Austrialian Open

[Ramy]

This tennis tournament starts tomorrow and since there are a few here that like tennis I will put this up like I did form some last year.

 

[BillD1984]

The start of the Grand Slam season..............which means the French Open, Wimbledon and U.S. Open (and warm weather) are just around the corner!!! :up:up:up

 

[anders5189]

Event: Australian Open

Dates: Jan 17-31

Location: Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia

Surface: Hard Courts

TV: ESPN2, Tennis Channel

Defending Champions: Rafael Nadal (men), Serena Williams (women)

Storylines: This is the first major of the 2010 season. The fields for both the men and the women are wide open. Rafael Nadal returns as the defending champion on the men's side, but Roger Federer is the top ranked player. Other contenders include 2008 champion Novak Djokovic, US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro, Andy Roddick, Andy Murray.

On the women's side the field grew stronger with the return of former #1 ranked player Justine Henin who comes back after a 2 year retirement. Fellow Belgian Kim Cljisters looks to follow up her remarkable title at the US Open last year after coming back from her own retirement. Serena Williams is the defending champion and #1 ranked player and should go far.

 

[anders5189]

Maria Sharapova knocked out on opening day.

 

[Jimbo]

The start of the Grand Slam season..............which means the French Open, Wimbledon and U.S. Open (and warm weather) are just around the corner!!! :up:up:up

Can we officially push the calender forward to April and skip the rest of Winter then ?
Thus also making Baseball right around the corner ...

 

[Ramy]

Can we officially push the calender forward to April and skip the rest of Winter then ?
Thus also making Baseball right around the corner ...

Sounds good to me.

 

[HD MM]

Ballboy Pees on Court. Aussie Open Delayed...

MELBOURNE, Australia -- Just when you thought you'd heard everything ...

American Donald Young beat Christophe Rochus 1-6, 7-5, 6-2, 6-4 in the first round of the Australian Open Tuesday.

But just as Young had broken serve in the fourth set and started to take control of the match, there was an inexplicable delay.

Young explained: "A ballboy started peeing on himself. So that was really unfortunate.''

You mean that metaphorically, right?

"I looked back and it was dripping on the court,'' Young said. "He ran off. And when he ran off ..."

It left a trail on the court. Well, you can't just keep playing a major tennis tournament with urine on the court. For one thing, it looks bad. But for another, the players could slip in it and get hurt.

"They came out with the blower,'' Young said, "and it wasn't working, so ...''

The delay lasted half an hour.

You're in Trouble: Ballboy Has Accident on Court, Delays Match -- Tennis FanHouse

 

[anders5189]

You're in Trouble: Ballboy Has Accident on Court, Delays Match -- Tennis FanHouse

That's bad. Those ballkids aren't so little you know. Kid was probably 12 or 13 years old. Had he done it on Monday when there were numerous rain delays he might have been spared some embarassment.

 

[Skyhi]

You're in Trouble: Ballboy Has Accident on Court, Delays Match -- Tennis FanHouse

I was just about to post this.

This has to be a first, right?

 

[anders5189]

Andy Roddick and Rafael Nadal are both knocked out of the Australian Open. Justine Henin moves into the semifinals on the women's side.

 

[anders5189]

The field is down to four on both sides.

Women's Semis

Li Na vs Serena Williams

Zheng Jie vs Justine Henin

Men's Semis

Marin Cilic vs Andy Murray

Jo Wilfried Tsonga vs Roger Federer

 

[anders5189]

2 good matches for the championship of the Australian Open.

Women's Final

Justine Henin vs Serena Williams

Men's Final

Andy Murray vs Roger Federer

 

[AntAltMike]

So they managed to produce two appealing finals matches even after a lot of contenders got knocked out early.

 

[anders5189]

Serena Williams wins her 5th Australian Open title with a 3 set win over Justine Henin.

 

[anders5189]

Sweet 16.

Roger Federer wins his 4th Australian Open and 16th major with a straight set win over Andy Murray. While the match wasn't that close, the 3rd set tiebtreak was terrific. Federer won 13-11 after saving 5 set points. Great stuff.