AO 2016 - Day 4

Order of Play - http://www.ausopen.com/en_AU/scores/schedule/schedule9.html

Live Scores - http://www.ausopen.com/en_AU/scores/index.html

Day 4 Preview - http://www.ausopen.com/en_AU/news/articles/2016-01-20/day_4_preview_grownup_tomic_set_to_shine.html

Has Tomic really grown up or just passed his bad persona to Kyrgios?

Ferrer v Hewitt (with Ferrer to Win).

Will Verdasco pass Sela?

laverfan wrote:Order of Play - http://www.ausopen.com/en_AU/scores/schedule/schedule9.html

Live Scores - http://www.ausopen.com/en_AU/scores/index.html

Day 4 Preview - http://www.ausopen.com/en_AU/news/articles/2016-01-20/day_4_preview_grownup_tomic_set_to_shine.html

Has Tomic really grown up or just passed his bad persona to Kyrgios?

Ferrer v Hewitt (with Ferrer to Win).

Will Verdasco pass Sela?

Will Jahu dinner date LF at Le Bernardin, at 155 W. 51st St?

LF, honestly, I think its NO to all your questions

Better day today than yesterday but really starts to heat up tomorrow.

Jahu wrote:

laverfan wrote:Will Jahu dinner date LF at Le Bernardin, at 155 W. 51st St?

LF, honestly, I think its NO to all your questions

. Have been a bit busy to come and hang out with the boys and girls. Let us wait till USO.

How's that all been going lf? It's gotten hectic here I just got accepted for a job at Cambridge! Which is kinda daunting...

Born Slippy wrote:Better day today than yesterday but really starts to heat up tomorrow.

I am looking forward to Kyrgios v Berdych tomorrow.

This new raonic is a step in the right direction. Gambling way more on the return...

temporary21 wrote:How's that all been going lf?  It's gotten hectic here I just got accepted for a job at Cambridge! Which is kinda daunting...

Usually, ThanksGiving-New Year is relatively slow, but Jan gets a bit busier. This Jan has been absolutely crazy. I wanted to watch Doha and Brisbane, but did not much of look-in. Congratulations on the Cambridge gig, T2.  It will also give you a break from this madhouse.

Raonic came up to the net. Robredo had mini breaks in the TB, but failed to capitalize. DF on SP in the TB was a bad end. I wish Robredo would use the slice a bit more vs Raonic.

It's a decent contest. Raonic is way more watchable playing like this regardless.

I'll be honest if completely forgotten about the place in the mad rush to finish my PhD. Then one of the big guns lost and notifications flooded my inbox. It never goes away

Meanwhile. Murray appears to be dismantling groths serve. Tough gig for the Aussie

Murray wins 6-0 6-4 6-1. He looked very sharp and tuned in today. Groth just never got into his stride.

As I thought Verdasco on the verge of defeat against Dudi Sela.

So typical of Nando..which is the reason he cant manage a major win..
one big match win in a tournament.. and then crumbles.

He looked so by physically, though losing to Sela sort of hurts Nadal.

Leyton one game up. C'MON!!!!

I don't think Rafa can get more hurt than he already is can he??

It's not just Verdasco. Even that French brigade of Monfils, Gasquet, Tsomga, are capable,of only one big match in a GS. They all promise a lot and deliver nothing.

They'll be going crazy over there as the last set of Lleyton Hewitts career looms.

Watching the battle of the gladiators Hewitt/Ferrer.. what an incredible match.. both as doggedly determined as the other... their work ethic is so admirable and something the young ones should take note.
I love both these boys.. shame someone has to lose

 Rusty.

What a competitor! Warrior extrordinare.  

Something infectious about his never say die attitude.

I think that has to be said about both of them
The two little giants of the game

Great that he goes out on his shield, as always.

The guy was far better than his record will ever show; horrific injury problems impaired his physical game, and he ran into Federer who was changing the game and at his own physical peak. I prefer to remember him earlier at his physical peak when he was the clear #1, though I was severely hacked off when he stopped Henman winning Wimbledon.

One thing I remember about him was when the Australian Davis Cup team all grew tribute John Newcombe facial hair, except Hewitt who as a young blonde lad could muster little more than a wispy pale effort.

Hi there bb - they gave him a good send-off and it's fully deserved after such a long career.

But in all honesty, I do wonder whether he was - as you say - "far better than his record will ever show ...."

I'm more inclined to think that he maximised what was a fairly limited (relative to the true greats of the sport) natural talent by guts, determination, fighting spirit and sheer hard work. Most of the memorable achievements were compressed within a two/three year spell, and in truth there was little of real note for his last decade on the Tour.

Yes, injuries had a serious effect of course - but there were also many, many occasions when he would come through early rounds of a Slam totally unhindered by injury, only to then fall way short against, say, the likes of  Fed or another big name. In the second half of his career he would come to be exposed by so many players who had a wider set of skills in their armoury.

Whenever I'm in Australia I'm always a little surprised by how many folk don't much care for Lleyton - and that's unusual where home-grown heroes are mostly held in high esteem throughout the land.

Anyway, the guy has done far more with his life than most people I know (not least myself ...), so all credit to him

He certainly "maximised", he was never an artist!

I can't recall the sequence of injury but it degraded him so that even when "fit" he wasn't the man he was. He was also unfortunate that he'd just got going when the game was moving on. So, I think better because the injuries pulled him down, but I'm not saying he was at the top table.

I actually didn't like him when he was at his peak; he annoyed me by doing Henman at Wimbledon just as Sampras was waning, plus his attitude as a young man was grating whereas as he gets older it's more endearing. Maybe for the Aussies he's a bit atypical for their heroes; they like them a bit more macho (Rafter, Mitch Johnson, Ponting, any Rugby guys).

I have mixed views on Hewitt.

Much like Roddick, his achievements were suppressed by the emergence of Federer. Injury also took much away from him. I do tend to agree with BB's comment that he was better than the bare statistics of his career would suggest. It's easy to forget how highly he was rated in his 2001-2002 heyday.

However, I've always found the level of adulation he gets for battling hard rather odd. Surely working hard is the minimum we want to see in an athlete?

I think the admiration stems from the fact he works hard but still loses to more popular players. Same with Ferrer. Fans can enjoy his battling qualities without him really spoiling the event by beating their favourite.

Ha! Probably quite astute!!

I think the best assessment of Hewitt was written by Pete Sampras:

"He loved players who served and volleyed and tried to pressure him. Lleyton was one of the few guys who really could resist the onslaught of a high quality attacker. For a period I felt Lleyton might really dominate. His game translated well from surface to surface, but then a few things happened.

For one Roger Federer improved, and he figured Lleyton out cold. The game in general also improved while Lleyton was at the top. Guys were playing with a little more power, partly thanks to advances in racket technology, but fewer of them were playing into Hewitt's hands. Lleyton liked having a target, but in his era guys stopped coming to the net. Hewitt was a victim of his time"

Some interesting, measured points there HMM.

Whilst perhaps not ideal viewing for die-hard Hewitt fans, this short clip of Rafter's reaction to the way Hewitt divides opinion is a lot of fun........

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eZ3_okc4uo0

Good comments on Hewitt.

Interesting none of his "obituaries" mentioned some of his controversies. I remember once reading someone's opinion that "tell me what the similarity is" would be what he would be remembered for, although that doesn't seem to be the case at this point reading what people have written and said. No-one talking about this career seems to have mentioned it.

Still, I think how a person behaved on court and what sort of person they are should factor into their greatness level or whatever.

From his wikipedia article:

Controversies[edit]
During the 2001 U.S. Open Hewitt complained to Swiss umpire Andreas Egli after being called for two-foot-faults by a linesman and requested that the official be moved. "Look at him. Look at him and you tell me what the similarity is. Just get him off the court." The 'similarity' was possibly in reference to both his opponent James Blake and the linesman being black. Hewitt told officials what he meant by the comment was that the same linesman made both foot-fault calls. Tournament referee Brian Earley decided not to fine Hewitt, saying, "There was no gesture in the direction of Mr. Blake when he made the comments about 'the similarities'. He did not use Mr. Blake's name. He didn't say 'my opponent.'"[120]

At the French Open of the same year, Hewitt was involved in yet more controversy when he twice called match officials "Joey Deacon." Following his outbursts, a complaint was received from the Cerebral Palsy Association in Australia. Hewitt later apologised, stating "If I did say that in the heat of the battle, then I apologise. I didn't intend to offend anyone."[121]

In 2005, Hewitt made headlines again after he was caught on video calling a Davis Cup official by an anti-gay slur.[122]

In terms of his actual tennis career I think winning the Davis Cup in 2003 beating Roger Federer in the semi final from 2 sets down
getting to world no 1
and actually winning Wimbledon quite comfortably with straight sets in the semi and final

I see he beat Sjeng Schalken 7-5 in the 5th in the quarter. I didn't recall that. every other match was straight sets though. Perhaps if Sjeng Schalken had just managed to win those last 2 games, Tim Henman would have won Wimbledon.

Henman Bill wrote:Good comments on Hewitt.

Interesting none of his "obituaries" mentioned some of his controversies. I remember once reading someone's opinion that "tell me what the similarity is" would be what he would be remembered for, although that doesn't seem to be the case at this point reading what people have written and said. No-one talking about this career seems to have mentioned it.

Still, I think how a person behaved on court and what sort of person they are should factor into their greatness level or whatever.

From his wikipedia article:

Controversies[edit]
During the 2001 U.S. Open Hewitt complained to Swiss umpire Andreas Egli after being called for two-foot-faults by a linesman and requested that the official be moved. "Look at him. Look at him and you tell me what the similarity is. Just get him off the court." The 'similarity' was possibly in reference to both his opponent James Blake and the linesman being black. Hewitt told officials what he meant by the comment was that the same linesman made both foot-fault calls. Tournament referee Brian Earley decided not to fine Hewitt, saying, "There was no gesture in the direction of Mr. Blake when he made the comments about 'the similarities'. He did not use Mr. Blake's name. He didn't say 'my opponent.'"[120]

At the French Open of the same year, Hewitt was involved in yet more controversy when he twice called match officials "Joey Deacon." Following his outbursts, a complaint was received from the Cerebral Palsy Association in Australia. Hewitt later apologised, stating "If I did say that in the heat of the battle, then I apologise. I didn't intend to offend anyone."[121]

In 2005, Hewitt made headlines again after he was caught on video calling a Davis Cup official by an anti-gay slur.[122]

Last night he told the umpire he was a "friggin idiot and -everyone in the locker room thinks you're full of yourself - something along those lines, and also asked a linesman to be removed. Feisty fellow till the end.

What I enjoyed about Hewitt was that he made you feel he was in a right scrap. Similar to Mac in that sense that as Denzil once said "I won't have any problem getting up to my neck in your a$$" like he would take the fight right to you. As said by many that the injuries stacked up and it really took the intensity right out of him.

Totally represents "it's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's about the size of the fight in the dog"

Sad to see Lleyton bow out. Limited game but great to watch. Always knew he would be there for the fight. Real shame that his career was so disrupted by injury. Amazing that he's only one year older than Ferrer. Feels like they are a totally different generation.

I did lol a bit at Roger's comment "thank you for the great rivalry. I loved every moment of it - the good and the bad - but most of it was good". I suspect he meant it slightly differently to how it sounded!

Born Slippy wrote:I suspect he meant it slightly differently to how it sounded!

Or maybe that is just how he meant it, but maybe did not want everyone to know he meant it like that.