We should start calling the Australian Open “a tale of two draws”, or more specifically, a tale of two sections. While the bottom half of both the men’s and women’s draws have seen the most drama and upsets, the top half hasn’t created that much excitement.
A quick word about yesterday’s matches though. Andy Roddick had a tougher than expected match against Feliciano Lopez which he won in four sets. Roddick decided to return from fifteen feet behind the baseline and played passively throughout. He’ll have to do a lot better against Fernando Gonzalez next round.
Great win for John Isner over #12 seed Gael Monfils. Isner, since Indianapolis, is 29-6 in tiebreakers. He’ll have to take his game to another level if he wants to beat Andy Murray who again cruised in straights.
Juan Martin Del Potro got through against Florian Mayer but Delpo looked lost for most of it. Credit Mayer mixing things up but you have to wonder when is someone going to catch Delpo. Maybe Marin Cilic next round who is due for another big win?
The women offered plenty of drama again as Jelena Jankovic lost for the first time to Alona Bondarenko. JJ looked out of it as did Kim Clijsters who could only muster one game in her 6-0, 6-1 shock loss to Nadia Petrova. It wasn’t that Petrova didn’t have a chance in the match, it was that she won only by really showing up and putting balls in play. Did Justine Henin’s tough three set win over Alisa Kleybanova play in Kimmie’s mind, since they are in both sides of the draw? Maybe? Looks like the AO has room for only one “comeback” kid this year.
So what about today’s matches. Unless JJ and Kimmie pass along their “bug” to Serena Williams, Venus Williams, or Roger Federer, their matches should go by without a blip. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga vs. Tommy Haas could go the distance, but Tsonga is on a roll again and I like him here. Lleyton Hewitt vs. Marcos Baghdatis could be another epic, but this match, which will probably go five, will only see the tired but happy victor take on Federer next round. So enjoy boys while you can.
Finally, have you noticed how “slower” the AO courts are playing? The ball fuzz actually grips the surface and stays there like grainy yellow snow. That’s why all the matches are taking a least three hours to finish. This surface is like playing on fast clay which favors some players more than others going into next week. I’ll talk about that in a new post.
So if you need to catch your breath, today is the day, because the other “draw” with all the action, cranks up tomorrow.
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