[Optional]

Djoko has a tough first round encounter

Novak Djokovic (SRB) [1] v Paul-Henri Mathieu (FRA)


Mathieu is in great touch at Kooyong.



http://www.australianopen.com/en_AU/...aws/index.html

[EaglesPhan36]

Mathieu is a pussy. Got beat by Bolelli in Kooyong. He'd be lucky to win a set and I don't think he will.

Federer potentially has the easiest draw especially if Tsonga is hobbled.

[Optional]

Happened to watch the match against DelPo and thought he looked in good touch. Plus no pressure matches against DelPo, Dodig and possibly Raonic or Fognini in the same city seems like a pretty nice lead in to a 1st rounder against Djoko.

Just seems like a tougher than average first rounder for a #1 seed I thought.

[JNic]

Federer has a real tough draw, Paire, Davydenko, Tomic, Raonic? All of that to get to the quarters

[Santo]

Caro got Sabine Lisicki in the first round, that stuck out to me as one of the tougher 1R draws.

[Optional]

Federer has a real tough draw, Paire, Davydenko, Tomic, Raonic? All of that to get to the quarters

Wow that is tough for a #2 seed.

And likely Tsonga after that, as he looks to have a dream run to 4th round.

[JNic]

Dolgo vs Monfils is insane matchup and if you look at their draw they have the weak Gilles Simon as the other seed, so winner of that match goes to 4th round most likely. I pick Dolgo in that

[JNic]

Goffin vs Verdasco r1 is another must see, public is going to be all over Goffin and I expect a low price for him

[Optional]

Was hoping to see Verdasco draw a matchup where he was fave, to fade him.

[JNic]

Harrison vs Giraldo - rematch of the olympic beating where Harrison smashed his racket on live tv representing US. Huge matchup I think, Harrison let Benneteau and Robredo dictate play these last 2 weeks and Giraldo is going to be doing his thing again. I really think Giraldo can take this, a lot depends on Harrison's serve but there is no way in hell someone can back Harrison as a fav here.

Benny vs Dimitrov ! - Well the public is going to pound Dimitrov, bookies probably open up an inflated line. Let's see how Benny does against Anderson today, he has the game to hit through Dimitrov's defense.

Sijsling vs Istomin - I think Istomin will be overvalued here, he had a slight neck problem vs Anderson and Sijsling is more than capable of taking him out. I think if Sijsling is given decent underdog price, he's a very good dog

Matosevic vs Cilic - Great matchup, the grinder vs the guy who can hit a million unforced errors one day or be brilliant the next. A good line on Marinko and he's worth it, but we won't get a good line I don't think.

Haas vs Nieminem ! - Wow this is another good matchup, Haas should win but you never know

[EaglesPhan36]

Oops misread Fed's draw. Yeah some toughies, but also all guys who have never made it very deep at Slams and are prone to mental breakdowns. Davydenko won't trouble him that much IMO. Tomic would be the test. Raonic is still a midget. Paire? Please. He wouldn't win a set.

[JNic]

Oops misread Fed's draw. Yeah some toughies, but also all guys who have never made it very deep at Slams and are prone to mental breakdowns. Davydenko won't trouble him that much IMO. Tomic would be the test. Raonic is still a midget. Paire? Please. He wouldn't win a set.

Yea Paire is still a mental midget, he will fold in 3 sets but if he can come with some balls here and play his game he can trouble Fed for a set for sure, just someone you don't wanna draw 1st round

[JNic]

Was hoping to see Verdasco draw a matchup where he was fave, to fade him.

I'm really interested to see that Verdasco line, he's a big name so he has to be favorite but if I was a bookie I would be really scared. I feel like Goffin is an auto play for many many people

[Optional]

2nd quarter is full of coin toss 1st round matchups I think. Tipsy v Hewitt should be a decent match to watch.

[EaglesPhan36]

My 1st rounders to watch for ...

1. Watch to see which quali gets Rosol. Rosol will get action based solely on his Nadal win last year and the right player will beat him.

2. Robredo-Levine will be an underrated match and might be one of the most competitive.

3. Monfils-Dolgopolov = MASSIVE NO BET

4. Lacko over Muller

5. Hewitt can't catch a break. Guy has drawn tough three of the last four Aussie Opens and Tipsarevic will be another one.

6. Brian Baker - see Rosol.

[JNic]

^ Completely agreed, Rosol and Baker are auto fades atm. I'm not sure how Baker even gets the lines he does because I haven't seen one result besides the win over Janowicz on outdoor hardcourts, everything he did was on clay and grass.

[JNic]

Troicki - Stepanek - The real massive no bet

[EaglesPhan36]

By the way, pussy boy Mathieu got bageled by Nishikori who had the knee problem coming into this Kooyong Exhibition ... Djokovic will destroy him.

[Sharp Snake]

Havent gotten to look yet, but I feel like a kid opening his first Christmas present, oh boy.

[EaglesPhan36]

Tell you whose draw I love - Ferrer. Couple decent types before the quarters like Baghdatis and Nishikori - but those would be the toughest IMO. Tipsarevic on the bottom is already a question mark to me with his withdrawal this week. Ferrer at anything like -200 or less to win this quarter is a solid bet IMO.

[Cross]

Oops misread Fed's draw. Yeah some toughies, but also all guys who have never made it very deep at Slams and are prone to mental breakdowns. Davydenko won't trouble him that much IMO. Tomic would be the test. Raonic is still a midget. Paire? Please. He wouldn't win a set.

Tomic will not test Federer, he will be in tank mode after a set in a half if they play each other. I do think Raonic could bother him with his massive serve, Australia was Milos' breakout tourney a couple years ago.

[EaglesPhan36]

This version of Tomic so far is not the same player as past seasons. He has shown some maturity and improved fitness/power. At his current level, he can challenge some of the big boys to play their A level. Plus we have no clue where Federer's game is at this point too. Very interested to see him play some matches.

On a different note - could Serena & Sharapova gotten bigger cakewalk draws? Sharapova must be living right.

[JNic]

This shit is gold: http://tenngrand.com/2013/01/11/face...ian-open-draw/

[Optional]

This shit is gold: http://tenngrand.com/2013/01/11/face...ian-open-draw/

That's not real is it?

Funny either way.

[EaglesPhan36]

The Donald Young one is priceless, especially since he lost yesterday. #WATCHOUT

[shari91]

This version of Tomic so far is not the same player as past seasons. He has shown some maturity and improved fitness/power. At his current level, he can challenge some of the big boys to play their A level. Plus we have no clue where Federer's game is at this point too. Very interested to see him play some matches.

Yeah I think people (especially me) need to be careful with Tomic. That massive fight he's in with Rafter about Davis Cup might be spurring him on. We've always said he comes across like an arrogant little shit and I could see how he'd love to rub it in Pat's face that he dropped him for Feb. And now their argument has just gotten out of control. When he lost the first set TB to Nieminen after being ahead 5-2 in it I think, I thought for sure he'd just pack it in for the match. Just the fact that he didn't shows that for whatever reason this isn't the same kid who played Roddick, at least not at the moment and I don't think much is going to change in 2 days.

[EaglesPhan36]

I thought Rafter absolutely did the right thing and it seems to be something as you say may have really lit a fire under his ass. I made some good profit off him early on. Will keep watching him in Melbourne. I do think he has a tough draw in arguably the most competitive quarter. He should smoke Mayer in the opener, but possibility of a slow start coming off a long week ... 2nd round against Brands or Klizan would be tricky too. Especially Brands who is playing pretty solid. Federer would loom potentially in the 3rd. Really interested to see how it pans out for him because this is a spot where the old Tomic would probably start seeing all the headlines expecting that 3rd round showdown and maybe show up slacking in one of the other matches.

Didn't Rafter do the same thing to Matosevic last year?

[EaglesPhan36]

Qualifiers filled out the bracket ...

Rosol avoids a major danger and gets Jamie Baker. Still might be competitive, but not as tricky as others could have been.

Love Berankis' draw. He gets put up against a beatable Stakhovsky in the 1st and could catch a slow starting Florian Mayer in the 2nd.

Smyczek got the Lucky Loser's spot and gets sacrificed to Dr.Ivo.

Steve Johnson gets unlucky and goes against Almagro to open. I do expect a good match from him though. Almagro will have to bring some good tennis.

Bogomolov vs. Baker. Intriguing match. Bogo was one of the best fades n 2012, but he seems to have turned it around from the end of last year and now through qualis.

Stebe v. Wawrinka. Stebe playing well, but WaWa rolled him in Chennai. That may or may not be a motivating factor.

[shari91]

I thought Rafter absolutely did the right thing and it seems to be something as you say may have really lit a fire under his ass. I made some good profit off him early on. Will keep watching him in Melbourne. I do think he has a tough draw in arguably the most competitive quarter. He should smoke Mayer in the opener, but possibility of a slow start coming off a long week ... 2nd round against Brands or Klizan would be tricky too. Especially Brands who is playing pretty solid. Federer would loom potentially in the 3rd. Really interested to see how it pans out for him because this is a spot where the old Tomic would probably start seeing all the headlines expecting that 3rd round showdown and maybe show up slacking in one of the other matches.

Didn't Rafter do the same thing to Matosevic last year?

Yeah he did but that was 90% Rafter's fault as Mato's people told him not to pick him and he selected him anyway. So then Mato had a meltdown as his team warned he would and everyone ended up pissed off. Totally could've been prevented. And I too think Rafter did the right thing by dropping Tomic for Feb but now it's gotten out of control. Tomic and Rafter won't even speak to each other after the phone call where Tomic told him he won't make himself available for April and "might" be available for September. The good thing is that some of the old school tennis legends here are backing Rafter but saying he just needs to keep quiet now. Hewitt's offered to be a mediator but whether that works or not, playing it out in the media isn't going to help anyone. TA is kind of an incestuous organisation and a bit snobby - kind of like cricket I guess - and Tomic's definitely on the way outer... but they don't like this stuff being made public especially not when the entire tennis world is focused on Australia at the moment. Will be interesting to see how it goes down. Either way I'll probably stay away from Tomic altogether this tournament. Guy's been a definite thorn in my side for way too long.

[Optional]

Yeah I think people (especially me) need to be careful with Tomic. That massive fight he's in with Rafter about Davis Cup might be spurring him on. We've always said he comes across like an arrogant little shit and I could see how he'd love to rub it in Pat's face that he dropped him for Feb. And now their argument has just gotten out of control. When he lost the first set TB to Nieminen after being ahead 5-2 in it I think, I thought for sure he'd just pack it in for the match. Just the fact that he didn't shows that for whatever reason this isn't the same kid who played Roddick, at least not at the moment and I don't think much is going to change in 2 days.

Same against Haas in Hopman Cup and against Anderson in final yesterday.

Fightbacks after looking down and in trouble.

Anderson held him down on the ropes for 15 or 20 games in a row. But couldn't strike the body blow or make him give up.

I doubt it's a permanent change, but pile on top of the confidence he will have now being a tour winner...


Believing "I AM THE GREATEST" worked for Ali!

[EaglesPhan36]

The Brad Gilbert ones are awesome as well.

[shari91]

haha Opti that is brilliant

[Optional]

You should read the whole thing JNic posted http://tenngrand.com/2013/01/11/face...ian-open-draw/

I cracked up

How damn cool would it be if these guys actually sledged each other like that on twitter over every major draw?!!

[shari91]

I forgot to mention earlier.. the hotel we got ready at earlier for the Polo is where Serena and Venus are staying. (The Olsen for anyone here in Melbourne). I'll be staying there for the wknd next week although I *think* they'd move on to a rented house now that their PR stuff is done. Or you assume they would at least but maybe not.

Anyway, I didn't see them this time other than a fleeting glance from behind but... a friend of a friend (yeah I know, how dodgy) hit with Serena and said she's playing like she just got dumped and is picturing the ball is the face of who knows who . To be fair, the guy is gay so might be a bit dramatic but he said she was striking beautifully and was trying to hammer him just as she would in a match. So I guess take that for what it's worth and head down to the Olsen if you're in Melb and want to see them. They don't hide out at all.

[yisman]

Fourth Quarter - 1/14/2013 7:00 PM (EST)
Roger Federer	-190
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga	+400
Bernard Tomic	+1200

and yet Tomic has shorter odds to win the tournament!