Australian Open '13 Point by Point Coverage

[skyz]

I'm disappointed. Li Na took a beating on the court. I hope she didn't do serious damage to her ankle and that the knock on the head isn't serious. I wish she'd served better. But credit to Vika.

[falafaclese]

Pretty tight match all the way through. I'm so disappointed for Na. She really fought, and I still like the way she's playing even though she obviously wasn't as dominant today as in the semifinal.

Azarenka had a lot to fight today, so congratulations to her.

[harry24]

Sigh. Oh, well. Great improvement from Na, but tremendous tenacity from Vika.

[mooncreek]

I hope there's no lasting damage (physically or mentally) from Na. Though if any other player would know about concussions, it is Vika.

No, haven't seen the match yet but the clips looked pretty bad.

ETA: oh and lol-ing at the whole Cahill-in-the-kilt saga. This was nearly a year and a half in the making.

[lt]

That was one of the worst audiences ever. Cheering for faults, double faults--anything. UGH! Left such a nasty taste in my mouth! Poor Vika, almost having to apologize for winning and breaking down in sobs afterwards, and not in good way. And what the hell match was Chrissy watching? She actually said in the 2nd set that the crowd was cheering for both equally. Luckily, Pam shut down that idiocy. By the third set even Chrissy had to admit that Vika was battling a crowd that hated her. Both of them were pretty shocked by the cheering and jeering.

I think it's because Li doesn't wear any makeup on the court, Harry. I remember hearing back in the 80s that women didn't tend to wear makeup while playing but that seems to have gone by the boards for the most part these days.

Check out Laura Robson too. She doesn't wear makeup on the court and her pictures on Twitter are like, whoa! What a beauty! Good for both of them for not going the zit way of wearing makeup while sweating (don't ever look to closely at Maria's face).

Stupid, stupid ESPN. I was watching the replay after making sure I couldn't be spoiled by anything and from the beginning of the third set the crawl gave the final score. Why would they do that? They were showing the entire match, not even cutting ahead, and they had to have known people would be watching fresh from the replay. Once again, stupid, stupid ESPN. This is why I'm waking up for the men's final. No way they can spoil me then.

I think I love Vika and Redfoo together. So adorable. And I think I'm actually happier that the replay showed an interview with Vika with Chris M. and Mary Jo instead of the trophy ceremony because I'm going to guess that trophy ceremony was a bit uncomfortable and the interview was very nice.

[acre]

As I've said, I don't much watch Vika(and Maria) because I can't take the noise, so my opinions a-e at best 2nd-hand. That said, I think it totally sucks that the fans behaved that way. Sheesh, have they not hea-d of sportsmanship and decency? A-en't the Aussies supposed to be big on that.

Yes, I know Vika's MTO in the Sloane match was cont-oversial, and she did herself NO favors making comments that could make it look like just a panic attack. But didn't she also have a locked rib? Those a-e real, painful and need t-eatment. So I don't know.

I just know that audience ought to be ashamed of themselves, and yes I wanted Na too. But I'd be fucking polite about it - yay on good shots, silence on mistakes.

[breezybee]

I think I love Vika and Redfoo together

I bet she borrows his clothes! Out of curiousity what happened to Vika and Bubka Jr who fell out the window in November?

[harry24]

Just woke up to see the men's outcome. So, no one here was up watching?

[skyz]

I was up. Monotonous for the most part. I missed the last few games though. It'd be pretty funny if it took Andy another few years to win another slam.

[skyz]

Someone did mention this before about the ESPN ticker and they did it again on this 9am replay. The talking heads are talking up the match and there go the spoilers of Novak being 3-0 in Oz finals.

[lt]

Ha! That's why I woke up at 3:30 am. Okay, I dozed through the first set but at least no one could spoil me.

So weird, usually when I start off not liking a player I can end up liking them when they start to lose (Sampras is one example) but with Novak I like him better as a champion then I did before. I was fully rooting for Andy but I'm not crying that Djoker won. Until whatever happened with the blisters and the glute/hamstring injury I was enjoying the match. Those defensive points are my kind of thing.

Meanwhile, and most importantly, where was Jelena? Did I just not see her? I need her and Nole to stick together.

Something I hadn't realized until Chris F. said it--the #1 seed won for men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles and women's doubles. I wonder when the last time that happened was. They didn't win in mixed--but the Aussies did. And I have no clue how Juniors wins translate from the Aussie Open but on the boy's side the Aussies won both singles and doubles. I know how hard Rafter and the rest of the Aussie tennis governing body have been working to get their country back in the champion talk so I bet they're thrilled.

[skyz]

It wasn't a bad match, it just felt tedious at points, to me. And I too was looking for Jelena, lt. I don't think I've seen her all tournament. I hope they haven't broken up either because they have almost 10 years together.

[mooncreek]

The #1 seed wasn't even in the draw for mixed - I think the team was Bryan/Raymond but withdrew prior to the start.

I did watch the mixed final as I've gotten a soft spot for Jarmila Gajdosova since Bartoli double bagelled her at Hopman Cup. She's had so much trouble with the home crowd pressure (a la Stosur), fallout from divorcing Sam Groth, and now her mother's death. That said, it was clear one team fit well together while you wouldn't know Hradecka was the highest ranked player with all the double faulting she did. I know I've heard of Cermak but didn't recognize him; he looked so awkward for someone supposedly a doubles specialist.

Recorded the men's final, as I work the weekends so there's no chance of seeing this until about twelve hours from now. It's weird to realize that there was no real doubt prior to the match that Novak would win - and this time, it had little to do with Andy. That Ferrer match was scary to watch!

[lt]

and this time, it had little to do with Andy.

You'll have to watch it to see if it changes your mind, but Andy played great and had a lot of opportunities to get a 2-set lead. They were extremely well-matched and even. Not that Andy getting injured and losing his legs was what prevented him from winning but it was not a clear outcome until the fourth set.

[acre]

I expected Djok to win, I wanted him to win(amazing! - play that beautifully and behave decently, and eventually I'll like you.) I didn't think it would be easy and it doesn't sound it. But nothing like last y's final.

So yay that we move to tennis I can watch at a decent time. I've just completely skipped the whole last weekend. I would've watched tape if Fed and Li had won, but eh. Mostly I hope Se-ena is ok and comes back quickly.