Australian Open 2020 Day 1: Gauff downs Venus again. Plus Day 2 picks.

The much needed rain Down Under disrupted a few matches but overall things went smoothly on the opening day of this decade’s opening slam. The big names too remained largely untroubled. Defending champion Naomi Osaka looked good in her first round victory and there were easy wins for Serena, Kvitova and the soon-to-be-departing Wozniacki. World […]

Australian Open 2020: Winner predictions and the best Day 1 matches

With all that is going on in Australia at this time, tennis and indeed sport in general seems wholly trivial. Tennis Australia is doing a lot to support the bushfire crisis, but it will be telling to see how the tournament unfolds amidst still ongoing conversations surrounding player and audience safety. What of the tournament […]

Australian Open 2019 Finals review: Naomi wins a spectacle and Novak serves up a slaughter

Naomi Osaka def Petra Kvitova 7-6, 5-7, 6-4 What a match this was, two likeable players faced each other for the first time for a maiden Australian title and the world number one spot. Not that it needed it, but this was another great advert for the women’s game. Both players are strong servers and […]

Australian Open 2019: Quarter Finals thoughts and Semi Finals predictions

Usually my predictions are poor (certainly my SkyBet form has deserted me) but my QF winner picks were on the whole pretty much on the money. Nadal, Djokovic and Tsitsipas are all safely through against their tired and/or inexperienced opponents. The Serb having things easiest with Nishikori lasting only a couple of one-sided sets before […]

Australian Open 2019: Round 4 review and QF predictions

If the first week was relatively short of surprises and stories, already the second half has begun with some spectacle. We lost the women’s champ at the weekend of course, but Wozniacki’s failure was no shock and her opponent no slouch! Instead Sharapova was just one of many household names, tournament favourites and former champs […]

Australian Open 2019: Round 3 summary and Round 4 picks

We’re getting near the business end of things and – as the second week of what has been an engrossing and finely poised Australian Open so far – the tournament stars are beginning to shine. On the men’s side, we had few surprises this last round, Fognini’s loss to Carreno-Busta and Bautista-Agut’s relative dismissal of […]

Australian Open 2019: Round 2 round-up and Round 3 picks

As Day 5 approaches rapidly, let’s look back at all the goings on in round 2 down under. The mainstays have mainly stayed, but in varying fashions; Serena breezed past the resurgent Bouchard as Simona squeaked by another unfancied future star in three. Roger, Rafa and Novak swept through tough opponents but Zverev and Nishikori […]