Quote from: Kemarit on January 09, 2019, 07:19:12 AM

Quote from: vella85 on January 08, 2019, 10:35:17 PM

Quote from: Kemarit on January 08, 2019, 10:04:33 AM

Quote from: vella85 on January 07, 2019, 10:28:55 PM

This thread has recently blown up with posts which is great to see as at one stage it was just myself, Kemarit and one or two other guys posting in here. I'm really liking Alex de Minaur in the Sydney International to maybe go all the way and win the tournament, he has been playing some very good tennis coming off a very successful 2018 so I think he has a big chance at winning.

Exactly, nice to see this thread come to life again with so many fans and not just fans but offering a lot of tips and analysis of the game. As a have said before, Alex de Minaur is the future of Australian tennis and it will be just a matter of time for him to be the a future Grand Slam winner.

Quote from: vella85 on January 07, 2019, 10:28:55 PM

Nadal was in action last night in the fast4 tennis event where he was up against Kyrgios, Nadal ended up losing the match but it gave him a chance to get some fitness up ahead of the Australian Open. It looked like he got through the match okay so hopefully he will be right for the Australian Open, I'm not sure if he will be 100% fit but even at 80% Nadal is a tough person to beat.

Bad sign, it only shows that he is not fully recuperated and might need some time to heal this body. Again, he is not getting any younger, might be another reason why his body is slow to react to rehab or medicine. Might be good for him to take some time off and let his body healed 100%.

Off topic: Glad to see you back on Bitvest campaign.

Its a shame that we won't see a fully fit Nadal for the Australian Open and like you said he might need some more time to get to 100% fitness again. I believe you and I were talking about Nadal in September last year where we both thought that he should of taken the rest of the year off like Murray did but Nadal didn't and re-injured his knee in that tournament which now has set him back a little. Murray looks good from what I have seen in his matches so far but I also don't feel that he is 100% fit either. So Nadal does have a tough decision to make, play in the Australian Open where he isn't fully fit or not play and make sure he is 100% fit and healthy for the French Open.

Novak Djokovic may very well be the man to beat in the Australian Open as this is his most successful Grand Slam event. Or could this be the year we finally see the young talent rise to the top in Grand Slams. Alexander Zverev is racing against time to be fit for the Australian Open after a hamstring injury. Dominic Thiem hasn't been in the best form of late but could finally produce the goods at the Open or could we see the local chances in Alex de Minaur or Nick Kyrgios win the Australian Open? And lets not forget Federer, can he make it 7 Australian Grand Slam titles and make it a hat-trick of titles? Its going to be an interesting Grand Slam that's for sure.

Yes, back then we know that something might blown up specially talking about the case of his body really taking its toll on him. Might be good to really skip this Australian Open and take his time to heal his body. Roger Federer already proved that it can be done and I'm sure that Nadal is looking at that option right now. Me neither, Andy Murray is not yet 100%, might be more of psychological issues though on his part so let's see.

Of course, Novak Djokovic will still be the man, but I know a lot of members will disagree. Most of them thinks that Novak is already old and can't go against the young talent in the roster. But we can't discount the possibility that maybe either Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic still have something to proved in this Australian Open.

I still think that Federer and Djokovic are the ones to beat even though they are the veterans. Grand Slams is where it counts and still we are yet to see a young talent win a Grand Slam on the Men's side. 2019 could be the year but first I like to see how they all go in the Australian Open as we might get a fair idea on how they will perform through the year. Thiem I'm expecting to do much better on clay the on hard courts so he could be a dark horse for the French Open if he is playing well. I almost won on him last year but he couldn't get the job done against Nadal.

The Sydney International is looking good with most of the top seeds making it through to the quarter finals, my money is still on Alex de Minaur to win this event so lets see how he now goes up against his fellow country men Jordan Thompson. Tsitsipas takes on Seppi which should be a great match to watch, its going to be another interesting day of tennis.