Aussie Open Day 4 Results

Day 4 is over, and I'm sad to report that Juan Martin Del Potro's run at the '11 Aussie Open has been brought to an end by the Cypriot, Marcos Baghdatis 1-6, 3-6, 6-4, 3-6.

Del Potro (left); Baghdatis (right)

 

 

 

 

 

Juan Martin Del Potro

Marcos Baghdatis

Marcos played like the guy who made it to the '06 Aussie final (losing to Roger Federer), and Del Potro played like a guy who had been out of the game for almost a year.  Juan Martin's movement wasn't there for him, nor was his weight of shot.  At one point during the match, Juan Martin had the trainer come out to look at the wrist that he had surgery on.  Baghdatis hit 46 winners/29 errors against Del Potro's 34 winners/41 errors.  Oh well, I guess Juan Martin has to crawl before he can walk.

Robin Soderling

Number 4 Robin Soderling is still moving thru the rounds under the radar, partly because of all the talk about the 'Rafa Slam' or the possible Rafa/Roger final.  He took out Gilles Müller 6-3, 7-6 (7-1), 6-1.  Soderling ended the match with an above decent stat sheet - overall first serve percentage was 58%, winning 93% of his first serves, and 67% of his second serves.  He hit 6 aces/5 double faults, 30 winners/15 unforced errors, and won 10 out of 13 net approaches.

Andy Murray

Andy Murray is still looking good (his tennis game wasn't bad either).  He beat Illya Marchenko 6-1, 6-3, 6-3.  Murray had 16 aces for the match and NO double faults.  He hit only 15 unforced errors, compared to 31 winners.  Maybe he got the 'be more aggressive' memo.

David Ferrer

Spainard, David Ferrer, gave America's Michael Russell absolutely no slack in their match, stomping him 6-0, 6-1, 7-5.  Ferrer didn't face a break point throughout the match, hitting 8 aces with 3 double faults, 28 winners and 22 unforced errors.  He won 82% of his first serves & 71% of second serves.

Rafael Nadal

Rafa was typical Rafa - he rocked American Ryan Sweeting like a hurricane 6-2, 6-1, 6-1.  Sweeting (23 yrs old, just one year Rafa's junior) did manage to break Rafa's serve once during the match, but... 

Michaël Llodra

Today's hottie will be another Frenchmen,  Michaël Llodra.

Michaël Llodra

Michaël Llodra

 

Aussie Open Day 3 results

Day 3 at the Aussie Open & things (for my picks at least) are starting to heat up!  No blow outs to report from last night.  

Roger Federer after defeating Gilles Simon

Gilles Simon (left) & Roger Federer (right)

Mr. Federer as expected got pushed by Gilles Simon, but he did manage to win 6-2, 6-3, 4-6, 4-6, 6-3.  This was only the third career meeting for the two, Roger losing both times (back in 2008).  Gilles is a 'slight' guy in stature, but even still, he gave Roger all he could handle.  After having dropped the 3rd & 4th sets, Roger took control of the fifth, by using out-wide serves to get Simon off the court.  The backhand slice that Roger uses too much actually brought on some errors from Simon in the fifth.

Novak Djokovic

Ivan Dodig (left) & Novak Djokovic (right)

Novak Djokovic didn't have to go the distance against Ivan Dodig, but he did get pushed in the first set 7-5 before losing the second 7-6 (8-10 in the tiebreak).  Third set, he just starting pushing Dodig further & further behind the baseline, making him cover extra distance , before finally taking out Dodig's legs altogether.

Andy Roddick vs Igor Kunitsyn

World number 8, Andy Roddick, won in straight sets against Igor Kunitsyn, but he got pushed to a tiebreak in the first.  Roddick took it 7-6 (9-7), 6-2, 6-3.  Not a lot to say, Andy cleaned things up after the first set & then put it in cruise control.

Verdasco rolls his ankle in the 4th set

Janko Tipsarevic

Now...Fernando Verdasco Vs Janko Tipsarevic.  Janko came out as he so often does, on fire.  But like he so often does, he burned out.  For the 1st two sets, Tipsarevic absolutely took it to Verdasco, controlling the points & playing like his life depended on it.  Then comes the third, and things began to look as they should with Verdasco starting to connect with his inside-out forehand.  Verdasco saved a bunch of match points during the fourth set.  Then comes the fourth set tiebreak & away goes Tipsarevic's pride - tiebreak score 7-0. Fifth set, Tipsarevic was just ready to get his second round paycheck, losing 6-0.  He said it was because he was cramping, but I think he needs to take a lesson from Venus Williams about toughing it out.  That being said, I still think he's a hottie!

Tomáš Berdych

Philipp Kohlschreiber

Honorable mention for a match well played goes to #6 Tomáš Berdych.  He took out Philipp Kohlschreiber 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4.  Berdych without a doubt has the game to threaten the top guys in big moments, but his head gets in his way.

Rafael Nadal, Robin Soderling, Andy Murray, David Ferrer, and Juan Martin Del Potro play tonight.  They all should make it thru, however, Juan Martin will face a tough opponent in Marcos Baghdatis.  Given that Juan Martin was out for six months, it wouldn't be a shock if he goes down to the Cypriot, Baghdatis.

Remember, I'm not a tennis expert, I'm just a boy.

Nole

Nole

Day 3 hottie, is the Serbian, Novak Djokovic.  Sexy, multi-talented & funny! Here he is impersonating Federer, Nadal, ARod, Hewitt, Sharapova,Goran Ivanisevic.