Week One has flown by... there has been some amazing tennis as usual. The theme for the first couple of rounds was coming back from two sets down. Monfils, Seppi, Tsonga, Kohlschreiber, Fish all did it in round one. Simon almost pulled it off against Federer (166-0 all-time from a 2-love lead) in round two. Simon has the skinniest legs on tour. He looks like me on the tennis court, circa 1991.
The first amazing moment of the tourney that I caught was Tipsarevic v Verdasco. Tips has serious game when he is on. He took out Roddick in last year's US Open. He once stretched Fed to 10-8 in the 5th set at Melbourne Park. Meanwhile Verdasco played the match of the tournament in 2009 against Nadal (the Spanish lefties). In this 4th set, Tips was serving for match point up 6-5... he came into the net and hit volley after volley. That has to be the most nerve-raking play in tennis, up at the net with the match on the line but not getting put-aways. Finally he takes a backhand overhead smash which the lefty chases down and hammers right through the box past Tipsarevic! The game went on for a few more deuces, but eventually Verdasco was able to get it to the tie-break. From there it was 7-0, final set: 6-love. Tipsarevic could not recover at all. And that is how a match can swing... Fernando is now going strong in the round of 16 with Berdych up next.
The Baghdatis/Del Potro match we were anticipating got off 6-1 to Marcos. But DelPo was able to win one set. Hopefully he can get his mojo back this season. Baghdatis is a tough out in Melbourne, partly due to the Greek-Cypriot crowds. Well at least until the next round when he suffered a right pinkie injury! He "felt electricity going through [his] hand" to the point where he could not continue. "I'm very disappointed."
Isner v Cilic was also properly anticipated... Marin (9 games) over Big John in the 5th after 4.55 hours on court.
The best set of the tournament so far has to be Monfils v Wawrinka set #1. 75 minutes of excellent quality, plus 30 seconds of Monfils giving it away at the end. Monfils is just incredible. He can track every ball on the court down. Through the legs? check. Around the net post? check. Drop shot? with ease. He has to be even more frustrating to play than Nadal. At least Nadal will put you out of your misery eventually. Monfils just keeps everything coming back. The Frenchman slides on the hard court as if it were clay. I don't even know how that is possible (special shoes?). Just unbelievable get after get. Wawrinka is so solid. He is just a rock on that one-handed backhand. And hits everything hard. These two are friends and hitting partners which partly explains why the rallying was off the charts. Average points were 7 shots. In rallies over 8 shots the point wins were 12 to 11. Very fun to watch. (After Wawrinka took the set in the tie-breaker, he basically cruised through the next two.)
Monfils looks like the third sideshow brother. Facially and hair-wise. I believe they also speak french...
Amazingly the Men's top 8 have held up so far. Quarters should be stacked with talent, ability, and experience. That's why I've been saving my blogging for week two...
On the women's side Goerges from Germany made a lot of new fans in her match with Sharapova...
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