Australian Open: Down Goes Nadal
I apologize if this was already on the board, but just happened an hour or so ago.
Tsitsipas took down Nadal in five. Goes up against Medvedev in the semis- that's going to be a fun one to watch. On the other half, Djoker is taking on qualifier Aslan Karatsev. I would have to imagine that is going to be a runaway victory for the Djoker.
I would like to see someone other than the Big Three win another major; I think it's always good for the sport to see someone else than what we have for like 15 years.
February 17th, 2021 at 11:08 AM ^
Tsitsipas is solid at net but he is not a more all-court player than Nadal at all. This is a common misconception about Nadal that he's just a baseliner. That hasn't been true for about a decade now. Nadal is actually incredible at constructing points and finishing them at the net. He's probably the second most all-court player after Federer in the top 25.
February 17th, 2021 at 11:29 AM ^
Fair point. I think I'm unfair to Rafa bc I measure his net game vs how dominant he is at the baseline, and that I use Fed as a comparison lol
February 17th, 2021 at 5:19 PM ^
Head Extreme was my answer to 1-too-many broken Babolat Pure Drives about 15 years ago and I haven't looked back after 3-4 iterations.
February 17th, 2021 at 10:43 AM ^
Definitely a surprise with how easily he won the first two sets.
And while it'd certainly help interest in tennis over here for an American to start challenging these guys, I think we're taking for granted just how incredible it is that men's tennis has had this incredible stretch where the 3 GOATs have such an overlap in their careers. I can't think of any other sport, mens or womens, where that situation has happened. One of these guys could have had 35-40 slams if their career didn't parallel with the 2 other GOATs.
February 17th, 2021 at 11:03 AM ^
Not to mention countless other dudes like Murray, Roddick, Wawrinka, Safin, Hewitt, who were good enough to win a ton (more) majors
February 17th, 2021 at 11:35 AM ^
I've often wondered how many slams any one of the big-3 would've won if even one of the others weren't playing at the time. It's crazy. Just an amazing era of tennis.
February 17th, 2021 at 2:02 PM ^
Not 3, but Messi and C Ronaldo might be a comparison?
February 17th, 2021 at 11:14 AM ^
"Aslan"? Wow. I cried as a child when they betrayed him :(
February 17th, 2021 at 11:33 AM ^
Welp! Didn’t see Tsitsipas coming back against Nadal. Would've loved to see another marathon Rafa-Djokovic final.
Good for Karatsev getting to the semis (but hopefully not any further). Before the Australian, that dude’s career prize earnings (since 2012) was roughly $470,000. Now he’s guaranteed more than $660,000 just for making the semis (about 6x more than he earned last year). He’s also earned enough points to probably break into the top-50 (from #114). It's been a good 2 weeks for him.
Unfortunately for him, his run is gonna end in the semis. Go Nole!
February 17th, 2021 at 5:17 PM ^
Incredible run by Karatsev thus far! First qualifier to make a semi this century, I believe. Stunning.
February 17th, 2021 at 12:06 PM ^
NY Times has an interesting article on Medvedev, who apparently is extremely different from the normal tennis player. (NYT is not free, but you can link to several free articles.)
LINK: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/16/sports/tennis/daniil-medvedev.html?searchResultPosition=3
February 17th, 2021 at 5:16 PM ^
What an incredible feat by Tsitsipas. I checked into the match randomly in the wee hours and it appeared Rafa was going to steamroll, but not so fast.
Can't wait to watch Djoker whine about the crowd (they are coming back), whine at the umpire, bounce the ball 20+ times before each serve, heck maybe even try to smack a ball at a line judge or ball kid! It would take a miracle for him to lose in the semi, but here's hoping for a new slam champ on Sunday!