did against Nishikori in the USO where he waited for Nishikori to error and consistently let Nish take the first telling strike of the rally. He needs to put Stan on the defense instead of relying on his own defending to win the match.

BS, I would agree with you on every other surface. On clay Novak is better, on grass Novak is better, on an indoor faster hardcourt Novak is better. But this medium slow out door hardcourt really suits Stan style more so than Novak. I know Novak has won the event 4 times. So suits him as well. But if you look at their last two matches on this surfaces both decided deep in 5 sets I think we will see more of the same.

The last two encounters were different types of affair.

In 2013, Stan played brilliantly and probably should have won.

In 2014, I thought Novak played a poor game with lots of errors.

HM Murdoch wrote:I have to say though, Murray is looking very dangerous in the other side of the draw.

Murray v Kyrgios should not be used as a barometer. But he is definitely playing much better than I have seen him play last year.

I agree with Murray, he is moving much better this year as opposed to last and is getting free points off his first serve again.

laverfan wrote:

HM Murdoch wrote:I have to say though, Murray is looking very dangerous in the other side of the draw.

Murray v Kyrgios should not be used as a barometer. But he is definitely playing much better than I have seen him play last year.

Why do you think that?

That's a really good pair of wins at this late stage. Looks like they both played well! Can't wait for the next match now. The surface does suit Stan; he takes pretty big cuts at the ball at times, and the slow bounce helps the ball sit up into the hitzone for a big backswing. Too close to call.

Whatever else happens, Murray and Berdych now have an absolute mountain to climb. Neither of them are taking this title.

Silver wrote:That's a really good pair of wins at this late stage. Looks like they both played well! Can't wait for the next match now. The surface does suit Stan; he takes pretty big cuts at the ball at times, and the slow bounce helps the ball sit up into the hitzone for a big backswing. Too close to call.

Whatever else happens, Murray and Berdych now have an absolute mountain to climb. Neither of them are taking this title.

Exactly, how I see it Silver good post. Stan is a heavier bigger swinger than Novak and this surface is ideal for that kind of game.

laverfan wrote:

HM Murdoch wrote:I have to say though, Murray is looking very dangerous in the other side of the draw.

Murray v Kyrgios should not be used as a barometer. But he is definitely playing much better than I have seen him play last year.

Whoa I think that's a tad harsh. IMO he had to work a lot harder in that match than he did against Dimitrov. Kyrgios for me posed more problems than Dimitrov. The simple difference in the matches was one didn't have a brain fart.

Silver wrote:That's a really good pair of wins at this late stage. Looks like they both played well! Can't wait for the next match now. The surface does suit Stan; he takes pretty big cuts at the ball at times, and the slow bounce helps the ball sit up into the hitzone for a big backswing. Too close to call.

Whatever else happens, Murray and Berdych now have an absolute mountain to climb. Neither of them are taking this title.

Not sure I go with that.

For me Murray is joint favourite with Djokovic.

The rest, good luck.

Stan-Andy final any one?

legendkillarV2 wrote:For me Murray is joint favourite with Djokovic.

The rest, good luck.

At this stage, I think Andy has a better chance than Novak because he has a better chance of winning his SF.

Novak is clear favourite here

Glad we all agree on everything

Where? Favorite are all 4 left, and no one is 'clear" at all.