Grand Slam Australian Open 2019

[pepsi]

The first grand slam of the year kicks off in just over a week, plenty to talk about with questions in both the womens and mens side.

www.ausopen.com
www.bom.gov.au/vic/forecasts/melbourne.shtml

Tickets: Rod Laver Arena and Margaret Court Arena (day 1-8) are reserved seating, all other courts are accessible with a ground pass (section behind the court in Melbourne Arena also reserved seating)
https://ausopen.com/tickets#!RLA

Changes:
Deciding sets will no longer be advantage. A super tiebreak will be played at 6-all in the 3rd set for the women and 5th set for the men. First player to 10 points with an advantage of 2 points will be the winner (the less said about this the better)
Electronic review of line calls available on all courts
25-second Serve Clock will be introduced for all matches
Heat policy has changed. It is a 5 level rating system that is difficult to understand or explain!

TV and Radio coverage: Channel 9 come will broadcast the tennis and not sure on the full details as to how they will use their digital channels and their online platform. 9Now is the online platform that will most likely be showing courts with TV cameras setup. ABC radio grandstand will broadcast on the radio and the AO will have their radio coverage through the official AO app also.

Qualifying: 128 field draw for both the women and men, with 16 spots up for grabs. Tuesday 8 January – Friday 11 January 2019 (note the change with an earlier start on the Tuesday and earlier finish for the Friday). I recommend anyone with the time to go and watch some of the qualifying tournament. It is free entry and it is a great way to be up close to the action without the big crowds.

Main Draw: The draw ceremony will take place on Thursday the 10th of January at 6pm. 128 field draw. I believe the top 104 ranked players have direct entry, with 16 spots for the qualifiers and 8 wildcard spots handed out

Seeding: Top 32 players will be seeded. Seeding of players will be taken directly from the WTA and ATP rankings as of Monday the 7th of January.

Preview: If anyone wants to do a preview of the women and mens draw, feel free!

 

[matt_897]

Nine have had all courts from Brisbane on 9Now so i suspect same for the AO. That draw will be shown on 9GEM i believe

 

[Redline]

I am travelling over to Melbourne for a few days in the first week. I bought tickets to Margaret Court Arena again and I am already regretting it.

I don't like RLA but Melbourne Arena (Hisense) will probably get Osaka, De Minaur, Barty and Zverev. I will be left with Ebden, Cilic, Anderson and Stosur. I can get into the Melbourne Arena, I just won't have a reserved seat.

I don't know why this annoys me but I wish they would redo court numbers at Melbourne Park. There is no Court 1, 4 or 6 and others anymore.

 

[BobbyMorri]

I am travelling over to Melbourne for a few days in the first week. I bought tickets to Margaret Court Arena again and I am already regretting it.

I don't like RLA but Melbourne Arena (Hisense) will probably get Osaka, De Minaur, Barty and Zverev. I will be left with Ebden, Cilic, Anderson and Stosur. I can get into the Melbourne Arena, I just won't have a reserved seat.

I don't know why this annoys me but I wish they would redo court numbers at Melbourne Park. There is no Court 1, 4 or 6 and others anymore.

I think you should be fine. They normally put on the "2nd tier players" on Margaret Court Arena and put the Aussies on Melbourne Arena.

I will be going. havent brought tickets yet but probably just ground passes for me.

 

[JackNah_8]

I think Margaret Court Arena is fine, I've been a few times. It's a nice arena and usually the good players are scheduled there.

This year, I am going to try Centre Court and also check out the qualifiers.

 

[pepsi]

Having seen a couple of Djokovic matches from Doha and Federer all week, the men's side will be very interesting. Federer started to find some form in the latter stages of 2018 and djokovic could not maintain his level from wimbledon to the us open til the end of the year. Federer has won 22 straight matches in Australia and depending on the draw, he has a very strong chance.

 

[GreyCrow]

Subscribed

Djoker and woz

 

[Hamingja]

Djokovic and Kerber for mine.

Bo5 is a different beast so I wouldn't read a lot into Novak's Bo3 form.

Kerber is double figure odds to win. Proven GS winner and in form in Perth. When she is in form she tends to hold it pretty well despite playing a heavy schedule.

 

[matt_897]

Polmans, Popryin & Bolt get wild cards. I am not sure how TA gives it to someone who lost 3 and 0 to Thompson over Kokkaknsis but anyways Kok will have to play qualies

 

[Hamingja]

Kokk has got as many wild cards as Barty 1.0. It won't hurt him earning it.

 

[matt_897]

Kokk has got as many wild cards as Barty 1.0. It won't hurt him earning it.

I agree but i don't see how Bolt is worthwhile being picked over him. He's going to lose to most people. Polmans & Popryin i understand because they are young but Bolt i have no idea.

 

[JackNah_8]

Not sure why Bolt received a wc.

Kokkinakis was a bit unlucky to miss out, he was struggling with injuries last year to improve his ranking.

 

[JamisonRun40]

Djorkovic and Kerber for me. Barty to reach quarters. I still don't see her winning majors or big tournaments with her game.

 

[gopies1981]

Djokovic and Kerber for mine.

Bo5 is a different beast so I wouldn't read a lot into Novak's Bo3 form.

Kerber is double figure odds to win. Proven GS winner and in form in Perth. When she is in form she tends to hold it pretty well despite playing a heavy schedule.

In the men’s draw my pick is Djokovic even tho he lost In the semis in Doha. His only challenge is Federer especially since Nadal looks to be injured!!!

On the women’s side I’ve been impressed with kerber. 3 time grand slam winner looks fit and is the best returner in the game. Serena is me second fav but she is still 10 kg overweight and if it’s a hot summer her fitness could be telling. She is now way near as quick or fit when she last won here is 17! Also her serve to me is not as dominant as it use to be before her time off!!

Halep is the unknown as she struggled with injury after the French open and Darren Cahill is no longer her coach

 

[gopies1981]

Djorkovic and Kerber for me. Barty to reach quarters. I still don't see her winning majors or big tournaments with her game.

Ash Barty is still only 22 I believe she is another 3 years till she reaches her peak. Wimbledon is her best chance for a grand slam

 

[pepsi]

You are right, Serena is not as fit as she was pre baby. She'll be prone to an off day or 2 in Melbourne and there are enough players in the women's draw that will be able to take advantage of that. Speaking of the women's draw, it is very deep and you could make cases for at least 10 winning it.

What to say about the men's draw, it is interesting and even though we have been saying it for a number of years, eventually players out of the big 3 will start winning slams. Anderson was very impressive last year and has started the year well with a win in pune, don't think it would be a surprise if he makes a deep run. Federer has won 22 straight matches in Australia and has found some form the last couple of months, djokovic had a stellar 2nd half of the year and is the slight favourite, Nadal can't seem to finish a hard court tournament anymore and there are doubts over his fitness again.

It's definitely a bit of a return of the old brigade with a number of top players returning after an injury plagued 2018. Murray, Wawrinka, nishikori, tsonga and berdych would all hope they have something left. The 2 most impressive so far this year have been berdych who looks super fit and nishikori eho is striking the ball well. Out of those 5 you can see one of them making a semi, but they will also be dangerous floaters as lower seeds or being unseeded.

The young brigade are almost there. Who will be the first to make a big impact at a grand slam? The race is on between zverev, tsitsipas, medvedev, de minaur and khachanov to see who will make their first grand slam final.

Exciting 2 weeks ahead.

 

[JackNah_8]

Another player to watch out for is Stephens, she always peaks in the major tournaments.

Serena's movement will be exposed once she plays a stronger and quicker player.


Is Madison Key playing at the Australian open?

 

[danstar]

Looking forward to a great 2 weeks ahead

 

[pepsi]

Polmans, Popryin & Bolt get wild cards. I am not sure how TA gives it to someone who lost 3 and 0 to Thompson over Kokkaknsis but anyways Kok will have to play qualies

Answer just revealed on sen by Brett Phillips i believe. Hewitt and kokkinakis had a falling out some time last year, probably in regards to Davis cup. Hewitt holds lots of power at ta and the end result is no ao WC for kokkinakis.

 

[pepsi]

First day of the open next week has a forrcast max of 33 so it's going to be a hot start.

Qualifying draw is out and it starts tomorrow for anyone keen. Some of the first round qualifying matches taken from bens twitter account:

FAA-De Greef
Bublik-Rodionov
Ruud-Laaksonen
Lacko-Smyczek
Londero-Robredo
Polansky-Escobedo
Ofner-Uchiyama
Safwat-Kokkinakis
Brown-Berlocq
Baghdatis-D. King
Mahut-Troicki
Bellucci-Rosol
Santillan-Rubin
Kecmanovic-Quinzi

 

[BobbyMorri]

36 on Monday.........

I can't live in that. Let alone watch tennis.

 

[JackNah_8]

36! Nice start to the Australian Open but don't trust the weather forecast just yet.

 

[HODGEYROAD]

Djokovic will win it. Federer is a chance if someone else can take Novak out, but if they meet in the last 4 or beyond I can't see Roger beating Nole in a best of 5. Don't think Nadal's prep will be good enough for him to go all the way.

Don't think the younger talent are ready to win 7 best of 5 set matches over 2 weeks just yet.

 

[vaughany]

Predictions -

Mens: Djokovic
Smokey: Khanchanov

Womens: Kerber
Smokey: Keys

Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk

 

[JackNah_8]

Another smokey Nishikori