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Gil-galad
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Posted: Wed Jan 28, 2009 12:06 pm Post subject: |
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Serena always manages to win somehow, even when facing match points! That's what makes her the scariest woman on the tour. She's playing poorly even though she's in good shape, while Dementieva is playing pretty fantastically. Hmm. Andy has beaten Roger before in a 3 set match, but in a best of 5 the odds sway heavily back toward Roger. Not to mention that Roger's game seemed to be at the level it was in 2006 and 2007 when he won 6 Grand Slams in 2 years. His play against Del Potro was truly stunning. On the other hand, Rafa's game the entire tournament has been absolutely amazing. Despite Verdasco training with Gil Reyes (he has my name!!!) here in Las Vegas, the same trainer who turned Andre Agassi's career around, I think Verdasco is just a bit over matched. Either way, Verdasco is now one to watch to make a move for the top 10, or even 5. With all that said, it seems to me like we're heading for a Roger - Rafa final, of pretty epic proportions. You cannot ask for a better final match-up than those two. Especially with the level of play they've given thus far.
Thanks for posting the match-ups early, Gaby-- if you're up before I am, feel free to post them up.
Rafael Nadal - Fernado Verdasco
Andy Roddick - Roger Federer
Vera Zvonareva - Dinara Safina -- Zvonereva plays well, but Safina will persevere.
Elena Dementieva - Serena Williams --- Somehow Serena will manage. She's won in '03, '05, and '07, she has to win in '09 to make it an odd year winning streak!
edit:
This image represents the extreme heat of the past few days.
Rafa remains cute even with a pack of ice on his head.
Edit2: Feel free to put up the finals matchup for Women when you wake up, Gaby. Otherwise we might both miss that prediction. _________________
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Gil-galad
Flame of the West
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Posted: Thu Jan 29, 2009 4:56 pm Post subject: |
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Men's Final:
??????? v. Roger Federer
Women's Final:
Dinara Safina v. Serena Williams
My predictions:
Dinara Safina v. Serena Williams
I predicted her to win, so I can't go against her now. _________________
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ViktorFan
Shalimar
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Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2009 1:05 pm Post subject: Re: |
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[quote="Ben":2on4pmh3]Rafa remains cute even with a pack of ice on his head. |
Rafa remains always cute .
The finals are:
Rafael Nadal - Roger Federer
Dinara Safina - Serena Williams.
As I wrote in my text message: the semi final Nadal vs Verdasco was the best match I've seen - at least since a very long time. Both deserved to win and this match was worth to be the final. Too bad that the decision who won was made by Verdasco's double fault. They played 5 h 14 m, I've read that it was the longest match at the Australian Open ever. I think Rafa will still be too exhausted on Sunday to win the final - having to play more than 5 hours by 44 ° Celsius is tough. So my prediction is: Roger will win in three sets, it won't be a long match - maximum 2 hours.
(Btw: Isn't it usual the case, that the semi finals are played on (or at?) the same day? I was very surprised that Federer played one day earlier. Maybe the organisers wanted to let him relax one day more than the other finalist. )
My predictions are:
Rafael Nadal vs Roger Federer
Dinara Safina vs Serena Williams
I can't imagine that Dinara will have any chances vs Serena. It will be a 2-set-win for her. |
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Gil-galad
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Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2009 4:31 pm Post subject: |
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Both Rafa and Roger will have at least 1 day to rest before the finals, which I think is the only restriction.
If there's anyone on the tour who can recover from a 5 hour match and still win, it's Rafa. So I wouldn't say that it's going to be easy for Roger. I'm looking forward to a very fantastic match. So much so, that I'm going to wake up at 4am in order to watch it!
Also, I'm surprised you are predicting a win for a Williams sister!
Rafael Nadal vs Roger Federer
Dinara Safina vs Serena Williams
We both have the same finals predictions, eh? Oh well. ^^ Either way, I've seen a lot of new players this year that we're going to have to watch out for. Most namely-- Verdasco is now quite a force to be reckoned with (if he can continue to play as fantastically as he did in this tournament). _________________
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ViktorFan
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Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2009 6:01 pm Post subject: Re: |
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[quote="Ben":1bgf2ojx]Also, I'm surprised you are predicting a win for a Williams sister! |
That's really embarassing for me .
Will you be on MSN during the Men's final? I will watch it too, it's worth to get up at 9.15 am on a Sunday morning. ^__^ |
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Gil-galad
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Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2009 8:09 pm Post subject: |
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I'll be on shortly after it starts. I'm not going to be able to get up early enough to see the very beginning, but I'll be up at least 30 minutes in to the match. _________________
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ViktorFan
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Posted: Sun Feb 01, 2009 9:55 am Post subject: |
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Congratulations RAFA!! I never thought he could win. He won even tough he was tired, had to play 5 sets again, Federer was fit (that's what he said in an interview before the final) and had so many break chances. AWESOME! Rafa won a Grand Slam on clay, on grass and on hardcourt (only 12 men did that before, Roger has the chance to join them at Roland Garros ^^). What a day! I should celebrate now. ^__^
VAMOS RAFA!!!
(At the start of Set 5 the TV-connection broke and I couldn't watch Rafa win ... I hope for a replay later)
Edit:
I watched the replay and I must say: the way Roger played in the 5th set seems like he couldn't handle the pressure to have to win if he wanted to get the 14th Grand Slam title or he was disappointed that Rafa played that well. He made so many mistakes. After the 4th set I thought both deserved to win but after the 5th set I have to say: Rafa deserved the title. Unfortunately I couldn't watch the presentation ceremony but I've read on the Australian Open homepage that Roger cried. So I guess he couldn't handle the pressure. What I didn't like to read was that Rafa even said "Sorry" that he won, Roger had enough chances to win (around 20 break chances) so there's no need for Rafa to excuse. ^__^ |
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Gil-galad
Flame of the West
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Posted: Sun Feb 01, 2009 3:48 pm Post subject: |
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I think Roger just didn't think he could win when he got to the 5th set. Which is silly, because all the momentum was on his side. We'll see if he can recover in the next few tournaments, but this was pretty devastating for him. Some how he managed to avert tears at Wimbledon last year, but he couldn't help but break down after losing here. I feel for him.
I'll add up the scores later when i finish with my homework. _________________
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ViktorFan
Shalimar
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Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2009 3:41 pm Post subject: Re: |
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[quote="Ben":2j4qgxay]I think Roger just didn't think he could win when he got to the 5th set. |
If that was the case he'd disappoint me much more. He wanted to get the 14th Grand Slam so he had to fight for it. I assume he has problems to accept that he, the "unstoppable, unbeatable" Roger, can't beat Rafa at the moment, maybe he doesn't want to realize that there's someone better as him. It's always hard to admit that you aren't the best anymore. |
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Gil-galad
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Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2009 7:01 pm Post subject: |
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I think it's gotten into his head that he can't beat Rafa anymore. Which isn't really true, otherwise he would not have last five sets in the past two matches he played against him. It's not that he doesn't want to win against Rafa, it's just a mental thing where perhaps he doesn't think he can, anymore. I think he needs someone to help him, really. =P
4th Round
Gilly:
Men - 6*5 = 30
Women - 4*5 = 20
Subtotal: 50
Total: 309
Gaby:
Men - 6*5 = 30
Women - 5*5 - 25
Subtotal: 55
Total: 305
Quarter Finals
Gilly:
Men - 3*15 = 45
Women - 3*15 = 45
Subtotal: 90
Total: 399
Gaby:
Men - 2*15 = 30
Women - 3*15 = 45
Subtotal: 75
Total: 380
Semi Finals
Gilly:
Men - 2*20 = 40
Women - 2*20 = 40
Subtotal: 80
Total: 479
Gaby:
Men - 2*20 = 40
Women - 1*20 = 20
Subtotal: 60
Total: 440
Finals
Gilly:
Men - 0
Women - 1*30 (+BONUS of 25)= 55
Subtotal: 55
Total: 534
Gaby:
Men - 0
Women - 1*30 = 30
Subtotal: 30
Total: 470
[size=150:37fdmx5f]Final Scores
Gilly: 534 Gaby: 470
Woo! We'll have to try to recruit some more players next time~ _________________
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ViktorFan
Shalimar
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Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2009 3:04 am Post subject: |
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Congratulations Ben! Yeah, it would be nice if we'd find some more players. |
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