Hot Rod

WELCOME TO THE 30th TENNIS TALK THREAD

This is one of FF`s santuaries to discuss all things about tennis. The others are the the Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Maria Sharapova, the Novak Djokovic, Andy Roddick, Caroline Wozniacki, Andy Murray and Serena Williams threads.

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NikNak

Hot Rod

You`re very welcome Nikki.

Earlier this morning at the Australian Open, Andy Murray defeated Fed 6-4 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-7(2), 6-2 in the second men`s singles semifinal match.


This was a pretty good match between two of the top players in the world.


Andy did a good job of coming through in the fifth set after blowing a chance to serve for the match in the fourth set


to head to his third straight Grand Slam final.


Fed made a nice comeback later in the fourth set to win it,


but didn`t have much left in the tank in the fifth set.

Also Roberta Vinci and Sara Errani defeated hometown favorites Ashleigh Barty and Casey Dellacqua 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 to win the women`s doubles title.



So that`s the story from last night`s matches in Melbourne. Coming up tomorrow morning on Day 13 will be the women`s singles final where Vika will take on Na Li. Vika will be looking to become the seventh woman to repeat as champion in Melbourne, while Na Li will be looking to become the first Asian woman to win the title. Also in the men`s doubles final, the Bryan Brothers will face Robin Haase and Igor Sijsling. Bob and Mike will be going for a record 13th Grand Slam title together.

Hot Rod

Here`s an update from this morning`s matches at the Australian Open.

First of all in the women`s final, Vika defeated Na Li 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 to repeat as champion.


This was quite a tough and wild match that featured the annual fireworks delay during the Australia Day celebration, 16 service breaks


along with Na Li giving a valiant effort after taking a couple of falls on the court.


What a great win for Vika.


She did a great job of holding together mentally during this tough match to repeat as champion.


Vika joins an elite club as the 7th woman to repeat as champion at the Australian Open.

Also in the men`s doubles final, the Bryan Brothers defeated Robin Haase and Igor Sijsling 6-3, 6-4 to capture the title.


What a great win for Bob and Mike.


They continue to cement their place as one of the greatest teams in tennis with their record 13rd Grand Slam title and 6th Australian Open title.

Finally in the juniors singles finals, hometown favorite Nick Kyrigios wins the boys title, while Ana Konjuh won the girls title.





So that`s the story from this morning`s matches in Melbourne. The Australian Open concludes tomorrow with the men`s singles final, where Nole will take on Andy Murray. I expect another tough battle between those guys.

Meanwhile in Davis Cup news, the Spanish Armada will be without another of their top stars as Nicolas Almagro withdrew after suffering the effects of that very tough match against compatriot David Ferrer. So Guillermo Garcia-Lopez will replace Nico on the squad.

Sweet Embrace

Vikaaaa So proud of her, overcoming all the bad talk from the press and crowd.

Hot Rod

I am too Theresa. Vika really showed a lot of poise in some very tough circumstances. Plus i think that all of the people talking bad about her need to fck off. I would`ve punched a heckler or two if i were at this morning`s match. Seriously i would stomp a mudhole on someone for Vika.

Also here are some more pics from Vika`s title win in Melbourne.


Once again great job Vika.

haydensgirl

Happy for Vika

It sucked that so many people turned against her. The media REALLY hyped up what happened in the semi final (well in AUS they did) and that swayed people's opinions.

The Melbourne crowd are usually the most welcoming and fair crowd but it was sad to see that there were some rude people shouting out during the final.

Sweet Embrace

I have mixed feelings about the Aussie crowd. Last year they mocked Vika's shrieks and so I was aware of that.

I made some Vika arts:

Hot Rod

Thanks sharing those Vika artworks with us Theresa. You did a great job on them.

As for the Aussie crowd, i didn`t like their treatment of Vika and probably would`ve punched a lot of people if i were at the match.

Earlier this morning at the Australian Open men`s singles final, Nole defeated Andy Murray 6-7 (2-7), 7-6 (7-3), 6-3, 6-2 to win his third straight title.


What a great win for Nole.


He and Andy really played some quality tennis in the first two sets.


However Nole took over in the last two sets to come out with the win.


I`m really proud of Nole for coming through and winning his third straight Australian Open title.


On the other hand, this was a tough loss for Andy.


He played very hard as expected, but didn`t hold up physically as he had some blisters in his foot and his hamstring acted up.


You can`t help but wonder how Andy would`ve done if he was healthier.

Also in the mixed doubles final, hometown favorites Jarmila Gajdosova and Matthew Ebden defeated Lucie Hradecka and Frantisek Cermak 6-3, 7-5 to win the title.


Congrats to Jarmila and Matthew, who gave the hometown fans a happy ending.

So that concludes the Australian Open


where Nole joins an elite club by completing a three peat with his win over Andy Murray.

I have to say that this was a pretty good Australian Open for me personally with Nole three peating, Vika repeating as champion and the Bryan Brothers winning their record 13th title and sixth title Down Under.





vikasface



The only negatives for me is Maria being routed by Na Li in the semifinals, which deprived us of a rematch between her and Vika in the final and Jo-Wilfried`s tough loss to Fed in the quartefinals.

Next up on the schedule this week will be the first round of the Davis Cup, the Pattaya Open and the Open GDF Suez in Paris.

Since i`ve mentioned the Davis Cup earlier, we got another star withdrawing from one of the first round ties. This time it`s Radek Stepanek, who withdrew from the reigning champions Czech Republic`s first round tie against Switzerland due to back pain.

NikNak

Sweet Embrace

Not to be mean, but I don't think anything was physically wrong with Andy. He missed out on big opportunities in the second set, which changed the momentum.

You and me both Rod, we could be in Team Vika.

Hot Rod

That sounds pretty good to me Theresa. Of course i do hope that we`ll get some more people on the team soon so that we can start a thread for Vika.

The 2013 edition of the Davis Cup got underway today.

First of all in the USA-Brazil tie in Jacksonville, Florida; Sam defeated Thomaz Bellucci 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 and then John defeated Thiago Alves 6-3, 7-6(4), 6-3 to give Team USA a 2-0 lead. Good wins for two of the Four Towers for Team USA.


Sam had a pretty good performance in his match,


while John had a tough time in the second set of his match, but was able to win it in straight sets.

In the Serbia-Belgium tie over in Charleroi, Belgium; Viktor Troicki came back to defeat David Goffin 1-6, 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4, 6-4 and then Nole routed Oliver Rochus 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 to give Serbia a 2-0 lead.




Good win for Nole, who had a pretty good performance in routing his old nemesis Oliver Rochus.

The French Connection also jumped out to a 2-0 thanks to wins by Jo-Wilfried, who defeated Amir Weintraub 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 and Richie, who routed Dudi Sela 6-3, 6-2, 6-2.



Argentina is also out to a 2-0 lead in their tie against Germany, while Switzerland and the Czech Republic and Italy and Croatia are tied at 1-1







Also we have a couple of potential upsets brewing as Canada is out to a 2-0 lead against an injury depleted Spanish Armada, while Kazakhstan is up 2-0 against Austria.

So that`s the story from Day 1 of the Davis Cup first round. Tomorrow will be the doubles rubbers.

NikNak

Hot Rod

You`re very welcome Nikki. Here`s an update from today`s doubles matches.

First of all in the upset of the day, Marcelo Melo and Bruno Soares defeated the Bryan Brothers 7-6(6), 6-7(7), 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 to cut Team USA`s lead to 2-1.


I had a feeling that this would be a tight competitive match.


Marcelo Melo and Bruno Soares came through on the crucial points to pull out the win.


On the other hand, this was a tough loss for Bob and Mike, who lost for only the fourth time in DC play and for the first time in almost five years.

We got a pretty wild match in the Czech Republic-Switzerland tie, where Tomas Berdych and Lukas Rosol defeated Stan and Marco Chiudinelli 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-7(3), 24-22.


Good win for Tomas Berdych and Lukas Rosol, who came out with the win after more than seven hours to give the Czechs a 2-1 lead.

The Spanish Armada stayed alive against Canada as Marcel Granollers and Marc Lopez defeated Daniel Nestor and Vasek Pospisil 4-6, 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-3 6-2 to cut the Canadian`s lead to 2-1.



Serbia, Argentina and France won their doubles rubbers to clinch their ties, while Italy won their match to take a 2-1 lead over Croatia and Austria won their match in straight sets to cut Kazakhstan`s lead to 2-1.

So that`s the story from today`s doubles matches at the Davis Cup. Tomorrow will be the reverse singles rubbers.

First of all in the USA-Brazil, John will take on Thomaz Bellucci in the first match. This is a great opportunity for John to step in the closer role that had been occupied in the last few years by Andy Roddick. He`s going to need to step up big time for Team USA.

In the Spain-Canada tie, Milos Raonic will face Marcel Granollers in the first match. This is a great opportunity for Milos to clinch Canada`s biggest DC win in many years, while Marcel Granollers will be looking to pull off the upset to keep the Spaniards` hopes alive.

Also in the Czech Republic-Switzerland tie, Tomas Berdych will play Stan in the first match. It`s going to be very interesting to see how much those guys have left in the tank after battling it out for over seven hours today.

Lastly here`s a great tweener shot from Lukas Rosol from his match against Stan yesterday.

L i N d $ @ y

TFTNT Rod and for the latest updates.