Djokovic has the easy half of the draw. Nadal and Del Potro in one quarter. Federer, Tsonga, and Murray in another quarter. Both those quarters share the top half. Berdych, Ferrer in another quarter. Djokovic, Wawrinka in the last one. Gasquet also in the bottom quarter. And this is the bottom half
Sharapvoa, Radwanska, and Azarenka all are in the bottom half of the draw. Serena and Na Li in the top half.
every major, there are some ridiculous first round matchups. You get two strong players against each other and you get two weak players against each other. You get some top seeds facing complete scrubs who are questionable in terms of being 'pro' and then you get the #1 overall seed Nadal facing Tomic, who's no pushover. Shouldn't the #1 seed get the weakest opponent in the first round? How is Tomic even close to being the weakest? I think he's ranked 52nd, and he just made the finals in Sydney.
http://www.cbssports.com/tennis/story/24407763/venus-kvitova-out-in-first-round-at-australian-open Three-highly-ranked players were beaten in the first round, including 2011 Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova and two Italians. Sixth-seeded Kvitova lost 6-2, 1-6, 6-4 to No. 88-ranked Luksika Kumkhum of Thailand, who was playing in just her second Grand Slam tournament after reaching the second round at Melbourne Park last year. No. 7 Sara Errani, the 2012 French Open finalist, was beaten 6-3, 6-2 by Julia Gorges of Germany and No. 12 Roberta Vinci lost 6-4, 6-3 to Zheng Jie of China.
Gorges isn't a terrible players, seems like she would have been a tough 1st round match for a lot of seeded players. Is she coming back from an injury, don't really follow her too much but I know the name.
I'm not sure. Last year she made the quarters in the Aussie Open, but then lost 1st round the next 3 majors. I think that might be why she's unranked
Pretty sure that article spelled her name wrong. I know her name. She's not a bad player, but the women's pool of talent constantly fluctuates. Players who make a splash can disappear. I'm going to watch the later rounds but they make it very hard to Americans to follow live because of the timing of the best matches (2 AM start, or thereabouts).
Too bad I couldn't stay awake for the Hewiit match, I went to bed after the 3rd set which Lleyton won 7-5. Hewitt won the 4th set 7-5 and Seppi won the 5th 7-5.
A lot of the players are complaining about the heat and that it is way too hot to be playing right. Caroline W's water bottle melted... http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...ckis-water-bottle-melts-player-vomits-in-heat 8 withdraws from the men's 1st round.
yes there have been a ton of people retiring/withdrawing Kohlschreiber was a heavy favorite and withdrew prior to facing Bedene then a bunch of people retiring mid-match like Tomic
It's hard to argue with the point that 108 degrees is too hot to be playing tennis. Sooner or later someone is going to go into seizures on the court, and then they'll institute some sort of policy of a maximum temperature (or heat index) at which they'll play.
Yeah they have to figure something out and I think you are on point with the heat index. You can't have this many players retiring and you can't have top players complaining.
it's especially brutal when it's best of 5. Good luck making it through a 4+ hour match in those conditions.
http://www.smh.com.au/sport/tennis/...ian-player-frank-dancevic-20140114-30t3y.html http://metro.co.uk/2014/01/14/tenni...nd-then-collapses-at-australian-open-4262584/ Dancevic, 29, collapsed mid-match during his first-round clash with France’s Benoit Paire and was unconscious for a about a minute before returning to lose 7-6, 6-3, 6-4. The world No.122 called being asked to play in temperatures of 42C in Melbourne ‘inhumane’ and admitted he believed an unexpected guest had appeared on Court Six. ‘I was dizzy from the middle of the first set and then I saw Snoopy and I thought, “Wow Snoopy, that’s weird”,’ Dancevic said. ‘I couldn’t keep my balance anymore and I leaned over the fence and when I woke up people were all around me.’ Other incidents included former women’s world No.1 Caroline Wozniacki’s plastic water bottle melting on court; 2008 finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga’s shoes softening in the heat; and Serbian Jelena Jankovic burning her backside on an uncovered seat.
As someone who routinely deals with temps like that I can tell you it is absolutely insane. I have no idea if they are a dry heat or have humidity but 108 is way too hot to play a 4 hour match. It's brutal for the fans as well.
