Australian Open '13 Point by Point Coverage

[skyz]

The Tomic/Federer crowd is chanting Whoop There It Is. I've never heard that before.

[GrandSlamGuru]

Very nice win for Sloane Stephens, though I like Robson too.

[skyz]

Looking forward to Monfils and Simon. Also to Date-Krumm's match and the winner will face Sloane.

Roger's come out nice and calm.

[harry24]

Yes!!! That was a tremendous second set from Roger and Tomic. And Rog guts out a great tiebreaker.

[mooncreek]

Just woke up to see ESPN2 has opted for reruning Serena's match over the still-going Simon/Monfils. Normally would hate this but I approve in this case.

I'm glad it seems that both Roger won in straights and Bernie stayed toe-to-toe for a good two sets.

Stunned that Chardy won that in 5. Impressive.

[breezybee]

I caught the final set of Monfils/Simon. Better than expected. Did anyone see the earlier sets? The commentator kept talking about a number of injuries that Simon had and couldn't understand why he kept playing. Best line of the night? After match point the commentator said, "I hope they just fall in to each other's arms".

[falafaclese]

I woke up to the very beginning of Fed/Tomic, and thought there had been some kind of delay. It took me a while to realize it was a replay.

Then I saw the feed for Monfils/Simon online and watched it for a little while, but the pace of matches between those two is always so languid (and today was no different), I just couldn't do it. Whoever compared it to two guys having a hit in the park is so right.

[skyz]

Long rallies, passive play from Monfils for the first 2 sets, then Simon started hurting sometime in the 3rd. Monfils got blisters on his hands and it looked like he was through, then it looked like Simon was going to keel over and die. More rallies and more errors. Interesting match in seeing who was left standing. Monfils should have won for sure.

[lt]

Very nice win for Sloane Stephens, though I like Robson too.

I thought I was going to root for Laura since she's my current female fave but I was so happy that Sloane won. And, boy, she was a pretty girl but she is growing into a gorgeous woman. Those eyes! That dimple!

I woke up to the very beginning of Fed/Tomic, and thought there had been some kind of delay. It took me a while to realize it was a replay.

I was awake until 4:30 watching the match and when my alarm went off this morning (four hours later) it was in the exact spot when I had fallen asleep! How lucky was that? Must admit, after watching that 2nd set tiebreak I got so nervous that I cheated and went to SportsCenter to see who had won. And for anyone who looks at the scoreline and decides not to bother watching the match--do. Instant classic. The shotmaking was perfection.

[falafaclese]

Jan 19, 2013 14:15:41 GMT lt said:

And for anyone who looks at the scoreline and decides not to bother watching the match. . .

That's exactly what I did. It wasn't intentional, because I still wanted to watch, but as soon as I realized it was a replay and saw the score, my attention was drawn elsewhere. I'll have to catch some of it when I get a chance.

I watched the Serena/Morita match, and Ayumi was so speedy and was working so hard that it felt like she deserved a closer scoreline than she got. When she managed to go up 3-0 in the second set, I thought it was going to continue to get dramatic, but then she came back down to earth, and Serena started serving bombs including one that was 128.7 mph. She also hit one at 128 earlier in the week matching her previous fastest, I think. I'm starting to wonder whether she'll break the record at some time this next week.

[lizm]

Just finished the Fed/Tomic match - great show! I shamefully admit to finding Tomic really cute in that 'just past puppy but thinks he's a big dog' kind of way. Looks like he needs a bit of conditioning, though... the last set was a bit of a mess, especially compared to the second.

With Roger sliding all over the court, I was a bit concerned that he might injure himself. I especially don't like it when he skids to a stop for no reason, after a point ends. That can't be easy on the body.

[mooncreek]

Ended up seeing ESPN2's replay of Federer-Tomic and agree that Bernie did hold his own.

Looking at my twitter feed regarding Simon-Monfils. This sounds as if it took the torture from the previous matches and added in injuries to both players (Simon=knee, Monfils=blisters on hand). I cannot figure how Simon won (or Monfils blew it) but it sounds like they really know how to torture each other. I also know there was a time when Simon asked for a chocolate bar while Monfils prefers drinking Coke. (rest assured, there's none of the "rallies" in this link)

[falafaclese]

Jan 19, 2013 17:59:18 GMT lizm said:

Just finished the Fed/Tomic match - great show! I shamefully admit to finding Tomic really cute in that 'just past puppy but thinks he's a big dog' kind of way.

I find him to be strangely reminiscent of Sam the Eagle from the Muppets. He seemed more likeable this time then I have seen him in the past. And the match was as entertaining as advertised.

This Kerber/Makarova match, on the other hand, is not all that entertaining.

A little better now. Makarova seems to be hitting more freely . . .

And she just won.

[roseha]

I also know there was a time when Simon asked for a chocolate bar while Monfils prefers drinking Coke. (rest assured, there's none of the "rallies" in this link)

Hah, hah, thanks Moon, now I don't have to watch the rest of it...sorry for Monfils though.

I'm glad Roger is playing so well since it doesn't appear any of his future opponents are going to be getting upset...the match with Tomic was entertaining, I agree. I enjoyed Stephens' win as well though was annoyed at Pam Shriver as usual ("you won without playing your best..." in front of the crowd?)

It would be fun if Serena and Sloane were to play. Did Date-Krumm win?

[mooncreek]

Date-Krumm lost to Jovanovski, hence the hype for Serena-Sloane.