Quality Tennis Discussion / Australian Open 2020 contest/discussion

**Posted by Forehand_lob** 1/20/2020 9:41 am

This is up very late, so there will probably be no contest. But we can still discuss things and say "if there were a contest, I would have picked these players."

**Posted by Forehand_lob** 1/20/2020 9:51 am

Men's QF

Nadal vs. Anderson (Thiem)
Medvedev vs. Zverev
Sandgren vs. Federer
Tsitsipas vs. Djokovic

Semifinals

Nadal vs. Medvedev
Federer vs. Tsitsipas

Final

Federer d. Nadal in 5

BL: Zverev

Women's Quarterfinals

Barty vs. Kvitova
Osaka vs. Serena
Bencic vs. Halep
Svitolina vs. Pliskova (Kerber)

Semifinals

Kvitova vs. Osaka
Bencic vs. Pliskova

Final

Pliskova d. Osaka

BL: Keys

Had to get my girl Kerber in there somehow!

**Posted by funches** 1/25/2020 3:06 am

I would have picked Djokovic and Osaka to win the tourney. I was not surprised by Pliskova's loss because she is too slow and too shaky in big moments during slams.

I expect Kenin to beat Coco. I'm not anti-Coco--she will be tremendous down the road--but she's not there yet. Osaka handed her the match. Kenin will make her beat her, and I don't think she's ready to do it.

The men's final will be Djokovic beating Nadal again unless Kyrgios gets to the fourth round and takes out Rafa, which is unlikely. The only guy I can see troubling Djokovic is Raonic if he serves huge. As good as the Djoker's return is, he has struggled in the past with gigantic serves, particularly against Kyrgios but occasionally against Isner. Raonic on a really good day can hit groundstrokes well enough to hang with Djokovic. And there is no way Kyrgios will reach the final even if he beats Nadal. He's incapable of playing that many matches without imploding.

Last edited by funches (1/25/2020 3:07 am)

**Posted by Forehand_lob** 1/31/2020 12:09 am

I feel safe in saying that my Sandgren pick would have gotten me some WTF points back in the days of active contests.
I caught some of Barty v. Kenin. This was the Barty that I remember from her poor strategy against Serena in the French Open when she first came back. I know she can play, but back then, I have to wonder what she was doing just hitting the ball back to Serena. I mean, make her run! Last night she made Mauresmo circa 2003 look like a pillar of mental strength.
Hopefully, Kenin v. Muguruza will be a good match. I feel the match is on Mugu's racquet, but Kenin looks like she'll make whatever play she can to win.
I know that Thiem has a large winning record against Zverev, but I think that Zverev is going to pull off the win. Just a feeling.

**Posted by funches** 2/02/2020 11:26 am

Yes, Sandgren would have racked you up the WTF points. Heck of a pick, and he earned his way to the quarters with tremendous play rather than getting lucky because of a hole in the draw.

Kenin winning was a shock to me because I watched her get crushed by Collins in Adelaide the week before the Aussie Open started.

Interesting that Coco Gauff lost to Halep in the fourth round at Wimbledon and was called overhyped in some circles before Halep cruised to the Wimbledon title. When Gauff lost to Kenin in the third round here, we heard the same thing, and then Kenin won the title. But the one time a player appeared likely to win the title after beating Gauff at a major, Osaka crashed out of the U.S. Open in her next match.

**Posted by Forehand_lob** 6/25/2020 7:19 am

Way, way back when I saw Sloane Stephens play doubles in the first Citi Open, I described her as a "work in progress." She had the strokes, but couldn't put them together very well. She eventually learned that.

In contrast with Coco Gauff, I feel Coco Gauff's game is much better "put together." I think there has also been a move at the top of the game away from the straight power player to the more defensive+ players. I mean, look who has won the past several slams, only Osaka really qualifies as a power player, the Kerbers, Haleps, and Kenins are the defensive+ players that have won slams (and that + is important since they all can shift in angles or some extra physicality that purely defensive players don't have).

**Posted by funches** 6/27/2020 1:48 pm

Good point about the defensive players dominating the recent slams.

Gauff definitely has a more put-together game than Stephens and is more committed to her craft. Having acknowledged that, when Stephens is in shape and committed, I believe she is the best player in the world with no weakness. I doubt she will ever get to that level again, but the tools are there if she wants to use them.

**Posted by funches** 6/27/2020 3:13 pm

One other thing. It looks like the tennis-x inner forum is finally inaccessible, so the history there is gone.

As recently as earlier this year, I could still get to it by typing in tennisxforum.com even though it had been eliminated from the Tennis-X main page. About once a year, I would make a post on an old thread just to see if it still worked.