Australian Open 2021 Discussion thread

[vennali]

Qualifiers are done and now we wait for the main draw. Starting from 8th Feb (shifted due to the ongoing pandemic). With Novak Djokovic and Ash Barty top seeds(even though Kenin won the previous installment). Lets share all the news and top picks for the first slam of the year. My personal fav to win this year is Dkokovic and in WTA, Naomi Osaka.

Edit: Lord Tomic has qualified for the main draw. Another dark horse? O.o

Also, we are going to witness the first Egyptian female player to qualify for Australian Open main draw in Mayar Sherif.

Edit: Updated schedule for upcoming tournaments

[YuginKadoya]

I really love to watch Women Singles especially when I watch my Favorite players like Olga Danilovic, Yue Yuan that recently lost to Chloe Paquet, Aleksandra Krunic that defeated by Mayar Sherif, and Kaya Juvan, and in the Men Single I am only well known to Novak Djokovic Would check all that players if they could make it.

[alegotardo]

Qualifiers are done and now we wait for the main draw. Starting from 8th Feb (shifted due to the ongoing pandemic). With Novak Djokovic and Ash Barty top seeds(even though Kenin won the previous installment). Lets share all the news and top picks for the first slam of the year. My personal fav to win this year is Dkokovic and in WTA, Naomi Osaka.

Edit: Lord Tomic has qualified for the main draw. Another dark horse? O.o

Also, we are going to witness the first Egyptian female player to qualify for Australian Open main draw in Mayar Sherif.

Another very interesting case in these classifications is Fran Jones ...
in this sport, every muscle is very important, mainly of the arms and hands and she only has four fingers on each hand due to Ectrodactyly-Ectodermal Dysplasia-Clefting Syndrome (EEC).
The French Briton Jones shows a beautiful example of overcoming in this unprecedented classification, his is 20 years old.

I don’t follow this sport very much, so I’ll abstain from an opinion on favorites in this tournament… for now.

[vennali]

Qualifiers are done and now we wait for the main draw. Starting from 8th Feb (shifted due to the ongoing pandemic). With Novak Djokovic and Ash Barty top seeds(even though Kenin won the previous installment). Lets share all the news and top picks for the first slam of the year. My personal fav to win this year is Dkokovic and in WTA, Naomi Osaka.

Edit: Lord Tomic has qualified for the main draw. Another dark horse? O.o

Also, we are going to witness the first Egyptian female player to qualify for Australian Open main draw in Mayar Sherif.

Another very interesting case in these classifications is Fran Jones ...
in this sport, every muscle is very important, mainly of the arms and hands and she only has four fingers on each hand due to Ectrodactyly-Ectodermal Dysplasia-Clefting Syndrome (EEC).
The French Briton Jones shows a beautiful example of overcoming in this unprecedented classification, his is 20 years old.

I don’t follow this sport very much, so I’ll abstain from an opinion on favorites in this tournament… for now.

Yes, it is inspirational for sure. She* qualified for the main draw yesterday and I'd be on the lookout for her match. She plays for the British team at the moment. Can't wait for the draws to come out. Not sure when that is. More news from UK as Andy Murray tests positive for COVID which puts doubts to his travel for Australian Open. I've noticed that the tests do sometimes go wrong (Happened in case a couple of Indian Badminton players) and could come out Negative in the next test. Lets hope that is the case here as well and we get to see Murray in action again.

[swogerino]

Qualifiers are done and now we wait for the main draw. Starting from 8th Feb (shifted due to the ongoing pandemic). With Novak Djokovic and Ash Barty top seeds(even though Kenin won the previous installment). Lets share all the news and top picks for the first slam of the year. My personal fav to win this year is Dkokovic and in WTA, Naomi Osaka.

Edit: Lord Tomic has qualified for the main draw. Another dark horse? O.o

Also, we are going to witness the first Egyptian female player to qualify for Australian Open main draw in Mayar Sherif.

I think that Djokovic has the biggest chances to win this.Last time he was eliminated because of an injury if I recall correctly and right now he is rated as the nr 1 tennis sportman in many rankings.I am not a big fan of tennis but it is the first time I hear Ash Barty.Probably has been a long time for me without watching tennis.

[vennali]

~snip~

I think that Djokovic has the biggest chances to win this.Last time he was eliminated because of an injury if I recall correctly and right now he is rated as the nr 1 tennis sportman in many rankings.I am not a big fan of tennis but it is the first time I hear Ash Barty.Probably has been a long time for me without watching tennis.

Djokovic won it last year and is the top seed again this year. Should be interesting with so many young guns around as well as Nadal hoping to win another Aussie Open(Think it is unlikely though). Cant wait for the tourney's draw to be out.

[tyz]

I see betting on the Australian Open or in tennis in general during the Corona period as very difficult. You never know how quickly a favorite can get Corona and then may have to give up or not be able to start. Because of this, the chance for outsiders has never been as good as this year. In the past few years I've bet on a winner before the tournament started, but this year it's just too risky for me. The odds also do not reflect the (extra) risk.

[vennali]

I see betting on the Australian Open or in tennis in general during the Corona period as very difficult. You never know how quickly a favorite can get Corona and then may have to give up or not be able to start. Because of this, the chance for outsiders has never been as good as this year. In the past few years I've bet on a winner before the tournament started, but this year it's just too risky for me. The odds also do not reflect the (extra) risk.

Just like the NBA, the  players will stay in resorts etc with strict supervision and testing. So, the odds that someone contracts COVID-19 while being in the tourney is very less. Unless the players break rules, it should be okay.

[Jating]

As you have mentioned, Djokovic should be the clear favourite here.

But I wouldn't discount that he can be upset by the young tennis generations of today. They are slowly in the rise specially last year, and the big 3 or big 4 is already ageing, and I would say that Djokovic should be the last one amongst them that are going to stay. Federer's body is giving out, he will not participate in this tournament because he is still in recovery mode, while Murray is already declining very bad and will not be in the AO as well. While Nadal is on the struggle.

[kryptqnick]

I see betting on the Australian Open or in tennis in general during the Corona period as very difficult. You never know how quickly a favorite can get Corona and then may have to give up or not be able to start. Because of this, the chance for outsiders has never been as good as this year. In the past few years I've bet on a winner before the tournament started, but this year it's just too risky for me. The odds also do not reflect the (extra) risk.

Just like the NBA, the  players will stay in resorts etc with strict supervision and testing. So, the odds that someone contracts COVID-19 while being in the tourney is very less. Unless the players break rules, it should be okay.

Well, all the testing and restrictions didn't help with football matches, and many players from the National team of my country got COVID-19 in various crucial occasions. And clearly it isn't just the problem with my country.
Tennis is not such a contact sport as soccer, I agree. So the risks are lower there, and the spread of the virus once someone gets it is probably lower to. However, it seems to already become an issue nevertheless. For instance, speaking of the Australian Open, Tennys Sandgren tested positive. The news say that he's going to Australia anyway, and that's the kind of recklessness that can spoil the situation pretty quickly and make the pandemic a major factor in betting.

[vennali]

I see betting on the Australian Open or in tennis in general during the Corona period as very difficult. You never know how quickly a favorite can get Corona and then may have to give up or not be able to start. Because of this, the chance for outsiders has never been as good as this year. In the past few years I've bet on a winner before the tournament started, but this year it's just too risky for me. The odds also do not reflect the (extra) risk.

Just like the NBA, the  players will stay in resorts etc with strict supervision and testing. So, the odds that someone contracts COVID-19 while being in the tourney is very less. Unless the players break rules, it should be okay.

Well, all the testing and restrictions didn't help with football matches, and many players from the National team of my country got COVID-19 in various crucial occasions. And clearly it isn't just the problem with my country.
Tennis is not such a contact sport as soccer, I agree. So the risks are lower there, and the spread of the virus once someone gets it is probably lower to. However, it seems to already become an issue nevertheless. For instance, speaking of the Australian Open, Tennys Sandgren tested positive. The news say that he's going to Australia anyway, and that's the kind of recklessness that can spoil the situation pretty quickly and make the pandemic a major factor in betting.

Yeah, he'll be in quarantine for 2 weeks. Just like every other player. Everyone who's arrived into Australia to play the Open have been under very strict quarantine. Which has caused a lot of drama around the Djokovic's camp. If I think about it, it does give some advantage to the local players as all the international players are under hard quarantine and not even really allowed to train properly as they are confined. Will see how it goes but from betting aspect, I'd favor local Aussie players to perform well.

[Timelord2067]

Tennis Australia got caught out trying to say the Aust Federal Government would be covering the cost of putting the players into mandatory hotel quarantine (remembering some of the players/support start were infected with Covid on arrival into Australia) however TA had to backtrack when a govt minister stated that TA had agreed to pay the cost in full.

I've heard separately that all of the players are being paid $100,000 AUD appearance fee which is not bad jam for sitting in a hotel with free food etc and slagging off at your hosts and host country.

[vennali]

Tennis Australia got caught out trying to say the Aust Federal Government would be covering the cost of putting the players into mandatory hotel quarantine (remembering some of the players/support start were infected with Covid on arrival into Australia) however TA had to backtrack when a govt minister stated that TA had agreed to pay the cost in full.

I've heard separately that all of the players are being paid $100,000 AUD appearance fee which is not bad jam for sitting in a hotel with free food etc and slagging off at your hosts and host country.

For someone who isnt really expected to win the title, sure. $100,000 AUD is a nice bonus to have. You do get some money for making it to the main draw of the Slams anyways. Imagine you are Nadal who's game revolves around fitness(same with Djokovic). They have to pretty much sit out for 2 weeks. Fitness isnt like muscle memory. You have to keep working on it to stay in top condition. Their edge over the other players is being kinda take away to an extent. They are here to make history by wining another title. I can kinda understand why djoker is pissed off but there's no solution to the problem while the pandemic is still going on.

[vennali]

Australian Open: Spanish tennis player Paula Badosa tests positive to Covid-19

First female player to have tested positive in Australia while under strict quarantine. She's having symptoms as well. I think this means she's out for the tournament. She's got high potential to reach semis in a slam with the style quite similar to Sharapova. Unfortunate for her and lets see how it goes.

[Timelord2067]

I'll have to check later in the day what that player's condition is. IIRC the players have the mandatory fourteen days in quarentine then there another week prior to game play in an "over abundance of caution". One of the Canadian players said the quarentine is "no big deal" while the higher ranked players are throwing all kinds of social media tantrums ...

[vennali]

New schedule has been out for the Australian swing of tournaments. They have delayed the pre- Australian open tournaments by a day so that the players who are in quarantine get more time and training to prepare for the tournaments.

[vennali]

Exhibition charity matches to be played on 29th Jan.


Should be entertaining to say the least.

[vennali]

Odds for Australian Open 2021 for Men's Singles Champion. Good odds on Djokovic, Nadal and Medvedev. Those are my 3 picks to win Aus Open.

[rig4hodlers]

Nice thread since there are many tenis lovers around here and I didn't found many threads for it. (just only a couple)
This is the next live match between Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Alex de Minaur | ATP CUP 2021.
Who will win?
Stefanos Tsitsipas is my bet!

[vennali]

Nice thread since there are many tenis lovers around here and I didn't found many threads for it. (just only a couple)
This is the next live match between Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Alex de Minaur | ATP CUP 2021.
Who will win?
Stefanos Tsitsipas is my bet!

Thanks, wanted to make one since Australian Open is a massive event and I think it deserves a thread for the event.
 Easy win for Tsitsipas. Takes it in straight sets against Di Minaur.

Who's your pick for Australian Open?