Australian Open: Fed Dead, Finally Finished?

Hey Y'all. Galileo here.

Upsets happen. George Bush winning successive elections although the phrase "hanging chads" will forever haunt America, the country most proud of its "fair" elections. The Royals just made the World Series and Lebron is back in Cleveland. Sara Errani made back-to-back deep runs at slams, rose to the top five and made the WTA Finals despite having no weapons, no serve and a very annoying grunt. Rafter won back-to-back slams and was world number one for a week. Andres Gomez won a slam Djokovic hasn't and may never win. These are all upsets.

Federer just got handed the biggest upset of the decade on hard courts.

The Wimbledon of 2013 was like a thunder bolt combined with a horror movie combined with the hard facts of smoking. Completely shocking, completely eye opening. It put the fear of God into me. The biggest tennis upset of all time? Nadal losing to Soderling. Not that Steffi Graf loss to Lori McNeil, nor the Edberg loss to Volkov. Not even Federer beating Sampras at Wimbledon. Not even Edmondson winning an early '70s edition of the Australian Open.

No, it was Nadal losing [in four, NO LESS] to a player he had spanked 0 and 1 just weeks earlier, a player he had a 3-0 head to head against. Nadal looked good, he didn't look injured. He was on form, on fine form. That match was so predictable. Only one outcome was possible.

The Seppi loss isn't quite on that scale, but it is a momentous loss nonetheless.

=Suicide Pick=
Round 1: Venus Williams [D. Torro Flor]-W; and for the men I had Jerzy Janowicz [d. Moriya]-W
Round 2: Ka.Plíšková [D. Dodin]-W; and for the men I will had Lleyton Hewitt [d. Becker]-X
Round 3: Agnieszka Radwanska [D. Lepchenko]; in the mixed, I will have Hingis/Paes [D. Jovanovic/Thompson]


ROD LAVER: SEPPI d. FEDERER
...Seppi left Federer looking like a character in a Bruce Springsteen song. And, well, that in itself is quite depressing. Federer did not play well. Just shy of three hours Johnny Blue Collar was on court before Rich Employee Guy sent him packing 6-4, 7-6, 4-6, 7-6. Luckily for Johnny, redemption is a major theme in the Boss' work. Johnny Blue Collar goes to jail because he had to rob someone or something due to the fact the people with real power had cut his job and income. So he goes to jail or he becomes an alcoholic, and sometimes he even does both. And then he gets let out of jail -- redemption is his! Of course, by this point his wife has left him for his brother and his father has died, but redemption does happen, though sadly it's usually just before more tragedy.

So Federer will get redemption before more bad news at the French Open if the Springsteen analogy holds. I would point out my sleep schedule is not healthy right now -- it never is during the Australian Open. I'm using that as my totally valid excuse for my rubbish prose style. Federer hit 57 winners but you cannot hit 55 errors like he did against Seppi. Seppi is too solid, too consistent for Fed to get away with doing that. Also, nine doubles? This wasn't Federer. Federer is gone, though. Can Rafa hold on? Seppi has Nick Kyrgios up next. I hope he's looking forward to doing a lot of defending.
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ROD LAVER: NADAL d. SELA
...It's Rafa time. Todd has a phrase he loves -- "This is (X)'s world and we're just living in it." So, to steal Todd's phrase that [I assume] he stole off someone else [Editor's note: yep], this is Rafa's world and we're just living in it. Nadal was never ever in danger here. It's nice to have a "safe" match after a really horrible, tricky one. Nadal was on court just a notch over two hours in his 6-1, 6-0, 7-5 victory. Nadal served very well and was never broken in the short contest. He even served five aces as he held the Israeli at bay. Let's say, just for argument's sake, that Anderson serves and plays lights out [it has happened before], gets himself to a couple of breakers and wins them. Let's say he nicks a set and then Rafa's physicality, or lack thereof, comes into play. What then? Could he make life difficult for Rafa? Definitely. He has the weapons to do so. Rafa has to win quickly now or he will slowly run out of gas.
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MARGARET COURT : KYRGIOS d. JAZIRI
...Kyrgios is trying to become the first Australian since Hewitt exactly ten years ago to make the quarters in his home country. Tomic could make it two players. In fact, there could be an all Australian clash in the semi-final. In fact, the Aussies have the most men still left, though Spain will be almost certain to overtake them. Jaziri had the weapons to make this match close, but Nick cruised through 6-3,7-6,6-1. The first and last sets lasted together 56 minutes but the second was 61 minutes. He only narrowly won the breaker by 8-6 but it was the point of no return for the Tunisian. In this match Kyrgios hit 25 aces, two doubles, 53 winners and 29 errors. Those are ridiculous stats. This kid is going to win slams. He won 71% of service points and 39% of receiving points. It was one of the best performances from anyone anywhere of late. Kyrgios is going to overpower Seppi and make the fourth round. Also, the Federer curse still holds strong here in Australia.
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SHOWCOURT 3: DIMITROV d. BAGHDATIS
...Dimitrov prevailed 4-6,6-3,3-6,6-3,6-3 in three and a half hours. It was an entertaining match, a spectacle for the crowd on the showcourt. These are two very talented players, both in the shadow of Federer. Baghdatis had a big chance for a two sets to love lead in that final but then he blinked. He let Federer in and won just two more games after crumbling at the end of that second set. Dimitrov is forever in the shade of the GOAT, sadly. It was an error-strewn match but that usually happens when two creative, aggressive players do battle and especially if it is over five sets. Bagman has a lot of wily shots to test people with, but Dimitrov has one of the biggest bag of tricks on the tour today. I've always thought Raonic could do with a bit of Dimitrov, but that Dimitrov could use a bit of Raonic. Up next is Murray, and Dimitrov can win that match. He dismantled Murray at Wimbledon. He is the bigger server and his forehand is a better shot, not to mention he may be a better mover. He has advantages against the Scot but he has to avoid backhand crosscourt exchanges and he needs to avoid just chipping and charging.
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=Any other notes?=
* - Even though the Aussies have crumbled, they will still do better at their home slam than the Brits at Wimbledon will. Especially considering how Murray is the epitome of a Scotsman and it is called the All-England Club.

* - Since 1998, only in 2005 and 2012 have we not had a Cinderella story here. It should continue with Federer out and Nadal down. Heck, Nadal actually making it to the final would be quite the story.

* - This has nothing to do with anything, but it's 560 days to the next Olympics. I am very excited.

* - If Kyrgios and Tomic both make the quarterfinals, the Aussies could have two players in the top thirty. When was the last time that happened?

* - Djokovic is secure pretty much in the world number one ranking now.

* - The last time Fed lost in the third round he would win three slams that year and the last time he lost in the third round at the Aussie made back-to-back quarterfinals. Federer is far from done, just like Manning is far from done.

* - Casey Dellacqua is gone everywhere but the mixed doubles with John Peers. They lost to Espinosa and Flor in two straight sets. It has been a disappointing Australian Open overall, though a run in the mixed doubles would go some way to rectifying that.

Thanx all and visit WTA BACKSPIN please.

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