Ok guys, the first big name is out. Was it unexpected to you? My knowledge on him ain't great but I don't particularly remember him doing well in any Grand Slam?? Maybe he can't handle the pressure at them??

From the BEEB:

Fourth seed Ivan Ljubicic crashed out to Mardy Fish on the opening day of the Australian Open in Melbourne.
The Croat started well and took the first set but American Fish raised his game to secure a 4-6 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 6-4 victory in two hours and 53 minutes.

Ljubicic, who reached the last eight last year, went into the tournament in good form having beaten Andy Murray in the final of the Qatar Open.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/tennis/6262313.stm

I am shocked.
I mean I didnt expect him to make the finals or anything but to gout this early :o

Big disappointment for him..........It will be interesting who comes through from that quarter

Well, i didn't predict him to go out, but I think most people knew that he might struggle against Fish. Ljubicic just doesn't seem to be able to perform that well in slams, he must gain a lot of points from doing well in other tournies throughout the year.

His results for the last 4 slams are:

Australian Open - Out in first round
US Open - Out in first round
Wimbledon - Out in third round
Roland Garros - Out in semis

As far as I can see he hasn't actually reached a slam final yet!

Well quite frankly he got CAUGHT IN A SHOAL OF FISH!!!!!!!

Didn't Nick predict that Fish would make a bit of a splash?

I predicted this in MrI's mini contest; so I must be doing better in that than Liam's which I forgot about :doh:

So Im pleased he lost even if no-one else is :devil: roflmao

No he's not known for doing particularly well at slams, he crashed out in the first round of the USO as well!

But he is number four, and after getting to the semis of the FO last year I think people expected bigger things from him. Sadly he just doesn't deliver.

Ljubi is a bit of a conumdrum to me. He is a classy player with a great serve. he blossomed late in his career, which can be a good thing as the pressure and expectation are lifted then. And he's got a very high ranking so must be doing something very well indeed. However, he is very dissappointing in slams. Anyone hazard a guess as to why????

I do think Fish is a tricky opponent though, he's one tough cookie who can cause upsets, so maybe in this case a lot of it was down to that? Well i never saw the match so can't say ... Good luck to Fish though, I havent; seen him play too often but when I have I've been impressed with his style and attitude. He was a bit flash too, which I like.

I don't think he has the stamina to play long matches. I don't how is his 5 sets records but I think he may lose his motivation before losing his breath. One of the two anyway.

DId anyone notice that the court is definitely playing a bit fast? Fish was serve and volleying with a lot of success. Have to disagree with Federer's comments.
Gives an edge to Roddick and today's Nadal-Kendrick match would be good.

I wasn't surprised at all. Fish has been playing really well lately. And what an opening day it was for the American players! I don't think any of the Americans lost, and there were three upsets against seeded players by unseeded Americans. (Querrey might be one to watch in the next couple years.)

Yes a great day for the americans. Must be a decade since we had so much success in a slam.
Dont want Kendrick to upset Nadal though tonite.

Just checked all the scores, and the Americans were not quite perfect. Feli Lopez beat Brian Wilson. Looks from the scoreboard like Wilson must have retired from that match in the fourth set tiebreak. :blink:

So, just 6-1 for the US men on the first day.

From what people had said on the Fish thread (apart from some truly awful fish puns!), it looked like Fish was going to be a difficult customer and so he proved.

But didnt Ljub himself say something about maybe not being able to handle the pressure of a slam? I read it earlier so cant remember the exact phrasing but he said something about feeling like the number 4 in everything but slams... shame really - you want your top ten boys to be able to fight in all tourneys, but... :shrug:

Anyway, well done to Fish, I guess he might prove to be one to watch during the next couple of weeks.

Yep - Fish has really been improving over the last few months, and it looks like he's worked hard during the off season, so I wasn't surprised to see him performing well (I left during the third set). And considering Ivan's poor records in the Slams, I can't say I'm majorly surprised...

he ran into an unfortunate draw and a bad day.

Ivan losing was a suprise to a degree but we have all seen what fish can do before but i expected ivan to come through that one.When is Alan Mackin playing i havent heard anything yet?

he's 1st up on court 19 v. lapentti.

ok cheers for the info. :D

I'm delighted that Ljubicic is out, although this surprised me. Fish might have reached the Auckland semis, but he got a bagel and breadstick off Ferrer once he was there, so I didn't perceive his form as being too great. I saw Ljubo having a decent run in Melbourne (which probably explains why he crashed out).

Speaking of Ferrer, he went on to beat Robredo handily in the Auckland final, so he seems to be in very good form. Looking at his section of the draw, I'm gonna tip him to reach the quarters. Sorry Dave!

Cheers for your thoughts. You might be right there, because a lot of the tournies he does well in are 3 setters only. Maybe it is just too daunting for him, who knows? Interesting though how some players thrive in the GS five set environment - remember Todd Martin? He always seemed to go five sets and I used to enjoy watching him battle away. :) And Hewitt has the stamina for a five setter too.