OT- 2012 Australian Open Final Open Thread
January 29th, 2012 at 2:45 AM ^
15 minutes to go...gotta keep pregaming
January 29th, 2012 at 3:24 AM ^
Hours ago.
January 29th, 2012 at 3:32 AM ^
I can get through five more beers by the morning.
January 29th, 2012 at 4:46 AM ^
Hey dude, is that cat in your avatar yawning? Seems like it would be apropos right about now.
January 29th, 2012 at 3:18 AM ^
The only Australian chick that I ever met took her bikini bottoms off in the hot tub and sat on my lap. She was the biggest cocktease that this world has ever seen.
January 29th, 2012 at 3:53 AM ^
Put that coffee down!
January 29th, 2012 at 4:14 AM ^
Maybe the best line I ever have read on this site. Kudos.
January 29th, 2012 at 4:50 AM ^
They love American men cause Australian dudes are kinda crude to them. Shit, for that matter most women in the world love American men cause their countrymen treat them like shit basically.
January 29th, 2012 at 3:52 AM ^
Both players hold serve, 1-1 first set.
January 29th, 2012 at 4:11 AM ^
Nadal gets the first break of the match, up 3-2 first set.
January 29th, 2012 at 4:41 AM ^
Djokovic breaks back. Back to equality, tied at 4 first set.
January 29th, 2012 at 4:54 AM ^
If Nadal wins it, he's got a chance, but if Novak takes it, I don't think Rafi has a chance
January 29th, 2012 at 5:06 AM ^
Looks like a great match in the making.
On another note, what's the over/under on how many times Rafa picks at his ass in this match?
January 29th, 2012 at 6:28 AM ^
Djokovic is just dominating Nadal right now. His returns are just nasty and he's barely missing on his groundstrokes. The fact that the match is still close is pretty crazy becuse Nadal is getting worked.
January 29th, 2012 at 6:57 AM ^
Just took the 3rd set in a dominant way. Looks like he will win, I hope another Novak wins today in C'Bus.
January 29th, 2012 at 7:04 AM ^
This is a lot of fun to watch. Nadal will seemingly take control of a point and then Djokovic will just punch right back and take control. It's pretty unbelievable with Nadal on the other side there.
January 29th, 2012 at 8:05 AM ^
Joining in progress at 8 AM :)
Good to hear Fowler doing PBP
January 29th, 2012 at 8:29 AM ^
seems like Djokovic got a little too aggressive there in the 4th set breaker. Hoping to see him pull it out in the 5th.
January 29th, 2012 at 8:54 AM ^
Djokovic all of the sudden with tons of errors. Nadal is slowly taking control it seems. Novak is really going to regret not breaking 0-40 in the 4th set it looks like. Amazing how 5 set tennis matches change like this so often.
January 29th, 2012 at 9:10 AM ^
Woke up about 20 minutes ago, realized it was still on. These guys are good, wow.
January 29th, 2012 at 9:12 AM ^
Is that Vlade Divac sitting with Novak's family?
January 29th, 2012 at 9:21 AM ^
yes, and that is awesome,
January 29th, 2012 at 9:12 AM ^
Also...ESPN keeps saying this is the longest final in Men's Grand Slam history. Didn't the Wimbeldon match a few years ago that went to ~80 games in the fifth set beat this?
January 29th, 2012 at 9:14 AM ^
It was an early round match.
January 29th, 2012 at 9:16 AM ^
had 30 games in the fifth set, about 80 games total for the match. I guess in terms of actual time thought it might have been shorter.
January 29th, 2012 at 9:23 AM ^
Wiki says that match was over 4 hours, so I'd assume it's less than the almost 6 hours we have in this match.
January 29th, 2012 at 9:25 AM ^
I thought you were referring to the Mahut vs. Isner match. But yeah, from what I see on Wikipedia, the Roddick vs. Federer match was shorter than the current matchup based on time, even though it's longer based on games.
January 29th, 2012 at 10:21 AM ^
that Wimbledon is played on grass courts, which mean much shorter points. Typically, you expect clay courts to have the longest rallies (and matches), then hardcourt, then grass.
January 29th, 2012 at 9:14 AM ^
Just realized that vlade divac is in djokovic's box. Now im really pulling for him. Vlade is awesome.
January 29th, 2012 at 9:21 AM ^
I'm not the biggest fan of tennis but this match is pretty damn good. For me it's right up there with Federer/Nadal from Wimbledon '08 as the best match that I have watched.
January 29th, 2012 at 9:24 AM ^
For as tired as Djoko is, Nadal isn't getting any easy points on serve. Evert time he goes to the slice backhand on serve, I feel like he's ceding the point.
Also, I hate Djokovic.
January 29th, 2012 at 9:29 AM ^
...and he loses the championship on a slice backhand. It's a shot of weakness and defeat.
January 29th, 2012 at 9:31 AM ^
its not over yet, although its close. i wonder if bluebarron and blue dragon are still up
January 29th, 2012 at 9:27 AM ^
What a great match, cant leave my couch. I need to go work out!
January 29th, 2012 at 9:30 AM ^
By far the best tennis match I've ever seen. Nadal has done a hell of job to keep himself in it and he was up a break in the 5th set, too.
January 29th, 2012 at 9:38 AM ^
Very glad I got watch almost all of the match.
January 29th, 2012 at 9:32 AM ^
His girlfriend or whoever that blonde is might be the most gorgeous woman I've seen in my life.
January 29th, 2012 at 9:38 AM ^
I honestly think Rafa's girl is hotter.
January 29th, 2012 at 9:34 AM ^
break point? let's go rafa
January 29th, 2012 at 9:44 AM ^
Don't usually watch Grand Slam finals but this was a good one. Almost 6 hours.
Congrats to Novak.
January 29th, 2012 at 9:45 AM ^
It's amazing how psychology works at the highest level of tennis. Federer just plain misses the same shots against Rafa that he makes against anyone else. Rafa is the same with Djokovic--he doesn't make the same errors against Federer that you saw today and in last years finals against Djokovic. Djokovic did have a mental hurdle against Federer, but I think last year's U.S. semifinal did a lot to eliminate that.
On a side: I don't know if Federer can recover from this tournament to win another major. He was playing great, in form, and still got smacked down by Rafa. He's had so many major event opportunities to restore some of what Rafa has taken from him, but he fails time after time after time. I didn't think he'd be able to pull himself together after the 2009 Aussie, but he won a couple more majors still. I think he's done at this point, though. He's got the psychological block against both Rafa and Djokovic now. He can keep beating up the Andy Murrays and Roddicks of the world, but no more majors for Fed.
January 29th, 2012 at 9:51 AM ^
I think Roger wont win another major. Only way for him is to have Djoker and Rafa eliminated somehow. The one handed backhand let him down. Although, it has gotten better.
January 29th, 2012 at 10:08 AM ^
I think Federer could pull out one more major like Sampras did. I agree that he looks done, but if things come together right for him, he could do it. I'm guessing it will take an injury and/or some weird upsets, but Federer has the ability. It is weird seeing him fall like he has. He used to be the perfect player, but now he has spurts where he's perfect and spurts where he's terrible. If he gets on a run, then I think he could pull a major championship together.
January 29th, 2012 at 11:08 AM ^
Its amazes me that Roger has not had a major injury, he is so well conditioned. Novak reminds me of the same. He can roll from here.
January 29th, 2012 at 11:00 AM ^
January 29th, 2012 at 11:18 AM ^
I've asked this before on this site, and I'll ask it again:
Does anyone without a personal connection to the man or, more abstractly, to Serbia or to douch, actually like Novak Djokovic? I find him utterly unlikeable and with nary a redeeming quality. If someone feels otherwise, I would be extremely interested in your insights.
January 29th, 2012 at 11:21 AM ^
I am curious. I didnt like him early on. Now my view has changed a little. His talent level is amazing. And he has seemed to be more likeable, not as arrogant as before. Why do you not like him?
January 29th, 2012 at 11:57 AM ^
I guess he still just seems like that petulant child that made those snotty remarks after beating Andy Roddick at the U.S. in 2008. His on-court antics annoy me. It bothers me how he always exaggerates injuries. He never seems truly gracious about anything--his recently developed maturity comes across as manufactured. When his true emotions come out on-court, he still acts like a brat.
Maybe I'm a traditionalist with tennis (I definitely hold tennis players to a different standard of conduct than any other athletes), and I've defintely been spoiled by the character of Federer and Nadal. It's hard to match their poise and attitude. It bothers me all the more that Djokovic has turned the table on such great champions as them.
With great people and talents like Federer and Nadal (and, in the next tier, Del Potro and Tsonga) out there, I just don't know why anyone would throw their support behind Djokovic. Brian Phillips at Grantland wrote a positive article on him recently, but I don't see it at all.