re: The 2021 Unofficial Australian Open Thread

Yeah, I going to jump on Rublev. I think their U.S. Open match was tight, even though a three setter. I have more faith in Rublev if it goes a long time. I have a feeling Alex will give Nole fits, but I can't put money on him with the serve yips. I also want to bet the Serena/Halep match, but not sure which way to go. Serena was great the other day and moving well. But, I have more faith in Halep to win a marathon. I think I will bet Serena because she gets so many free points on serve.

Hsieh is totally the guy at your local club with the junk game who causes you fits. She was spraying balls eight feet long at a Wimbledon tuneup one year. Her coach had to explain she busted a string. She had been using the same racquet for like three years. How is that even possible? I guess she refuses to train.

I'll try to watch a bit of this first set since I have never seen Karat top. Unfortunately, everything is so late the rest of the tournament I will probably only catch the end of night matches if they end up going into the morning here.

It's impossible not to like Hsieh. Clink link for interview. I recommend watching the entire thing It's just a few minutes.

LINK

Dimitrov drops his first set of the tournament to Karatsev of all people. Got broke 2 of his last 3 service games.

Who is Dimitrov's coach? He must be stubborn as all get out. It is maddening to watch him play tennis like this with the amount of raw talent and skill he possesses.

ETA: He's going to lose this match. He sucks.

Karatsev is legit horrible at net and I don't think I've seen Dimitrov hit a drop shot or anything all match.

Why doesn't he just quit if he doesn't want to call the trainer?

Serena 3 sets against Halep? Please

Quarterfinal Ramblings:

Novak is about to start against Alex. I think Novak probably did do something to his abdominal muscle. Apparently he had an MRI, so he knows what the injury is, but he's not talking. But based on the way he dismantled Dogtrash Milos, it looks like he's healthy enough to play, so I am going to give him the nod to take out Alex.

Karatsev is a nice story, but I don't see him advancing any further. Nice payday, though, but I see him losing to either Alex or Novak in the semis....likely Novak.

Rublev is coming in hot, and is the only guy other than Nadal that hasn't dropped a set yet, but it's tough for me to pick him over Medvedev. Daniil hasn't lost a match since the Vienna quarterfinals in October and has never dropped a set to Rublev. I'm going with Daniil here.

Shitsy pants will benefit from the walkover over Berretini, but I just watched the full match highlights of Rafa against Fognini and man did Rafa look good. His serve was firing. His backhand....holy balls his backhand. He was crushing it. And he appeared to be flattening out his forehand more, just like he was doing against Novak in the RG finals, and which one would think is the better shot on a hard court. I think this will be a tough match for Nadal, but I think he takes it.

BUT....I'm actually going to give Daniil the nod against Rafa in the semi

AND....I'm going to give Daniil the nod against whoever he will play in the final. I think this is his time to get that first major.

BUT...these are of course just my best guesses. We shall see how it plays out.