2019 Australian Open...ATP 2000...Melbourne, Australia

[don_budge]

2019 Australian Open Ladies Final...Naomi Osaka vs. Petra Kvitova

I must admit that I have very little interest in the women's tennis. But on the other hand the men play virtually the same style. Fortunately none of the ladies have the unseemly style of one you know who. Both of these gals look to be rather well behaved and I don't anticipate any unnecessary drama or unseemly behaviour. Behaviour that makes you cringe. Should women act like ladies?

I like both of these ladies and their stories. Naomi Osaka is apparently of Japanese and some form of African descent. In the video that was censored in a thread about Serena William's behaviour there was an interesting discussion about "racism" in Japan. Their own form of nationalism. Apparently Naomi is not the national hero she would be if her lineage was pure Japanese. Culture is an interesting phenomena. Particularly so in a real and ancient culture such as the Japanese that perhaps isn't so susceptible to the social engineering of modern Western cultures.

Petra Kvitova had her career derailed in a random crime. She fended off an attacker who had a knife with her tennis hand and sustained some rather horrific injuries and here she is all the way to the Australian Open Ladies final.

It's really nice to see two very nice women competitors going at it in a sportsperson like manner. Good luck to both.

[arturohernandez]

I had to repost the interview transcript...the formatting from my Apple Word didn't translate the "..." or the " ' "...so I had to go back and insert them. Sorry arturohernandez...didn't mean to back over your post.

I wondered what had happened to my post.

Djokovic has one shot that bothers Nadal. He can hit the short angled backhand and push Nadal off the court to his forehand.

Nadal's defensive loopy forehand is not helpful cross court.

Then Nadal is forced to hit his shots down the line more.

Djokovic is the only one that consistently dictates against Nadal.

It is the way I imagine Agassi in his prime would have played Nadal.

Return really well and then sit in the middle of the court and make Nadal run to his forehand.

It's the only way to beat Nadal and Djokovic can do it with no risk.

Nadal has to play lights out aggressive which is not the way he normally wins.

The only question is how long Nadal can pull it off.

His whole game leaves the court open.

He fills the holes so quickly against everyone else.

But against Djokovic he cannot do this.

I am picking the immovable object to carry the trophy on Sunday.

[bman]

Another Djokovic-Nadal final incoming.

Just a reminder.

[gzhpcu]

Looks like the old question: what happens when an irrestible force meets an immovable object?

[stroke]

Novak has about 56% chance of winning the match per the odfsmakers, so he is of course the slight favorite. It appears the odfsmakers have taken note of Nadal's form in this tournament as Novak was such a strong pre-tournament favorite to win the title.

[don_budge]

I had to repost the interview transcript...the formatting from my Apple Word didn't translate the "..." or the " ' "...so I had to go back and insert them. Sorry arturohernandez...didn't mean to back over your post.

[don_budge]

Stefanos Tsitsipas...In His Own Words

http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/index...ad-idk.635723/

Thi may say it all better than any of us could possibly

Thanks so much for posting this interview stroke...I looked for it on youtube and came up empty.

Once upon a time...when Johnny Tango was working down in the bowels of the Rouge Plant as a technician in a Quality Control Laboratory in the Steel Division. Trying to figure a way out of the rut...to advance to the next level. One thing that he realised that if he had any kind of suggestion...any kind of proposal to improve the environment or the function of the department that he must submit it in writing. The reason being he surmised was that as soon as the air stopped moving that was created by his lips flapping most of what he had said was either forgotten or misunderstood. If it is in writing then the listener can go back and read word for word exactly what it was that they heard.

So I submit to you to the best of my ability a transcript of the Stefanos Tsitsipas post semifinals match interview. The interview is strangely revealing. The young man is an ultra charming personality in that he is totally unfazed with the situation and he is equally unfazed by his accomplishment. He wants more. He wasn't satisfied. He was merely in the process of sort of lazily "processing" his thoughts with the press corps after a crazy week of the Australian Open tennis tournament that he rather took by storm.

Stefanos impresses me as incredibly thoughtful and confident. He may have been disappointed...he certainly was tired. But already he is getting ready to get back on that horse. He is in the process of development and he seems to have his head in the game. All of the attention hasn't either sunk in or it hasn't impressed him. I am guessing the latter. There is so much to be gleaned from this sneak peek into his thoughts as he goes from answering to playfully teasing. I really, really like his attitude above all else. You see...ladies and germs...it is all about attitude. He lost the biggest match of his life but what the hell. We are all losers in the end. The question is not one of losing...it is one of being defeated. Two entirely different things.

Was Stefanos defeated by Rafael Nadal? Not one little tiny bit. Yes...he got his ass handed to him. But next time I will bet my bottom dollar he is saying to himself..."I'm going to beat this guy". I love this guy...Stefanos Tsitsipas.

R for Reporter...ST for Stefanos Tsitsipas


R: Do still feel like the happiest man in the world? What do you think is the most important takeaway from this match?

ST: Honestly I have no idea what I can take from that match. It’'s not as if I was even close to get something. I only got six games from that match…...and I don’'t know, I feel very strange…...I feel happy with my performance in this tournament but at the same time I feel disappointment. I feel I could do a bit better today...…I don’'t know. That’'s how I felt…...but it’'s a very, very weird feeling. It almost felt like I couldn’'t just play better.

R: Stefanos…...you look a bit dazed. Did he surprise you in any way or is it because it is right after the match and you just haven’'t processed it yet?

ST: Yes...…he did surprise me. HIs serve is not...…it’'s not the biggest serve on the tour. It’'s a pretty average serve. It’'s annoying to not getting close to breaking him at all. He’'s just very aggressive from the baseline...…that’'s just pretty much it. But I’'m...…I mean…...I don’t know. I really can’'t think of something positive from that match. Probably the second set, which is the one that I got closer to. The rest...…it kind of felt in a way as if it wasn'’t tennis so much like the other matches I played. It felt like a different dimension of tennis completely. He gives you no rhythm. He plays...…just…...a different game style than the rest of the players and he has this talent that no other player...…I have never seen a player have this…...he makes you play bad. I would call that a talent.

R: Stefanos...…though this is hard as you said. You only took six games, you were not even close, I understand that. Maybe not tomorrow, maybe not in a weeks time, but maybe in a few months will this defeat help you maybe?

ST: I hope so. I really don’'t know. That’'s definitely not the way I wanted to leave from the tournament. At least I wanted to fight…...maybe a fourth set. You know…...get something out of it. Not just leave with only six games from that match. That’'s what I meant in the previous interview. I just felt I could do better...…but I just couldn’'t today. The angles he was using...…my brain was used to a certain rhythm of the game...…the right handed players that I had played all week. And to him it felt that I was always...…when he was playing always on the wrong foot. Never really...…didn’'t check properly…...felt very slow today. I feel pretty fast when I am on the court...…I mean...…I have really improved in that part of my game. Today I felt like a two meter ten guy that cannot move on the court and that’'s definitely not me. I don't know. It just felt weird. The whole match felt weird from the very beginning. My body was stiff. I wouldn’'t say I was serving very well. As I said before he just has a talent to make you play bad. That’s it.

R: Do you feel at all tired? You'’ve played a lot of tennis these past two weeks. Did you feel fatigued at the start of the match at all?

ST: I felt a bit...…I was a bit...…I would say that I was not mentally in the match so much. I felt kind of empty in my brain…which is strange because I never feel like this when I am in the match. I really wanted badly to wake up. I felt a bit...…I felt my reaction time was very slow. I felt like everything was not that alert...…like it usually is. I felt a bit down...…just a click worse than I am usually and I really don’t know how to explain this. I guess from the match I played before...…the whole week that I played here. Trying to understand what was going wrong today.

R: When was the last time an opponent made you feel that way on the court?

ST: I probably say that the last time I felt like this...…good question…...in Paris Rolex Masters. I felt pretty much the same when I lost in the second round I think. I felt really not in the match. I felt like I was somewhere else. I was trying pump myself up a little bit…...just give a reason to be on the court but still couldn’'t find one. That was also a bad match that I played there. Actually I practiced with him...…I practiced with Rafa the day before I played Dhamir Dzumar...…and, I mean practice is different. But that was the tournament that Rafa had to pull out. We had the practice and after the practice he had to pull out...…the very next day...…I don’t know...…I felt…...I was playing horrible on the court. It wasn’'t me. That’s what I am thinking. That’'s what I said before.

R: Inaudible…

ST: Yea…...his game style makes your other half of your brain work more than it usually does. I don’'t know but I cannot find an explanation for that.

R: Stefanos…...you had a big week off the court as well. You got a lot of attention and everything for coming through and beating Roger. You did earn a trophy this week because you hit a hundred thousand subscribers on youtube…...but I am curious how much all that other outside stuff…...do you feel maybe effected this match or just made this whole tournament something that you have never experienced before.

ST: This match?

R: This whole tournament with all of the growing and growing attention. It was something new for you I would think.

ST: For sure...…for sure, I mean this tournament kind of changed and gave another dimension to my career. I’'m really happy I got some good wins this week. Against Roger…...again I will stick to that match because I did play very good tennis against Roger, against Bautista-Agut and also Betitinni in the first round match who is a great player in my opinion. I had good matches but I’'m really disappointed in today because I felt I could get closer and improve myself a little bit more and not let him dominate the entire match. It just felt wrong.

R: Do you think that the occasion was a factor? Being in your first Grand Slam final was a factor?

ST: Maybe...…I hope that it doesn'’t happen again. I really hope it doesn't because it'’s nice to have wins against these kind of players...…top four. It’'s not that I don’'t want it...…I really want it badly, but I got to want it even more than I want it at the moment.

R: Stefanos…...do you think this loss, even though disappointing, will motivate you to work even harder?

ST: I mean I’'ll try. Hopefully I’'ll get closer next time. I have been working really hard and it seems that it is even going worse than before. Against Rafa…...in Toronto I did play a good match against him. I had my hopes high for the next time. I said to myself...…I remember saying to myself I’'m going to beat this guy next time I play him. That’'s why I am so disappointed today because I wasn’'t even close. But again I am going to try work hard…...aim high...…hope one day maybe I can get a win against him.

R: I’'d to congratulate you. I saw Roger Federer beating Pete Sampras in 2001 and everyone thought he was going to win the tournament...…or could possibly win the tournament...…then he lost to Tim Henman in the quarters. Then you know what Federer did after this so you shouldn’'t get depressed. You lost one match. You are twenty years old. You are only twelve years less than Nadal.

ST: I agree with you. I don’t know. I’'m just trying to figure how Federer beat him so many times because he has a similar game style like me. I am just trying to understand how to...…I mean I don’'t want to lose to Rafa ten times in a row.

"Nadal has a talent for making you play poorly."

[arturohernandez]

The final will be big. But I expect that Novak will do what he always does. Take Nadal's high forehand and hit short cross court and vary it down the line. Nadal has no solution for Novak on hard courts. But you never know...

I dug these highlights out from the first round. Ironic that this game style does not lead to a better ranking overall. But he fared better than just about everyone else in the tournament against Nadal.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Duckworth_(tennis)

Is it better to lose badly with your A game or have a chance with your B game?

If I were a top junior coach for a singles player, I would force them to play doubles in every tournament.

https://youtu.be/LTK02BMUPBA

[stotty]

High Stakes

The final will be high stakes. If Nadal wins, and with Roland Garros to follow, he will be in spitting distance of equaling and possibly surpassing Roger's grand slam tally. If Novak wins, he will be within spitting distance of holding all four majors at the same time again. Not only that, he may be able to catch Roger in the grand slam tally stakes.

Remember, Novak hasn't lost to Nadal on hard courts since 2013, and all of them he won in straight sets. Novak is a huge mental barrier for Nadal but at Wimbledon last year he got awfully close.

Believe me, this final is awfully big.

[don_budge]

It's like the Matrix...

Do I sound like @don_budge?

It's super that you sound like arturohernandez. You have an excellent voice here on our forum. I think that I have had an "influence" here on the forum. My hope is that I make an impression on anyone who reads me. My hope is that I provoke others on the forum to think and just as importantly to express themselves. I hope that we can have this conversation. Tennis is such a rich game. The history. The ethics. The philosophy.

I always enjoy reading your comments...I find you thought provoking and opinionated. Unique. You know how to spin the ball.

[don_budge]

Exactly. Novak probably wants to lose less than six games just to make a point. Lucas is being completely outclassed...embarrassing for him...wants the ground to open up...lamb to the slaughter.

Lucas Pouille...another guy with that "deer in the headlights" look. The semi-finals of a Grand Slam event when it is your maiden voyage is another dimension. The nerves come into play. The two finalists have been there many times. Many, many times. It would be interesting to know how many players that have made the semi-finals for the first time go on to the finals or win the tournament. Getting there and being comfortable being there are two separate things.

[stotty]

Nadal versus Novak it is. Who's is your money on? I'm going for Novak in four.

[stotty]

Novak looks in top form, absolutely clinical vs Lucas. It appears he knows Nadal is in top form and rested and he knows he needs to there also. This should be some final.

Exactly. Novak probably wants to lose less than six games just to make a point. Lucas is being completely outclassed...embarrassing for him...wants the ground to open up...lamb to the slaughter.

[stroke]

Novak looks in top form, absolutely clinical vs Lucas. It appears he knows Nadal is in top form and rested and he knows he needs to there also. This should be some final.

[stroke]

Love your thoughts db and Stotty. And I really hope Novak gets through to the final. Otherwise, I think we all know what the outcome will be. I am also very curious what the betting odds will be if in fact Novak and Nadal meet. Novak was such an overwhelming pre tournament favorite for the title, but Nadal has been so impressive. I am very interested in what the line looks like. No matter, at this point, I am picking Nadal. On a side note, I already really liked Stef, but after that interview and the way he handled himself, I like him even more.