I hope everyone enjoyed Day 1 of the Australian Open. There were some great matches yesterday (Julia Georges why do you insist on giving people heart attacks) and some not so great matches (Sharapova's blow out of Olga Puchkova).
Of the women's matches that I saw yesterday, Venus' was the most entertaining. Watching Venus when she is playing well, one only hopes that she can maintain this level of play for as long as she can. Her net game was awesome to watch and her serve was really working well. Galina was understandably frustrated, but when Venus is playing this well, there is not much that others can do.
My internet at home is as frustrating as anything I have ever encountered. The AO website is great for livestreaming but I wish I had internet that allowed me to watch matches without all the buffering. Oh well.
ESPN2 continues to provide the same narrative on women's tennis. One can only hope that at some point in time this narrative will change.
It was disheartening to hear Brad Gilbert espouse on the age old grunting debate. Someone needs to tell him that that ship has sailed. Give it a rest. No one cares, except you Brad. Speaking of ... I watched bits and pieces of the Tipsy/Hewitt match as well as Ramos/Baghdatis and could any other players be more offensive to watch or indeed listen to other than Tipy and Ramos (and yes I have heard Granollers).
One of our new features on Overhead Spin is our Suicide Pool Picks and Results thread. Yesterday, Spin picked her Day 1 winners from the women's side. Below are the results. Spin had a 70% success rate. Later today Spin will post her Day 2 picks on the women's side. Here's hoping for a 100% success rate
Of the women's matches that I saw yesterday, Venus' was the most entertaining. Watching Venus when she is playing well, one only hopes that she can maintain this level of play for as long as she can. Her net game was awesome to watch and her serve was really working well. Galina was understandably frustrated, but when Venus is playing this well, there is not much that others can do.
My internet at home is as frustrating as anything I have ever encountered. The AO website is great for livestreaming but I wish I had internet that allowed me to watch matches without all the buffering. Oh well.
ESPN2 continues to provide the same narrative on women's tennis. One can only hope that at some point in time this narrative will change.
It was disheartening to hear Brad Gilbert espouse on the age old grunting debate. Someone needs to tell him that that ship has sailed. Give it a rest. No one cares, except you Brad. Speaking of ... I watched bits and pieces of the Tipsy/Hewitt match as well as Ramos/Baghdatis and could any other players be more offensive to watch or indeed listen to other than Tipy and Ramos (and yes I have heard Granollers).
One of our new features on Overhead Spin is our Suicide Pool Picks and Results thread. Yesterday, Spin picked her Day 1 winners from the women's side. Below are the results. Spin had a 70% success rate. Later today Spin will post her Day 2 picks on the women's side. Here's hoping for a 100% success rate
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PLAYER A
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PLAYER B
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KAREN’S PICKS
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RESULTS
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Na Li
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Sesil Karentacheva
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NA LI – coming off a very good Sydney
even though she lost to eventual champ Radwanska
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6-1, 6-3
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Kristyna Pliskova
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Sacha Jones
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PLISKOVA – never seen either woman play,
but Pliskova is higher ranked for what it is worth
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6-3, 6-2
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Coco Vandeweghe
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Sorana Cirstea
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CIRSTEA – more variety but she retired in
her last match so exercise caution
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4-6, 2-6
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Julia Georges
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Vera Dushevina
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GEORGES – because if you can’t beat
Dushevina, you really need to take stock
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5-7, 6-2, 6-4
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Romina
Oprandi
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Tsvetana
Pironkova
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Tough
one but I am picking Oprandi on form and guile
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4-6,
7-5, 6-2
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Yuxuan
Zhang
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Jie
Zheng
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JHENG
– on form player
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1-6,
6-3, 4-6
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Ana Ivanovic
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Melinda Czink
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Tough one – but I am going with Ivanovic
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6-2, 6-1
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Yung-Jan
Chan
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Daniela
Hantuchova
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This
should be a long drawn out affair and CHAN may pull it out as she plays well
in Australia but Daniela also plays well here. Pick em
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6-1,
1-6, 6-1
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Maria
Koehler
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Karin
Knapp
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This
one is tough as I have never seen either player. Going with KNAPP as name more familiar to
me
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3-6,
6-3, 6-3
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Johanna
Larsson
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Jelena
Jankovic
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This
should be a long drawn out battle and I am going with JANKOVIC to try and get
a good start on her season
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2-6,
2-6,
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Mona
Barthel
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Ksenia
Pervak
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This
one is also going to be a long drawn out affair. Pervak is a fighter &
Barthel has had good results this season.
I am going with PERVAK on mental game alone.
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5-7,
6-2, 4-6
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Heather
Watson
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Alexandra
Cadantu
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WATSON
– but this one will be a tough battle
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2-6,
6-3, 6-2
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Irina-Camelia Begu
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Arantxa Rus
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BEGU – Rus does not play well on hard courts
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4-6, 2-6
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Bojana
Bobusic
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Agnieszka
Radwanska
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RADWANSKA
– on form
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5-7,
0-6
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Angelique
Kerber
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Elina
Svitolina
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KERBER
– if she can’t pass the first round?
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6-2,
6-4
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Lucie
Hradecka
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Kiki
Bertens
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This
is also a toss up. Bertens is coming off a very good Auckland but HRADECKA by
experience for me
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6-2,
7-6(10-8)
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Casey
Dellaqua
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Madison
Keys
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The
Australian crowd will be rooting hard for Casey but I think KEYS takes this
one in straights
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4-6,
6-7(0)
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Stefanie
Voegele
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Tamira
Paszek
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PASZEK
– despite having a poor start to the season, I expect her to win this
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6-4,
4-6, 5-7
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Ekaterina
Makorova
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Michelle
Larcher de Brito
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I
had no idea de Brito was still playing tennis. MAKOROVA in straights
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6-2,
7-5
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Camila Giorgi
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Stefanie Foretz Gacon
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GIORGI – the young Italian made a name for
herself when she took out Schiavone at the USO. Look for great things in 2013 from her
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2-6, 3-6
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Vesna Dolonc
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Olivia Rogowska
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As in the Dellaqua/Keys match, the Australian
crowd will be rooting for the Aussie.
ROGOWSKA
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5-7, 7-5, 8-6
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Anabel
Medina Garrigues
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Marion
Bartoli
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GARRIGUES
– she is coming off a great victory at Hopman Cup and while it is still an
exhibition her net play was awesome.
Bartoli seems to be in a slump and is ripe for an upset
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2-6,
4-6
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Dominika
Cibulkova
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Ashleigh
Barty
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CIBULKOVA
– after that shellacking in Sydney, I expect Domi to bounce back and bounce
the 16 year old in straights.
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It
was not in straights but Domi won 3-6, 6-0, 6-1
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Mandy Minella
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Valeria Savinykh
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Pick em – I say MINELLA even though she is
returning to the Tour from injury
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6-7(4), 1-6
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Kirsten
Flipkens
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Nina
Bratchikova
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FLIPKENS
– with the retirement of Henin and Clijsters, Flipkens is hoping to keep
Belgian hopes alive. Should come
through in straights
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6-4,
6-3
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Chanelle
Scheepers
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Klara
Zakopalova
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Another
pick em – this time I think SCHEEPERS will triumph
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1-6,
2-6
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Venus
Williams
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Galina
Voskoboeva
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Sentimental
favourite of this write and tennis fans in general, I pick WILLIAMS for this
one. Galina has an interesting game
and I am sure Serena gave Venus pointers on how to play her.
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6-1,
6-0
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Alize
Cornet
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Marina
Erakovic
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If
ERAKOVIC can keep her serve working she should be able to get through CORNET
who does not do well on hard courts.
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7-5,
6-7(3), 10-8
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Petra Martic
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Misaki Doi
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MARTIC – I have not seen Martic since she was
ousted in the first round of the USO by Stosur. Here’s hoping she comes to play. MARTIC in 3
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3-6, 4-6
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Olga
Puchikova
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Maria
Sharapova
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SHARPAOVA
– nothing more to be said really.
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0-6,
0-6
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Kai
Chen-Chang
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Samantha
Stosur
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For
some reason I did not have this match on my Day 1 picks. STOSUR won
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6-7(3),
3-6
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Pauline
Parmentier
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Olga
Govortsova
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This
was also not on the schedule of play
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6-2,3-6,
2-6
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