2021 Australian Open...ATP 2000...Melbourne, Australia

[don_budge]

2021 Australian Open Men's Quarterfinals...Melbourne, Australia

Novak wins...smashing his racquet en route to his spot in the semifinals. What's his name gets Grigor Dimitrov to surrender in the other top half quarter. Nothing to see here. Business as usual at the Aussie Open. No fans in the stands. All because of thirteen positives cases of "COVID-19" at the airport. I guess it all makes sense...to somebody. It's a political football now. Truth seamlessly merging with fiction. Who knows what to believe anymore? About anything? Fake news? More like a fake life. A real Truman Show.

So it appears that Daniil Medvedev defeated Andrei Rublev. Straight sets. Mats Wilander said something to the effect that the red haired Russian is lacking in tennis IQ. I couldn't agree more and what's more I would venture to say that the median tennis IQ among tour players is borderline retarded. Mats went on to say that tennis IQ can be measured in variety of shots. If you want to increase your IQ, you need to increase the number and variety of shots in your repertoire. Rublev did not have the answer for the "unorthodox" game of the cagey Russian who has been known to answer to the nickname...Mr. Pencil. Tim Henman used the word "unorthodox" to describe the Medvedev game which came as no surprise. I said the same thing yesterday. Maybe Henman is reading me. But he said much the same thing...players have a difficult time anticipating where Medvedev is going with his shots. They have a hard time reading him. It will be interesting going forwards with Rublev. As I mentioned yesterday...he hasn't change much. He hasn't evolved. From Darwin's evolution of the species we know it isn't the strongest or even necessarily the smartest that survives...it is the one that adapts the best. If you want to eat your way up the food chain in the tennis world you have to learn to adapt.

Medvedev is a bit mercurial, whereas Rublev looks to be etched in stone which is in effect mired in the mud. In order to climb higher it appears he might have to take one step backwards in order to go two forwards. One only has to look no further that one Roger Federer to understand this tennis theorem. The Living Proof in the don_budge paradigm for tennis coaching. Tennis playing. Tennis philosophy. Tennis IQ. Smart guy Medvedev is in position. This is what the game is all about. It's what life is all about. Getting in position. Jockeying for position. Play from a position of strength. Daniil is in the hotel room studying his opponent. Feet are up. Air conditioning on. Food and drink. Resting. Waiting. Stealthy. Like a wolf. Calmly and patiently. He is surely in position. Anticipating.

Let's hope that Medvedev can show a bit more IQ than Stefanos Tsitsipas is showing. So far it looks as if Stefanos is relying more on his good looks than he is in any sort of tactical attack to the Nadal game. Nadal doesn't do anything different on a day to day basis. Neither do his opponents. They just go in and play right into his strength. Tsitsipas is playing for second place today so far. I wish it was different. But so far I haven't seen it. I have my ideas about what I would tell him to do if I was in his corner. But I am not so sure he has the IQ to pull it off. The variety of shot.

[stroke]

http://www.tennisabstract.com/blog/2017/01/30/the-federer-backhand-that-finally-beat-nadal/

I do not know Tsitsipas BHP for this match, but I would say it would be very revealing.

[stotty]

He's looking a bit more stable here in the third. Just needs to keep holding serve and go about things that way.

[stotty]

Another good hold by Tsitsipas to 4-3 up in the third. Needs to keep doing it. At 6'4'' with a big serve it doesn't take rocket science.

[stotty]

5-4 and another good hold...build behind that serve. Needs an inspired next game here...a Roger-like break.

[stotty]

5-5

Is it me or is hawk-eye a bit off?

[stotty]

Another good hold. I detect a glimmer of hope. Not much of a one but a glimmer nonetheless.

[stotty]

2 sets to one.

Well done...Nadal missed two overheads in that tie-break...unheard of.

[stroke]

A glimmer as you say. Nadal with some very uncharacteristic errors in that tiebreak, but nice job by Stef.

[stotty]

Set 4 will be all about holding serve again for Tsitsipas...one lapse and it will be goodnight. Nadal looks like he's steadied his ship again.

[stroke]

Latest odds show Nadal at 80% chance of winning. It will be interesting to see what happens if Stef can get to 5th set.

[stotty]

Tsitsipas had a golden opportunity to break at 15-40 which would have been another significant momentum shift...he failed. Nadal just doggedly hangs in, as usual.

[stroke]

Nadal appears to be slowing down a bit. We will see. 5th could possibly favor the 22 year old. But he has to get there, no easy ask.

[stotty]

Nadal appears to be slowing down a bit....

Yes, I noticed that too...half a step slower.

[stotty]

We're in the 5th set

It's going to interesting from here...