RealGM

It's a week away, but there's already a lot going on so I thought I would start this thread.

News just came out today that Maria Sharapova will not be defending her title because she still hasn't recovered from last year's shoulder injury. I'm disappointed about this, because whatever you think of her, much like the Williams sisters, the big tournaments are much more interesting when she is there. I happen to be a fan of her game, aside from the sound effects.

Also, Nikolay Davydenko is out on the men's side - not quite as big a deal, but still, a very good player who usually does well in slams.

One other thing I noticed is that Alexandra Wozniak could be seeded at the Australian this year. I can't remember the last time a Canadian player was seeded in a slam - it's got to be back in the 80s or something like that. Hopefully one of the Canadian men can jump up and join her later in the year.

Elena Dementieva. It is time.

go federer!!!!

Novak and Serena are my picks

Damn, the women's draw is really messy, anyone can win it with so many of the top seeds playing so poorly.

Just saw Nadal, he got huge.

Nadal and Serena are going to run circles around this field.

I'd got to watch Nadia Petrova against Mirza today. She looked pretty solid and took care of business pretty easily. She could be a dark horse if she reaches the semis.

If this is what ESPN's coverage will look like for the US Open I will arsonize Bristol.

Federer-Safin tomorrow - I hope it's about the second match on so that I can stay up and watch it!

Not too many big upsets so far. The good part about that is that once you hit the third round the matches start to get good, like the Federer one.

One big surprise was Nalbandian losing to someone I've never heard of. He won a tournament a week ago and some people thought he might go far.

Sadly all the Canucks are gone already. Great effort by Peter Polansky, he took Igor Andreev to 5 sets. He's about our only hope for the next 5 years, unless there's some teenager I've never heard of waiting to bust out.

Am i the only one that finds it weird seeing Nadal in proper tennis attire?!?!lol!!!

Watched the Federer and Nadal 2nd rounds..just an ordinary day in the office..
I want another year with Nadal and Federer finals...they are quite epic (except for the French Open last year ofcourse)

Missed yesterday's match, but seeing Venus get knocked out so early, WOW!

Can't wait for Federer vs. Safin this morning. Hope Fed can regain his God Form from years past and win some slams and break Sampras' record and then some.

The only player that can challenge Nadal on hardcourts is Murray, so that will be the key match of this Open. Nadal had the best hardcourt record of any player in 2008. He even made Djokovic cry in the Olympics, and that was the fastest hardcourt I've ever seen (faster than New York).

THEmasterWAYNE wrote:The only player that can challenge Nadal on hardcourts is Murray, so that will be the key match of this Open. Nadal had the best hardcourt record of any player in 2008. He even made Djokovic cry in the Olympics, and that was the fastest hardcourt I've ever seen (faster than New York).

Whoa there ... I think you're getting a little ahead of yourself.

As great as Rafael Nadal is, he has been to a grand total of zero grand slam finals on hard courts. While he may have had the best hard court record in 2008 (I'm taking your word on that, but it's probably correct), it's not like he came close to dominating on the surface.

In 2008, Nadal lost to the following guys on hardcourts: Youzhny, Tsonga, Seppi, Roddick, Djokovic (twice), Davydenko (twice), Kiefer, Murray, Simon. To me, that suggests that any of the top 10-15 players can beat him on hard court if they play well. Nadal is definitely one of the favorites, but no more so than Federer or Djokovic, and maybe a couple other guys as well.

Although ... Djokovic is having a bit of a rough time right now in his third round match. But he'll probably prevail.

Well Fed vs Marat was a letdown. Only the 3rd set did Safin bring anything, otherwise it was a steamroll for Federer.

Baghdatis vs. Djokovic.
The Greek Cypriot vs. the Serb. Orthodox Brothers going at it.
And by far the two best fanbases trying to outcheer the other. I'll be pissed beyond belief if security f*cks this up, this isn't Bosnia vs. Serbia.

MARCO! MARCO! GAMISETOUS MARCO!

Baghdatis vs Djoko could be very good. As good as Djoko's been looking so far, Baghdatis is a real fighter and I wouldn't be surprised to see this go to a 5 set slugfest.

lol @ serbians and bosnians

Just before, a GREAT match between Gonzalez and Gasquet. Chilean fans let off a flare at the conclusion of the match....

Australian Open security is **** shite, I could have gotten a flare in, I could have gotten a gun in if I really tried. All they did was pad my bag and let me through I was like oh yeah...

Nice comeback by Safina, down two breaks in the 3rd set and facing double match point, to win.

Nadal 53 winners and 8 unforced errors in a 6-4 6-2 6-2 victory. That's despite Tommy Haas (according to Jim Courier and myself) playing this match well enough to win tournaments and beat most players. Expect the same score against González.

Bartoli out of nowhere taking Jankovic down in straight sets. Didn't see that one coming.