The 2016 In Between Grand Slam Thread

yerwanthere123

Well that was a quick off-season! New year, new thread. Qualies already in process with main draw action to begin Monday. WTA action in Brisbane, Auckland and Shenzhen, whilst the ATP are beginning in Brisbane, Doha and Chennai.

As always, here's hoping to a good season

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_WTA_Tour

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_ATP_World_Tour

yerwanthere123

Anyone wanna make any mad predictions that we can all laugh at at a later date? I had Caroline Wozniacki winning the Australian Open last year :pac: All I'm gonna say is that this will be the year Serena overtakes Steffi, but Margaret Court's record will have to wait a while.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

I'm going to presict Serena wins no slams. Just for the hell of it.

whiterebel

Both frustrating sides of Stan today v Ferrer in Abu Dhabi. Great at the start, then 5-2 down only to become unplayable and take the first in a tie-break. Lost the second, then 5-0 up in the championship tie-break( first to 10) and he lost........

Someone should have a word with Ferrer about the grunting, though. In the first set, he was still mid-grunt when Wawrinka was returning the ball at one stage.

Hunchback

Muguruza to win two slams!

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

CKonetheonlyone wrote: »

Muguruza to win two slams!

Probably the most realistic prediction so far

Herself or Halep to win the Olympics too.

yerwanthere123

If we're to see a new slam winner this year it'll surely be Muguruza. First though I want to see her go deep in Melbourne, she's been stopped in the 4th round the last two years.

I can't see any drastic changes on the ATP side this year. I think Murray may close the gap on Djokovic somewhat, but Djokovic will still dominate. I think Nadal will have a much better 2016 but will only be a contender at RG, and even there Djokovic will still be the heavy favourite. This will surely be the year that Djokovic is victorious in Paris, but who knows. He's gonna be gunning for gold in Rio as well, but I have this weird feeling that Federer could do it.

lostcat

Predictions:

mens: i can see any of four/five guys who might win a slam, if 'someone else' can beat djokovic, if you know what I mean.

I think Djokovic will win two, but if he wins the French he might not win anything else all year (if he had won the French in '15, would he have dug in from two sets down against Anderson at wimby? i'm not so sure..). I think he will win the Olympics too.

i think most other players will feel they have to hit-out against him this year ('i'm probably going to loose, i may as well go down firing') which will hopefully make things more interesting at the very least.

I think Dominic Thiem might push his way into the business end of things this year, he has the game.

womens: don't watch this a whole lot, but serena might well have an injury prone year (she was puffing a bit second half last year) which basically means that anyone can win anything (or so it seems to my uninformed eye)

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Sharapova out of Brisbane with an arm injury. Not a great start to the year.

yerwanthere123

lostcat wrote: »

Predictions:

mens: i can see any of four/five guys who might win a slam, if 'someone else' can beat djokovic, if you know what I mean.

I think Djokovic will win two, but if he wins the French he might not win anything else all year (if he had won the French in '15, would he have dug in from two sets down against Anderson at wimby? i'm not so sure..). I think he will win the Olympics too.

i think most other players will feel they have to hit-out against him this year ('i'm probably going to loose, i may as well go down firing') which will hopefully make things more interesting at the very least.

I think Dominic Thiem might push his way into the business end of things this year, he has the game.

womens: don't watch this a whole lot, but serena might well have an injury prone year (she was puffing a bit second half last year) which basically means that anyone can win anything (or so it seems to my uninformed eye)

I feel like 2016 is kind of a make-or-break year for Djokovic where RG is concerned. It wouldn't be a disaster, but if he doesn't win it this year you must question if he ever will.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Sharapova out of Brisbane with an arm injury. Not a great start to the year.

Hope it's just precautionary. Will likely lose her top 4 seed for Melbourne, but shouldn't matter too much. It all just depends on where you-know-who ends up in the draw

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Halep out of Brisbane now too.

yerwanthere123

Oh dear. Good chance for Vika to go deep now though.

yerwanthere123

So Serena, Sharapova, Halep, Kvitova, Mugurza and Safarova all either retired or withdrew this week, with Venus losing her first round match in Auckland. Welcome to 2016! :pac:

RosyLily

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

Hope it's just precautionary. Will likely lose her top 4 seed for Melbourne, but shouldn't matter too much. It all just depends on where you-know-who ends up in the draw

It's confirmed Aga will be #4. Will be interesting to see what happens at the Aussie. I'd like a new women's GS champion to kick off the year. Muguruza or Halep would be good!:)

yerwanthere123

Great to see Vika win Brisbane, hope it's a sign of things to come. The WTA needs her back competing for major titles.
Encouraging to see Sloane win a title too. Would be great if this was the year when she decided to get her act together. It's entirely up to her I guess.

Over in Doha, Djokovic prevails over Nadal in a another closely contested final.

Rjd2

****ing hell that was brutal from Novak.:eek:

yerwanthere123

It was actually the least amount of games Djokovic conceded in a match all week. Not sure whether that says more about Djokovic or Nadal tbh.

Rjd2

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

It was actually the least amount of games Djokovic conceded in a match all week. Not sure whether that says more about Djokovic or Nadal tbh.

Nadal just doesn't have the game to beat him nor does Murray. Federer does, but he freezes against him in Slams. I think their is only 2 ways to beat him assuming he does not throw in a horror performance, is firstly pray and if that fails then his downfall is possibly a massive hitter having a stormer painting the lines constantly and giving him no time whatsoever.
A rampaging Wawrinka is the most obvious choice. Out of the rest of the field its hard to see who can do that, possibly Kyrigos has the game to at least worry him.

Such a shame Del Potro is ****ed, he had the game to threaten him.

Rjd2

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-01-10/agnieszka-radwanska-petra-kvitova-out-of-sydney-international/7079412

Ah here more injuries.:P

Anyway the betting for the ladies outright in Aus.

http://www.oddschecker.com/tennis/australian-open/womens/winner

What I think is crazy about this, scrolling down the betting, with all the injury issues, you could make an argument for so many girls winning this. Obviously some have better chances than others, but pretty much all the top 20 in the betting have to fancy their chances of going close if they get a kind draw.

Men side not as open. :pac:

yerwanthere123

Well a lot of the 'injuries' will have been precautionary, most of these players will likely be fine for Melbourne. Should be interesting to see how Serena does, she's barely played since Vinci took her out in New York. Azarenka must be confident though.

About Djokovic, I think Murray also has the game to compete with him as well but Djokovic is pretty much inside his head now. Remember last year's AO men's final was quite competitive until Murray let Djokovic's mind games get to him.

James McGee is in Melbourne so presumably must be playing qualies. I'll admit I haven't been keeping up to date with him recently, but if I recall he was out injured for a while last year, so presumable he'll be shaking off some rust.

whiterebel

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

Well a lot of the 'injuries' will have been precautionary, most of these players will likely be fine for Melbourne. Should be interesting to see how Serena does, she's barely played since Vinci took her out in New York. Azarenka must be confident though.

About Djokovic, I think Murray also has the game to compete with him as well but Djokovic is pretty much inside his head now. Remember last year's AO men's final was quite competitive until Murray let Djokovic's mind games get to him.

James McGee is in Melbourne so presumably must be playing qualies. I'll admit I haven't been keeping up to date with him recently, but if I recall he was out injured for a while last year, so presumable he'll be shaking off some rust.

I think Murray has the same problem as Fed. They have to push Djokovic so far to the lines every shot, they start doubting themselves and cave in. Good shout in an earlier post is Stan. If he can put together 5 sets consistently like the French final he can beat anyone. At RG he just looked like he didn't care, and went for everything. I think that kind of confidence wrecks Djokovic's head myself. Not enough have it though.

StillIntact

Australian Open qualifiers start tomorrow. James McGee has a French opponent in the first round.

smurfs5

Gonna predict Muguruza will win Roland Garros and Bencic will reach a Slam final. Just have a feeling about those two. I'd also back Azarenka as a potential AO winner- she should get deep into the second week at the very least.

James McGee will face Calvin Hemery of France in the first round of Australian Open qualies. Never heard of him so not sure what McGee's chances are in that one.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

smurfs5 wrote: »

James McGee will face Calvin Hemery of France in the first round of Australian Open qualies. Never heard of him so not sure what McGee's chances are in that one.

20 year old French lad who, from what I can see, has never won (maybe even played?) a match at ATP Tour level. Has an 18-18 W/L record on the challenger tour.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Irish player Georgia Drummy has apparently gotten into the qualifiers for the Junior draw at the Aus Open.

James McGee is second up in the men's qualifiers tonight.

cowboyBuilder

Australian Open thread here

yerwanthere123

Great to see Bouchard winning matches again. I know it's only international level but she couldn't even win these last year so, it's encouraging.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

Great to see Bouchard winning matches again. I know it's only international level but she couldn't even win these last year so, it's encouraging.

Agreed. Last year was awful for her and to have it finish the way it did was tough to watch.

On the bright side she has very little to defend this whole year so a few good runs and she should get back up the rankings.

whiterebel

Very sadly Gerald Williams has passed away. Many a lazy, hazy afternoon spend listening to him commentating on Wimbledon...RIP Gerald Williams

RosyLily

Petra Kvitova has split from her coach David. Surprised by this one, thought they worked very well together and achieved loads. It will be interesting to see who'll join Team Petra now.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Venus is apparently planning on playing Indian Wells this year.

yerwanthere123

Federer underwent knee surgery yesterday and has pulled out of both Rotterdam and Dubai. Not great considering his age, especially given the fact he rarely gets injured.

whiterebel

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

Federer underwent knee surgery yesterday and has pulled out of both Rotterdam and Dubai. Not great considering his age, especially given the fact he rarely gets injured.

Hopefully just one of the clean out ops, which mean a quick recovery.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

whiterebel wrote: »

Hopefully just one of the clean out ops, which mean a quick recovery.

Torn meniscus.

yerwanthere123

Del Potro playing Delray Beach in a couple of weeks time. I remain sceptical.

whiterebel

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Torn meniscus.

Arthroscopy according to his twitter. Should be a quick recovery, a month they say.

RosyLily

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

Del Potro playing Delray Beach in a couple of weeks time. I remain sceptical.

Very excited! Hoping beyond anything that Delpo is 100% healthy. The tour needs him imo. His match vs. Djokovic in the Wimbledon SFs a couple of years back is one of my personal favourites....even though he lost.:)

yerwanthere123

If he's given himself the time to actually recover properly then who knows, he could still have 2/3 good years left on tour. Peak Del Potro is certainly a fine match for Djokovic.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

If he's given himself the time to actually recover properly then who knows, he could still have 2/3 good years left on tour. Peak Del Potro is certainly a fine match for Djokovic.

It's such a shame because a few years ago I remember thinking how young he was and how he still had loads of time to win a few more slams and now he's spent the best part of the past 3 or 4 years on the sidelines.

lostcat

RosyLily wrote: »

Very excited! Hoping beyond anything that Delpo is 100% healthy. The tour needs him imo. His match vs. Djokovic in the Wimbledon SFs a couple of years back is one of my personal favourites....even though he lost.:)

Probably one of the best matches of the past few years, Del Potro totally showboating in the 4th before making a final push to win the set.

I remember he came over the net to 'discuss' a line call with Djokovic at one stage, and I was thinking 'good god that man is huge':)

Rjd2

lostcat wrote: »

Probably one of the best matches of the past few years, Del Potro totally showboating in the 4th before making a final push to win the set.

I remember he came over the net to 'discuss' a line call with Djokovic at one stage, and I was thinking 'good god that man is huge':)

It was box office, the Wimbledon crowd and everyone watched him adored him that day. I said before if he had stayed fit he along with Wawrinka would be the players at this moment in time would be most likely to worry Novak at this moment, the power of those dudes.:eek:

RosyLily

Delpo and Wawrinka have the game to bother Djokovic. More so than the majority of the ATP tour imo. On their day, they hit through their opponents with so much power. It's a pleasure to watch!

Would to love to see a Stan-Juan match when both are at 100%.

RosyLily

Delpo and Wawrinka have the game to bother Djokovic. More so than the majority of the ATP tour imo. On their day, they hit through their opponents with so much power. It's a pleasure to watch!

Would to love to see a Stan-Juan match when both are at 100%.

cowboyBuilder

It's good news alright, but it will be difficult to keep a wrist injury quiet.

yerwanthere123

Interesting, no ATP or WTA rankings points will be offered for the Olympics this time around.

CassieManson

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

Interesting, no ATP or WTA rankings points will be offered for the Olympics this time around.

That's very strange, I wonder why? I seem to remember in 2012 that Andy Murray got 750 points for his gold medal and there was some discussion at the time that the Olympics should be the equivalent of a Masters 1000 given the size of the field and the duration of the tournament.

yerwanthere123

James McGee playing qualies in Memphis this weekend, whilst David O' Hare has a wildcard into the doubles draw.

Nice to see Kerber didn't flop in her first match back as a grand slam champion, beats Bacsinszky 6-1 6-3. Bacsinszky is 1-3 for the year so far.

RosyLily

Baby Girl Murray born on Sunday according to Twitter. No name yet.

Fed Cup 2042!!:D

yerwanthere123

So happy for them. Would love to see a photo but I doubt they'll make one public.

RosyLily

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

So happy for them. Would love to see a photo but I doubt they'll make one public.

He might tweet one at some stage. "Here's the baby now leave us alone" kinda thing.

cowboyBuilder

Taylor Fritz , just gone 18 last October , makes his first ATP 250 final in Memphis TN , I think this guy is the future of the game - I've been keeping an eye on him .

Let's see what he can do against Nishikori- probably not much - but his ranking should shoot up after this run .