The final round up, time to leave the circus

Yes,  this is the end of my Australian Open reports as one most of my players are knocked out and two I have to impersonate an employee this week,  as I can't live off my looks.

It has definitely been a different tournament,  the on court action on the men's side for the most part has been excellent.    There have been a lot of 5 set matches, the majority of them have been enjoyable and not a shit show,  though the shit shows can be entertaining in their own way.

The organisers in their wisdom thought the Sunday start would be a great idea in the guise of reducing the late night finishes,  yes maybe on Rod Laver but as to be expected this was not the case and there were plenty of late finishes.    The fact there was 81 000 on the Sunday with a shit order of play will mean the organisers will do it again as it will bring in more money irrespective of the client experience.

The Good

The Carota Boys coming to Australia for those who don't know they are the Jannik "The Prince"  Sinner cheer squad.  Yes,  Jannik was eating a carrot at a change of ends and then a group of Italian lads wear carrot suits and cheer him on.   Too bad they had to go back to Italy,  but they were cool cats and yes I'd like Sinner to win the event to end the Djokovic reign of terror.

Djokovic embracing the heel role,  when that heckler was giving it to him and asking him to say stuff to his face.   The thing these jabronis don't understand is the more you needle Djokovic the more he likes it.   Yes,  he is one of the greatest ever to play the game and if you don't think that,  then grow grass on a highway.  Indifference or silence would annoy him more and when Mannarino more on him later finally got on the board,  there was some sarcastic cheering from Djokovic.

Adrian Mannarino what a guy,  he's a different cat and dances to his own tune.  I mean if you saw the guy just walking around you would not think he is a professional athlete.   He could hardly win finals and now after 34 he has won more title.   His secret is tequila,  that and an unusual gamestyle which works against these forehand factory bots.    Mannarino is one of those guys who have to watch live and see how impressive he actually is,  moves the ball around very well absorbs pace and creates angles.  The match against Shelton was definitely brains triumphing over brawn.

Cameron Norrie lost a very tough 5 setter against the very likeable Sascha Zverev.   He has never got close before,  but this tournament he has been a lot more aggressive and willing to take the game to the opponents.   As he is one of the fittest men on tour,  he was able to win by a war of attrition.   That can only take you so far.   

Last round win over Casper Ruud was an example of that.   The Norwegian had a lot of chances,  but he saved the break point by using his serve to open up the court especially on the backhand side.  Once he was doing that and seeing the floating returns,  he snuck into the net and put away a lot of volleys.   Against Zverev,  he used a lot of drop shots as the big German loves to be 3m behind the baseline hitting forehands.   Zverev was just too good in the buster.

Other stuff

Jakub Menšík has a big future as long as he stays injury free.   He and Zeppieri should finish the year inside the top 100.

Marinko Matosevic is doing an excellent job as a coach with Chris O'Connell and Jordan Thompson.  Of course it helps being injury free,  but they have finished the last few years inside the top 100.   At the end of the day,  the player has to look at themselves and ask have they maximised their ability.   Too bad Thompson doesn't know the meaning of the word woke.

Yes,   John Millman should have got a wildcard to the main draw instead of McCabe,  but he has been doing an excellent job at commentary and yes there will be a tribute about him.

There are a lot more French fans these days and it's a good thing as they provide a fun atmosphere.  Also there are so many Italian players these days as well.

Court 6 is the equivalent of the party hole in golf.   Building a bar next to a tennis court,  not the greatest idea.   The reasoning behind it is,  to get more fan involvement and other buzzwords.   The thing with tennis being played in a quiet environment,  especially at the elite level they rely a lot on sound coming off their racquet and opponents. The Russian player Pavlyuchenkova was getting meow chants from the gronks in the crowd.  Many people are there to be seen and not give a crap about the tennis.

As you get older certain things change. I mean I am not interested in the same women at 18 as I am at 45.  Progress is good, but like anything there are negatives as well as positives.  The fact the event in many ways become uncomfortable for regular punters,  taking a very long time to get into match courts,  congestion and bigger is not always better.

But on a positive note it is always good to run into people I have not seen in a long time.   Watching matches,  shooting the shit,  people watching and all that good stuff.

So thank you Andrew,  Andre,  Sean,  Peta,  Kristen,   Lance,  Owen,  Tim and Lizia and running to Blaz Kavcic again.

Yes,  I maybe grumpy at times,  but I will be back again next year.