2021 Australian Open...ATP 2000...Melbourne, Australia

[stroke]

Denis has won the 1st 2 sets 1 and 3, looking every bit the heavy favorite he is in this mstch. So far, this match has gone pretty much exactly as one would expect. Tomic simply not physically able to compete point in point out at this pretty much top 10 level.

[stroke]

Although he will probably never amount to much it terms of tennis history, it must be intimidating for the BIG 3 to play Nick, who is easily an equal on a given day...and who doesn't give a damn either way and refuses to work too hard either. Must be galling for a couple of workhorses like Rafa and Novak...and probably Roger too.

Concur with that. The galling feelings Nick elicits from them is overshadowed by their own accomplishments and a pretty much non existent trophy case of Nick's. Truth be told, Nick is a bit of a joke to them. Kind of like the guy who can win a slam dunk contest yet not really make an impact at all in the NBA. They are not impressed.

[stotty]

Although he will probably never amount to much it terms of tennis history, it must be intimidating for the BIG 3 to play Nick, who is easily an equal on a given day...and who doesn't give a damn either way and refuses to work too hard either. Must be galling for a couple of workhorses like Rafa and Novak...and probably Roger too.

[stroke]

I like to watch Nick also, but he the biggest poser douchebag "I do whatever the Hell I want to bad boy" of all time. I watch him always hoping for him to lose. He probably is the greatest wasted talent of all time. The only player that has his talent level is Fed. That serve also, along with Raonic to me, the best sub 6'10" serve out there. But of course, Nick does everything else better than Raonic.

[stotty]

Everything is very routine at the moment. I was surprised to see Evans go out to Norrie. He really should have gotten through that match the way he has been playing of late. Stephanos looked particularly impressive today the way he swamped poor old Simon. Had it been a boxing match they would have stopped the fight.

I am hoping Nick K will progress because although he's a 'tool' he at least spices things up.

[stroke]

Best 2nd round mstchups in order:

Tomic vs Denis(Tennis Australia has relegated to Court 3, no love loss for Tomic there)
Nick vs U. Humbert
Novak vs Tiafoe
Fritz vs Opelka(2 very dangerous floaters)

[stotty]

Yahoo Sport Australia: 'Crazy stat' exposed in Bernard Tomic's Aus Open walkover win.

https://au.sports.yahoo.com/australian-open-2021-bernard-tomic-walkover-win-yuichi-sugita-retires-104907559.html

This next match vs Denis, I am interested.

Me too.

[stroke]

Yahoo Sport Australia: 'Crazy stat' exposed in Bernard Tomic's Aus Open walkover win.

https://au.sports.yahoo.com/australian-open-2021-bernard-tomic-walkover-win-yuichi-sugita-retires-104907559.html

This next match vs Denis, I am interested.

[stroke]

In just under 4 hours, Denis wins. Tremendous match and ball striking. The one thing that separated them to me, Denis' serve is more of a weapon. He has a live arm and his best serve, his lefty slice to the ad court, was a whole match problem for Sinner which he never solved. Sinner returns very deep in the court position wise a la Nadal, and it just did not work vs that serve.

[stroke]

Sinner and Denis 3.5 hours so far. The winner to face Bernard Tomic in 2nd round, which hard to believe will probably be the most intriguing 2nd round match of the tournament.

[stroke]

Sinner just played a tremendous 10th game to break a very testy Denis to extend this very good match to a 5th set. Impossible to pick a winner here. Sinner has an almost Borg like demeanor out there. So in control of his emotions.

[seano]

Looks like Nadal has a "back" issue heading into the Australian Open.

https://www.espn.com/tennis/story/_/id/30851392/rafael-nadal-bothered-lingering-back-injury-entering-australian-open

[stroke]

Thinks its:

Cilic v Dimitrov

and

Sinner v Shapovalov


Sinner is a really good prospect to me. Every time I see Shapovalov it's all 'hell for leather' and nothing in-between. Every player needs some kind of B game even if it's just taking 5% off the pace to get it in! If Roger, Novak and Rafa have taught anything, it's consistency is paramount. Those guys give nothing away.

Nadal and Roger in particular never even go away for a set as almost all other players do when the set seems kinda a lost cause. Not them. Obviously, Nadal keeps it very simple. All he seems to care about is winning the next point. And Roger, one time I saw a stat that he had lost more matches than anyone in matches where he had actually won more total points in the match. At first blush, that mat not look to be a enviable stat, but it speaks volumes to Roger never going away in any match.

[stotty]

Ist round best matchups:

Cilic vs Sinner
Shapovalov vs Grigor
Kevin Anderson vs Berrettini

Thinks its:

Cilic v Dimitrov

and

Sinner v Shapovalov


Sinner is a really good prospect to me. Every time I see Shapovalov it's all 'hell for leather' and nothing in-between. Every player needs some kind of B game even if it's just taking 5% off the pace to get it in! If Roger, Novak and Rafa have taught anything, it's consistency is paramount. Those guys give nothing away.

[stroke]

Speaking of a flyer.....

https://www.sportsnews.com.au/tennis/2021-australian-open-big-bet-on-bernard-tomic/557236