Monday, January 22, 2018

It's time to go final Australian Open report

Yes, it's that time of the year where the Australian Open adventure has ended. It's very rare that I go to the second week of a Slam in other words very similar to the majority of players that I like, but you have to enjoy those moments.

Better get the rubbish out first before writing about the positive aspects. The venue continues its necessary expansion but the challenge is now to get the balance right between expansion and the "Happy Slam" moniker which is what they're trying to achieve. In the first three days there were way too many people in the grounds to the point where it was uncomfortable at times, there were deep queues to matches which in reality shouldn't have had that many people. Then there is the shade issue to the point where some people were just sitting at the back of the courts not moving, nor taking an interest in the matches. There are way too many people who go to the tennis just to say they've been there and not remember a match that they have seen.

The Aus Open website and app were awful. Normally the functions of a website and app are for it to work efficiently and accessibility of information. The previous versions there weren't major issues and worked well unlike the 2018 version which was rubbish, required three updates during the event. Maybe they will need to cap the ground passes but there isn't a chance of that as long as the event generates more and more money then the side effects are just that. The organisation aren't lacking in financial resources, the reduced dining options in terms of quality and quantity are issues that can be solved easily, the other ones require a lot more desire to address the problems.


Cabal y Farah

Onto tennis matters now watched the animated Colombians Cabal and Farah smash Paes/Raja. As a team they've never made the Masters Finals in doubles, their Slam record doesn't do them justice. This is an opportunity for them to improve on the Slam record do so they're playing the retiring Sam Groth and the man who won't retire Lleyton Hewitt, it would be good to shut the local crowd up and Hewitt may finally retire.


Seppi vs. Edmund

Huge opportunity for both to make their first Slam quarter final. Seppi started serving well and was moving the ball around as the best way to play Edmund is to keep him off balance so he doesn't have time to set up the huge forehand which is massive weapon. Edmund wasn't playing that well but he was fighting hard and got it to the tiebreak. Seppi played a solid breaker and took the 1st set and broke early but as we know in tennis it's not a break of serve unless you hold. Seppi played a sloppy game and Edmund was able to break back. The second set took on more significance it was important that Seppi to take it as Edmund starts playing better. At the 12th game Seppi hardly gets a first serve in and his second serve has always been a weakness which was exposed big time as they landed in the middle of the box with nothing on them as Edmund punished these serves with his huge forehand to take the set.


This was the momentum shift as Edmund is playing more aggressively and pushing Seppi around the court. The Italian was just outhit and even the little bits of luck were going Edmund's way and Seppi doesn't have the game, his slice isn't short enough to bring Edmund off the baseline into uncomfortable areas or deep enough to keep him back. Edmund wants to be in the backhand corner drilling forehands all the day once he got the momentum and confidence and was able to do it, the few half chances Seppi had he wasn't able to convert. The last two sets were comfortable for Edmund and well deserved win, he was the better player and able to execute his game plan.


Seppi winning the Canberra Challenger last week and a fourth round appearance in Melbourne has been an excellent start to the season, as long as there are no injuries then he should be fine. If he can finish in the top 50 then that would be a very good season, that's the one thing no one can say seriously about Seppi is that he hasn't maximised his potential which is all you can ask of a player.


Extras

Tennis wise the results weren't bad with Seppi and Schwartzman making the 4th round, Fognini strutting like he owns the universe, foot faults called on second serves through the centre line. Johnny Millman defeating Coric, always good to see him on the court, please have an injury free year. Stephane Robert please make main draw next year as the game needs characters and Dreddy Brown qualifying for the main draw. Mikey Russell doing a great job so far with Ryan Harrison. Kavcic to have a year without injury among other things.


The best thing besides watching matches are the variety of people from all over the world that you meet, so going to do a few shout outs. These are no order in preferences, first of all there is Alex the Swedish legend who decided to start a website Tennisportalen in Swedish but is expanding into English with a podcast named after an underrated shot The Block Return Podcast will update in my links when it's active. Valentin, the Swedish Romanian coach who taught me a lot of things and really hates early preparation which makes sense when it's explained.


My younger siblings no, we are not related it's just we've been at this event for so long though we hardly see each other come main draw as they're at different matches. Love your work Kristen and Peta, but that's as obvious as night follows day and pineapple not belonging on pizza. Dave the man from South Tyrol who keeps introducing me to members of the Ladin mafia, he's a great guy who I met through super coach Jamaican Mikey who is always entertaining noticing things half an hour before they happen. The fab 4 Lance, Sean, Arthur and Darko these guys grind through qualies, know what is shit and isn't in tennis world and red card to that arseclown complaining about opening a chip packet. Mr. Qureshi good to see you man and the kids as well, never know in 15 years they maybe playing at the Open. Lizia always great catching up with you. I got to meet this incredibly salty and feisty Korean lass Joanna, have to say I only have positive memories of the experience even though it was so fucking hot, but glad she came to Melbourne finally got to see del Potro and Federer play maybe next time she'll get pics.


Thanks to the very few readers I have of this infrequently updated and odd blog, quality is always better than quantity. I appreciate the very niche market and unlike that clown that impersonates a journalist I'm not going to twist stuff to get more retweets, nor think Slams should be best of 3 sets or have a tiebreaker in the 5th. There are many shit things about tennis, so it's important to embrace the qualities that make it unique


Last of all one of my best friends Sammy he had a difficult 2017, so I was happy to see him back at the venue where we met. He loves the game and was there to lift the mood when I needed it and was grumpier than usual, also he co writes the reports because the matches I want to see, normally there are on at the same time when the WTA goes too far or not long enough. There is enough crap that we have to deal with in our own individual situations, so it's important to some positive influences ah the simple things.







Friday, January 19, 2018

South Tyrolean Superman chops down the tree of Karlovic

Today was stupidly hot and there were only two matches on the card that I wanted to see, but was unable to see one of them due to the other going well over time. In the end it was a long and rewarding day which is what counts.

Seppi vs. Karlovic

This was a huge opportunity for both players to make the quarter finals as the winner will play Kyle Edmund in the 4th round so there was a lot at stake. Thankfully the match was played with the roof open as the indoor conditions would have suited Karlovic taking out the sun and the wind. Slow start Seppi wasn't on show as he was able to get an early break and run through the set to take it 6-3. He was returning the Karlovic serve very well who initially wasn't hitting them at full capacity. It's a tactic for the 39 year old as a way to preserve the serving arm as that's what is making him the money over his career, this in addition to lasting 5 sets and previous round a 12-10 win. Seppi had a half chance for another break in the 2nd set which was saved by Karlovic. Seppi played a solid breaker and was able to take the 2nd set.


At the start of the 3rd set Karlovic called for the trainer but didn't receive a medical timeout. Big Ivo finally started cranking up the serve and was hitting his spots, it's a major advantage serving from a tree hitting 210 km/h wide and the difficulty of playing Karlovic is not getting an opportunity to get into service games. Seppi was comfortable holding his own service games which is what you need to do when playing Karlovic, then take the rare opportunities on offer. Seppi served a double fault on the first point of the breaker and was behind ever since as the big Croatian takes the 3rd set. Karlovic is serving magnificently in the 4th set cranking up the service speeds as the sun went down. All Seppi could do was just take care of his own delivery and was frustrated at Karlovic serving bombs in both directions. As per 3rd set we end up at the tiebreaker which was going on serve, then Seppi hit a backhand into the net and Ivo takes the set.


Seppi matches are rarely routine and this was no different. Thankfully the Aus Open doesn't have that nonsense of a 5th set tiebreaker when you're at a Grand Slam event, you should win by breaking your opponents serve not winning a crapshoot. In this case Seppi could have easily lost this match in a 5th set tiebreaker without losing a serve in the match. As the weaker server it was good that Seppi started serving in the 5th set. He was placing the serve well and once the rally went over 5 strokes he was winning nearly all of them. Karlovic was serving bombs but in the middle of the 5th set Seppi was starting to read the serve better and creating half chances which were snuffed out by the big man.


Seppi


After getting some half chances when Karlovic was serving at 7-8, Seppi was able to make some excellent returns and passing the big man at the net. The South Tyrolean Superman was able to get two match points, he was unsuccessful on the first and then took the second. Seppi let the frustrations out with a roar and celebrated knowing what a difficult match it was mentally when playing Karlovic, the games to go quickly and frustrations increase when serves a 400km/h serve wide on a big point.


Tennis is a brutal sport mentally but thankfully Seppi was able to break to win the match which is what players should be doing at this level, though some tennis writers think Slams should be best of 3 sets with tiebreakers, then again there are some who believe the earth is flat.


Sorry Diego Schwartzman and Dogs Balls I was unable to watch your match due to a giant Croatian who fought and competed hard to take a match to 5 sets when in ideal world 3 would have been sufficient. Think there'll only be one more report to come after this

Thursday, January 18, 2018

Day 4: The Heat Is On

Yes, surprise surprise an entry that wasn't late this is mainly due to the awfully hot weather and didn't watch too many matches.

First of all there were two major upsets, the first one was the hot Hungarian otherwise known as Martin Fuscovics who took out Thousand Oaks finest Sam Querrey who has never been great heat. It will be interesting to see how he comes up in the next round where he is the favourite against the Argentine Nicolas Kicker who took out the erratic Lukas Lacko to follow up from his win against Lleyton Hewitt's favourite guy Jordan Thompson.

Julien Benneteau the man who keeps scrapping manages to beat Michael J Fox lookalike David Goffin. Normally Benne doesn't handle the heat well but Jules is inspired and recovered well from failing to serve out the match in the 4th. The tiebreaker not sure what Goffin was doing though not sure it was tennis related and the man from Boulogne-Billancourt was rewarded with the win.

Fognini vs. Donskoy

Managed to get a seat fairly easily which hasn't always been the case these past few days, perhaps the stinking weather helped. One thing I noticed that lots of Japanese fans were coming into the court, then I realised it was because there was a WTA match after this one.

Donskoy early in the piece was hitting the ball well, he and topspin aren't on friendly terms. The Fog was slow out of the blocks and was only mildly muttering to himself nothing really amazing or theatrical from the Fog after the loss off the 1st set.

My peace watching this match was ended fairly quickly when these 5 drunken guys who were cheering on the Fog decided to sit near me and act fairly loudly. I just straight out to a couple of them. "You have money on Fognini don't you?". They answered yes and asked was it that obvious. My response was well poker face isn't your strong point, they were on the border of being obnoxious but not as bad as some.


The Fog

The Fog decided to dig in the 2nd set and cut back on the errors, he was able to use that big forehand to push Donskoy around the court who then started going for more shots and wasn't able to control them. Once the Fog took the 2nd set he was in control of the match and really never felt like in much danger.

There was a funny incident where the Fog hit a backhand pass which bounced out of the court hit the pole holding up the tarpaulin covering the court bouncing back hitting the security guard in the face just as he was taking a drink. He spilt water over his face and had a good laugh. The Fog looked over and had a chuckle as well.

Fognini decided to turn up and play well enough this was definitely not the total listless I don't give a shit Fog, but far from his best then you only need to be good enough on the day to win. There is a big opportunity for the fourth round as he plays Benneteau.

Short one for today as tomorrow will be even warmer, the viewing will include Seppi vs. Karlovic and Schwartzman vs. Dolgopolov for sure but strange things happen.

Wednesday, January 17, 2018

Day 2/3: South Tyrolean Superman Seppi saves the day

Due to technical difficulties aka the laptop is ready to be taken out back and put out of its misery, so there will be 2 days of reports, so prepared to be bored.

Benneteau vs. Daniel

This was a match that screamed opportunity for a win at Slam. Benneteau is definitely in the southern part of his career playing for the love of the game, plus he has a child and one has to provide for the family. Daniel is meant to be coming into his best years, but as we know players mature at different speeds.

As expected this was a clash of styles with Daniel trying to use his heavy forehand to work Benneteau around the court extending the rallies whereas Benneteau was looking to vary the style, albeit in his manner with off pace shots and scrapping which got him a break. Benne had an opportunity to serve out the 1st set but failed to do as Daniel played a solid breaker.



Taro Daniel

In the second set Daniel was playing the slightly better tennis in a scrappy match, he had a break but was broken back and the turning point was the tiebreaker which Benneteau played very well. If Daniel had won the 2nd set, the general feeling was that he'd have run away but Benneteau was riding that momentum train and not getting off any time soon.

Benneteau who was cramping slowed the serve down and was getting more of them in and placing it well. In the rallies he was being more aggressive and yes the forehand as well. Daniel wasn't pushing off on the serve at all, at the moment his game is based on defensive skills and he needs to be less reactive.

Daniel came out with a great line to the coach "I can't believe I'm losing to a guy who is cramping". The last two sets were quite one sided as Benneteau was playing very well and Daniel further and further behind the baseline. Benne has to enjoy his time left in the game, whereas Daniel has some improvements that need to be made

Gasquet vs. Kavcic

Definitely not a great draw for the Dexter lookalike who hasn't had a great start to the year, though never has Gasquet but this was a match which was always in his favour.
The first set was just rubbish from Kavcic, who couldn't get into the match. Gasquet wasn't being pressured at all and was very comfortable to taking it without breaking much of a sweat.

Kavcic does start to get into more rallies but for him to win a match like this. The matches where has taken out seeds in Melbourne were where he was aggressive with the forehand and just playing behind the baseline. At his age it's the direction his game needs to progress, but old habits die hard especially when your game is defensive orientated. The serve he has a lower ball toss and wasn't able to get the arm through quickly enough serving plenty into the net.


Blaz Kavcic

Gasquet was under a bit more pressure though not really threatened in the 2nd set. In the 3rd set Kavcic starts getting into the match, he was able to break serve a few times but didn't follow the basic rule of tennis which was not holding serve after breaking. It was strange he broke by being aggressive and taking advantage of Gasquet's court positioning, then in the following games went back to reactive tennis not doing what got him the lead.

The set point summed it up in that Kavcic hit a good first serve and then instead of hitting an aggressive backhand, he hit a nothing slice not deep at all, nor short enough to bring Gasquet in who slapped that fodder for a winner. Kavcic probably deserved to win that set, but he had enough chances and just wasn't good enough

Seppi vs. Nishioka

This was a rare Seppi match that really wasn't a grind which makes a change. Nishioka is coming back from a lengthy time out with injury but had a big win over the streaky Kohlschreiber.

It's a different thing playing the handsome South Tyrolean who has the lovely Mrs. Seppi here with him. Seppi is a very seasoned and tough professional the ones that youngsters need to test themselves against, as he is an excellent gauge of what tour life is about.


Seppi

Nishioka was trying to use his heavily spun forehand to open the court up. I did say a few years ago he had the Mariano Puerta style forehand but without the excess vitamins and it's still similar. He needs to get stronger, he will never be Tiafoe strong or have the Duckworth chest but I do like his work ethic and was going the right way before the injury.

It's difficult to say too much about this match. In reality Seppi was steady not give away the errors like Kohli can which Nishioka took advantage of. Seppi needed an easier match especially after his tournament win last week in Canberra, now he has a big battle against the serving machine Karlovic who went to 12-10 in the 5th. There is a big chance for a quarter final for the taking.

Cuevas vs. Harrison

This was a match between good and evil. Unfortunately in this case evil was triumphant in tough conditions. This is the kind of the match on this surface where Cuevas has to play a bit better and Harrison needs to be off which wasn't the case.

Harrison's serve pretty much won him the match, he was able to hit the spots with solid speeds and moved it around very well. When the Cuevas forehand is working well that's when he is on for a good day, he didn't play an awful match overall though the 0 from 0 break points makes it look he couldn't return a phone call.

Match started out both players were holding serve comfortably, there weren't too many rallies and they were won by the server. Harrison's backhand was solid, the forehand made a few errors but nothing like leaking like a sieve which happens when he is lacking confidence. Cuevas played a couple of poor points and was broken to lose the set.

In the context of the match the 2nd set was huge. It went to the same pattern as the first though Cuevas wasn't as strong on serve as Harrison. The one thing Cuevas didn't do enough of was vary his position on returning serve. He did it once jumped back on a second serve got it deep and was able to move Harrison around and won the point. The tiebreaker came down to one point where Cuevas missed a backhand down the line and Harrison took it.


I can't believe I had no break points

Cuevas was frustrated and lost his first service game and then started swinging more aggressively, it wasn't quite a Gaudio tank but he was just second best today. That's just tennis, it wasn't Cuevas was shit just Harrison was better.

Michael Russell who was the consumate professional who knew how to compete,. grind, very intelligent and excellent communicator he has already improved the Harrison forehand. First week he makes an ATP final makes a gracious speech and now in the 3rd round of a Slam.

Schwartzman vs. Ruud

Interestingly this match was between two guys who 11-9 in the 5th set in the previous round. That was as close as it got, as Schwartzman started very well and was not making many errors moving the young Norwegian around the court.

Schwartzman is solid off both sides he was winning the extended rallies hitting excellent length and Ruud wasn't able to use his forehand at all to put consistent pressure on the Argentine. Finally think there are some people who realise Schwartzman isn't a vertically challenged person impersonating a tennis player, the fact he is one of the great returners has contributed to his success.


Schwartzman

Ruud looked gassed and didn't believe he could win especially after the first set. He had a good tournament making his first Grand Slam main draw and winning a match, but this is all about gaining experience and he'll want to finish the season in the top 100.

Seppi saved the day, clean that man's cape and the longer he goes in the tournament, the better it is,


Monday, January 15, 2018

Day 1 : The Mailman delivers Coric to the dead letter office and other assortments


Well this was a very long day in equal parts rewarding and frustrating. Since this blog believes in the power of positivity and never branches out into the tree of cynicism, the frustrating parts will be dealt with.

Thankfully the weather today was mild which was good to watch tennis, however the issues with that are the crowds were very large and disorganised to a fault. The tickets I bought one for Sammy, yes, he is a legend and a veteran of Australian tennis who knows more about the game than I do. He also helps with reports and all round good bloke, went to pick his ticket up and there was a huge line of people to get in. I do this and then go to Will Call to pick mine up, previously they had a separate section for people to pick up Will Call tickets in a system that worked well, so obviously it had to be changed to include it in addition to cloaking and accreditation. In a huge surprise to maybe zero people the first day of a Slam it might be busy. I was there before the start of play and by the time my ticket was received almost 90 minutes had passed. Then again the tournament is making so much money, but offering less services and the prices for ground passes now are very steep to the point where they are almost pricing out the people they should be wanting to attract.

Now onto the tennis side of the things, there were some very interesting court selections maybe it was close their eyes and throw darts. The matches at the start were of course on opposite sides of the complex so in a huge surprise this where I started today

Cuevas vs. Youzhny

Thanks to Sammy for the first set was this one I missed due to the farcical situation aforementioned. Cuevas was solid had a break and played a sloppy game to give it back. Youzhny who was playing his first match of the year showed some good signs and managed to get 2 set points, which were saved by some excellent play from Cuevas and the other a forehand error from Youzhny.

Once Cuevas took the first set, he was fairly comfortable and there didn’t feel like there was any danger that he would lose enough momentum for the match to turn around in Youzhny’s favour. From the baseline Cuevas was good, when he is hitting the off forehand well that’s a good sign for the Uruguayan cause the backhand is a one of my favourite shots. Youzhny looked underdone and while he was hitting some excellent backhands himself, the forehand was breaking down which Cuevas took advantage of to roll through the second set.


Pablo Cuevas

It was more of the same in the 3rd set Cuevas had a break, played a sloppy game to get broken back. There was a passing shower which gave time for Cuevas to change shirts, collect his thoughts and refocus. Cuevas was able to break serve after the resumption and served the match out to get a rare win in Melbourne. It’s good for the game when Cuevas is winning matches.

Seppi vs. Moutet

Made my way to the other side of the complex where this match was being played. Moutet is a very flashy French player with a massive forehand, a lot of attitude, seems like some anger issues on court, also a love of slice forehands and dropshots. With this mix and slow start Sappi mode, the young Frenchman took the first set.

Seppi is the consummate professional, a tough player to beat, competes hard but fair and kept a level head, started to get used to the conditions as he only arrived yesterday after is a good gauge for the youngsters to see where their game is at. Seppi winning the Canberra Challenger which is good as it gave him matches, he needs the kilometres in the legs to be at his best.




Andreas Seppi


As Seppi adjusted then he was able to make enough balls and work Moutet over, definitely not the best day for the Seppi forehand which he made a few errors but it was enough as Moutet start cramping in the 4th set. Thankfully Seppi used his experience and not fall for the antics and efficiently put away the talented but raw Frenchman.

Sela vs. Harrison

Tennis is not a nice sport at times, then again we can’t always have what we want in life. This match was going on simultaneously with the Seppi match but for some reason it was on a smaller court. Part of the Australian Open tradition on the outside courts is to watch Dudi “The Hebrew Hammer” Sela going through long matches with the boisterous but fair Israeli fans, it’s not an Aus Open without doing this at least once.

Sammy was here for most of it, but the organisers putting this on a small court wasn’t the best idea and the place was packed. Sela started slowly and lost the 1st set, then he got his act together, started making less errors and moving the ball around taking advantage of Harrison’s movement. Buoyed on by the Israeli fans Sela starts taking control, had a wobble serving for the 3rd set but thankfully had a double break so it wasn’t so costly.

Sela continues on his way plays a great game to break with plenty of variety, steps up to serve for the match and fails to do so, which lead to Harrison going on a streak of 4 games to take the 4th set when he really should have been finished off. That’s the main thing his new coach Michael Russell brings to the table besides improved fitness is to install that you must compete hard.

In the 5th set Sela wasn’t playing well enough to challenge Harrison and the brattish American took it in 5. Not a surprise after the match Harrison said to the support crew “fuck them off” about the Israeli fans as they say leopards don’t change spots.

Lorenzi vs. Dzumhur

Crossed back to the far side for this intriguing match. Dzumhur was just bitching the whole time about everything, the way he was playing, the situation, the meaning of life even after points he won.

Lorenzi took the first 2 sets, grinding away and not missing anything at all pissing Dzumhur off in the process. The match was mostly extended rallies with Lorenzi using his forehand to grind the Bosnian down who despite his very grumpy demeanour kept hanging in and the Bosnian support was loud which we fed off to take the 3rd set.

There was definitely some needle out there which isn’t always a bad thing. Lorenzi called for the physio to wrap up the thigh, maybe it was a strategic break as it didn’t seem to impede Lorenzi’s movement. Dzumhur while still acting like the world was against him, manages to make less errors and Lorenzi’s shots are getting shorter to level at 2 sets all.


Dzumhur

In the 5th it was going along without too much drama except for some chatter, then the poor call at 30 all on Lorenzi’s serve where he got broken. The ball was clearly long even the biased Bosnians knew it and not Carlos Bernades best work that should have been overruled as this wasn’t even close.

Dzumhur closes out the match and completes the comeback. For the most part the Bosnian fans were fine but there was one point where they were mocking Lorenzi’s grunt after he hit the ball. It was a reasonable impression but thankfully it stopped after one point.

Millman vs. Coric

What a performance from the Mailman, he continued where he left off against Dimitrov in Brisbane. Was able there in the 2nd set this on paper was a tough but winnable match against the much hyped Coric.

Encouraged by a boisterous crowd no thanks to the four drunks near me who tried to be funny but they had a 1 from 20 success rate. Millman was playing some tough tennis hitting the ball very deep, the backhand was very safe and the forehand definitely had some more heat using that push Coric around the court.

As the Mailman took the 2nd set and got an early break in the 3rd. Young Coric wasn’t too keen on the battle and Millman grew in confidence being more aggressive with the forehand but within himself to easily crush Coric in the 3rd.


John Millman

Millman was fantastic after the match he signed for everyone which was around 25 minutes then after the match. He chatted with everyone that wanted to speak with him, a Japanese fan who travelled from Kyoto, a Spanish lass who is a massive fan. Then there is the dad Ron Millman who is one of the great characters around and you can see he and his wife did a great job of raising John and his four sisters/

Outstanding performance and big opportunity for another 3rd round showing here at the Aus Open.

Sousa vs. Brown

A contrast in styles then most opponents are in comparison to Brown. The court was packed for this match, they know Brown is an entertainer and he brings in the people. Sousa was surprisingly calm by his standards only bitching every third or fourth point.

Sousa took the first two sets over the flashy Brown who still had the self belief that he could still come back. Brown started playing a lot better and Sousa’s level dropped a bit with the combination of huge serves and forehands took the third set.

Continuing on from previous set Brown was playing very well and got a break. In the latter part of the 4th set is where things began to change. Brown was up 40-30 on serve and charges to net. Sousa hits an excellent lob which wasn’t going at a fast pace which lands long and hasn’t been called. The umpire fails to overrule and Dreddy is far from impressed giving it to him, this game Sousa breaks back.


Joao Sousa

Not long after the non overrule, the umpire decided to overrule on the tramline and Brown is getting even more urined off that he has been already saying along the lines “you haven’t overruled all match, then you do on that one when it was not clear”.

While Brown takes the 4th set, he drops serve early in the 5th set and the pattern continues as Sousa is solid off both sides just making him play one more ball which leads to Brown making errors and Sousa with excellent forehands and passing shots takes the 5th set comfortably.

Sousa and Brown know it was a hard fought match and share a warm handshake, whereas Dreddy gave the umpire a refusal. It definitely wasn’t the best night for the umpire.

Additional Extras

Diego Schwartzman the best little big man around and Boca Juniors fanatic finally manages to serve out the match against Lajovic 11-9 in the 5th set after the third time of asking. Maybe this will be the match to kick start the 2018 season after losing first round of the first two tournaments.

Casper Ruud, creating more history he was the first Norwegian since Jan Frode Andersen to win a match at Grand Slam level, qualified for his first Grand Slam. It was memorable one because it was 11-9 as well and two because this was the venue where his father Christian Ruud had his best ever run at Slam level.

Malek Jaziri came back from 2 sets down to beat Caruso. Jaziri has been struggling but he found a way and yes this person was out there watching the final set.

So the day started out poorly, ended fairly well and best of all the 5 set matches on the outside courts in the first few days are the place to be. Don’t take some journalists who seriously thinks Slams should be best of 3, no matter if they write for a so called respected paper.

Wednesday, January 10, 2018

Qualies Day 1 : Here I Go Again On My Own

Yes, it’s that time of the year when one of the world’s laziest bloggers decides to do some writing. For the ten people who appreciate the quirks, random nonsense and weird references I love you long time.

With that out of the way it was Day One of the quails for the Australian Open and yes I really enjoy going to these for a few reasons. They are mostly hardcore fans who are quite interesting to talk to as we all got hooked on the game for different reasons and always good to hear, but there is a funny incident with a fan coming up.

Before I get into the fun stuff of reporting the matches that I have seen today. There are a few points, yes they bought out the metal detectors for qualies, the steps to go over to court 16 and beyond has been replaced by a ramp. There is a stupidly large car park within the grounds for some reasons they decided to build, could have put another court but hey I am just some random who doesn’t know shit from clay but worst of all.

The 3rd set advantage has been crapped and replaced by the crap shoot that is a tie breaker. It’s simple when you are in a Grand Slam you should break serve to win the match, this didn’t start the day very well as I’ve been to many qualie battles going the 10-8 and beyond. Thankfully it hasn’t happened in the main draw, yet but I see it coming because the ITF which stands for Idiots Tools and Fuckheads don’t have the best interest of the sport at hand, even less so than before so enough of that.



Brown vs. Andreozzi

Naturally this was the first match, on the cards with the flamboyant German-Jamaican with the best hair on tour and the dogged Andreozzi who is now being coached by “Polaco” otherwise known as Juan Pablo Brzezicki. Polaco famously retired from an ATP match and the umpire asked for a reason and he said mental. Got to say he’s looking lean these days.

It was the classic clash of styles with Brown using the combination of massive serves, slapshot forehands, drop shots and serve volley against Andreozzi who was steady from the back looking to extend the rallies.

The match pretty much went to the above script. Dreddy Brown got an early break in the 1st set but after a few hairy moments he was able to serve it out. That’s the deal with Brown he plays what he feels and not the percentages. Of course there are some who would love the chance to coach him and make him more pragmatic, but finding the balance about when to unleash the flair and when to reign it hasn’t been easy.


Dustin Brown

One thing both players were getting very pissed off about where fans just walking into the court at non change of ends. It only took 5 minutes for the herd of cattle to start doing it, got to the point where security has to stop the herd. Brown was quite tetchy today, there were a couple talking the whole match and he turned around asking then is that all they do.

In the 2nd set Brown had a lapse in concentration and played the poor game that he is liable to throw in there. Andreozzi took advantage and was able to keep Brown from attacking on his terms and these two Latin lasses were being very loud supporting the Argentine.

The predictable thing about a Dustin Brown is the unpredictable and in the 3rd set it was like this. He played some spectacular shots and made some basic errors but he was focused enough to get the break and then hold all the way serving the match out convincingly.

Back to the Latin lasses halfway through the point they celebrated really loudly on a Brown error who then with a scowl and fine delivery asks “Have you ever watched tennis before””. Brown wins the next point and then celebrates very loudly looking directly at them. Funny enough they were very quiet after that.

Robert vs. Ofner

The young Austrian against the unconventional Frenchman was an interesting match up. My feeling before the match and still holds true that whoever wins this will make the main draw.

Robert started a bit slowly, while Ofner was hitting well and got the early break, though thankfully he broke one of the golden rules in tennis that it’s not a break of serve unless you hold serve. Back on level terms both were playing at a reasonable level with Robert after about 6 games got used to the Ofner serve and was returning it well. Ofner was looking to be aggressive with the forehand. The 1st set tiebreaker was a fair on the balance of play but Robert with his quality returning and started to serve well was able to take it. Though there was a close call which went in Robert’s favour seems like one of those days.

Riding on the momentum train Robert definitely was milking it for all it was worth. Ofner wasn’t serving badly but the Frenchman was able to get most of his serves back in excellent positions and got an early break. Ofner was getting visibly frustrated but didn’t go into his shell though he wasn’t brainless ballbashing to get out of the situation.


Stephabe Robert

Then it came to the time which many people who know Stephane Robert’s game just hope, yes it was time to serve the match out. Whereas he had been serving well, his first serve deserted him and when he did get it in it wasn’t well placed and Ofner broke back. With the pressure relieved Robert held easily and said to the guy next to me, it’s better Robert breaks for the match. Then at 30-40 on Ofner’s serve he hits a first serve fault, but the ballkid was moving as he was in motion and the umpire called a first serve which is the correct call, but one you hardly see. There was a little bit of a discussion but Robert eventually took the match point and the show continues.

Overall I thought Robert played reasonably well, but he didn’t share the same opinion entirely. After the match he said “I was not feeling the ball, sure I served well and fought hard but was just happy to get through”.

Paul vs. Rola

Tennis is a brutal sport, you don’t have to be the better player throughout, you can win less points overall, can make more winners and less unforced errors, can play well and lose, can play shit and win. The only point that really counts is the last one.

The Ayatollah of Blaz Rola is now being coached by Ziga Janskovec and newly retired Grega Zemlja is helping out. He started the season well in Bangkok losing to Marcel Granollers in the final.
Ayatollah of Rock N Rolla

While the scoreline was close this was a match of missed opportunities in fact a sea of missed opportunities. Rola started a bit slowly but found his groove whereas Paul was content to grind and play defensive tennis. In the first set Rola was prepared to take more chances and deservedly won it in the first of 3 tiebreakers yes, a 6-7 7-6 7-6 sounds like an Isner vs. Karlovic match at altitude.

Rola continues where he left off breaking Paul and wasn’t looking too troubled and then as what happens with players at the Challenger level, they will give you one poor service game just a question of whether their opponent is able to take advantage in this case Paul does. They get to the tiebreaker, whereas Paul continues to be solid and Rola played an awful breaker.


Blaz Rola

Both go off the court for toilet breaks for quite some time, think Rola must have been reading a novel in there. They come back and the same pattern continues Rola with a bit more meat on his shots breaks serve, they continue holding. Then at 5-4 Rola serves for the match, he definitely went after the first serves at 30 all but just not enough spin to get them in. yes, it’s a cliché but it’s true serving out a match is difficult at any level.

They make it to the tiebreaker Paul is battling and grinding, Rola hitting well and takes a deserved lead. Another chance to serve it out in the tiebreaker 5-4 up with 2 serves to come and doesn’t win either point the legs are very heavy which comes down to nerves. Paul has one match point and takes it at the first attempt.

Yes, tennis is a brutal sport for which I appreciate and the lesson of the day is your opportunities when on offer.

Ruud vs. Ito

This match was moved to Court 3 and when I arrived Ruud was playing like crap, Ito was being solid and there was this drunken Aussie gronk cheering over the top for Ito and grinding Ruud’s gears big time.

Ito takes the first set, then Ruud calls for the supervisor we thought it was because of the drunken fool but more on him later. It seems like Tennis Australia is struggling financially as not all the lights were on and the court was very dark, it was almost time for the miner’s helmets. This delay was about 10 minutes and then the brains trust realised we better turn the other ten lights on and surprisingly the court wasn’t dark.

Ruud settles down and start making less errors and working over Ito’s forehand who can’t do anything when it’s shoulder high. It seems like he has gone the Paolo Lorenzi forehand style without the pop and thankfully without the grunt, yes this blog is very pro Lorenzi but that grunt is loud.

It finally happened after Ruud make a basic error the drunken arseclown was into it again with the over the top cheering. Ruud had enough and starts talking to the guy, couldn’t hear all of it but heard the drunk say “you should be more professional””, yeah fair enough but it’s not football where you act like a boorish fool. Here is the thing good trolling is an art form which has truth based in it, this was just obnoxious stuff. Security got a hold of the gronk and he got the red card. After that Ruud’s mood improved and did enough to get the cash.

Casper Ruud

So what have we gathered from Day 1, there is a meaningless car park built in the middle of the complex, the herd of cattle walking in between points and games hasn’t changed and tennis is a brutal sport.

Tonight there was Tiebreak Ten Tennis which like Fast 4 is a shit gimmick and as a wrestling fan I know about gimmicks. The best ones are something that have something behind it, these formats have nowt they appeal to the lowest common denominator, gloryhounds, the epitome of fast food and nothing memorable about them.

Thankfully I discovered going to Slam qualies, there are many current top players who had to go through Grand Slam qualies, it’s always more rewarding watching when something major is on the line.