Australian Open 2005

[patri]

christina said:

hmmmmzzz....it may be....how the f*ck do you beat roger?

hahahahahaha... good idea Christina ;D i think it's probobly that

[Vlad]

I am going to be the last person on this board to say what a match that was with Federer. Probably the most nervous match I have ever experienced in my life.

What an effort!!
What a composure from Marat.
Honestly I did not believe he could pull it off after he blew a 5-2 lead in the fifth. Then he surprised me. I am very glad he did.

About the match with Hewitt... Well Hewitt is one tough dude, so Marat needs to be mentally in the match on every point. It seems that everything is for Marat in this match.. Night match, slow surface, Marat is playing good tennis, Hewitt is tired, etc.. but it will be very tough...

Best luck in the finals Marat!!

[pau]

Vlad said:

I am going to be the last person on this board to say what a match that was with Federer.

You aren't the last one either, I am so happy MARAT WON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SO AMAZING!!!!!!!! I know I'm a little TOO late, but I had to do a lot of things, but nobody took the smile off of my face all day long, I had the chance to see the last set before going to school, my!!!!! the first thing I said in school was MARAT WON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and my classmates were like, really!!!? god!! they know about Marat coz I talk bout him all day long!!! and then in the afternoon I saw the match again on ESPN, well not again just from the 3rd set, Good Luck with Hewitt Marat!!! ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

[RAP]

Vlad said:

I am going to be the last person on this board to say what a match that was with Federer. Probably the most nervous match I have ever experienced in my life.

What an effort!!
What a composure from Marat.
Honestly I did not believe he could pull it off after he blew a 5-2 lead in the fifth. Then he surprised me. I am very glad he did.

About the match with Hewitt... Well Hewitt is one tough dude, so Marat needs to be mentally in the match on every point. It seems that everything is for Marat in this match.. Night match, slow surface, Marat is playing good tennis, Hewitt is tired, etc.. but it will be very tough...

Best luck in the finals Marat!!

Marat should be very happy by that win against Federer. Hewitt will be another tough customer. Marat is the favorite to win and the way he is playing....., Good Luck Marat!

[pau]

RAP said:

Marat should be very happy by that win against Federer. Hewitt will be another tough customer. Marat is the favorite to win and the way he is playing....., Good Luck Marat!

I hope he keeps on playing like that!!!!

[annie]

Damita said:

haha, i'm not really into those stuff, but i must say i like your theory annie ;D

how bout now? one more win and i'll really believe the stuff about the chinese animal zodiac thing...that if it's your year you won't be so lucky...
see it's also Lleyton's year this year..year of the Rooster...

but of course, i will still keep my faith to God and pray that [glow=red,2,300]The Tennis Tsar[/glow] will win on Sunday!!

[Jasmine]

The Birthday girl, annie, you've got a point. Rooster year??

Thank you Damita, for the article. "He cried out?" That's surprise but understandable. I always felt from what Marat said before the match that he respects Roger. And maybe too much respect, which made him scared of Roger sometimes. Now he could pass that moment, hope it last forever.

I think that's the key point for his winning was this match Roger made many UE, as much as Marat (Roger 60, Marat 59). Normally he didn't make lots of mistake like this. Now we know if Roger makes mistake as Marat, he can lose too. Like VJ said before match, if both are in their day, VJ goes for Marat. Anyway, we have to give Marat some credit. Roger's UEs were "Force to Error" by Marat. So our man are great.

Tomorrow I hope Marat can stay COOL on the ground. (Of couse, it's evening session. ) Coz Lleyton is good at mental war, he always find the way to annoy his opponent, and this is his home country. We'll see.

GO! MARAT GO!

[sirius]

Open Mouthed Part II
Saturday, 29 January, 2005


Win or lose, many tennis players tend to become a little philosophical when they face the media at their post-match conferences. And while they may have heard some of the questions a few times before, they still manage to come up with some original answers.

Here is another selection of choice quotes from Australian Open 2005:

"Everybody gets frustrated. Let's put it this way. Everybody has a difficult time on the court. It's a psychological game. It's two brains are fighting against each other."

Marat Safin on smashing racquets.

"I used to want to buy a motorcycle when I was younger… whatever one that goes really fast and makes a lot of noise."

Serena Williams explains one of her simpler desires.

"I'm just waiting for Home and Away to call me, I just want to sit in the background in the diner."

Lleyton Hewitt on his acting ambitions.

"I would have ran more of the triangle offence if I would have known he was in the crowd. I would have given him the, 'Scottie, Michael…give it to Michael'!"

Andy Roddick after being told that multiple NBA championship coach Phil Jackson watched his third-round straight-sets win over Jurgen Melzer.

"The crowd's always fantastic, you know, when each and every Australian play. They've been wonderful to me. So there's definitely a buzz."

Alicia Molik on the Australian Open crowd after her win over Aiko Nakamura.

"There's two things you don't want to play over here, there's a Swede and probably an Australian. Those are the two toughest to play in Australia. It's great that the Swedish fans come down and support their players like they do, but there's a lot of British fans out there as well. They were having a little bit of banter, so I think it made an exciting match."

Greg Rusedski after beating Jonas Bjorkman in the first-round.

"I knew I had a chance. I knew I had a good chance today. But it's, you know, I still had to kind of do it. I knew I was feeling really tired today, emotionally knackered basically."

Elena Baltacha after her win over Stephanie Cohen-Aloro in the second-round.

"Well, I'm pretty happy with myself. I did what I can. It was great. I have no regrets. Just the regret was just not to play the first two sets. That's all. But it's normal. I'm young and I have things to learn. Very happy."

Qualifier Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus after losing to world No.1 Roger Federer in straight sets in the fourth-round.

"We're just having a great time. Sometimes we argue, we discuss, that's normal, about tennis or other things. It's a really healthy, healthy thing. Gives me a lot of energy."

Patty Schnyder on having her husband, Rainer Hofmann, as her coach as well.

"Funny thing is that there is lot of guys that they sometimes smile or laugh on you that, 'Oh, you practicing so much', like Safin don't practice that much. He always say. But it pays off, you know. Mine is for sure that I'm a hard head, you know. Like I always practice a lot. That's my talent. I'm not really talented guy. But my talent is to work hard and to work a lot."

Dominik Hrbaty after ousting French Open champ Gaston Gaudio in the third-round.

"But now I feel I can beat all these players better than my ranking. Okay, I will try to do my best now in the tournament."

Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, after beating No.5 seed Carlos Moya in the first-round.

"I don't care really. I just want to get better."

Amelie Mauresmo on how she sees the semi-final match-up between Serena Williams, who beat her in the quarter-finals, and Maria Sharapova.

[sirius]

A Classic Final Awaits
by Scott Spits
Saturday, 29 January, 2005


No.3 Lleyton Hewitt [AUS] vs. No.4 Marat Safin [RUS]

The historic men's final at the Centenary Australian Open - to be played at night for the first time - promises to be a classic, featuring two compelling storylines.

After a stunning second week of on-court action at Australian Open 2005, the two men remaining in the draw - Australian Lleyton Hewitt and Russian Marat Safin - will battle it out for The Norman Brookes Challenge Cup.

It's the Maturing Marat against the Great Local Hope, whose long-held ambition to become the first home-grown male winner of the Australian Open since Mark Edmondson 29 years ago may be about to be realised.

There is a sense of destiny about Hewitt and Australian Open 2005. The 23-year-old has overcome his fourth-round curse - having exited Melbourne Park at that stage three times previously - and so far successfully managed a troublesome hip flexor injury to be the first Australian finalist at Melbourne Park since Pat Cash in 1988.

On the other side of the net is Safin, a two-time finalist at Melbourne Park who is striving to win his second Grand Slam title after bursting on the scene as a 20-year-old to defeat Pete Sampras in the 2000 US Open final.

The big Russian knows he missed a golden opportunity to win an Australian Open title when he lost to Swede Thomas Johansson in 2002.

And against Swiss maestro Roger Federer in the final last year, Safin was gallant in defeat after a marathon Australian Open campaign in his comeback from a long-term wrist injury.

The No.4 seed realises the planets are better aligned for him this time around at Melbourne Park.

"The first final that I played here against Johansson, I didn't have enough experience, even though that I won in 2000 (at the US Open) against Sampras," Safin admitted.

"I had my friends but I didn't have a really a professional coach who could just support me before the match and calm me down because I was … really nervous.

"So now it's little bit different," the Russian said. "Last year I had no chance at all because I was completely burned out.

"Also I have a professional coach that he is helping me out a lot, and we did a great job. He really knows how to deal with the pressure of the player."

While the time is clearly right for Safin, it appears there are other forces involved in Hewitt's campaign at Australian Open 2005.

The Australian was flat out on the canvas against emerging Spaniard Raphael Nadal in the round of 16 when his injury flared up, only to call on his trademark never-say-die attitude to triumph in five sets over four hours.

Likewise, Hewitt reached new reserves of energy in his quarter-final clash with Argentine David Nalbandian, winning the battle-of-the-baseline in another four-hour epic. His mental strength seemingly knows no limits.

Now that Safin ousted world No.1 Federer in the semis, Hewitt no longer has to face his nemesis in a second consecutive Grand Slam final. Clearly, the opportunity to snatch a third major - his own country's championships - is too great to go begging.

The Australian is well aware of his place in history and what has happened before him. He reels the score off his tongue when Mats Wilander defeated Cash - two of his childhood heroes - in the first tournament at Melbourne Park in 1988, the Swede triumphing 8-6 in the fifth set to deny Cash his Australian title.

A victory on Sunday night would be his greatest moment and realise a childhood ambition.

"It's a little bit hard to believe right at the moment," Hewitt said after his semi-final victory over Roddick, knowing that he is one step closer to victory.

"I would have given anything to be in this position, to have an opportunity to play one match for the title here in Melbourne.

"Now part of that dream's come true," he said. "At least so far I haven't put too many feet wrong. I've put myself in a position to have a crack at it."

Indeed he has. Hewitt has adapted his game at Melbourne Park according to his opponent, most notably when Roddick almost blew him off the court but the gutsy Australian displayed tremendous patience to weather the storm and wear down the big-serving American.

Safin will be different again. The big Russian has all the shots in the book: a booming serve, thundering groundstrokes and tremendous touch at the net. Safin will be aggressive, much in the same way Roddick approached his semi.

Hewitt will need to settle in for the long haul but snatching one of the first two sets will be critical.

Expect the match to go the distance. They have a 5-5 head-to-head record but they've never clashed in a major. It's shaping as a final worthy of such a tremendous tournament on a magnificent stage.

Finally, who will win? Go with destiny. Hewitt to triumph in five sets, with every chance of another four-hour epic. Safin is approaching the peak of his career. He will have other great days.

[Jehaan]

ok, i'm days late in saying this but well done marat!! i found out a minute before i had to do a presentation at uni so had this massive smile on my face the whole way through!! ;D

Just one question...!!! Does anyone know what time the final starts UK time?!

[sirius]

um....... 8am? 8.30am

[christina]

Jehaan said:

ok, i'm days late in saying this but well done marat!! i found out a minute before i had to do a presentation at uni so had this massive smile on my face the whole way through!! ;D

Just one question...!!! Does anyone know what time the final starts UK time?!

0830 GMT

[shacks]

hello everybody!!! I'm a new member here. It took me quite a while to write my congratulations to marat on this site as i still hoped for a rerun on tv. But i missed them all( damn school ! ). So i jsut wanted to say how happy i was to see that he actually did it. We all knew he could, but doing it was an all different story.

As far as lleyton is concerned i think that marat has to be in the match from the very first point on, and never give up, because lleyton won't, that's for sure. But i have this feeling, he will win. I really hope so anyway.

Go Marat!!!!

PS: if anyone taped the match and could copy it for me that would be cool. I can send you a tape for you to record me the match, and the money for the shipping.

[shacks]

PPS: Did i mention that i was deperate to see that match? So any kind of quality will be ok for me. Even if the match is not complete. I'll cope with it. Better that than nothing.

[Annie]

I just found out the final is being shown live on BBC2 at 8:30am I CAN SEE THE MATCH *YAY*!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (or at least tape it and watch it later