Insofar as qualification is concerned all 64 round 1 qualifying matches involving 128 players have been completed - and 24 of the 32 qualifying matches - involving 64 players has also been completed. That will mean the qualifying matches will all be completed on Friday.
We will only on Saturday get the full match schedule and will then be certain whether Djokovic and Tsitsipas will in fact be playing.
The draw is finalized and the matchups in Round 1 are as follows:-
Top Half of the Draw
4 Andrey Rublev vs Gianluka Mager
Miomir Kecmanovic vs Salvatore Caruso
Tommy Paul vs Mikhail Kukushkin
Oscar Otte vs Chun Tseng
24 Lorenzo Sonego vs Sam Quarrey
32 Alexander Bublik vs Federico Cordia
Salvatore Caruso vs Ernesto Escobedo
Federico Delbonis vs Pedro Marinez
15 Cristian Garin vs Facundo Bagnis
11 Cameron Norrie vs Sebastian Korda
Corentin Moutet vs Lucas Pouille
Fabio Fognini vs Tallon Griekspoor
18 Pablo Correro-Busta vs Tomas Etscheverry
30 Carlos Alcaraz vs Alejandro Tabilo
Dusan Lajovic vs Marcos Fucsovics
Stefan Kozlov vs Jiri Vesely
6 Matteo Berrettini vs Brandon Nakashima
2 Alexander Zverev vs Daniel Altmaier
Feliciano Lopez vs John Millman
Yoshihito Nishioka vs Radu Albot
29 Lloyd Harris vs Aleksandar Vukic
22 Reilly Opelka vs Kevin Anderson
Dominik Koepfer vs Carlos Taberner
Soonwoo Kwon vs Holger Rune
13 Denis Shapovalov vs Laslo Djere
9 Hubert Hurkacz vs Egot Gerasimov
James Duckworth vs Adrian Mannarino
Mackenszie McDonald vs Nikola Milojevic
17 Aslan Karatsev vs Jaume Munar
27 Karen Khachanov vs Denis Kudla
Benjamin Bonzi vs Peter Gojowczyk
Thanasi Kokkinakis vs Yannik Hanfmann
5 Rafael Nadal vs Marcos Giron
Bottom Half of the Draw
7 Casper Ruud vs Alex Molcan
Ilya Ivashka vs Pablo Andujar-Alba
Andreas Seppi vs Kamil Majchrzak
31 Alec de Minaur vs Lorenzo Musetti
20 Nikoloz Bashilashvili vs Andy Murray
Taro Daniel vs Tomas Barrios
Steve Johnson vs Jordan Thompson
10 Jannik Sinner vs Joao Sousa
14 Roberto Bautista-Agut vs Stefano Travaglia
Philipp Kohlschreiber vs Marco Cecchinato
Frances Tiafoe vs Marco Trungelliti
19 Taylor Fritz vs Maximilian Martener
25 Grigor Dimtrov vs Jiri Lehecka
Benoit Paire vs Thiago Monteiro
Sebastian Baez vs Albert Ramos-Vinolas
3 Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Mikael Ymer
16 Gael Monfils vs Gianluca Mager
Roberto Carballes Baena vs Ricardas Berankis
Timofey Skatov vs Norbert Gombos
26 Marin Cilic vs Emilio Gomez
23 Daniel Evans vs David Goffin
Alexei Popyrin vs Arthur Rinderknech
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina vs Alex Bolt
8 Felix Auger-Aliassime vs Emil Vuusuvuori
12 Diego Schwartzman vs Filip Krajinovic
Christopher O'Connell vs Hugo Gaston
Juan Manual Cerundelo vs Tomas Machac
21 Johm Isner vs Maxime Cressy
28 Ugo Humbert vs Richard Gasquet
Botic van de Zandzschulp vs Jan-Lennard Struff
Nic Kyrgios vs Liam Broady
1 Danill Medvedev vs Henri Laaksonen
Those games without opponents will be qualifiers to be added on Saturday. There are only 16 players to qualify - others will be lucky losers.
The fact is that Djokovic's name has already been deleted from the list of matches scheduled in the draw and the chances of him playing is indeed remote. I have to change the above seedings accordingly - but am waiting for the changes to the draw to be confirmed.
All the 16 qualifying matches have already been completed. The main draw included Nic Kyrgios - but he has already indicated his withdrawal from the Open .
So all 16 qualifiers will be included in the main draw plus 2 lucky losers.
All the qualifiers have been updated - the only problem remaining is the Djokovic saga
All the qualifiers have been updated. Tennis Australia just brought on board Salvatore Caruso to replace Djokovic - the rest of the draw became a nightmare and the following changes have been made:-
* Rublev will replace Djokovic at the top of the draw and play Kecmanovic;
* Rublev's place to play Mager, will now be Monfils
* Alexander Bublik will now play Federico Coria
* The resultant vacancy to be filled by a Lucky Loser, namely Salvatore Caruso - who will play Escebedo.
I hope I have got it right. Instead of moving th remaining top 4 seeds they only moved Rublev from the Bottom Half of the Draw to the Upper Half of the draw and made some resultant moves as a result.
The first matches will start at 02:00 SA Time tomorrow. The most interesting match starting at 02:00 will involve Carlos Alcaraz - the 18 year old seeded player.
ROUND 2
The draw is finalized and the matchups in Round 2 are as follows:-
Top Half of the Draw
Tommy Paul vs Miomir Kecmanovic
24 Lorenzo Sonego vs Oscar Otte
16 Gael Monfils vs 32 Alexander Bublik
15 Cristian Garin vs Pedro Martinez
Sebastian Korda vs Corentin Moutet
18 Pablo Correro-Busta vs Tallon Griekspoor
30 Carlos Alcaraz vs Dusan Lajovic
6 Matteo Berrettini vs Stefan Kozlov
2 Alexander Zverev vs John Millman
Aleksandar Vukic vs Radu Albot
22 Reilly Opelka vs Dominik Koepfer
13 Denis Shapovalov vs Soonwoo Kwon
9 Hubert Hurkacz vs Adrian Mannarino
17 Aslan Karatsev vs Mackenszie McDonald
27 Karen Khachanov vs Benjamin Bonzi
5 Rafael Nadal vs Yannik Hanfmann
Bottom Half of the Draw
Alex Molcan vs Pablo Andujar-Alba
31 Alec de Minaur vs Kamil Majchrzak
Andy Murray vs Taro Daniel
10 Jannik Sinner vs Steve Johnson
14 Roberto Bautista-Agut vs Philipp Kohlschreiber
19 Taylor Fritz vs Frances Tiafoe
25 Grigor Dimtrov vs Benoit Paire
3 Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Sebastian Baez
4 Andrey Rublev vs Ricardas Berankis
26 Marin Cilic vs Norbert Gombos
23 Daniel Evans vs Arthur Rinderknech
8 Felix Auger-Aliassime vs Alejandro Davidovich Fokina
12 Diego Schwartzman vs Christopher O'Connell
Maxime Cressy vs Tomas Machac
Botic van de Zandzschulp vs Richard Gasquet
1 Danill Medvedev vs Nic Kyrgios
The above is a mess - according to the APT rule is as follows when a player in the positions 1-4 are out of the series and in that event the arrangement is as follows:-
* The number 5 seeded player (Rublev) moves into the position of the non-available player;
* The number 17 player (Monfils) moves into the position on the log occupied and vacated by the number 5 player; and
* The new 32 seeded player (Bublik) moves into the position occupied by the number 17 player.
However - due to the match schedule for round 1 was already done and published the above was not implemented and it remains to be seen if it is in fact going to be implemented. Should that happen - Rublev would move to the top half of the draw into the position Djokovic would have occupied - Monfils would have to be moved to the bottom half of the draw and Bublik would have remained in the Top half of the draw.
What is also weird is that the commentators are referring to the old seed numbers and not the fact that with no 1 (Djokovic) not playing at all the numbers of all 32 seeds move up 1 position and Bublik coming in as the number 32 seed. .
IT is thus far clear that the changes provided for in the ATP rules will not be made and the above reflects the situation as players go into Round 3.
Of the seeded players Casper Ruud withdrew from the tournament due to a practice injury - a twisted ankle. Of the remaining 31 seeds 5 were beaten in Round one. The latter included Cameron Norrie, John Isner and Lloyd Harris. Fact is both SA players - Harris and Anderson - went out in Round 1.
Of the 64 matches played 14 wen into 5 setters - with 20 matches be decided in 4 sets. Some of the matches lasted longer than 4 hours - an example being the match between Basilashvili and Andy Murray was 4 hours 30 minute long. Some of the 14 winners of 5 setters are going to find it very hard to go through to Round 3
The best junior performance was Alcazar who easily beat his opponent. Watch out for this guy in the next round as well when he plays Dusan Lajovic. Another 18 year old that did very well will be up against Stefanos Tsitsipas in Round 2.
ROUND 3
The draw is finalized and the matchups in Round 3 are as follows:-
Top Half of the Draw
24 Lorenzo Sonego vs Miomir Kecmanovic
15 Cristian Garin vs 16 Gael Monfils
18 Pablo Correro-Busta vs Sebastian Korda
6 Matteo Berrettini vs 30 Carlos Alcaraz
2 Alexander Zverev vs Radu Albot
13 Denis Shapovalov vs 22 Reilly Opelka
17 Aslan Karatsev vs Adrian Mannarino
5 Rafael Nadal vs 27 M Karen Khachanov
Bottom Half of the Draw
31 Alec de Minaur vs Pablo Andujar-Alba
10 Jannik Sinner vs Taro Daniel
14 Roberto Bautista-Agut vs 19 Taylor Fritz
3 Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Benoit Paire
4 Andrey Rublev vs 26 Marin Cilic
8 Felix Auger-Aliassime vs 23 Daniel Evans
Christopher O'Connell vs Maxime Cressy
1 Danill Medvedev vs Botic van de Zandschulp
The fact is that due to non-implementation of standard rules of ATP only 2 seeded players meeting in Round 2 will play each other, Of the other 31 matches to be played -
* 7 matches will be between unseeded players;
* 24 matches will involve seeded players playing unseeded players.
Based on performances thus far a number of seeded players will be strongly challenged in Round 2 and I will not be surprised if there are not further seeded player losses in Round 2.
This thread will be updated as results come in tomorrow (top half of the draw) and Thursday (bottom half of the draw). .
The Top Half of the draw has been completed and the Round 3 players were finalized. The three best performers were Alexander Sverev, Gael Monfils and Carlos Alcaraz. The bookmakers make Alcaraz to beat Berrettini in Round 3.
The Round 3 players in the bottom half of the draw will be updated tomorrow. It was not an assy day for some players. 4 matches were 5-setters and 3 were 4-stters.
Thus far and there are still 3 matches not completed iro of the bottom half of the draw was a rather messy affair for the seeded players and Andy Murray - the latter game is not yet completed - but for Murray to win it would have to be a five-setter, They are still in the third set. So here goes -
* Tsitsipas struggled against the youngster Baez from Argentina who took him to a 4-setter - in all set he lost Baez was pressing Tsitsipas and in a way the latter was lucky to win\
* Auger-Aliassime were in even a more dicey game against Davdovich Fokina - another difficult youngster to be contend with - he ended up in winning played because he won 3 pf the 5 tie-breakers played;
* Dimitrov- who was praised by Mozart for doing spectacular tennis a favor when he beat Medvedev - was defeated by the 72 ranked player Paire.
* Another seed who lost was Schwartzman.
* Andy Murray lost against the unknown Taro Daniel.
In the bottom half of the draw the best performances were by Rublev and Batista-Agut.
The crowd behavior in the game between Medvedev was disgusting.
ROUND 4
The draw is finalized and the matchups in Round 4 are as follows:-
Top Half of the Draw
16 Gael Monfils vs Miomir Kecmanovic
6 Matteo Berrettini vs 18 Pablo Correro-Busta
2 Alexander Zverev vs 13 Denis Shapovalov
5 Rafael Nadal vs Adrian Mannarino
Bottom Half of the Draw
10 Jannik Sinner vs 1 Alec de Minaur
3 Stefanos Tsitsipas vs 19 Taylor Fritz
8 Felix Auger-Aliassime vs 26 Marin Cilic
1 Danill Medvedev vs Maxime Cressy
This will be updated as results come in.
CM hope you are enjoying the OZ tennis.
Totally with you Arthur….the tournament feels like a sham.
I am following it - but who says the real champ is out? Djokovic did not cover himself with glory in the last three tournament he played in and lost against Zverev and Medvedev. Fact is since November 2020 he lost more games against those two players than he won. He may have been the favorite to win - but to claim he would have automatically won is farfetched.
The one game I did watch yesterday was the one between Berrettini and Alcaraz - which Berrettini won in 5 sets. Lucky win - the last set was a tie-breaker and so was another one. When they called Alcaraz the next Federer or Nadal - the answer is simple. He is not the next anybody - he is Carlos Alcaraz - who has done better than any other top player at the age of 18. He will at the age of 19 be a top 10 player by the end of 2022.
The other matches were rather below what is normally expected from Zverev. Nadal is doing well enough - but he will not get past the quarterfinals.
Quarterfinals
The draw is finalized and the matchups in are as follows:-
Top Half of the Draw
6 Matteo Berrettini vs 16 Gael Monfils
5 Rafael Nadal vs 13 Denis Shapovalov
Bottom Half of the Draw
3 Stefanos Tsitsipas vs 10 Jannik Sinner
1 Danill Medvedev vs 8 Felix Auger-Aliassime
What happened to Alcatraz!!!
What happened to your favourite Rublev?
According to the comments of the commentators Rublev consulted a sport psychologist about his approach as he is losing in games against players he never lost to before. However, yesterday again showed that the whole problem still is the same.
The fact is that Rublev is the hardest hitting speed wise of the balls in rallies ever, but he is extremely problematic when it comes to serving. In most cases he lose matches not because of being out-played but a tendency to make double faults in serving. He made double the number of double faults and also double the number of unforced errors that Cilic did yesterday.
I have identified that problem already more than 6 months ago. It is unfortunate that it happens the way it does and I thought until yesterday that the commentators were correct in what they said. In Mo0scow last year Rublev lost against Berankis - but on Tuesday he wiped the floor with him.
By the way - I have no favorites amongst any sportsmen - I look at the actual performances and said already six months ago that Rublev would be out of the top 20 is he keeps failing like he did. I also think there maty be a coaching problem - maybe a coach like Juan-Carlos Ferrero - with a much more professional attitude would help in getting the Rublev problems solved.
Look at what he did for the 18 year old Carlos Alcaraz who by the end of 2022 will definitely be in the Top 10 rankings in the world - ie better than either Federer, Nadal and Djokovic did at the same age. .
Mozart
I don’t hate Medvedev, I just find his tennis boring.
You find Medvedev's tennis boring? Is it because he plays a superior technical game that cause opponents to cry like Djokovic did in the US Open last year. Prejudice is a hard thing when it comes to performance evaluation and normally leads to sport idiocy.
I am going to go radical tomorrow and my Superbru selections are;-
Shapovalov, - beating Nadal
Sinner - beating Tsitsipas
Barty
Kanepi
Semifinals
The draw is finalized and the matchups are as follows:-
5 Rafael Nadal vs 6 Matteo Berrettini
3 Stefanos Tsitsipas vs 10 Jannik Sinner
1 Danill Medvedev vs 8 Felix Auger-Aliassime
The fact is the two quarterfinals already played were of the worst matches I have seen in many years iro tennis matches. Both winners relied more on the mistakes and unforced errors made by their opponents to win in five-setters and the quality of tennis were boring and poor. The attacks by the winners were minimal and that allowed for poor tennis to be played.
This item will be updated tomorrow.
clevermike
Hall Of Fame
45197 posts
The draw is at present as follows:-
1 Danill Medvedev
2 Alexander Zverev3 Stefanos Tsitsipas
4 Andrey Rublev5 Rafael Nadal
6 Matteo Berrettini
7 Casper Ruud8 Felix Auger-Aliassime
9 Hubert Hurkacz10 Jannik Sinner
11 Cameron Norrie12 Diego Schwartzman13 Dennis Shapovalov14 Roberto Bautista-Agut15 Cristian Garin16 Gael Monfils17 Aslan Karatsev18 Pablo Correro-Busta19 Taylor Fritz20 Nikoloz Basilashvili21 John Isner22 Reilly Opelka23 Daniel Evans24 Lorenzo Sonego25 Grigor Dimitrov26 Matin Cilic27 Karen Khachanov28 Hugo Humbert29 Lloyd Harris30 Carlos Alcaraz31 Alec de Minaur32 Alexander BublikThe above is the provisional seeded players. It can change if the Aussie Government goes ballistic when it comes to the world's most well-known anti-vaxxer Djokovic.
64 of the matches has been played in the qualification round and the next Round of 32 matches are set for tomorrow and the final 16 qualification matches will be played on Friday.
Once the seedings and draws are announced I would give a breakdown of
* how the seeded players are divided between the top and bottom halves of the draw;
* and the match-ups of all games to be played in Round 1
I will update as soon as the final draw is available.