Australian Open '12: Point By Point Coverage

[roseha]

harry, the article I saw - I think it was in Huffington Post, so I don't know where they copied it from - said that Rafa, in Spanish, said or implied that Roger wasn't complaining about the stress of the tour because he was too concerned about maintaining his (Roger's) cooperative image. (Paraphrasing here)

I don't know if that is what Rafa really said, but if he did I don't agree. If I'm not mistaken several players last year were coming close to threatening to strike over this issue (the tour length), and Roger is within his rights not to believe in doing that.

Clearly everyone has the right to strike if they desire but Roger isn't obligated to agree with it and I don't think it's just a matter of luck that he has managed to handle his career with so few injuries, he has always been good at pacing himself. That seems to be the biggest issue here. I mean, everyone knows the tour is too long, but there must be other ways of resolving it, especially with the top players being on their board.

That's as far as I understand it anyway. I hope this doesn't escalate into some off the court feud though.

[falafaclese]

Jan 16, 2012 3:59:58 GMT harry24 said:

Anyone understand what the core issues are in this Fed-Rafa disagreement? The articles I've read mention only the rankings being spread over a year or two years (I side with Rog on that one), and cutting back on the schedule, where I'm not clear what the actual issues are. The quotes from Rafa sound very bitter.

I'm not sure if something new has developed, but Rafa has been saying that he feels Roger doesn't speak up enough for the players' concerns (eg. the schedule and the length of the season) and that he disagrees when Fed says that some of the players complain too much about those things.

"I disagree with [Federer]," Nadal said in quotes published by the news agency EFE. "It is very easy to say, 'I am not going to say anything, everything is positive' and come off as a 'gentleman' and burn the rest. But it is not like that. We each have our opinion and maybe he likes the circuit. I like it too and I think it's better than most sports, but that does not mean it cannot be better and you can't change things that are bad."

[mooncreek]

Nadal and Federer are the only two elite players on the players council - there are supposed to be 4 but Gonzo and Querrey both fell down the ranks. That has to be a problem when it comes to organizing a plan.

Regardless of who wins, Tomic has proven he deserves all this attention by tying this match up. For the first time, I truly believe he will someday be at least a Top 10 player. Conversely, I doubt Verdasco will ever be in the Top 10 again... even if he somehow wins the match. His attitude in the fourth set - in the game he broke back, no less - told me that.

[falafaclese]

His attitude is stank x10. I'm tired of watching him slap away perfectly makeable shots, and then complain about it by waving his arms around like someone just stole his cab.

[roseha]

Well, good for Tomic. Listening to a Slam on its online radio feed is always fun.

[falafaclese]

Tomic really deserved that win. He worked hard for every bit of it. While Verdasco was wasting time feeling sorry for himself, Tomic just kept working away. I can't even muster up any feeling of annoyance at this point.

[mooncreek]

Way to go, Bernie.

I wonder if Greg Jones is going to like the fact all Aussie eyes waiting to see if he can keep the joy going from Bernard's match. That said, I really wish it wasn't at Dolgopolov's expense because he was the best surprise from the men's side at last year's event.

[printwhore]

I'm back! And I'm down under! Here for grad school and somehow ended up going to the Oz Open today while strolling around downtown.

harry24, this toastiness of Melbourne is a blatant lie: the weather was freezing cold until Sunday. Just wanted to sum up some things: sat behind the famously grumpy Nalbandian and have come to the conclusion that he is a very very nice guy. He would say Bueno under his breath every time his opponent would hit a winner. When Nieminen retired, David was there to greet him warmly at the net.

Caught the tail end of the Baghdatis brigade, sat beside Juan Monaco's coach and we both watched in agony as his ward started cramping horribly. Sensed a lot of tension in the Jankovic match: Aussies were NOT rooting for her, they were rooting for Robson who was supposedly born in Melbourne. This made things difficult with the Serbians who were rooting for Jelena. The Aussies were all going nuts with their players. Also, lots of ridiculously hot guys who ended up being European tourists who are here expressly for the tournament.

Caved and decided to skip tomorrow's seminar. Got a day session and night session for Rod Laver so whatever happens, I'm going to run into that cheeky bastard Djokovic.

[falafaclese]

Great to hear from you printwhore! I think you're our first Aussie Open correspondent. Please fill us in on everything!

I guess Robson didn't do as well as I thought she might when I heard she drew Jankovic in the first round.

[printwhore]

Gladly! I'm miffed that I shelled out for tomorrow's night session because it features Lleyton effing Hewitt. WTF. I wanna scalp my ticket so bad. The only player I want to see tomorrow is Tsonga: I really really don't want to see Rusty do the lawn mower.

Btw, I have to say that day passes here are the best. Twenty five bucks and you get to sit ten feet away from Nalbandian or Tsonga or Baghdatis even, all on the same day. Not bad.

[falafaclese]

Troubling news from tennis.com about Rafa's knee:

Rafael Nadal says he suffered a right knee injury while sitting in a chair on Sunday and was nearly forced to pull out of the Australian Open. The Spaniard and world No. 2 did manage to play and beat American Alex Kuznetsov 6-4, 6-1, 6-1 in the first round on Monday. Nadal played with a heavy strap on his knee. He said an MRI revealed no damage.

"Yesterday afternoon happened the [most] strange thing ever happen to me," he told reporters. "I was sitting on a chair in the hotel. I felt like a crack on the knee, but is nothing really strange. Happens lot of time with articulation, movement, articulation. Nothing strange. I stand up. I felt the knee a little bit strange. I moved the leg two times to try to find the feeling. After the second time, the knee stays with an unbelievable pain completely straight. I have no movement on the knee. I had a hard afternoon. And seriously, yesterday during the evening I wasn't 100 percent sure I would have chance to play, because with the movement of that knee I felt that I will not be able to play. I did a lot of treatment...Finally what happened is with the movement, articulation, probably pinch maybe the tendon little bit or something that put the tendon completely straight. We did a lot of work during the evening. At the end of the night with a lot of pain, but I finally really had the full movement of the knee. I woke up today with a little bit better feeling. I started the match with a little bit of scare at the beginning, and nervous. But after the first 10 games that was scare, I started to play with normal conditions. The best thing is I felt the knee very well."

The Spaniard added that he did take a lot of anti-inflammatory medication and is pretty sure he will be able to play in the second round.

"I am really confident that having the worst feeling that I ever had in my knee yesterday and today was able to play," he said. "I have fantastic hope that gonna happen the same for after tomorrow."

[lt]

Caved and decided to skip tomorrow's seminar.

Smart decision. You can probably get a good price if you do give up the Hewitt tickets, right? He's got to have a solid following in Melbourne. Have a wonderful time today and take notes--I'd love to know what the crowds and atmosphere is like at the Aussie Open.

Rafa got hurt sitting in a chair? Wow.

[mooncreek]

Remember when Davydenko got all the attention at the AO two years ago? He may have already lost (wiped after the first three sets of playing Cipolla, which eeek) but this quote related to Federer's non-handling of player issues is priceless:

“He’s a nice guy. He’s winning Grand Slams. He’s from Switzerland. He’s perfect.”

[tikigirl]

Djokovic looks sooooooooo skinny. And Stosur looks even more fit than usual. How is that even possible??

[lizm]

Yeesh, Djokovic looks unstoppable. I'm impressed, despite myself.

Ryan Harrison is doing well but his forearms are even more mis-matched than Rafa's. Between that and the red shirt, I just think of him as Hellboy.