First round
Djokovic over Krueger in 3, Tsonga over Klizan in 4
Kokkinakis over Daniel in 4, Shapovalov over Andujar in 3
Goffin over Garin in 4, Copil over Granollers in 4
Harrison over Vesely in 3, Medvedev over Harris in 3
Fognini over Munar in 4, Mayer over Jarry in 4
Jaziri over Ivashka in 5, Carreno Busta over Vanni in 3
Kohlschreiber over Li in 3, J. Sousa over Pella in 4
Karlovic over Hurkacz in 5, Nishikori over Majchrzak in 3
Zverev over Bedene in 3, Chardy over Humbert in 4
Sock over Bolt in 5, Simon over Fratangelo in 3
Klahn over Chung in 4, Querrey over Herbert in 5
Wawrinka over Gulbis in 4, Kyrgios over Raonic in 5
Coric over Darcis in 3, Fucsovics over Ramos-Vinolas in 3
Donskoy over Djere in 5, Cecchinato over Krajinovic in 4
Kukushkin over Pouille in 4, Marterer over Sakharov in 4
Popyrin over M. Zverev in 4, Thiem over Paire in 4
Cilic over Tomic in 3, Rublev over McDonald in 5
Albot over Mmoh in 5, Verdasco over Kecmanovic in 4
Bautista Agut over Murray in 4, Millman over Delbonis in 3
Sandgren over Nishioka in 4, Khachanov over Gojowyczk in 3
Tsitsipas over Berrettini in 3, Troicki over Carballes Baena in 4
Travaglia over Andreozzi in 4, Basilashvili over Eubanks in 3
Dzumhur over Monfils in 5, Norrie over Fritz in 4
Evans over Ito in 4, Federer over Istomin in 3
Anderson over Mannarino in 3, Tiafoe over Gunnesawaran in 5
Lopez over Thompson in 5, Seppi over Johnson in 5
Dimitrov over Tipsarevic in 5, Lajovic over Cuevas in 3
Fabbiano over Kubler in 5, Isner over Opelka in 4
Berdych over Edmund in 3, Haase over Garcia-Lopez in 4
Kudla over Polmans in 4, Schwartzman over Molleker in 3
De Minaur over P. Sousa in 3, Basic over Laaksonen in 5
Struff over Ebden in 4, Nadal over Duckworth in 3
Second round
Djokovic over Tsonga in 3
Shapovalov over Kokkinakis in 3
Copil over Goffin in 4
Medvedev over Harrison in 4
Fognini over Mayer in 4
Carreno Busta over Jaziri in 5
Sousa over Kohlschreiber in 5
Nishikori over Karlovic in 3
Zverev over Chardy in 4
Simon over Sock in 3
Querrey over Klahn in 4
Wawrinka over Kyrgios in 4
Coric over Fucsovics in 3
Cecchinato over Donskoy in 4
Kukushkin over Marterer in 4
Thiem over Popyrin in 3
Cilic over Rublev in 4
Verdasco over Albot in 4
Bautista Agut over Millman in 5
Khachanov over Sandgren in 4
Tsitsipas over Troicki in 3
Basilashvili over Travaglia in 3
Norrie over Dzumhur in 4
Federer over Evans in 3
Anderson over Tiafoe in 3
Seppi over Lopez in 3
Dimitrov over Lajovic in 3
Isner over Fabbiano in 3
Berdych over Haase in 5
Schwartzman over Kudla in 4
De Minaur over Basic in 3
Nadal over Struff in 4
Third round
Djokovic over Shapovalov in 3
Medvedev over Copil in 3
Fognini over Carreno Busta in 4
Nishikori over Sousa in 3
Simon over Zverev in 4
Wawrinka over Querrey in 3
Coric over Cecchinato in 3
Thiem over Kukushkin in 4
Cilic over Verdasco in 3
Bautista Agut over Khachanov in 4
Tsitsipas over Basilashvili in 5
Federer over Norrie in 3
Anderson over Seppi in 4
Dimitrov over Isner in 3
Berdych over Schwartzman in 4
De Minaur over Nadal in 4
Fourth round
Djokovic over Medvedev in 3
Nishikori over Fognini in 3
Wawrinka over Simon in 5
Coric over Thiem in 3
Bautista Agut over Cilic in 4
Federer over Tsitsipas in 4
Anderson over Dimitrov in 5
De Minaur over Berdych in 5
Quarterfinals
Djokovic over Nishikori in 4
Coric over Wawrinka in 4
Federer over Bautista Agut in 4
Anderson over De Minaur in 4
Semifinals
Djokovic over Coric in 4
Federer over Anderson in 5
Final
Djokovic over Federer in 4
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WHO YA GOT?
I think Basilashvili will beat Tsitsipas and I can see thiem making into the quarters. Oh and wawrinka will make to the semis (if not finals) in my opinion.
Simon over Zverev? Depends on how injured Zverev is, otherwise Zverev will over power him
Dimitrov over isner/ H2H is Isner 2 to 1/ could go either way
De Minaur over Nadal 14 Grand Slam titles to one 250 if he wins tonight. Best of 5? only if Nadal retires
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
14 Grand Slam titles??????????? Rafa has 17 GS titles.
De Minaur over Nadal is a bold pick but i like it lol
In their encounter at Wimbledon De Minaur lacked firepower to hit through Nadal’s defense while Nadal easily hitted winners. I would be extremely surprised if De Minaur would win a set against him. Unless Nadal is nowhere near his normal level.
Looking for upsets: Djoko vs Shapo in R3, Djoko vs Medvedev in R4, can’t wait to see how these youngsters fare against the 6 times AO champion.
AO these days is on quick HCs, and I noticed that since they changed the surface there to quick HCs, Djoko hasn’t done well there. Of course it’s maybe because Djoko himself was having his injury issues, still, the hot weather plus the quick surface, it would be tougher for him to win there compared to in the past when he’s younger and could grind and grind to win. A big hitting Sasha kind of figure may give him all the troubles that he has to handle. I’ll watch how Stan plays here too, he seems to be gettting back on track, and he’s a physically tough specimen.
For Rafa, as long as he’s physically fit and ready to play, I think he should be able to deal with De Minaur in R3; Rafa is simply much more experienced than De Minaur. Berdych may be Rafa’s R4 opponent should both get there, I think Berdych should beat Edmund and also Schwartzman to get there.
As for Fed, his greatest obstacle to the SF is Cilic, as quick HCs suits Cilic’s big hitting kind of tennis. Cilic is capable of playing in the zone tennis that no one could handle, not even the big three, it’s just that he’s not able to sustain that throughout a whole match (the USO2014 SF was an exception imo).
Sasha’s quarter is the most interesting imo, as he hasn’t proven that he has to goods to deliver in a slam; if Stan can successfully navigate through his R1 and R2 matches, I think he’ll be a tough one for Sasha in R4; in the other section of Sasha’s quarter, I think either Thiem or Coric will make it to the QF.
If the big three are physically well and fit, then I think the QFs will be:
Rafa/Anderson
Fed/Cilic
Djoko (if he beats all those youngsters)/Kei
Stan (if he survives the first two rounds of Gulbis/Kyrgios/Raonic)/Coric or Thiem.
Lucky- you bring up a good point that I hadn’t really thought much about. I know that Novak is elite on every court speed. However, given that the margins are so small between all the top players, it could be that everyone has a better shot at taking out Novak when the AO court is faster.
I know that he was trying to find his form at the last couple AO’s, but it very well could be that it’s not just a coincidence that he stopped going deep at AO as soon as the courts/balls played faster.
I would like to think that now that he has gotten back to winning big titles again, the faster court speed at AO won’t be much of an issue for him. But we really just can’t know until we see him playing on it.
Can anyone remind me of how Novak looked at AO last year leading into the Chung match?
I don’t remember the details offhand but the Djoker looked totally lost to me from AO 2017 up to Rome semis 2018 when he played a pretty good match v Rafa. He got really angry when he lost in that match which I thought was a good sign. So I don’t think you can draw any conclusions from his play at AO 2017 or 2018. Is he as good as he was at peak? Doubt it, but he might well be good enough to win here.
Djoko beat Donald Young in the 1st round 61 62 64 then he had that famous match against Monfils which he won 46 63 61 63. He beat Ramos-Vinolas 62 63 63 in the 3rd round before going down to Chung, 67 57 67.
https://www.atptour.com/en/players/novak-djokovic/d643/player-activity
Im sorry but this is the most ridiculous predictions I think ive seen on this site. In what world does De Minaur have the firepower to take out Rafa in BO5? He’s got nothing for him so far that can hurt Rafa. Plus Anderson in a semi final? Really? He has never made it past the 4th round in Aus and hasn’t even won a match there since 2016. The courts obviously dont suit him and it doesn’t seem the balls do either. So much else wrong like Berdych 4th round?? Don’t know what you are on….
Ricky usually picks Djokovic to win a tournament beating either Fed or Murray in the final. He also always predicts an upset of Rafa then throws the rest of draw up in the air to see how that pans out. If Rafa is fit……………….
Had Rafa lost to someone like Bautista-Agut like Djoko did in Doha Ricky would have immediately relegated him to lose in the 1st round not win the whole thing.
Lol
There is a lot of uncertainty regarding Rafa. It will be easier to make predictions after I can see round 1.
My initial sense is that neither Fed nor Rafa will reach SF.
There is a lot of uncertainty regarding Rafa. It will be easier to make predictions after I can see round 1.
My initial sense is that neither Fed nor Rafa will reach SF. Who knows though.
With Murray retiring, I wonder who Ricky’s next alternative perennial finalist will be.
It’s all a bit of fun to Ricky.
Djokovic is always the default winner for good reason.
Nadal going out early probably to wind up the Nadal fans.
Personally I don’t think he’ll win the whole thing but wont lose early to eg Demon
Djokovic a default winner! Umm.
Djokovic struggled in Doha going 3 sets against Fuccsovic, Bsilashvili and ultimately losing to B-Agut in 3 sets in the final. He also lost to Zverev in the WTF final. His match against Anderson in Abu Dhabi wasn’t plain sailing either. I was courtside and he wasn’t that impressive. He lost the first set 46 then won the next 2 sets 75 75.
It’s not like he cruises through every match is easy straight sets.
I meant the default winner in predictions ,not always real world
But, would you bet against him in a Slam ?
I wouldn’t bet on anyone to win anything even on their exemplary past performance because I don’t think the rest of the draw would turn up just to make up the numbers. No one has a better record than Rafa on clay but that doesn’t mean they should just hand him the trophy before he steps onto the court. Stan, unexpectedly, beat Djoko in the QF in 2014 and in the last 2 years Djoko has only made 2nd Rnd and 4th Rnd and, lately, he’s been losing to the younger guys a lot or taken the distance. The young guys are keen to get to the top; they don’t have the fear factor and refuse to hand matches on a plate to anyone.
Everyone makes predictions as if there are only 4 people in the draw, with the exception of where Rafa is concerned.
When players are made to feel it’s their God-given right to win everything, they end up smashing their racquets and everything else within reach or having a tantrum when things are not going their way. That’s arrogance and lack of respect for the opponent who, they don’t believe, have any right to even win a point.
Rafa plays his first match on Monday.
Predictions are pointless anyway. Making predictions is as good as whistling in the wind.
Ricky jinxed Rafa against Cilic at the AO 2018 QF that’s why Rafa had to retire injured from that match.
Hey Rafa fans- if any of you are actually concerned about him facing De Minaur, then you were given an assist this week, imo. By just making the final in Sydney, let alone winning the title, De Minaur will have played a loooot of tennis leading into a potential match against Rafa… I know the kid is young and full of fire, but there is no way his legs will be as fresh as they would be had he not played all week leading into AO. It almost never works out for guys who go all out and win a title just a day or two before a major starts.
All that being said, as long as Rafa is physically in fine shape, I do not see De Minaur winning a best-of-5 match against Rafael Nadal… I just think that Rafa would be too physically overpowering for Alex.
That being said, if Rafa is struggling physically, then that could be another story. But then again if Rafa is not in good enough physical shape for a 3rd round match, then I’m pretty sure he will have withdrawn/retired before the 3rd round.
De Minaur is a great young player, but I just don’t see him beating a fit Rafa in a best-of-5 match. I just don’t. I admit that it’s possible! But nothing I would feel comfortable predicting, especially before we see Rafa play a single point.
I can’t predict how Rafa will do at the AO. Too many questions about his fitness and also the lack of match play. I will take it one match at a time. We know if Rafacab get through the early rounds in the first week, then anything is possible.
Ricky is picking Novak because of his record at the AO. How Novak looked in the tournaments leading up to the AO, gas JP bearing on how he will do. I have no problem with his prediction and do not take it personally or as a dig at Rafa.
We will see if Rafa can get himself going here.
I cannot make a prediction as to how Rafa will do at the AO. Too many unknowns with his fitness and the lack of match play. But if Rafa can get through the early rounds, then we know that he can be dangerous in the latter stages of a slam.
I have no problem with Ricky’s prediction because he is basing it on Novak’s record at the AO. How he looked in the warm up tournaments leading up to the AO means nothing. His record speaks for itself.
I just hope that Rafa can get himself going here.
I agree, NNY. I have Djokovic winning in my bracket, as well. I don’t think he’s in very good form at the moment but he has won a lot of things playing not very well, and the AO suits him particularly well.
He can play on all courts as his record proves. People focus too much on the slower hard courts suiting him best. The same thing was said about Rafa, which turns out to be wrong .
Rafa doesn’t do exceptionally well on slow HCs, it’s a misconception. Its on the slow clay surface that he’s doing very well. Those people who said so (about Rafa and slow HCs) are not the Rafa fans; Rafa fans know exactly where’s Rafa’s strength and weaknesses.
Djoko is better on slower HCs than quicker ones, his records at the slower HCs at AO (prior to 2017), IW and Miami said it all. The courts at Paris Masters and WTF we’re getting slower through the years too.
However, that’s not saying that Djoko isn’t good on quicker HCs (you don’t get to six Cincy finals if you’re not good on fast HCs), it’s just that he’s more vulnerable on them when compared to playing on the slower HCs.
Don’t forget, as good as Djoko is/was on the HCs, he also had to struggle in some matches at the AO and played many five setters there – 2012 vs Murray and Rafa; 2013 vs Stan; 2014 lost to Stan in five sets in QF; 2015 vs Stan; 2016 five setter vs Simon; and on the quicker courts in 2017, lost to Istomin in five).
At the USO when the courts there were generally quicker than the AO in the past, Djoko had reached many (eight) finals but lost five of them (to Rafa, Murray, Fed and Stan) I do feel that in the past when there’s no roof at AA arena, the wind did affect Djoko there in the arena – his opponents in the finals seemed to cope better with the windy conditions; now with the roof there and the courts getting slower, I feel Djoko may start to do well there. Imo, it’s the quickened RLA at the AO that may make him more vulnerable to the big hitters, when he’s given lesser time to anticipate or react. Of course it’ll still take a hell of an effort to beat Djoko, wherever it is, paricularly on the HCs.
If Shapo is playing and serving well (and consistently so), he may give Djoko plenty of problems as he’s won’t give Djoko the rhythm that Djoko so loves; likewise for Medvedev; who also has a big serve and plays a unique style. The concern for both of them – their own fitness under the heat, and fitness is something Djoko has already mastered since 2011.
Cheryl,
It is great to have you here doing predictions with Ricky. I look forward to some great tennis and chatting with you and everyone else here.
😀
Cheryl Murray JANUARY 12, 2019 AT 8:59 PM
“I don’t think he’s in very good form at the moment but he has won a lot of things playing not very well,………”
True
Rafa has not had the best of luck with his fitness at the AO.
He retired injured against Murray in 2010,
played with an injured hamstring against Ferrer in 2011,
lost a tight 5 setter against Djokovic in 2012,
didn’t play in 2013 as he was coming back from being sidelined for the second half of 2012 for 7 months,
played with a back injury against Stan in the final in 2014,
was out of form in 2015,
lost in the 1st round to Verdasco in 2016,
lost to Federer in the final in 2017 and (bad draw)
then retired injured against Cilic in 2018
I hope he gets better luck this year.
^^^ Corr.
The bad luck was drawing Verdasco in the 1st round in 2016 NOT playing Fedr in 2017 in the final.
His opponents were lucky to meet him in the draw then! No credit to them for beating him in a Slam.
I don’t give credit for beating an injured opponent, no. Not to anyone. All you get is probably, if or maybe. None of it matters though. A win is a win and a loss is a loss. That’s the sport.
MAYBE Ferrer would have beaten Nadal in AO quarters in 2011 anyway. (Like hell, lol)
MAYBE Nadal would have beaten Murray in AO quarters in 2010 anyway.
MAYBE Nadal would have beaten Wawa in AO final 2014. After all Stan had never won a match against him before. But Stan was playing better than he ever had before. Otoh, it’s very rare for a newbie in a slam final to beat a slam champion.
Yes, Maybe ,but unfortunately, injury is such a part of the outcome these days , its actually hard to play an injured player .
Sometimes you just have to accept that a player was better on the day, the result stands regardless of the injury or whatever bad luck worked against them.
Like saying Cilic didn’t deserve his AO final place last year , or Federer didnt deserve to win the 2017 Wimby final .
Who says the results don’t stand? My only concern is that Rafa manages to go through the AO without suffering some kind of injury. There are no asterisks in the official records but there is no getting away from the fact that Rafa’s prospects at the AO for a number of years have been thwarted by injuries.
Yes, well no-one wants any player to be injured but unfortunately for Rafa the way he plays over the years doesn’t help. He’s hardly ever been fit for a whole season.
I think he used to train far too much as well but Moya has decided to cut that down. Rafa loves to be active but he should have more down time.
Just imagine what Rafa would have achieved if he hadn’t missed so much of the season for so many years.
GOAT….# 21
Hi everyone.
If Rafa can find some confidence, he’ll do a lot of damage. Keen to see how the new serve unfolds in match conditions and I am 100% sure Rafa and his team have been working on developing a more aggressive One-two punch.
Novak obv the favourite but the court plays fast now and even he will likely find it tough to reach the final
Rafa seems to have a lot of confidence going into this!
vr,
So glad to see you here! I hope you will consider joining in the discussion. I am just thrilled to see Rafa on the court again! Nishi can maybe get sense of where he is at. I also want to get a look at that serve. I am hoping that Rafa will get done good results with the serve and he can be more offensive and feel more confident. Just as long as he is healthy.
🙏
Stupid autocorrect garbling what I posted.
I meant to say that maybe I can get a sense of where Rafa is at. I hope he can get some good results with the new serve.,
Vamos Rafa!
At least the Eurosport commentators, Bradnam and McMillan, have just acknowledged, live on air, that Rafa’s record at the AO has been blighted by injuries. A lot of people who put him down simply because he’s only won it once prefer to ignore the reasons why.
^^^
Sometimes I wonder if some people actually watch tennis or they just simply look at the results.
Yoooohoooo Nny!!….U watch your darling playing now?Ohohohoho!!….It’s going to be a straight sets match today it seems!…Thank God!….It’s so hot out there!
Urgh!!!Spoke too soon!!hehehehe…
MA,
Hey! Great to see you here! I thought things were going well and then Rafa was broken serving for the match. It don’t want him out there too long for his first match,
Get this done now Rafa!
Hey Nny!!!….whooooohoooooo!!!…..Yess!!….Mission accomplished 4 today!!!!
How r u Nny??Hope u’re okay & happy & smiling…your baby’s win!!!!!…hehhe….Oh!thank God!…Match not drag too long too!…Hugs to u Nny!!
Vamos Rafa!
Good first match back overall, against a game opponent with a good game plan. Broken at love when serving for the match, what else is new? Sometimes I think Rafa just likes to torture us!
Second match will be tougher. I assume it’ll be Struff, who has a big serve and can play well at times. But Rafa should also be tougher!
Ramara….I agree with u that Rafa loves to torture us!…Urhh!!….
Hey!…I’d be more afraid of Ebden rather than Struff…not only Struff has been lay low for months now…but Ebden is local too…and i think he’s much more dangerous than Duckworth…much more so if he were to play in front of his own crowd…But i think Rafa still will win(insyaallah in straight sets) if he keep on being healthy & no setback whatsoever…
Struff far more dangerous
I didn’t make a bracket this year, but I had the first couple rounds down in my notes a couple days ago. Gonna complete my picks now and have em up soon. Gotta keep the tradition going even w being back at college 😂
One of Ricky’s SFs, Anderson, bites the dust.
Giant’s scoreboard:
Round 1
Opelka 7 7 6 7
Isner….6 6 7 6
Round 1
Karlovic 6 7 7 7
Hurkacz 7 6 6 6
Round 2
Wawrinka 7 6 6 6
Raonic…. 6 7 7 7
Fourth round
Djokovic over Medvedev in 3
Nishikori over Fognini in 3
Wawrinka over Simon in 5
Coric over Thiem in 3
Bautista Agut over Cilic in 4
Federer over Tsitsipas in 4
Anderson over Dimitrov in 5
De Minaur over Berdych in 5
Quarterfinals
Djokovic over Nishikori in 4
Coric over Wawrinka in 4
Federer over Bautista Agut in 4
Anderson over De Minaur in 4
Ricky’s predictions, especially for the top half of the draw, is pretty good but for Nadal’s half, he couldn’t be wider of the mark. He’s now run out of players in that section.