Australian Open '11: Point by Point Coverage

[lt]

The Brett Favre of tennis. . .

(but with her, I trust that her injury-laden 2010 is a legit reason to retire)

[skyz]

It sucks for Justine to end her career because of injuries, especially when she went out on top for the most part, in her first retirement.

Looks like we're in for more Hannah Storm folks. She's extended her contract and will be in studio for Wimbledon and the US Open.

Didn't get a chance to see Rafa's match but I feel so bad for him being injured, but happy for David. Is this his best result there? I think it must be. I'm happy for him.

[acre]

I feel bad for Justine - total reconstructive surgery on the elbow is not to be taken lightly. I never warmed up past neutral at best for her, but the game needs players of her mental caliber, that's even more important to me than her physical gifts.

I'm a bit confused about Rafa - is he really significantly injured, or is this a combo of after-effects of the virus along with a muscle pull or tweak or something? I fervently hope the latter. Obviously there's only one guy I want to see win this, but as I said a few days ago: NOT at the expense of any real injury to Rafa! Very sad to hear he may have had tears in his eyes during a changeover, not the Rafa we're all accustomed to. Get well soon Rafa, take a good rest and get whatever treatment you need and come back to us healthy and happy and raring to go. We miss you and we need you.

[falafaclese]

Although she wasn't my favorite, I'm disappointed. In addition to seeing whether she could regain some of her former competitive luster (she came close, but the start-and-stop nature of her comeback made it hard to assess), I was also curious to see if the personality issues that bothered me about her were illusory/in the past. I felt like part of her aim after announcing that she was coming back, was to show her character and to enjoy competition more without the win-at-all-costs aura she had before. Like I said, I had turned the corner on her, and have been able to enjoy her more lately. It's a shame to see her go, and its too bad it had to be because of an injury rather than on her own terms, although I suspect that she was primed for at least winding it down again anyway.


I read this interesting entry over at Forty Deuce. this passage kind of sums up the tone:

You seriously had the gall, Caro, to call for an MTO for a tight hip-flexor after you drop a set to a woman 10 years your senior who had less than 48 hours to recover from playing a 4 hour and 44 minute match? I mean, REALLY??? Pam tracked down Sven (look at you, Reporter Pam) and asked him whether Caro was carrying any injuries into the match and he said no. So Caro goes off court to get it taped, and then, like, 5 games later, tears the tape off and starts running like a rabbit again.

In spite of the fact that I have liked Woz since pretty early on (not that she has been around that long), I've also had reservations because of the frequency of the on-court coaching visits she gets from her dad. It bums me out if she truly called an MTO purely as a strategic measure. It's completely legal, I get that, but it still sucks to have to get cute like that to win a match.

[mooncreek]

Rafa injured and Justine retiring again is definitely a lot of drama to occur while trying to get a few hours sleep.

It's sadly ironic that Justine's career comeback got derailed at Wimbledon (the major she came back for) against Kim (fellow Belgian whose comeback inspired Justine).

[tikigirl]

I'm very sad to see Henin go. She had one of the best fighting spirits I've seen, and obviously you all know I loved her game.

Nadal...well, I felt like we were kind of being set up for this. There was a lot of talk about the virus, and about how he was losing so much weight during each match. He certainly manages to bring a lot of drama while being portrayed as the happy-go-lucky, drama-free guy -- and yeah, that's not all down to him, of course. Sports journalism just gets worse and worse. I do feel badly that Ferrer's very nice performance got kind of overlooked. I'd love to see him take down dour, grouchy Murray.

Staying up for Feds/Djokovic is going to be close to impossible for me, like most of you. I'll have to brew a pot of coffee at midnight (match starts 1:30 a.m. here) and put away the Australian wine, I guess...

[agentx]

I'm not sure if I'll stay up for the 3.30am est match, or wake up after a short nap for it.

[lt]

It bums me out if she truly called an MTO purely as a strategic measure.

I wouldn't use that site as a truth-teller for Woz, or anyone the blogger doesn't like. Completely in her right (it's her blog after all) but she's biased and states opinion as fact (which is the definition of blog, so no problem there).

I get the Rafa virus thing leading to worse: I had a wacky virus one year (spinal tap for Christmas! There's some fun) and the following summer I did a three-day walk for cancer research and got really ill. Strep, mono, all sorts of things were bandied about but once the doctor figured out it was the residue of the virus from the year before I could finally figure out how to get better. It weakened me in ways that were completely unrelated to the virus itself.

[mooncreek]

I don't think Woz used it as a strategic maneuver so much as she got nervous and muscles got tight. Not an injury but I didn't see it as being connected to Fran's earlier match either.

[tikigirl]

So are we going to have a lot of people here for the women's semis tonight? I say that very selfishly. I'm having a small dinner party, five people total, green chile risotto and salad and wine, and very nice guests -- but it's you all that I count on for my tennis fun! Hope the matches are good and we all enjoy them.

[falafaclese]

Jan 26, 2011 20:48:23 GMT lt said:

It bums me out if she truly called an MTO purely as a strategic measure.

I wouldn't use that site as a truth-teller for Woz, or anyone the blogger doesn't like.

Yeah, i generally take what she says with a grain of salt, and disagree with her often, but I hadn't seen the match myself, so I wondered about it. Anyway, I'm rooting for Na Li regardless.

[agentx]

I'll be here for the night. Hoping to see two good matches, but that's greedy. So I'ld settle for two good sets.

[tikigirl]

Good to hear, agentx, I'll be counting on you!

[agentx]

It's gonna be the time between the womens semi's and Federer that will be the toughest.

[boringmember]

I'd like to see Li Na win the whole thing, but that's sort of unlikely when she can't even hold her serve right now...

OMG, did Pam just say that she needs some Chinese medicine right now???