Well, the second day of fourth round matches didn't have quite the same classic feel as the first, but that does not mean it was lacking in upsets - or high drama. Well, that's if you call injury high drama.
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Three retirements we had today - which is probably more than we've otherwise had in the whole tournament. First Monfils chucks in the towel against Simon - which is a great shame because that was a very entertaining match, and I would have liked to have seen Monfils pull it out, because a rematch between him and Rafa after the events of Doha would have been very interesting. Then over on Hisense, Zheng Jie pulls out against Sveta Kuznetsova - who really has been coming quietly through the draw. Don't tell me she's (shock) back in form? Then, in probably the most disappointing of them all, Victoria Azarenka pulls out against Serena, after being a set up, due to some stomach issue. Now that one was a real shame.
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Not that I'm an Azarenka fan. I'm not - not after the way she behaved in her match against Gajdosova in Brisbane. But Serena's form (or lack thereof) is begging for an upset. Sure, she could play her way in like she did in '07, and I'm certainly not anti-that... but basically, I just want the draw to open up for whomever wins the Dokic/Safina match. And also, I'd like Dementieva to get to the final on that side of the draw, because I think she deserves it. I'm sure she'll take out Serena, if no one else does.
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Man, that whole rant made me sound really anti-Serena. I'm not. I guess I'm just saying that with her current form, she doesn't deserve to win.
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Rafa got through in his usual scary way - 33/11 this time, so not quite as scary as 53/8 the other day, but still pretty terrifying. Now that - dun dun dun! - Murray's out, you have to like him to make the final. There isn't really a possibility for a Marcos/Gonzo/Jo-W this year - though I suppose Nando Verdasco isn't one you'd pick, so maybe he could pull it off, but still... Rafa's been going one better here every year, quarters in '07, semis in '08 - surely that points to a final in '09?
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Actually, surely the ability to play 53/8 tennis points to a final in '09.
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But the big one, the upset, the massive, massive surprise - Nando Verdasco taking out Andy Murray in five sets. I guess Murray isn't going to emulate Djokovic last season - finals of the US, winner of the Aussie. Who would have picked that one? Murray didn't play especially badly, either: he just didn't capitalise on a few important chances, and in the second set especially, he just switched off. And Nando's first serve percentage is INSANE, to say the least. I read somewhere that he has the highest first serve percentage on average of anyone on tour, and that was pretty evident here - it really helped him. And it's not that his first serve is a creampuff either - it's a rocketship. Even though I've just picked Rafa to make the finals, I would LOVE to see Nando do it. This really has been a career few months for him, what with being the big Davis Cup hero and now making his first Slam quarters. Why shouldn't he be this year's finalist?
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The one that gets beaten by Federer, obviously.
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Today's Results
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Australian Open
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Men's Draw
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Rafael Nadal def. Fernando Gonzalez, 6-3 6-2 6-4
Fernando Verdasco def. Andy Murray, 2-6 6-1 1-6 6-3 6-4
Gilles Simon def. Gael Monfils, 6-4 2-6 6-1 retired
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga def. James Blake, 6-4 6-4 7-6 (7-3)
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Women's Draw
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Serena Williams def. Victoria Azarenka, 3-6 4-2 retired
Elena Dementieva def. Dominika Cibulkova, 6-2 6-2
Svetlana Kuznetsova def. Zheng Jie, 4-1 retired
Carla Suárez Navarro def. Anabel Medina Garrigues, 6-3 6-2
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3 comments:
I'd be more inclined to root for Dementieva if she stopped whining about her whack serve and did something about it. Although her ground game is awesome.
I never did get to see the Murray match. I swear, one second, he was up a break in the third, and then I'm reading on my Yahoo page that he lost in five sets. Wha?
Verdasco just pretty much just turned into a wall. Murray couldn't get any play on the Verdasco serve at all - the first ball was just so consistent. Murray's level didn't really drop, though he did miss some chances - Verdasco just brought it all out, and it paid off.
And re: Dementieva? Word. She's fixed her serve a lot, but it's still... how shall I put it? Crap.
Dementieva's serve looks a lot better to me. I haven't seen her resort to that wonky side arm swing that she developed due to shoulder problems a while ago. She does still double fault sometimes but often follows it up with an ace.
In other words, I think she has improved her serve but we have "bad server" ingrained in our impression of her. (Now for sure she'll go out and have a bad serving day.)
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