Australian Open (3 Viewers)

[Kujah]

So who's your pick of the winners of the '08 Tennis Australian Open?

I'm hoping Djokovic and Henin take out the tournament this year. Though, Federer will probabaly 'suprisingly' win it on the mens side.

 

[wuddie]

the top seed for both men and women look very strong, so they will take it out.

tough draw for hewitt again, although i will be happy if he can make it to the 4th round and plays djokovic.

 

[*rUsTy*]

Roger & Justine

 

[aznboystar]

im going for baghdatis in the mens, but federer will probably win anyway.
for the womens, i would put my money on henine or one of the williams.

 

[Iheartpaulfrank]

I secretly hope Safin will win. Doesn't look like there's much chance of that happening again.

 

[Aplus]

Men's: Federer
Ladies': Sharapova

 

[Muz4PM]

C'mon Lleyton!

Narh, he won't win. I think he is past winning the major tournaments I think. He will be lucky to eek one out before now and retirement I think.

I will be predictable and tip Federer to win for the men. I have not had a look at the women's field yet, but I think maybe Henin or Sharapova.

 

[lachlan43]

I want to see Guccione do well, but he plays Gonzales in the 2nd round, which is quite tough. Federer will probably win, despite his lack of preparation. Perhaps Roddick's Kooyong form will mean something this year. Who knows?

Women's draw, hopefully neither of the Williams sisters wins. That's all I can say. Oh, and that I want Hantuchova to win, but would gladly settle for Henin winning.

 

[Zephyrio]

Mens' Singles: I hope Roddick wins it, to inject some interest into the game (since doubters have been saying that he's never going to win a slam again etc). But if I was betting my house, my bets would be on Federer. I don't like Djokovic: not only do I think he's a total jackass, but he takes way too much advantage over "injury" timeouts when he's down.

Womens' Singles: I hope that Ana Ivanovic wins it, or Jelena Jankovic. Above all though, I would like Lindsay Davenport (comeback Mama) to win it all, because it would be simply amazing for the women's game if someone came seven months after pregnancy and won a slam. Davenport meets Sharapova in the second round though.

Sharapova will not win AO. She has Davenport 2nd round, Justine quarters, Williams semi and Williams final, which she will NOT get through. Williamses have a huge edge over her because of their sheer atheletic ability and determination. The last two times she played Serena, she only took five games in total.

 

[Mark576]

I want to see Guccione do well, but he plays Gonzales in the 2nd round, which is quite tough.

Women's draw, hopefully neither of the Williams sisters wins.

Here's hoping that Serena Williams doesn't win. :mad1:

As to Guccione's chances ...if Guccione is in form and if Gonzales plays like he was playing against Baghdatis, then Guccione will win IMO. However, Gonzales was playing much better against Safin, but still not showing his true spark at this point.

 

[Kujah]

I doubt Lleyton will win this year, or the year after, or in his career. Guccione > Hewitt

 

[Zephyrio]

Lleyton Hewitt is all talk.

LOL. I think he has Safin/Marcos 3R, Djokovic 4th.

 

[the-derivative]

Roger Federer and Maria Sharapova

I wanna see how far Lleyton Hewitt goes though - probably not far.

 

[Nebuchanezzar]

Go Federer for the mens, and I don't care for women's tennis.

Interesting to see if this new surface makes any difference I suppose. I don't know much about tennis, but I gather it will make some difference (and make Hewitt mad, presumably)

 

[SyCoTiC]

I secretly hope Safin will win. Doesn't look like there's much chance of that happening again.

Another Safin fan! :rofl:

Absolutely love the guy. One of the great characters of world tennis. Hope he stays injury-free this year as he can be a force once again! If he can stay match fit and get rid of those little errant spurts of plays he has, then he at least will make it deep into the slam at the very least.

Realistically however, I'm looking at Nadal to win it for the men's and Henin for the women's.

 

[Zephyrio]

Nadal lost 60 61 against Youzny in Chennai a week ago.

Enough said, really... he's not in fantastic form, and not to mention the pressure on his athletic body increases in Australia. He's really prone to be being blasted off court on surfaces not on clay. Look at what Gonzalez did to him a year ago. Completely blown off court.

Safin is really iffy. If he can play his best, there's no doubt he'll be a force to be reckoned with. But my feeling is that he'll get knocked out by either Marcos 2R, Hewitt 3R, Djokovic 4R. Too tough on his ageing shoulders.

Henin seems to be our woman to win the AO, and probably rightly so since she's coming off US Open, WTA Championships and Sydney wins. She posted up the best winning percentage since Steffi Graf in 1989. But one thing of note is that her serve has seemed shaky, which will be exacerbated in Melbourne where:
a) It's stifling hot
b) there's glare everywhere
She made nine double faults against Ivanovic, and from the last two matches in Sydney going to three sets, she wasn't really dominant and just played so awesome clutch points. To win, she's got to get through: Golovin 4R (though Golovin is the eternal choker in slams), Sharapova/Davenport QF, Williams SF, Williams/Kuznetsova/Ivanovic F. Very, very very tough draw for the number one seed, especially where she can get mentally and physically tired after two week's play (and also, from the QFs onwards, she will need to beat players with a combinsed 15/16 slams most probably). Prime example was her melt-down against Bartoli at Wimbledon. Won the first set 6-1 but really just crumbled towards the end of the 2nd set. That said though, Bartoli was playing some delicious tennis.

 

[Kujah]

Nadal 'cause of his fitness the other day. He played a long, long marathon against Moya in the semi-finals and I guess that took a toll on him eventually in the final.

Safin's one of the best players to watch when he's really in-form, but his inconsistencies and fitness have dogged him over the past few years. If he gets past Marcos, he'll beat Hewitt but fall to Djokovic eventually if he gets that far.

 

[wuddie]

Nadal lost 60 61 against Youzny in Chennai a week ago...

as much as you are making a point, you cannot judge a player's form from one match of tennis. nadal has some very good techniques in his game which are most suited to clay, but he still makes a hell of a player on grass, case in point being last year's wimbledon where it took a certain top seed to take him out in the final. but i feel that because of his extreme western grip, it takes much longer to wind up and go through the stroke, so slower surfaces will suit him more. whereas on hard courts, he either has to play far back from the baseline, or he simply doesn't have the time to wind it up and go for a huge toppy. i cannot see nadal winning the aust or us open unless he changes his game.

if nalbandian can continue his form from the end of last year, where he ripped everyone (yes, incl federer), he will win it.

 

[Kujah]

Lets hope his back spasms don't come back again

On Nadal, most of the players have said that the courts this time in Melbourne Park are slower than Rebound Ace. So it might work in his favour this year :uhhuh:

 

[your.knee]

I'm guessing Federer and Henin.

Lleyton is just there for Australian ratings, hes not going to get too far. I find him and Sharapova annoying to watch. I seriously have to put the TV on mute when Sharapova plays.

Anyone watching the Williams game now? Shes playing an Australian and has just won the first set 6 - 3