Australian Open 2018

[stotty]

Roger's Road The 2018 Australian Open Title

A Bedene - Ranking 51
R Gasquet - Ranking 31
M Fucsovics - Ranking 80
T Berdych - Ranking 20
H Chung - Ranking 58
M Cilic - Ranking 6

Rafa Road to The 2017 US Open Title

D Lajovic - Ranking 85
Taro Daniel - Ranking 121
L Mayer - Ranking 59
A Dolgopolov - Ranking 64
A Rublev - Ranking 53
Del Potro - Ranking 28
K Anderson - Ranking 32

You can only beat who is front of you but both draws were a mess. Roger had no one to play until the final and Nadal had no one to play at all. Rafa played 20 feet behind the baseline and still managed to win despite handicapping himself. Roger strolled around barely breaking a sweat until someone pops up who can finally give him a game.

Roger could win Wimbledon aged 40 at this rate and Rafa could win 4 more French Opens. I find it a bit depressing.

It was a shame they closed the roof for the Aussie final because there was no good reason for it. The temperature was 3c below being mandatory to shut the roof. Roger is unplayable indoors and Cilic had played all his matches outside in the sweltering heat. It was a terrible blow to Cilic who had prepared for the 37c day and felt it swung things a little his way. Cilic is the one man who could have beaten Roger and they took what would have been a key advantage away.

[arturohernandez]

Watch the complete 2018 Australian Open Men's Singles Final in just 36 minutes and 18 seconds.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkNgOxTLANk

I also noticed a few things the second time:

Federer has a little wiggle in his windup. I think others have alluded to this. Funny that it helps him but not Dimitrov who seems to have imitated it but his much stiffer than the original.

Cilic has a little hitch in his backhand. He seems to take it back and then hesitate a bit. I notice that his timing goes off on that side. I had never noticed it before but it seems to me that this is a minor weak point that others can exploit.

Djokovic, Nadal and Murray are much smoother.

Anyone else see a hitch in Cilic's backhand? I am not a two hander so maybe this is a normal variation.

[arturohernandez]

Too bad he has no heir apparent for his all court game. Will be boring when he retires...

Their is no heir apparent. I still have hopes for Shapovalov to break through and win a few majors. He seems like the only one that is naturally aggressive enough to win.

Everyone else plays like Nadal or Djokovic. The problem is that tournaments are speeding up the courts again.

The AO apparently did not think that a 6 hour final was a good idea.

So maybe the tide will turn and we will get some more all court players again.

[bottle]

Nobody here gets out alive.

I thought you were a Christian. And that Christianity means a hereafter.

[don_budge]

Watch the complete 2018 Australian Open Men's Singles Final in just 36 minutes and 18 seconds.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkNgOxTLANk

[don_budge]

Woke up today without the prospect of news from the Australian Open. A bit of a letdown. That was an exciting two weeks and the final did not disappoint. Roger Federer versus Anybody...in this case Marin Cilic. Cilic did not disappoint and fought all the way to the handshake at the end of the match. His Hawkeye challenge at the end of the match was slightly less obnoxious than that of Nadal's last year. He challenged a blazing serve that caught some millimetres of the line on match point. More on the match...my thoughts.

Actually there was a replay of the match on EuroSport here in Sweden this morning. I watched the fourth and fifth sets in between rain, taking the horses in and grooming them. Brushing the water off of their hides. Training the nine month old to be handled. We have grandma, daughter and foal along with another American horse in the stable. Daughter (Swedish National Champion) is with foal again as well. Eight months along in a 11 month gestation period.

But never mind. Interesting to watch a second time. You pick up on things that you may miss the first. It was interesting to watch Federer in the fourth. Once the fourth was out of reach it seemed that he noticeably let it go. Subtly, yet noticeably. He was conserving energy for the fifth. Preparation...micro view. Cilic on the hand sort of shot his wad and was actually expending unnecessary emotion in celebration each and every winner. He looked completely flat in the fifth. At one point one camera showed an angle where he actually had the crying look in his face. As if he wanted to cry. Perhaps Cilic has more to learn about the big moments. He is getting a crash course this past year at the hands of the master.

Match point was actually a second serve. Federer was up 40-love and he went for a big one into the backhand corner on the first serve. He barely missed and he hit a huge kick out wide that barely caught the line. Cilic barely got his racquet on it. What a great feeling that must be to have three championship points and be able to just let it hang out on the second serve.

I don't get tired watching Roger Federer. He won't be around forever. As the announcer said..."Father Time will win the last point at some point". It's true. Nobody here gets out alive.

[gzhpcu]

Too bad he has no heir apparent for his all court game. Will be boring when he retires...

[don_budge]

Woke up today without the prospect of news from the Australian Open. A bit of a letdown. That was an exciting two weeks and the final did not disappoint. Roger Federer versus Anybody...in this case Marin Cilic. Cilic did not disappoint and fought all the way to the handshake at the end of the match. His Hawkeye challenge at the end of the match was slightly less obnoxious than that of Nadal's last year. He challenged a blazing serve that caught some millimetres of the line on match point. More on the match...my thoughts.

[arturohernandez]

20 GS! Never thought it would happen. I hated Fed in the 2000's. I rooted against him and for Nadal in 2008.

As he lost and struggled I gained respect in the late 2000's.

Now I admire him in every respect.

Not because he won in his prime. But because he was willing to reinvent himself and continue improving.

Few people have the humility, respect, and love for what they do to allow themselves to sink low and rise again.

The match shows that doing great things involves a lot of little things.

Fed knows how to do so many little things that add up into something great.

[klacr]

Federer is just the best. End of story.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[bottle]

I loved when he said the thought of the crowd made him nervous, and that made him practice.

[don_budge]

Did you see how emotional Federer was at the awards ceremony? Just like in the old days. His passion is still there and fuels him...

That was an unbelievable moment. He held it together until he came to the part...at the end...where he said I love you to his team. Then he just broke down. There was a lot of love going on. The things that he said about the game ring true to the heart of every tennis player. He struck a chord with everyone.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A72M2mZ2wHA

I thought Cilic went on just a bit too long. The loser should just give congratulations and get out of the way of the winner. Roger Federer did a great job representing the game of tennis. Just think how he compares to the other pretenders. He's the real thing. He is the Living Proof connecting all of the dots from Tilden to the present. So you got it right Phil...there was something of the old days there. Like stotty said in a earlier post. One hundred years culmination of tennis. All of the ghosts of the winners and losers of the past. Yeah...he's the Living Proof alright.

[bottle]

It wouldn't take anything away from this moment to like women's tennis too and all tennis including that at the recreational level.

[gzhpcu]

Did you see how emotional Federer was at the awards ceremony? Just like in the old days. His passion is still there and fuels him...

[stotty]

Roger's Road to Oz

A Bedene - Ranking 51
R Gasquet - Ranking 31
M Fucsovics - Ranking 80
T Berdych - Ranking 20
H Chung - Ranking 58
M Cilic - Ranking 6

Enough said....