So, the AO 2008 starts in just over a month :yikes: What are your thoughts and predictions on the tournament?

Is Federer going to win it again? And will we get a better final than last year? :P

Will Roddick have recovered from his humiliation of last year?

Will Nalby have stayed off the mince pies for long enough to be able to challenge for the title?

Who are the other players in with a shot?

Are there any up-and-coming players who may spring a surprise on everyone?

How many days will go by before we get the "it's a bit hot" comments from players? :P

Any thoughts on these questions or any other points to make...... :)

Yes, I think he will. Although I am rooting for Naldbandian. :ok:

I hope so. It depends on the surface, I believe next year is a new surface, but I could be wrong.

Well he reached the semi-finals....that wasn't bad. He got pummelled by Federer but then again a lot of other people did this year as well. I am not sure if he will do as well in 08.

I hope so. :ok:

This is tough to predict because I believe we have a different surface at the AO next year, can anyone remember if it supposed to be slower or faster? If there isn't much difference from last year I see Federer dominating again, but am praying Nalby can maintain his late season form.

Gasquet flatters to deceive, but could this be his breakthrough year? Murray may well go far in this tournament.

Day 1. :D

Difficult to predict what will happen but like last year , I will not take into consideration previous tounies to make an opinion on it. Kooyong, Sydney and the rest are not really telling us about the form in the one that counts, the Slam.

Yes, I see Federer with a good shot.

Nadal? Maybe, maybe not. I would say 1/4 at best again though fully fit, certainly a finalist.

Djoko. - A much safer bet. If anything, I was surprised how well he did in Shanghai considering he dd not seem to care and had no serve.

Nalby - Yes he can win it, but will he? Once thing we know for sure is that his first round matches are going to be key for his form in the later rounds. He can easily lose in early rounds unfortunately.

Davydenko? Dunno. The fast surface can help him. Will he be in a good frame of mind?

Gonzalez - ....Nope. Those kind of runs rarely repeat themselves and I can see him out in early rounds especially with the added pressure of defending tons of points.

Roddick - Fast surface should help him but I think any top 100 on form can take him out.

Ferrer - Certainly a tough opponent for the 126 other players (1/4 I'd say)

Gasquet - Who knows?

Murray - Certainly a more consistent player than the French man, Can certainly reach 1/4.

Any other potential dangerous players? Don't think so...not even Blake nor Marcos unfortunately.

I think it'll be interesting to see whether Nadal is fully fit for the AO. He's obviously playing down his injury problems, but it's clear he wasn't at the top of his game at the end of the season :shrug:

Murray could do well if he gets a coach sorted - and probably a fitness coach too. He strikes me as the type of player who needs someone with him to help him sortt out his gameplan and to keep his cool.

It'd be nice to see Ferrer continue his form from Shanghai, but I'm not sure if he will. he's growing on me, Ferrer is.....

And of course, much as I'm not a fan of Nalby, if he continue his form from the end of last season, he could make life very interesting and extremely difficult for some of the top guys :whistle:



of course, all this will be irrelevant when Safin makes his comeback and blows all the competition out of the water :whistle:

Schoolboy error!! :tsk: You meant Becker but you typed Safin.

I'll forgive you this once :whistle:

schoolgirl error! you'll be starting rumours..... :ban:

CONTENDERS
Federer is definitely head and shoulders above everyone else...the best shot at the AO.
:bow:
I definitely am going to root for Nalby..GO NALBY!!! :ok:

Now for Rafa...sans the foot injury should be a top contender and its about time he got one outside the RG ;) :wub:

Dijko Can he go one step ahead?

PRETENDERS

Ferrer I don't see him reaching the finals..maybe semis
Davydenko?? poor guy is already troubled by too many things
Gonzo and baghdatis..one time wonders :shrug:
Roddick only going to be fired up before being thrashed by Fedex :doh:
Gasquet maybe will turn out to be his break through year dunno...
Murray..find a coach first quarters my guess

Only Nalbandian can threaten Fed at the moment. The only way I see Federer not taking the title is if he takes him out.

Gonzalex will have to hope to heaven for a repeat performance...i just don't see him making the finals again...quarter's probably.

Roddick I think will make R16, Quarters.

Hewitt will do shit haha.

I'm afraid Safin will also do shit.

Watch out for Karlo maybe getting to a surprise r16 or Quarter.

Is Federer going to win it again? And will we get a better final than last year? tongue.gif
Yes, the past is the best guide to the future in tennis as in most things.

Will Roddick have recovered from his humiliation of last year?
yeah, until he faces fed.

Will Nalby have stayed off the mince pies for long enough to be able to challenge for the title?
No, he does not have the head for it, he played atrociously in his Wimbledon final and he's older and craves a slam even more now that isn't gonna help him-he'll tank if he reaches the final. However he could well be the guy to beat fed before the final.
He's the mauresmo of men's tennis and it would take a freak set of circumstances for him to win a slam.

Who are the other players in with a shot?
Dijko is probably the main man to watch, can't see nadal doing anything to be honest.

Djokovic will be the main challenge for Fed and Nalbandian. Let's not forget he is really young and his progression has been going at a higher rate than any other players at the top. A 2 months break can make him an even better player than the one who reached the USO Final and troubled Fed.

So in short, it is going to be between Fed, Djoko and Nalby.

I've read different reports on Nadal's foot problems-some say he's really hurt and others say he's not. Don't know which one to believe. :shrug: I guess it's hotter in Australia in the summertime than in other places? I've never heard anyone complain about other tournaments. :D

Still think Rafi & Nalbandian look like girls :girlkiss:

No risky bets here, but then again; this strategy helped me this year to predict every slam + YEC winner right and also 3 out of 4 slam runner ups :D

Nalby is the only player who can threat Fed. Fed fans should pray the Fedster won’t have to play Nalby in the 4th or quarters…

Another meeting like Nadal had last year against Murray will probably wear Nadal down. And frankly quite a few players are able to put up a fight like that against him.

Djoko will be as fresh like he was in Montreal and will get far but under those circumstances he won’t tough enough to beat Fed, and in case the roof’s closed, well, we know what Fed can do indoors.
Every fully fit top 50 player (so a lot of practice hours during the holidays) with an efficient game can do well at the AO so traditionally the AO will bring it’s surprise package, I’m curious who that will be this time.
Wawrinka? Stephanek? Ancic? Tsonga? Darcis? Guccione?

Apparently the AO have ditched Rebound Ace and are switching to a surface closer to the US Open. (This was probably discussed before, but I missed it.)

This should play into Fed's hands, surely? I would like to see him win (naturally), but I would like to see a good challenge from the other players. Contenders for giving him this challenge would seem to be Djokovic, Nalbandian, possibly Murray?

Roddick could do well on the faster surface, though I doubt he will be able to get past Fed if he meets him.

As for Nadal, he seems to have trouble physically sustaining his form in the hardcourt slams (and also in the hardcourt tournaments later in the year). I expect him to make the quarters, but I would be somewhat surprised to see him in the final. But with Rafa, you should never say never, so I'm not making any bets!

Returning to Roger - I have a funny feeling he may not win it this time, although it is hard to say why. Of course it would be a pity, since that means there will be no chance of a calendar slam from the outset ... but on the other hand, it could take some of the pressure off at RG, in a way. In any case, I expect this will be an exciting tournament!

Further info about the speed of the new surface at the AO..Apparently the speed of the surface will be greater than the Wimbledon one :yikes: :yikes:

Details here:

AO SURFACE FAV HEWITT

ARE Hewit chances increasing?? An Open question no?? :P :P

Hewitt was reproted on MTF article to be working like a madman at the moment on two courts at his home of the new surface.

Still...I see no way in which he can ever win a grandslma again. I doubt he could make top 5 anymore.

they also point out in that article that they consulted Federer before the change of surface as well - as he's another one who will benefit from it being speeded up. I could imagine that Hewitt could be dangerous and could trouble a few people - but does he have a chance of winning it - i don't really think so :shrug:

I wonder if anyone knows whether this new surface is better than the old one in terms of injuries and the heat it generates? I remember at last year's AO a number of players said the rebound ace was fairly rough on their bodies, and Federer mentioned that it gave off a lot of heat which made it much more difficult for the players :nope:

so when one talks about playing tennis on a "hardcourt" they're not necessarily referring to concrete? Dinky, I can understand your concern about injuries. Every now and then in American football the subject of natural grass & artificial turf comes up. Apparently the fake stuff is responsible for some of the worst injuries. :o

It's really odd that Wimbledon will now be the second slowest surface, it only seems five mins since it was the fastest, but the ball bounce will still be lower than the hardcourt slams so it will still allow for more net play-it's all relative i know.

I will add to BT 's comment that the balls can actually be more important than the court as it is the case at SW19. Slazenger's big fluffy balls have made the surface pretty slow. Shoudl today's wimbeldon be played with Wilsons instead of slazengers, it would be pretty fast and the bounce would be even lower.

At the AO, a faster court might not automatically work in Fed's favour. As we saw on clay, Fed is more troubled by fast and high bounces than slow and lower bounces. A fast surface with high bounces due to the AO heat, could actually play against him. His luck is that at the AO, he often, if not always plays in the eve with cooler temperatures....keeping the ball bounce low.

Can't wait!

:unsure: glad you put the bit about Fed often playing at night in at the end there, i had me worried!

I'd never say that. he's an incredible man for match play, 5 setters and self belief :bow:

Agreed. Write Hewitt off at your peril. He has the ability to make top 5 again..... maybe a slam will be a step too far but he can make a run and get back in the top 5, just like Nalbandian burst back into the top 10 at the end of the year.

I don't think Hewiit has the potential of a top 5 anymore. At the time, giving 110% was good enough but since then, his body has suffered, mentally his family has taken some of hs focus and more importantly, there are too many good powerful players now (Fed, Nadal, Djoko, Nalby, Davydenko, Murray and Gasquet) to give him a chance to reenter the elite 5. he is the kind of player that if not 110%, his lack of weapons make him too vulnerable.

However, no doubt he is a fighter. he is definetely the man for the"occasion". That means when faced with a top 5, on the big stages, , he will fight to death. For him, this is the way to measure himself with the top again and can leave his guts on the courts. I predicted a tight match in Hamburg versus Nadal for that reason and it was quite a good match. But too many players can take him out nowdays before he reaches the Final stages.

You make them sound sooo cute!

on the subject of Hewitt, I am with the crowd that thinks its unlikely he will win another slam... and not just cos of wishful thinking :P

I would never write him off, much as I am not a fan, you cant deny the guys tenacity and fight to the death attitude around the court, but there are plenty of players now who can match him I reckon and I just dont see Fed handing him any wins - and its Fed I am expecting in all the slam finals this year :D

I'm not so sure. Hewitt lacks great weaponary these days against the best. It was clearly evident at RG and Wimbledon where he lost to Nadal and Djokovic, that his style of play has been taken to a new level by these two players. They have the movement and the power now, which highlights the fact that Hewitt lacks power in his game. It's like Sanchez-vicario in the women's game, her game was eventually found wanting against the increasing power of the women's game. I feel this has happened to hewitt also. He's improved his serve and general fitness greatly, but it's still not enough against Federer, Djokovic Nadal etc.

He'll probably return to the top 10 again, and he's still a pugnacious competitor and still has the movement and the solidity in his groundstrokes to be a constant threat at Wimbledon and the Us Open, but i feel his best years are behind him.

whats pugnacious????? :peek:

I have to say that I agree with this though I feel that even the top 10 is a bit out of reach for him.