ATP/WTA Australian Summer of Tennis 2023

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Munich said:
Interested to hear which matches you're talking about?

I think Day 1 is the worst I've seen in a long time. Maybe ever actually.
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Tsitsipas vs Halys. Halys looked great vs Djokovic in Adelaide then had a good week in NZ. Can he make Stefanos a bit edgy?

Nadal vs Draper. Nadal in 4 I think, but were his United Cup losses a pattern?

Then you’ve got Sinner, FAA, Medvedev, Shapovalov, Korda all in action. All threats to various extents. The mens might not have the blockbuster matches tomorrow, I mean it’s round 1, but all these guys are worth watching.

Then the women’s you’ve got Swiatek opening her campaign against Niemeier. The latter is coming off QF at 4R last two slams. Tough start.

Siniakova vs Gauff. If Katya can perform like she did against Garcia, she could cause a massive upset.

Kenin vs Azarenka. Two former AO champions, you’d expect Vika to win in 2 given Sofia only just started to return to some form in Hobart but you never know.

Kostyuk vs Anisimova. Despite Amanda being the seed, I expect Marta to come through this one.

Eva Lys in her first GS MD appearance. Worth checking out that one.

15 year old Brenda Fruhvirtova. Can she win a match? Raducana also begins the day on 1573 arena, is she fit?
 
Drummond said:
Tsitsipas vs Halys. Halys looked great vs Djokovic in Adelaide then had a good week in NZ. Can he make Stefanos a bit edgy?

Nadal vs Draper. Nadal in 4 I think, but were his United Cup losses a pattern?

Then you’ve got Sinner, FAA, Medvedev, Shapovalov, Korda all in action. All threats to various extents. The mens might not have the blockbuster matches tomorrow, I mean it’s round 1, but all these guys are worth watching.

Then the women’s you’ve got Swiatek opening her campaign against Niemeier. The latter is coming off QF at 4R last two slams. Tough start.

Siniakova vs Gauff. If Katya can perform like she did against Garcia, she could cause a massive upset.

Kenin vs Azarenka. Two former AO champions, you’d expect Vika to win in 2 given Sofia only just started to return to some form in Hobart but you never know.

Kostyuk vs Anisimova. Despite Amanda being the seed, I expect Marta to come through this one.

Eva Lys in her first GS MD appearance. Worth checking out that one.

15 year old Brenda Fruhvirtova. Can she win a match? Raducana also begins the day on 1573 arena, is she fit?
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I'll be camped out at 1573. Shapo and Stan.

I don't like watching FAA, Tsitsipas, Gauff or Swiatek. Can't get behind their style and FAA'S grunting makes me see red. I've walked out of his matches before haha.

Love Azarenka but don't plan on going into MC tomorrow. Won't watch Nadal this early either (he will flog Draper) and will likely skip the night session at RL.

Day 2 starts with a bang I think, Thiem/Rublev followed by Fritz/Basilashvili then over to see Fognini have a meltdown against Kokkinakis, then Kyrgios.

I won't even have time to catch a women's match!
 
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That's a wrap for the Summer of Tennis.

I don't beleive all the newspaper hysteria, I think Tennis Australia would be happy. After the last two disrupted years it felt like we needed to experience a normal Tennis Summer again to get comfortable with it. Not too much controversy and a few new names emerged for the casual viewer.

In terms of the first week. The United Cup has potential but its meant to be about premium content and having players ranked over 200 in feature matches isn't great when you have two top 20 players on a back court in Adelaide. If it's going to work the best players need to play. It meant a three day earlier start to the summer which was good. As a live Tennis experience one court is no good. The whole idea was to get the big mens names playing in Sydney. It may have improved that but has come at the expense of Brisbane in particular. All in all I think they have something to work with but needs improvement.

The second week is always awkward as everyone prepares for the Aus Open. It's the same for the other four slams, not sure there is much that can be done. It was helped again by Kokkinakis going deep in Adelaide. I think they will continue to play exhibitions as much as possible in this week in Melbourne. There is talk of Sydney hosting a tournament next year in this week.

The two weeks of the Australian Open had great Tennis and good crowds. Not having Kyrgios was a huge blow to the public interest in the first week and no Barty hurt the second week. Plenty of schedule tweaks could improve tv viewing for us but most of the time it's all done for overseas.

Not much Tennis Australia can do about the Djokovic dominance. They have a few more years of that ahead.
 
The lead up tournaments were a bit of a mess for me, could not really get into them. Hopefully with some tweaking they will be a bit better next year.

The AO itself really had a different feel to it this year, no doubt about it. Yes, I think the loss of Nick, Ash, and Rafa early on was part of that. New controversies with all the flag stuff and Australia Day stuff (but there is always something every year).

The crowds were up but the TV audience was down. I'm not surprised the attendence was up, after two disrupted years people who like to attend would have been very keen to get back there. TV audiences reflect more of the casual viewers I suppose and no Ash or Nick that would have been a factor.

Interesting tournament this year but a very satisfying result in the men's final and a really great women's final. Rinky and Kubes winning the men's doubles was the the icing on the cake :D
 
HODGEYROAD said:
Djokovic has won Wimbledon and the AO the last 4 times he has competed in them, what a ******* player.
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would that be a record?

Only Federer would go close to that but I dont think he ever won 4 Aus/US Opens in a row.

His record on RLA would only be matched by one player on clay.
 
BobbyMorri said:
would that be a record?

Only Federer would go close to that but I dont think he ever won 4 Aus/US Opens in a row.

His record on RLA would only be matched by one player on clay.
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Fed won Wimbledon (2003-2007) and the US Open (2004-2008) five times in a row. Would've had 7 in a row if he didn't narrowly lose to Rafa at Wimbledon in 2008!

I think in all the Novak stuff it gets lost just how dominant Fed was for a six year period. Out of a possible 25 slams from the 2004 Aus Open to the 2010 Aus Open, he had 15 slam titles, six losing finals (three at RG), and three semis.
 
BobbyMorri said:
would that be a record?

Only Federer would go close to that but I dont think he ever won 4 Aus/US Opens in a row.

His record on RLA would only be matched by one player on clay.
Click to expand...

Fed won 5 Wimbledon's in a row and 5 USO's in a row. 4 of those years overlapped (2004 to 2007).

In that same 4 year span he also won AO 3 out of the 4 years losing in the semi in 2005.

So he almost won 3 slams each year for 4 years in a row. Bloody Safin 🤣.

He also made the RG final from 2006-2009.

Nobody is beating that run.
 
Dannnnnnnnnn said:
Fed won Wimbledon (2003-2007) and the US Open (2004-2008) five times in a row. Would've had 7 in a row if he didn't narrowly lose to Rafa at Wimbledon in 2008!
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Munich said:
Fed won 5 Wimbledon's in a row and 5 USO's in a row. 4 of those years overlapped (2004 to 2007).

In that same 4 year span he also won AO 3 out of the 4 years losing in the semi in 2005.

So he almost won 3 slams each year for 4 years in a row. Bloody Safin 🤣
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Knew he did Wimbledon(wasn't sure on the exact number) but wasn't sure about the US. I knew Safin would screw everything up for the Aus. Still, the best tennis match I have watched.
 

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I really enjoyed the Open. There was a lack of great matches in the 2nd week. Outside of Sinner/Stefo and the Women's final, none of them would be memorable(I didn't watch Rune/Rublev). In terms of the tennis, it did lack the normal drama on court and when they drama happened, it happened at 4am.

Memorable moments
  • Andy Murray run. That let up the first week and his match v Kokk was something else. No idea how he did it.
  • The women final showcased power-hitting can be very fun to watch. I do like style clashes in tennis but when both power hitters are hitting winners....so good. And it showcased that the serve is very important in womens tennis.
  • Happy for Kubler. Another big payday that will continue to pay out dividends for the rest of the year. won't take much to qualify for the year-end champs. The Burnie International even got a mention by Hewitt. Have fun Hijikata down there this week. Everything which applies to Kubler also applies to him.
  • Schmieds qualified and even one a match. Her serve is not a complete joke anymore either.
  • Poppys win over Taylor Fritz and how much that meant to him. I think even Parker would have felt that.
  • That top-level tennis was back in Hobart. Hopefully, we will get a better entry list next year.
  • 30K fans watching the mens final in garden square and watching it peacefully. That is the Australian Open.

Sad moments
  • Nadal. Farewell champ.
  • The withdrawals before the tournament.
  • The flags. It creates such a good look in the crowd, it is a shame that some people take in certain emblems which don't showcase that.
  • Azarenka v Zhu was a match that deserved a much bigger crowd.
  • Auckland. They had a rough time with the weather. It was their first tournament in 3 years and it barely got outside the gym.
  • Lack of quality matches in the later stages.

Overall
  • I think nine would be happy with the ratings overall. Yes, they dropped by 40% but last year was a good year with Barty and Nadal. If this is a poor year tennis-wise, then tennis still dominated the tv for 2 weeks.
  • Crowds, fantastic.
  • More flexible schedule to prevent stupid late finishes.
  • Please have one tournament in Adelaide. The United Cup has potential but some refinement needs to happen. Perhaps 4 groups of 4 in Perth and Sydney, ties are 3 matches long and the top team in each group makes the final stages in Sydney. So Brisbane first week, Adelaide 2nd week. Everything else is the same.
 
Bumpswithagrin said:
The lead up tournaments were a bit of a mess for me, could not really get into them. Hopefully with some tweaking they will be a bit better next year.
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Yeah, sounds like they are all in on the United Cup with tweaking.

I'd expand the United Cup to 8 groups of 3
1)Allows for two States to have some outside court action

2) Add some flexibility to swap ties between centre court and court 1 depending on whose playing and what ties are still live.

3) Would allow for a country like Canada to compete (Auger Alliassime and Shapovalov) but if need be the womens could be played on court 1 as they don't have the top women.

4) simpler finals knockout format. You have to keep winning to stay alive.

Maybe they won't like that but you can't have so many top men playing in a 250 tournament. You have to get them into the United Cup somehow.
 
Yeah, I think TA will be happy with everything given we were missing the world no. 1 and star attraction in Kyrgios. The crowds were incredible given they jacked up the prices. This is what will make TA the most happy.

Yep, refinement of the United Cup and a regular event in Brisbane is what is needed.
 
Love Safin so glad he beat Hewitt.
Highlights:
Re-emergence of Donna Vekic after 18 months of injuries and covid.
Aussie doing ok in early rounds.
Gadecki getting a couple of wins, hopefully she will have a breakout year.
A massive thanks to Morri for daily write ups.
And to the all posters who kept it civil and insightful.
Ch 9 and 9Now for coverage even though some commentators are not that great.

I didn't get to see a lot of matches due to working but did listen through AO radio. Most of the commentary was ok.
Late night matches need to stop at a reasonable hour for so many reasons
Adelaide not too have two tournaments
United Cup needs to be overhauled
Russia and Belrussia to be able to compete next year in United Cup
I'm sure there are other things
 
Biggest thing for me was the emergence of new stars we had 15 year olds making the main draw.

Womens draw was the best we’ve seen in decades so open and the final was probably the best women’s final in a grand slam in years.

Novak equaling Rafa on 22
 
Blue Arrow said:
Horrible ratings drop for 9 this year, $500 million a year seemed like a good deal but with Barty gone and unlike-able Novax hogging the limelight viewers switched over to the cricket.

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news ltd have been a bit mean this year. They have been slagging off the AO for the last month.

ratings were always going to be down from last year. But Aus Open still gave Nine a 40% share of the ratings.
 
BobbyMorri said:
news ltd have been a bit mean this year. They have been slagging off the AO for the last month.

ratings were always going to be down from last year. But Aus Open still gave Nine a 40% share of the ratings.
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I wonder why News Ltd are doing these "news" reports?.... ******* joke of an organisation.
 
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