2008 Australian Open Tennis Championships

You guys are machines...how do you stay up watch? I got up an hour early and watched the end of each set of the Federer match. He is starting to play better, but still only at 85% of what he can be. I think Djokovic takes him out in 4 close sets.

Tell me about Tsonga... I've seen his name before, but honestly know nothing about his game. Is it the night match?
 
Surprising Jo-Wilfried Tsonga through to semifinals
By DENNIS PASSA, AP Sports Writer
January 23, 2008

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) -- For the past two years, Marcos Baghdatis and Fernando Gonzalez provided the biggest surprises in men's singles at the Australian Open, coming into the tournament as outsiders and advancing to the final.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the son of a chemistry teacher who played international handball for Congo, has beaten seeded players Andy Murray, Richard Gasquet and Mikhail Youzhny this year, becoming the 2008 upset king.

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Before the 22-year-old, injury-prone Frenchman can think about a Sunday night final, potentially against Roger Federer going for his third straight Australian title, he has to get past Rafael Nadal in Thursday's semifinal.

The unseeded Tsonga, ranked No. 42 at the end of last year, will go into the match against No. 2 Nadal as a major underdog, as he has against all his opponents at Melbourne Park this year.

When it was mentioned to him that Nadal, the only player to have beaten Federer in any Grand Slam final -- at the French Open twice -- since 2005, will be a much more difficult proposition, Tsonga uses a variation of the "puts his pants on one leg at a time" analogy.

"He has two arms and two legs like me, so we will see on the court," Tsonga said, smiling, after his straight-sets win over No. 14 Youzhny.

After that match, Tsonga dropped face-first to the court at Rod Laver Arena, overcome with the moment.

"I wanted to cry, I wanted to smile, everything," he said.

The reason for the extra emotion wasn't so much for the win, but what it represented: a culmination of his comeback from several years of injuries.

In 2003, he and Baghdatis were neck and neck in all the junior Grand Slam tournaments -- Tsonga beat the Cypriot player for the U.S. Open junior title, and Tsonga reached the semifinals of the other Grand Slam juniors.

In late 2004, the injury run began -- a herniated disc that caused him to miss five months from November of that year through March 2005. Then two right shoulder injuries later in 2005, back and abdominal ailments from October 2005 to February 2006, and the reoccurrence of an abdominal injury at the end of 2006.

The net effect: he played only eight tournaments in 2005 and 2006. In 2007, he slowly began his comeback with a combination of ATP and Challenger tournaments, moving into the top 50 for the first time.

Now, he's into his first Grand Slam semifinal in only his fifth major. Even Federer took 17 to get that far -- and Federer went on to win Wimbledon in 2003, his first of his five in a row. Baghdatis' loss in the 2006 final here to Federer came in the Cypriot's sixth Grand Slam.

Tsonga and Nadal have met just once -- at last year's U.S. Open when the Spanish player beat him in straight sets in the fourth round.

"He's a very aggressive player, big serve," Nadal said of Tsonga. "I'll have to play aggressive myself if I'm going to win."

Tsonga, who bears a resemblance to a young Muhammad Ali and says he is inspired by the boxing great, will get motivation in Thursday's semifinal from all the adversity he faced.

"There were times when I thought it might be too tough, and I didn't know if I could do it," Tsonga says of his various rehabilitations. "I will have a lot of images in my head of that. I will be very relaxed. We will see what happens."
 
So we have reached the final four! Here is the schedule ...

Women's Semifinals:

(5) Maria Sharapova vs. (3) Jelena Jankovic
(today morning session, second match. ESPN2 8:30 p.m. telecast)

(4) Ana Ivanovic vs. (9) Daniela Hantuchova
(today morning session, immediately following Sharapova/Jankovic. ESPN2 telecast)


Men's Semifinals:

(1) Roger Federer vs. (3) Novak Djokovic
(tomorrow night session, first match. ESPN2 2:30 a.m. telecast)

Jo-Wilfriend Tsonga vs. (2) Rafael Nadal
(today, night session first match. ESPN2 2:30 a.m. telecast)
 
Like Mike said we drag *** throughout the work week but the adrenaline is worth it for true tennis fans. I'll try and stay up for the Rafa match tonight but if not will Tivo it and watch in the morning.

Sharapova has advanced in dominating fashion to the finals. She should take this title the way she is playing.
 
I used to stay up all night when I was in college, but can't do it anymore. I'll stay up for the finals for sure. I'm rewatching the federer/blake match. I just can't watch womens tennis anymore...

On another topic, do you guys play? I used to play a lot more, but I play in a league with ChazatUT, a poster on here. Anyone else?
 
i missed the sharapova match earlier today. d'oh! hopefully, they'll replay it after this abomination of a semifinal between hantuchova and ivanovic. anyone else watching?

hantuchova is just marching right though the match. ivanovic hasn't even won a game yet; it's 6-0, 2-0 at this point with ivanovic serving in the third game of the set. this is surprising because ivanovic beat hantuchova the last two times they've played, but i haven't seen either play enough to really know.

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lazy,

I suggest going out to the intramural courts and joining the tennis club. When I was at UT ('98-02), there were a ton of great players.
 
I agree with Chris Fowler. The young Serb just a few minutes ago was on the brink of humiliation yet now it is indeed a brand new match. Third set should be fun to watch for cuteness factor and competition.

I don't have to be at work till after 10 and am used to being up late so it is not that hard. It makes it easy to be a soccer fan for World Cups and things like that as well.
 
Hey y'all. MikeUT00 back in the booth to join y'all for tonight's HornFans tennis coverage ...
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The women's basketball game was tonight. So with that and the regular nightly stuff, I'm just getting to the computer now. I did watch enough of the Sharapova match. I think she is going to win this thing. Played well yet again. One finalist in, and she is hot!
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haha yeah, i guess that jinx kicked in. i have no idea how hantuchova lost her forehand entirely. she's had a LOT of forehand unforced errors starting in the second set

what do y'all think of ivanovic's intentional foot screeching right before hantuchova's serve? i'm almost finding it as annoying as sharapova's screams...

but, i guess the women's final should be pleasant on the eyes either way
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I know she does this all the time as do other players. I think it it (as the announcers said) is pronounced because they are playing indoors. I guess she could have her shoe company change the bottom of the shoes but what she does should be less annoying than Sharapovas loud screams.

I can see where it would bother a server though. She does it at differing intensity depending on the point or importance of the game. So it tougher to predict or get used to. But it is screechy. Is that a word?
 
Not a bad 3rd set so far. On serve, with Ivanovic serving at 3-4.

Rafa is getting ready for his match in a couple of hours.
 
i love watching hot women play tennis. i dunno who to pull for in this matchup. with sharapova already in, it's a winner of a finals match anyways. ha
 
sblazer ... with Sharapova vs. Ivanovic/Hantuchova in a final ... we all are the winners.
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Ivanovic just breaks to go up 5-4! She will serve for the finals! Go Ana!
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There it is, the break of serve needed at the right time. Hantuchova has nerves a ragin' now. She has overcome so much and reinvented herself and her game (yeesh, she is not even 25 yet) so she can use this as positive reinforcement if she loses.

Here we go young Serb. I am digging all the Serbs male and female and root for them more times than not. Tip may be my new favorite darkhorse.
 
and there it is, there's the match for ivanovic.


and to think that an hour ago, i wrote off the match as already won by hantuchova
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that was a good set and a half of tennis by ana ivanovic combined with crappy play by hantuchova.
 
Ivanovic wins it! 0-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Talk about nails ... this is what I love to see. She was down 0-6, 0-2, down a break and 0-40 on her serve, facing breaks points to go down another break ... and she comes back to win it. Great comeback. Nice way to tough out a win!

I agree with Loopy on the Serbs. I really like Ivanovic. Not only because of how she looks, but I like her game too. Jelena is cool. Tipsarevic I like alot after last weekend. Not a huge fan of Djokovic, but I don't mind him all that much.

Okay, so who is staying up for Rafa?
 
I am sorry but that little squeal that Ivanovic let out when she won was cute as hell. Congrats to the winner and a great Open for Hantuchova. She's back! I wish her well and look forward to her going deep into the other 3 Slams left this season.

I am glad that Tennis is back. I have mentioned this on some soccer threads here but I will do so here as well. People who are open minded or rounded enough to enjoy other sports really have no offseason. It makes the months of football not just tolerable but downright fun.

Tennis is back in swing, soccer is going on in League play, Africa is playing, the Euro cup is about to go on, the UEFA CL and Cup are ongoing as well. Throw in some other sports here and there, baseball about to get underway for the Horns, my heavens. Offseason?
 
Like I said before ... with a Sharapova vs. Ivanovic final ... WE are the winners.
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See, I like Djoc because he is a charachter and infuses some life and humor into things. I LOVED his imitation of Sharapova's serve. He had it down to the hair off the ears, the hops, everything. I love the bond the Serb's have. They know they are playing for their country and not only embrace it but relish it. They are flattered and have such nationality which is easy to understand since their nation underwent so much.

There are some youth that are coming up that are supposed to be better than they are. I think they may be Djoc's brothers? I also like how the Serb's say they all look up to Tispsaravic yet he is not that old! But he was who they all looked up to and learned from growing up.

I missed the whole signicance of them playing in a swimming pool on carpet. Was this a safety thing as war ravaged around them or is that just all they had? Maybe some training tool or maybe so they could skateboard in between sessions.
 
Good comeback win by Ivanovic. Yes it will be heaven watching these two hotties go at it in the final. I just don't see Ivanovic beating Sharpova they way she is playing. Not only has she not dropped a set but blowing Henin off the court like that was impressive as hell.

Mike I'm gonna try and stay up for the Rafa match. Vamos Rafa! On to the finals.
 
Not to take away from Maria's dominant performance so far but I think Justine is injured or was. She never blamed it for her poor showing but something was going on and she seemed tentative at times. I wonder if Serena was more hurt than let on too.

But Maria is cruising for sure. Federererer is either not on top of his game, showing weakness or had one discovered or the players all get up for that game and give him a run of it. Or a combo of all. But he has played more sets than he is used to. I was proud of Blake for staying healthy and playing some gutsy tennis.

He is my favorite American male player as I am not a fan of Roddick too much. Don't dislike him but I find I root for many foreign players (depending on who it is) if they play heads up. There is nobody I root for over Blake.

I am excited to get to see Cilic play again. How the hell does that guy move like that? There is a soccer player with a similiar build and size as him, Crouch, but Cilic moves MUCH better. Crouch looks like a stork or a Gumby figurine when he runs. Cilic's game is moving along quite nicely and quickly. I don't know how his game is on other surfaces though.

What a great thread. Thanks Miguel.
 
I'm shallow. I was rooting for Ivanovic because she's hot as hell. This final is a photographer's wet dream! I just don't see her overcoming that huge serve of Maria's.
 
That is what I thought but you confirmed it, ty. That Davis Cup team, if they all play will be amazing in the years to come. And their young talent coming up, whoosh, wow.
 
As far as Sharapova goes, she is playing unreal right now. So far, her matches have been ...

1st: Kostanic-Tosic 4 and 3.
2nd: Davenport 1 and 3 -- Lindsey had been 19-1 in her comeback
3rd: Vesnina 3 and 0.
4th: (11) Dementieva 2 and 0.
QF: (1) Henin 4 and 0 -- Henin was riding a 32 match win streak
SF: (3) Jankovic 3 and 1.

She has not lost a set, nor has she even been pushed to 7, let alone a tiebreak. In 3 of her 6 matches, she has posted bagels, one being over the No. 1 player in the world. While Henin might not have been 100%, I still think Maria would have beat her at her best. 2 of the other 3 matches she posted wins against 1 game. I mean, so far her run has been Graf-like. That dominating. If she plays like that in the final, Ivanovic doesn't stand a chance. Period.

While I appreciate greatness, I'd like to see a quality competitive match. And, only because Maria already has two, I'd like to see Ivanovic win her first slam. I'll be rooting for her. Like I said, though, I'll just sit back and enjoy!
 
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