**Australian Open** Tennis Jan 14th - 27th

jrodga2k5

jrodga2k5

jrodga2k5

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**Australian Open** Tennis Jan 14th - 27th

First Grand Slam of the year :D

Not looking forward to the terrible match times however which plague this tournament for me :(

However onto the draw courtesy of the BBC:

British number one Andy Murray will open his bid for a second Grand Slam title against Dutchman Robin Haase at the Australian Open next week.

The draw, which took place in central Melbourne, pitted the US Open champion against the world number 54.

Murray could face Juan Martin del Potro in the last eight and Roger Federer in the semi-finals.

British number one Heather Watson will play Alexandra Cadantu and Laura Robson will take on Melanie Oudin.

Murray has been drawn in the opposite half to world number one and defending champion Djokovic, meaning they could only meet in the final.

Murray at the Australian Open
2006 - First round
2007 - Fourth round
2008 - First round
2009 - Fourth round
2010 - Final
2011 - Final
2012 - Semi-finals

The Scot has a 1-1 record against Haase, and their last match was a dramatic five-set victory for Murray at the 2011 US Open.

Speaking before the draw, he said: "It sounds cliched but I don't really ever look beyond the first round of the draws.

"The strength of the men's game right now means it's dangerous to look too far ahead, so I'm happy taking it match by match."

He added: "I always love coming out to Australia, it's a great Slam and all the players love it, there's a laid-back atmosphere here and it definitely beats the weather back home this time of year.

"Having said that, it can hit 40 degrees during the day, so fitness and recovery definitely play a big part.

"I've performed consistently here and have been in two Grand Slam finals here in the last few years, but I'm aiming to go one better this year."

Djokovic plays Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu in round one, and fourth seed David Ferrer is a potential semi-final opponent.

In-form Australian Bernard Tomic will open against Leonardo Mayer of Argentina, with Roger Federer potentially waiting in round three. The Swiss plays France's Benoit Paire in round one.

Watson, ranked 47, looks to have the better draw of the two British women as she starts against Romania's world number 89.

Cadantu won their only previous encounter on clay last year but Watson has since moved into the world's top 50 and won her first WTA title.

Robson will meet former Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova or former French Open champion Francesca Schiavone in round two, should she get past American Oudin.

The pair have met once before in the seniors, with Robson winning in Melbourne 12 months ago.

Watson will play on Monday, Murray and Robson on Tuesday.

Reigning champion and world number one Victoria Azarenka plays Romanian Monica Nicolescu in round one, while five-time champion Serena Williams meets another Romanian, Edina Gallovits-Hall.

Williams and Azarenka are in the same half of the draw, which could also see Venus Williams take on Maria Sharapova in round three.

The order of play will be announced on Saturday, with first-round matches played on Monday and Tuesday.
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All in all a decent draw for Novak Djokovic who should see himself go through the gears en route to the final.

Andy Murray however despite being on the better side of the draw (Federer over Djokovic) he has a more trickier route to the final.

Hasse will prove a tough match for a first round opponent so he'll need to come out all guns blazing as any slip ups could be capatilised on. Potential QF against Del Porto, who's finding something near to his best form again, before potentially a SF against Federer. So it certainly won't be easy for him.

I do expect this year, with the absence of Nadal (Apart from clay of course :p), to be the year Novak and Andy are battling for Number 1 in the world. Hopefully Andy now has that added edge to his game after winning the US Open and it will be very interesting if these two match up in the final of the Aus!

I'm going to go for my usual prediction of Andy to win it ;)
 
One More Solo said:
I'm hoping Murray can make another final, and maybe go one better. :D Fingers crossed.
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It is possible, Rafa is not going to be playing this AU unfortunately, since Andy was enjoying the absence of him in 2012 I'm sure he will be taking advantage of the opportunity again. I can see him going far.

Overall I think Novak will take it.
 
ic1male said:
How do we watch this on Freeview? Is it on ITV4 now? Nothing on the BBC except the finals it seems.
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BBC have been cutting back for years, they started only showing Murray matches/finals and then just the finals...Wimbledon is the only tournament they continue to cover fully.

Eurosport appears to be where the action is for the Australian Open, I actually quite enjoy their coverage, 2nd to Sky :)

Also Murray has the chance to begin the first man to win back to back Open titles from the first win since 1956.
 
Tournament starts with women's tennis :rolleyes: off to sleep I go then :p

Accumulator placed...14 matches for a massive return of approx £25.00 from £5. :p

Backed Murray to win the tournament @3/1
Stake: £25.00
Returns: £100.00
 
jrodga2k5 said:
BBC have been cutting back for years, they started only showing Murray matches/finals and then just the finals...Wimbledon is the only tournament they continue to cover fully.

Eurosport appears to be where the action is for the Australian Open, I actually quite enjoy their coverage, 2nd to Sky :)

Also Murray has the chance to begin the first man to win back to back Open titles from the first win since 1956.
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I actually prefer Eurosport's coverage to all the tennis, to any other channel.
 
CasKirensys said:
I actually prefer Eurosport's coverage to all the tennis, to any other channel.
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I can agree it's definitely of a high quality. :)

Novak through in straight sets 6-2, 6-4, 7-5.

Heather Watson through to round 2, was down 2-6 but eneded up winning the next two sets 6-3, 6-2.

Sharapova won easily 6-0, 6-0.
 
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I normally place 3 separate accumulators on all the grand slam events for the first round with approx 10 selections in each with a £30 stake for each. Normally get £100-150 which gets put straight onto round 2 matches and so on. Most I won was £3000 at Wimbledon one year from an initial £30 stake and just keep rebetting :)
 
Seems like Murray is on at Midnight...will see how I go :p

Only got some training tomorrow so I should be good for it!

Cruising so far, 4-1 up and 2 breaks.
 
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rogan said:
was a decent match, i fell asleep during the 3rd set but it was all over 4 games in
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Yeah I agree, from what I seen he was playing to a decent level which cannot be said for some of his early matches in tournaments! Gets a kind of break for a few rounds against lesser opposition really so time to tune up.

Few of the seeds dropping out early, could be a few shock results this year.
 
Since getting a job I can't really justify watching the Australian Open. :D

Think Murray will make the final, but Novak will win it overall. Would be happy to be proved wrong mind.

Be interesting to see also how far Watson/Robson get as well.
 
Tute said:
Since getting a job I can't really justify watching the Australian Open. :D
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It sucks I know :p Although Andy's 3rd round match should be on the Saturday(Aus), my guess is that we'll have him on court in the late session this time so 8am GMT Saturday (Purely guesswork). That would work for me.

Anyhoo...woke up to the news that Andy won again in straight sets 6-2,6-2,6-4. Eased off in the 3rd it would appear but was an as you'd expect performance.

Playing Ricardas Berankis next who had shot up the rankings and then suffered quite a few injuries. Hammered the 25th seed Mayer, 6-2 6-3 6-1, so should prove to be a tough match. According to the BBC he is the former Juniors Number 1 and enjoys a spot of Spear Fishing :D
 
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