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Jan/20

19

AO Opening Day Intrigue Matches

Venus Williams vs Coco Gauff in a first round rematch at Wimbledon. Young vs old, can the kid school the vet again?

Monfils vs Lu. Lu is 36 now and he got in on a PR, though he has not played a match since mid 2018. He’s 0-3 career vs Monfils including a five setter in Melbourne.

Djokovic vs Struff. Not a walk in the park for the betting favorite. Struff’s volleys are among the ATP’s best.

Federer vs Steve Johnson. Fed admittedly is not ready, since not playing since the South American tour. Johnson just won a Challenger.

McNally vs Stosur. Old vs young, both like to get to net.

Lloyd Harris vs Diego Schwartzman. Harris will have his hands full with the human wall.

Fognini vs Opelka. Opelka beat Fog in four sets at US Open but the hot headed Italian avenged the loss at Davis Cup finals.

Ugo Humbert vs John Millman. The red hot French lefty vs the always tough as nails Aussie.

Cilic vs Moutet. Calling the upset here. The left hander from France enters his second AO and seventh major main draw with a lot of confidence.

F Lopez vs Roberto Bautista Agut. The Iron Man of Spain adds to his consecutive majors record but no way he beats the ATP’s most consistent counterpuncher.

Pella vs JP Smith. 22 seed vs the gangly Aussie veteran journeyman.

Tommy Paul vs Leo Mayer: Young American rising star vs the veteran Argentine war horse.

Mmoh vs Andujar. Is the American ready to make some waves in a major?

Daniel Evans vs McKenzie McDonald. Battle of the small guys.

Sandgren vs Trungeliti. Winnable match for the American now coached by Mike Russell.

Nishioka vs Djere. Nishioka is one of those players I would watch vs. anyone.

Albot vs Raonic. A first round flop by Raonic would officially relegate him to journeyman status.

Strycova vs Cirstea. Strycova is a feisty sort who gets under people’s skin. Fun to watch.

Paire vs Stebe. Highly probable this match on court 22 will produce some kind of drama that goes viral.

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214 comments

  • Jeff · January 21, 2020 at 1:02 am

    What a win for Tommy Paul, who wins for the first time in a Slam and looks like he should get into the top 50 with ease this year. I think he has a real shot at beating Dimitrov next round.

    Remember I have him as a dark horse Slam semifinalist down the road and ahead of Tiafoe, Opelka and Donaldson in the eventual U.S. pecking order with only Fritz ahead of him.

  • catherine · January 21, 2020 at 1:07 am

    Vekic swats Sharapova SS. Donna, Maria 2.

  • catherine · January 21, 2020 at 1:19 am

    Keys cruises past Kasatkina – looks like Madeline is finally going to bypass Stephens and make up for that USO blow out.

    Muguruza in deep v Rogers – has yet to win a game in the 1st set. It’s possible Garbine is a conundrum that even Martinez can’t solve.

  • Andrew Miller · January 21, 2020 at 1:24 am

    Wow, Millman, Cilic ice the French lefties Humbert and Moutet. That’s like a bucket of ice thrown on their early season wins. Next gen can’t go far if they don’t win their first rounders, even as those first rounders are tough outs.

    Hope Felix AA pulls it together as Gulbis has played a good match thus far.

  • Andrew Miller · January 21, 2020 at 1:25 am

    Like Tommy Paul a lot. When he said instead of hanging out he goes to his hotel room and preps I’m like man, Tommy Paul has got it. He’s going to be ok. Playing like he’s making up for lost time.

  • Andrew Miller · January 21, 2020 at 1:29 am

    Lots of good matches today. Next gen men doing pretty well on the balance, guys like Ymer, Hurkacz, Davidovich-Fokina pulling through easily or somehow surviving to round two. Felix still in it with Gulbis.

  • Andrew Miller · January 21, 2020 at 1:31 am

    O’Connell vs Rublev should be interesting. I’m sure Rublev has no idea who he is…won more matches than most players on tour last year. Rublev SHOULD win easily, but not sure if he’s done his homework.

  • catherine · January 21, 2020 at 1:33 am

    Konta goes to Jabeur in under an hour. Nothing much to say there except maybe Johanna should take a longish break to sort out her knee injury. Who’s pushing her to go on playing ?

    Penko wins her first match. Good to see her back on court after personal trials.

  • catherine · January 21, 2020 at 1:48 am

    Off court hysteria – backlash to Osaka calling Serena her ‘mom’ – Naomi better think twice before twittering such stuff in future. WTA should run a training day – How to Use Twitter and Avoid Sounding a Total Idiot.

    Actually as Naomi grows older her Japanese side is showing more strongly in her features – if I’m allowed to say that. Nicely exotic.

  • Hartt · January 21, 2020 at 1:57 am

    It’s a good thing Milos won today, because it hasn’t been good news for the other Canadian men. FAA lost to Gulbis in 4 sets. Have to admit that Ernie played well, much better than I’d expected.

    The Leylah Annie Fernandez vs Lauren Davis match is on now. I expect that Davis, with her greater experience, will win. She won the first set and they are at 2-2 in the 2nd.

  • Jon King · January 21, 2020 at 2:03 am

    Anisimova out in first round.

  • catherine · January 21, 2020 at 2:03 am

    Both Canadian young hopes are gone but I didn’t see the matches so I’ll leave that to Hartt.

    AO are mean with their highlights in UK. WTA are good at producing them weeks later.

    Mugs has righted the ship slightly but I’ll say no more.
    Vecic slapped Sharapova at the net with a stretch volley. Nearly hit her in the face. Please retire Maria.

  • Jon King · January 21, 2020 at 2:11 am

    The more Pova tries to prove she can win without the drugs, the more it looks to more casual tennis fans that she won because of the drugs.

  • catherine · January 21, 2020 at 2:59 am

    While T-P readers are sleeping Muguruza uptilts Rogers 0-6 6-1 6-0. Bizarre.

  • catherine · January 21, 2020 at 3:19 am

    Who on earth was responsible for calling the AO the ‘Happy Slam’ ? Some marketing suit I imagine.

    Why should Melbourne, a fairly dull city, be happier than any other Slam ? Not happy at all for losers I wouldn’t think.

  • jackson · January 21, 2020 at 7:06 am

    https://www.atptour.com/en/news/nadal-australian-open-2020-exclusive-qa

    Here’s a Spanish interview with Rafa translated properly into English. I love his refreshing attitude about life and tennis and winning and records. I think he gets a little impatient with journalists constantly comparing his records to other players. He’s very happy with what he’s accomplished and his life is good as it is.

  • Scoop Malinowski · January 21, 2020 at 8:11 am

    Plenty of other players use illegal drugs via the therapeutic use exemption grant Jon. But it’s kept secret.

  • Jon King · January 21, 2020 at 8:16 am

    Agree 100% Scoop. Plenty of players use the grey area and use even more effective drugs than Pova did.

    My observation was not related to the actual effectiveness of her drug or whether it actually helped.

    It is simply that it seems she is hanging on, despite likely physical pain and the humility of not being highly ranked because she wants to prove the drug had nothing to do with her success. But the more she hangs on, the more casual fans will think she did win because of the drug.

  • Jeff · January 21, 2020 at 8:35 am

    Scoop I believe you are right. Plenty of players use performance enhancers, it is plain as day. Tennis is no doubt one of the biggest sports full of drug cheats and it is never reported on by the media.

    At the same time, the public is OK with that so there is little incentive for it to change.

  • Scoop Malinowski · January 21, 2020 at 9:19 am

    TUE is a fact and it’s kept secret. Remember the russian hackers Dancing bears or whatever they were called revealed it. Non one can talk about it. Felix shocking loss to journeyman Gulbis, best win for Gulbis in years, he was left for dead about three years ago. Perserverance admirable. Paul, Fritz and Isner all win. Aussies winning too, Thompson, Popyrin beat Tsonga, Millman takes out Humbert. Hsieh goes down to Putintseva 61 63. Team Canada suddenly looking very shaky. If Raonic goes down soon it’s a devastatingly bad month for Canada Tennis.

  • Scoop Malinowski · January 21, 2020 at 9:20 am

    Diyas is a real sleeper, gets no ink or credit but she has some quality wins in her career and a steady ranking and she wins titles. Anisimova may be more focused on her mixed with Kyrgios.

  • Andrew Miller · January 21, 2020 at 9:20 am

    Sadly that perception is exactly how I think about Sharapova now. She had plenty of time to practice etc while “off tour” – for “lesser” players time off usually kicks them off their groove training etc, but Sharapova was different as a multiple slam champ. And now it looks like indeed her “drugs” were the difference between winning big and losing regularly.

  • Andrew Miller · January 21, 2020 at 9:25 am

    Gulbis was playing well in qualies, and came in on a three match win streak. Given he has a lot of talent to burn he could have ousted any number of top players.

    I think for Mr. Felix AA and the young players like Moutet and Umberto, they have to look a little differently at the slams. The hunger level is much higher than Auckland, Adelaide, and any tournament preceding it including the Fall indoor season. It’s not that their best tennis won’t be good enough, but that they should expect their opponent will be more formidable than usual.

    Surprised ALL of these guys were swept out of the tournament. For Felix AA especially that’s now a few slams in a row exiting very early, so he’ll need to think about that.

  • Andrew Miller · January 21, 2020 at 9:33 am

    Some will scorelines on women’s draw. Muguruza loses first set at love then wins 6-1 6-0? Radical.

    Muchova barely survives Flipkens.

    Pliskova bests Mladenovic without too much fanfare.

    Collins survives.

  • Jon King · January 21, 2020 at 9:33 am

    Tennis has many ways to either out right cheat or at the least, game the system, from the time kids are beginning juniors.

    In juniors no drug testing so wealthy parents fly kids to doctors for special treatments, you can fly a kid around to look for easy draw to gain ranking points, kids can call balls out and change the score, kids yell while the opponent does the serve toss to distract them.

    The culture of skirting the rules is part of tennis from the earliest ages. No surprise pro players continue to look for an unfair advantage. Pova’s yell as a junior was started for one reason, to distract her opponent, gain an advantage, work around the fringes of the rules.

  • Scoop Malinowski · January 21, 2020 at 9:38 am

    We need to stop with the Sharapova hate. She is far, FAR from the only drug cheat in the sport. She is just one major marquee name that they went after. Dig up those TUE users.

  • Andrew Miller · January 21, 2020 at 9:40 am

    Nice to see Mmoh in second round, Fritz made it over the line. They both had winnable matches.

    Rublev survived O’Connell. Seems a lot more competitive, I didn’t think Rublev knew much about him and got blitzed the second set.

    Gerasimov d. Ruud in an epic. Medvedev beats Tiafoe in four, good for Tiafoe to get a set.

    Tsonga out, retires to the talented Popyrin from Australia. The former finalist can’t be happy with this.

  • Scoop Malinowski · January 21, 2020 at 9:40 am

    Sharapova does not yell in practice. Seles was the scream pioneer though, not Maria. Don’t forget, there are a lot of other WTA screamers and ATP grunters. Some make it seem like Maria is the only screamer.

  • Andrew Miller · January 21, 2020 at 9:45 am

    I’m against all the drug use. As for Sharapova she has had plenty of time to prove she can handle the tour again and her “comeback” has gone wrong in every way. She just isn’t the same player. She may want to get into announcing or something.

  • Hartt · January 21, 2020 at 11:18 am

    The irony is that, according to her autobiography, Maria was planning on retiring soon but got suspended, and then wanted to keep on playing so she could prove she didn’t need meldonium. But of course her results since coming back have been disastrous. Her live ranking is No. 366!

    I get annoyed with the way she is treated, getting WCs when it is likely she will lose in the first round, no matter who her opponent is. I have some sympathy for her because of her ongoing shoulder issues. But it is time for her to retire, this is getting ridiculous.

  • Hartt · January 21, 2020 at 11:47 am

    No, Maria is not the only screamer, but her screech is worse than most. I was at her Rogers Cup match purely because I’d won tickets for that evening. But her screeching was so hard to take I had to leave the arena a few times to get away from it.

  • catherine · January 21, 2020 at 11:51 am

    Muguruza should have her earrings checked to make sure she isn’t receiving electronic messages from Martinez. That scoreline was insane.

    Kerber beat 18 yr old Italian qualifier but wasn’t entirely convincing. Plays Hon next. Ubi tennis predicted Angie will have the biggest fall this year of any player ranked 10-20.

    Simona tripped and hurt her wrist. Last year she rolled her ankle. Before that it was her achilles. She’s the most injured player, yet, as she says ‘ I’ve won lots of titles’.

  • catherine · January 21, 2020 at 12:01 pm

    Breaking news: Coco Gauff wants to ‘be better than Serena and be the GOAT’.

    That’s really important for us to hear. Be afraid.

  • Hartt · January 21, 2020 at 12:27 pm

    Coco has been saying that for a long time. She needs to be careful with what she says, because this could come back to haunt her. Serena’s record is amazing. If it were easy, more players would have achieved it, or something close.

  • Scoop Malinowski · January 21, 2020 at 12:41 pm

    Cocos cockiness may be the all time greatest cockiness in tennis history. Who can name another example?

  • Scoop Malinowski · January 21, 2020 at 12:43 pm

    Maria and Venus should both step aside. If usta gives Venus an Olympic team position it’s a slap in the face of many younger Americans. Let Venus earn it by ranking like she should. No handouts.

  • Harold · January 21, 2020 at 12:58 pm

    Nothing against Coco, not a fan of her playing style now, nor do I see her style changing. Think she’s gonna morph into Venus 3.0, and if she wins 5-7 majors..it’ll will have to be considered a great career

    Everyone wants it both ways. If Coco says she wants to ge greater than SW, she’s arrogant, cocky…if she gives the usual blah, blah blah answers, she gets roasted as boring, PR managed.. if they ask a 15 year old to look into the future, compare it to a 38 year olds GOAT career, what’s the right answer?

    What would Graf had said in 85 if she was asked did she want to be the greatest? Don’t remember if there was even big talk of the total slams women had won those days…she showed up during the height of Evert/ Martina..more questions were about beating them, probably, than winning 20 slams..Media should be creating rivals for Coco, not making her career all about surpassing SW

  • catherine · January 21, 2020 at 1:03 pm

    I found a highlight of Kerber’s match (can’t spell her opponent) and she looked pretty fit, doing a lot of screeching since we’re on that subject, and also a post match pc in German, which someone translated. Among other things she said her thigh was ok, didn’t feel it, was very pleased and happy with her birthday graffiti, and also did a meet and greet with the ballboys (and girls ?) which she enjoyed because she thinks they’re such an important part of the game.

    Her groundstrokes seem fine – not sure how much of a challenge Hon will be – I’ve never seen her play.

  • Harold · January 21, 2020 at 1:05 pm

    Richard Williams was the cockiest person in tennis history, and he was right…Wasnt shy to say the younger daughter was going to be better than VW, right again

    Did say they would be President or something big by now and would have short careers..wrong on that one

  • catherine · January 21, 2020 at 1:13 pm

    Harold – I can’t remember anyone asking Steffi those sorts of questions, about being the greatest ever etc. Just didn’t come up. She was asked more about beating the top players, as you say. Also the press were totally frightened of Peter Graf.

    Steffi just wasn’t the kind of person to go on about being a GOAT, if that expression was ever used then, but as 1988 went on and it became clear that the Grand Slam was within her grasp, she avoided questions about it and really didn’t say much to the press.

  • Andrew Miller · January 21, 2020 at 1:39 pm

    Next gen “did well” all things considered. This has already been a bizarre Australian given the insane circumstances. Some players lucked out Round One with easier draws. We always knew it would be competitive. I think the ATP cup messed some players up, and some young guys seemed to put more emphasis on pre-Aussie tournaments such as Auckland.

    Not sure if anyone will break from the pack yet. But they should definitely prepare better for their first rounds next time. Veterans love sending young players home.

  • Andrew Miller · January 21, 2020 at 1:43 pm

    Not taking the CocoBait. It’s a predictable hype cycle. Pro tennis is tough and unforgiving and the kid will have to grow up in the spotlight and that’s just the way it goes. In the meantime she must have a bead on Venus Williams game, and Venus Williams has not been the dominant force she had been for a long time now. Nonetheless it takes a big heart to beat Venus Williams, so good luck to CocoG next round.

  • Andrew Miller · January 21, 2020 at 2:14 pm

    Bet Raonic didn’t think he’d be the last Canadian standing at the Australian in a singles draw. Or maybe he did.

  • catherine · January 21, 2020 at 2:36 pm

    Secret of WTA coaching from Yastremska: ‘When you’re on court you don’t bother with tactics. You just play the way you feel.’

    So that’s what Sascha’s being paid for 🙂

  • Andrew Miller · January 21, 2020 at 2:43 pm

    Catherine, how about that. I can see it now: “And thanks to Sacha for being my hitting partner”…

  • Andrew Miller · January 21, 2020 at 2:45 pm

    Who’s Sacha coaching next anyways? Might as well speculate now, this isn’t going to last!

  • Hartt · January 21, 2020 at 3:38 pm

    I don’t know if Milos thought he’d be the last Canadian standing in the singles draw, but few others did. In a poll before the tourney he only received about 5% of the votes, about the same as Vasek. Shapo, of course, got the most.

    I predict that this will be yet another Slam where Dabrowski is the last Canadian standing. She is playing doubles with Ostapenko, and they have been a team before. They are seeded #6. She probably will play mixed doubles with Pavic, they have had considerable success in past tourneys, including winning the 2018 AO mixed doubles title.

  • Hartt · January 21, 2020 at 3:46 pm

    I just came across the poll. Milos and Vasek each got 5.9% and Denis received 73.1%, with the remainder going to FAA. One woman was quick to post that she had chosen Milos. Unfortunately, I was in the Shapo group. 🙂

  • Andrew Miller · January 21, 2020 at 4:15 pm

    Read a nice Tommy Paul interview on the ATP web site. Gotta say of all young US men’s players, his attitude to me is the best. Ambition tempered by humility. Refreshing.

  • Jeff · January 21, 2020 at 5:23 pm

    What happened with Sascha and Mladenovic? I missed that breakup. Sascha seems to be a clown with a shirtless picture on his Twitter account.

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