All Things 2022 Tennis Thread

[BleedGopher]

per the AP:

With so much focus on getting the medical exemption he needed to fly into Melbourne to defend his Australian Open title, it seems Novak Djokovic may not have paid enough to attention to his visa.

The medical exemption allowed the top-ranked Djokovic entry to the tournament regardless of his vaccination status for COVID-19, a subject he has declined to clarify amid months of speculation he could miss the season-opening major unless he can prove he's had two doses of a coronavirus vaccine.

But it wasn't everything he needed to enter Australia, which has strict border regulations in place for the pandemic.

Melbourne's The Age newspaper reported that Djokovic had landed Wednesday before midnight local time at Tullamarine Airport, but his entry was delayed because of a mistake with his visa application. Two hours later, local media reported he still hadn't cleared the border.

Visa issue has Djokovic stuck at Aussie border

Novak Djokovic is being held in a room with police out front after landing in Melbourne for the Australian Open, his father said Wednesday amid reports that a visa mix-up could jeopardize the top-ranked Serb's entry into the country.

www.espn.com

Go USA!!

 

[mplarson7]

Looks like Djokovic has now been denied entry to Australia.

Queue up a new champion Down Under.

 

[BleedGopher]

Go USA!!

 

[#2Gopher]

Status and money usually plays out. Did again today.

 

[Ski U Mah Gopher]

The Australian government is still trying to deport Djokovic. It seems he lied about contact during his bout with COVID-19.

 

[mplarson7]

And they pulled Djokovic's visa, hearing again on Sunday.

I've run out of popcorn for all of this drama.

 

[BleedGopher]

Go USA!!

 

[BleedGopher]

Disappointing first round loses for Coco, and a big win for Madison Keys over Kenin in the first around, just days after Keys won her first tournament since 2019. Hopefully Madison is poised for a big year to get back in the top 10.

Opelka with a nice three set win over a tough first round match vs Kevin Anderson.

Go USA!!

 

[BleedGopher]

Cressy advances to the third round, a heck of a tournament for him - he's fast rising after leaving UCLA just two years ago.

Fritz took out Tiafoe in straight sets.

Hoping 1-2 of these young American men can get through to the Quarters.

Go USA!!

 

[mplarson7]

Korda has a pretty nice shot to advance further too. Carreno Busta has not performed well in Australia despite being a good player.

 

[BleedGopher]

Huge win for the young American! Per Axios Sports:


While you were sleeping, unseeded American Amanda Anisimova upsetdefending champion Naomi Osaka, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (10-5), in the third-round of the Australian Open.

Match details: Anisimova, 20, saved two match points and had 46 (!) winners to Osaka's 21. She's now 8-0 in 2022.

Go USA!!

 

[Ski U Mah Gopher]

Huge win for the young American! Per Axios Sports:


While you were sleeping, unseeded American Amanda Anisimova upsetdefending champion Naomi Osaka, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (10-5), in the third-round of the Australian Open.

Match details: Anisimova, 20, saved two match points and had 46 (!) winners to Osaka's 21. She's now 8-0 in 2022.

Go USA!!

Anisimova now gets #1 Ash Barty in round 4.

 

[mplarson7]

Anisimova now gets #1 Ash Barty in round 4.

They played in the 2019 French Open semis, with Anisimova winning the first set. Could be an interesting battle if Anisimova has found her form again.

 

[mplarson7]

6 from the USA through to the round of 16. Fritz with a big 5-set win over Bautista Agut and Cressey with a win over a wildcard from Australia. Keys, Anisimova, Pegula, and Collins through on the women's side.

 

[mplarson7]

Well, Keys completely destroyed the #8 seed. One through to the quarters!

 

[BleedGopher]

Well, Keys completely destroyed the #8 seed. One through to the quarters!

Good for her. Hoping this run gets her career back on track.

Go USA!!

 

[BleedGopher]

Madison Keys dominated the Quarters and is in to the Semis. She’s now won 11 matches this season, the same number she won in all 2021.

Go USA!!

 

[Frink]

I see that Sabelenka lost. I watched one of her earlier matches where they discussed how badly her serve has been screwed up recently. Very strange to see clips of the world #2 lobbing in UNDERHANDED serves just to get the ball in.

And I caught the upset of Halep at the hands of Cornet last night. There were times when it looked like Halep was going to collapse on court. Amazing to see Cornet get to a Slam semifinal for the first time after 63 previous attempts and 12 years after she reached her highest ranking at 11.

Looks like Fritz played respectably against Tsippisis, Tippipsas...Tississippi. You know who I mean.

 

[Stan]

Great seeing Collins make AO final. Ash is playing very well, she'll be tough to beat, but huge opportunity for the American.

 

[BleedGopher]

I really wish Kyrgios would take his development a bit more seriously as his personality and style would be an amazing complement to the "big 3" and would captivate non-die hard tennis fans.




And this amazing point and celebration:


Go USA!!

 

[BleedGopher]

Nadal v Medvedev in the finals, should be a fantastic match.

Go Nadal!!

 

[BleedGopher]

Heck of a day for the Aussies with Barty winning the women's singles and Kyrgios and Kokkinakis winning the men's doubles in an All-Aussie finale.

Great tournament for Collins, though too bad she couldn't pull out the second set after being up 5-1. That will haunt her. I think I heard she'll be Top 10 after this which is amazing, hope she can build from here.

Go USA!!

 

[Stan]

Wow Rafa, what a comeback. 5 hours and 23 minutes. 21 Majors.

 

[Ski U Mah Gopher]

Wow Rafa, what a comeback. 5 hours and 23 minutes. 21 Majors.

And Rafa has got to be the favorite in Paris for #22.

 

[TruthSeeker]

Rafa is better than Fed. Is he better than Djokovic?

 

[mplarson7]

Rafa is better than Fed. Is he better than Djokovic?

Overall, I don't think he is. Definitely better on clay, but I have to give the nod to Djokovic on grass and hard courts. On some overlooked stats:

Djokovic has won every Masters level tournament at least twice while Nadal has never won in Miami or Paris and only one victory each at Cincinnati and Shanghai.

Year end championships, 5 for Djokovic and none for Nadal.

Nadal does have an Olympic gold medal, while Djokovic has a bronze.

It is an interesting debate though. Crazy that the 3 best tennis players of all time, played at the same time.

 

[mplarson7]

All American final in Dallas with Opelka taking on Brooksby tomorrow.

Crazy stat in the Opelka/Isner semifinal. Opelka won in 2 tiebreaks, but the second set tiebreak went to 24-22. Holy crap.

 

[Stan]

Novak Djokovic willing to miss tournaments over vaccine

Novak Djokovic says he is prepared to miss out on his place in tennis history for his vaccine stance.

www.bbc.com

 

[BleedGopher]

Go USA!!

 

[BleedGopher]

Go Federer!!