January 25, 2005

Australian Open temperature rises : what with Hewitt's bad behaviour, Chela's dummy spit (without the dummy) and a dodgy drug story over the last week or so, it's now down to the Quarter Finals and the real heat.

posted by owlhouse to tennis at 01:01 AM - 8 comments

im very much looking forward to the agassiz/federer match tomorrow. wish i were there.

posted by owl at 01:29 AM on January 25, 2005

seems it was a bit of a let down - 99 minutes, straight sets. this open needs a couple of close matches, but no-one seems to be in federer's league. even if safin is on his game, i can't see him outlasting federer

posted by owlhouse at 06:03 AM on January 25, 2005

it was a let down in a way, but it did serve (no pun intended) to showcase federer's dominance, you're right. plus, i got to bed an hour earlier than i thought i would, so thats good... i don't think anyone can outlast him, but safin might be able to outpower him. how bout that nadal? damn good run against hewitt.

posted by owl at 09:51 PM on January 25, 2005

If he's focused and rested, I believe that Safin is the only one on the tour with enough creativity and power to beat Federer at his best. Those are HUGE ifs, but still. Roddick always has a chance, but I think he can only beat Roger, if he's off his game.

posted by psmealey at 09:10 AM on January 26, 2005

i think thats a pretty fair assessment. federer doesn't exactly seem to be off his game right now, tho. speaking of close matches owlhouse, nalbandian/hewitt fit the bill pretty nicely...

posted by owl at 05:15 PM on January 26, 2005

i was hoping the later rounds would provide some competition. the davenport - molik QF was also good and close

posted by owlhouse at 08:09 PM on January 26, 2005

and i just watched a cracker between serena williams and maria sharapova

posted by owlhouse at 12:46 AM on January 27, 2005

Just followed the Safin/Federer match on the live scoreboard at Espn.com. Sounded like an excellent match, can't wait to see the tape delay broadcast later on. Btw, I know the Federer is probably the best player alive today, but is anyone else put off by his ever more apparent smugness? His interview demeanor kind of annoys me now that he's not even trying to be modest anymore. Safin, on the other hand, is always entertaining, whether in the press room on the court. He's got as much talent as anyone, I just hope he can keep his head together to build a career worthy of that talent. Looking forward to many more 5 setters between Safin and Federer (and Roddick).

posted by psmealey at 09:30 AM on January 27, 2005

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