[Sancho Panza]

All hail the new king in tennis.

Djokovic ran down Nadal's best shots, eventually pinned him deep, then scored on the short ball. Repeatedly.

A point-winning tweener by Murray can be seen about halfway through this.

[anunderwaterguy]

Djokovic is definitely the new king of tennis. It shows you how fast things change in the sport. Even 6 months ago the idea that Djokovic would dominate like this would have seemed far fetched (as short ago as last year's US Open it seemed like it was Nadal who was going to be the dominant force going forward). In another 6 months who knows where we'll be - maybe something that seems far fetched now will be a reality.

Whatever happens, I think this is a great time for men's tennis: Djokovic, Nadal, Federer, Murray, Del Potro coming back, young players like Tomic, Raonic and Dimitrov on the rise...

[Sancho Panza]

When Nadal took Federer out at the French and Wimbledon in 2008, I thought he'd be the dominanant force going forward, but didn't know for how long. Now I know. If Djokovic is in Nadal's head it's because he's outplaying Nadal. He speaks too as well as he plays, like a champion.

There's a similar surge of young talent in women's tennis. Kvitova, Azarenka, Lisicki, Goerges, Pavlyuchenkova, Paszek, and Wickmayer to name a few all hit big with the fearless attitude - and all tower over another one, Cilbulkova, who barefooted is max 5 foot 3 inches above the ground! Here she is standing tall as she can after being pounded 6-1 6-1 in the quarters. Sharapova is a beauty, but on the court the little one is my heart-throb.

This post has been edited by Sancho Panza: 05 July 2011 - 02:38 AM

[anunderwaterguy]

Tips for the US Open?

I actually managed to watch some of the practice sessions and in terms of pure ball striking the two who stood out for me were Djokovic and Murray. Right, you don't win tournaments on the practice courts, but it does tell you something about where the top players' games are at right now. Djokovic has been hitting the ball superbly all year, but I watch Murray quite a lot and he was hitting the ball better than usual. In particular, the forehand down the line (usually a weakness for him) was looking extremely good, and that carried over into his first match yesterday.

However, there isn't even the remotest chance that I'd think about ruling out Nadal. All the talk is about him struggling for form, but it's easy to forget that we've had this talk before in the early stages of slams. I think Nadal is a master at peaking at the right time and I don't expect anything different this time round. Not a bold prediction, but the winner will come from those three in my opinion.

[Sancho Panza]

Murray. I'd like to see Murray win the Us Open.

[Sancho Panza]

The difference between Murray and the other 3 guys is composure. Murray frets too much.

Incredible comeback by Djokovic following a 2-set deficit, again following 3-5 15-40 against Federer's serve in the 5th.

[Sancho Panza]

7:6 Federer, 4:2 Nadal, great, great tennis thus far!

[Lonnie]

Sancho Panza, on 26 January 2012 - 02:11 AM, said:

7:6 Federer, 4:2 Nadal, great, great tennis thus far!

I just casually follow tennis. Where are they playing?

[Sancho Panza]

Hi Lonnie. They're playing the two-week long Australian Open in Melbourne. Nadal just entered the finals with a 6:7 6:2 7:6 6:4 victory over Federer. You can see the highlights of that day 11 night session match here.

[Lonnie]

Sancho Panza, on 26 January 2012 - 09:20 AM, said:

Hi Lonnie. They're playing the two-week long Australian Open in Melbourne. Nadal just entered the finals with a 6:7 6:2 7:6 6:4 victory over Federer. You can see the highlights of that day 11 night session match here.

Ah! I should have known that it was being played down under. Thanks for the link!

[senior octobre]

Sancho Panza, on 26 January 2012 - 02:11 AM, said:

7:6 Federer, 4:2 Nadal, great, great tennis thus far!

Who do you like in the Murray vs Djokovic semi ?

This post has been edited by senior octobre: 26 January 2012 - 11:20 AM

[Sancho Panza]

senior octobre, on 26 January 2012 - 11:16 AM, said:

Who do you like in the Murray vs Djokovic semi ?

I'd like it a lot if Murray would win, but if I had to put money down, it'd be Djokovic.

[anunderwaterguy]

Sancho Panza, on 26 January 2012 - 12:29 PM, said:

I'd like it a lot if Murray would win, but if I had to put money down, it'd be Djokovic.

Same here. Would love to see Murray pull it off, but I think Djokovic will take it in the end. I will say that I don't think Murray will let the situation get to him the way he did in the final last year. I also think it'll be a fun match to watch, so I'm looking forward to it.

[Sancho Panza]

Groan. He lost, but Murray forced the world number 1 to go 5 sets that took nearly 5 hours.Here are the highlights.

This post has been edited by Sancho Panza: 27 January 2012 - 09:10 AM

[anunderwaterguy]

Even though he lost, that was much better from Murray. He hasn't gone out with a whimper this time, he's gone out playing some of his best tennis and it was extremely close in the end. This time last year it looked like there was a massive gulf in class between Djokovic and Murray, but not any more on the evidence of that match.

The one tough thing about the Australian Open, though, is that it's a long time to wait for the next slam. It's something Murray's spoken about before - that after losing in Australia he finds it hard to motivate himself until the claycourt season. His results between Australia and the start of the claycourt season have been dreadful in the last couple of years. I hope he doesn't let it affect him again this year.

This post has been edited by anunderwaterguy: 27 January 2012 - 10:52 AM

[Sancho Panza]

There's a new women's world number 1 on Monday, Azarenka, who just won the Australian Open. And how. Wow.

[Sancho Panza]

Novak 5:7 6:4 6:2 6:7 7:5 in 5 hours and 53 minutes. They finally got off the court at 1:38 in the AM. Congratulaions to both.

[Sancho Panza]

"I mean, what other sport do you play almost six hours of tennis in?" ~ Greg Rusedski

Good question, Greg!

[Sancho Panza]

New amazing facts just in!

My hitting partner Stephanie in Strasbourg just told me that she used to hit with world 388 Albano Olivetti, who beat world 8 Mardy Fish 6:3 3:6 6:3 a week ago in Marseille!

[Sancho Panza]

Things are slow here between slams so here's reporting that Stephanie crushed Sancho today in Strasbourg 6:2 6:1.