The real Tennis thread.

[gregrowlerson]

Aslan Karatsev will of course win the tournament.

27 years old, Grand Slam debut - as a qualifier - and now he is in the quarterfinal. Pretty insane.

Aslan?

7 books in The Chronicles Of Narnia. 7 victories in the Australian Open. Not even a single white witch in his draw.

 

[Gigs_98]

So much about Thiem's chances lol

 

[Red Rick]

So much about Thiem's chances lol

Think he was low key injured or something. Clearly stopped trying towards the end and Dimitrov himself was a bit shook at Thiem at the end.

 

[Red Rick]

Djoko still alive. Didn't look super comfortable, but it seems to be just a sprain he can play with on painkillers and stuff. Zverev should be a bigger test, but he hasn't looked that great to me and I don't think he's had a tough first week draw in his life since first entering the top 10

 

[tobydawq]

Let's hope Zverev will be shown the door by Djokovic.

Comfortable win by Nadal over Fognini. A bit annoying that such a big proportion of today's matches were played in the European night (and very early morning).

Hopefully, Berrettini has recovered from his injury, otherwise it will be a walkover for Tsitsipas.

 

[gregrowlerson]

Thiem was definitely injured and/or exhausted; was not himself at all. Joker is also not looking his true self, big chance for Alex (and Grigor) to make the final. Nadal has to be favourite now after destroying Fognini.

Berrettini has officially withdrawn, so the Greek goes straight through.

 

[Red Rick]

Let's hope Zverev will be shown the door by Djokovic.

Comfortable win by Nadal over Fognini. A bit annoying that such a big proportion of today's matches were played in the European night (and very early morning).

Hopefully, Berrettini has recovered from his injury, otherwise it will be a walkover for Tsitsipas.

And it was literally a walkover for Tsitsipas.

I'm thorougly annoyed they didn't put Nadal/Fognini on last.

 

[tobydawq]

And it was literally a walkover for Tsitsipas.

I'm thorougly annoyed they didn't put Nadal/Fognini on last.

 

[tobydawq]

Ok, so Dimitrov just randomly stopped playing... Too hot apparently.

Unless he gets it together now, Karatsev moves into the semifinal.

 

[tobydawq]

Djokovic thankfully managed to beat Zverev but now his adventure will probably come to an end as he will face a player who has won 100% of all his Grand Slam matches.

 

[Red Rick]

Dojokovic thankfully managed to beat Zverev but now his adventure will probably come to an end as he will face a player who has won 100% of all his Grand Slam matches.

They're playing in front of no crowds so Karatsev is beating them with experience.

Typical match for both Zverev and Djokovic. Both win 35% of return points. Zverev breaks 3 times. Djokovic breaks 6 times.

 

[tobydawq]

Surprisingly (at least to me), Nadal seems to just blow past Tsitsipas. Should he win the third set, he will equalise Federer's record of most consecutive sets won in Grand Slam matches (36).

And then Medvedev will await. A stiffer challenge, sure, but he was cramping in the end of his quarterfinal against Rublev (which was not very long), so it's doubtful whether he can go the distance.

So Djoko-Nadal in the final?

 

[Red Rick]

Absolute shocker of a tiebreak from Nadal

 

[tobydawq]

I may have jinxed him

 

[Red Rick]

I may have jinxed him

Stop it then.

Rafa is absolutely shocking right now

 

[tobydawq]

Wow, way to throw it away...

Damn it annoys me how Tsitsipas looks so incredibly indifferent all the time.

 

[Red Rick]

I may have jinxed him

Ban imo

 

[tobydawq]

So the last semifinal will be between two players who never crack a smile during a match. Great.

At least he was a bit moved in the interview after.

I don't really know why this bugs me so much.

 

[Gigs_98]

To quote the german commentators during the third set:
Zverev has clearly improved more than tsitsipas over the last year and this is your proof. Zverev can bring the fight to the big names while tsitsipas can't

 

[Gigs_98]

I honestly wonder what happens if Nadal doesn't miss the smash in the tie break. He was leading by a minibreak and barely made any mistakes. Then after this first big one there were I think two more really bad misses in the tiebreak and from there onwards he had completely lost his consistency. I feel like that moment was a real momentum swing in the tiebreak leading to a bigger one for the entire match.

 

[Red Rick]

To quote the german commentators during the third set:
Zverev has clearly improved more than tsitsipas over the last year and this is your proof. Zverev can bring the fight to the big names while tsitsipas can't

While Zverevs record vs top 10 in Slams is clearly hilarious as ***, I wouldn't make an equivalence between playing Nadal and playing Djokovic at the Australian. Nadal completely self destructed and the way he played in the end I would back Zverev to win in quicker fashion.

The funniest part during the Nadal match was Mischa Zverevs courtside commentary that Tsitsipas should play more passive, cause that's the stupidest thing I've heard all tournament.

 

[Red Rick]

I honestly wonder what happens if Nadal doesn't miss the smash in the tie break. He was leading by a minibreak and barely made any mistakes. Then after this first big one there were I think two more really bad misses in the tiebreak and from there onwards he had completely lost his consistency. I feel like that moment was a real momentum swing in the tiebreak leading to a bigger one for the entire match.

Probably wins that tiebreak. But Nadal was already letting Tsitsipas on serve easily in the 3rd set. Both won only 4 points on return the entire set.

 

[tobydawq]

So you don't think Tsitsipas upped his game in any way, shape or form during the match?

 

[Red Rick]

So you don't think Tsitsipas upped his game in any way, shape or form during the match?

He started serving better. Did play a bit better but if they play 5 sets with Nadal playing like in the 2nd set he wins all 5 sets.

 

[tobydawq]

I didn't know this but Karatsev is the first Grand Slam debutant ever to reach the semi-final (in the Open Era). And he is holding his ground against Djokovic so far.

Maybe another one of my classic jinxes.