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Note: there is always a lot of content during the first few days of a slam. If you don’t like something, feel free to scroll down to the next section (Order: Match Analysis - Shots Of The Day - Interviews/Press Best Bits - Extras - New Balls Please).

NO SPOILERS 🎥

If you don't want to see the results yet, and want to catch up with the highlights first, stop scrolling now. (If these links have been taken down, tap the ‘view in browser’ button at the top of this email and there should be updated links):

Nadal 🎥 Duckworth

Federer 🎥 Istomin

Murray 🎥 Bautista Agut

Sousa 🎥 De Minaur

Edmund 🎥 Berdych

RESULTS 🎾

💥 = Beatdown \\ 🤕 = Injury \\ ‼️ = Upset \\ 🤯 = Epic

Featured Matches

Nadal d Duckworth: 6-4, 6-3, 7-5

Duckworth employed the only strategy that was ever going to give him a fighting chance, which was an interesting and bold attempt at first strike tennis. The Aussie came to the net 71(!) times over the three sets, and generally tried to slap any ball he could get his strings on as deep and powerfully as possible, as early in the rally as possible, to make his forays to the net more straightforward (and to take rhythm away from Nadal). Lot’s of huge returns and serve and volley:

The problem, for Duckworth, was that he happened to be playing against one of the most lethal passing shots in history. Despite some success when it came to rushing Nadal, making the Spaniard somewhat uncomfortable in the 2nd and 3rd sets, Duckworth only managed to win 38 out of those 71 net approaches. The Aussie in the end succumbed to his opponent’s rare ability to dig out angles and lobs from all sorts of impressive positions, usually on the half-volley:

Nadal’s new serve (GIF breakdown in ‘Extras’ section) worked well for the majority of the match, landing a combined avg of 75% first serves in, and 80% 1st serve points won, for the first two sets. Some rust did appear however, with Rafa serving for the match. In the final set, Nadal’s 1st-serve-in percentage had dropped to 56%, and the Spaniard was broken to love at 5*-3 to extend the match by a few more games. This kind of rust is understandable given Nadal has played no competitive tennis for the last 3-4 months, and shouldn’t undermine what was a decent performance overall. Nadal finished with an impressive 38 winners to just 11 unforced errors, Duckworth with 40 winners to 40 errors.

Federer d Istomin: 6-3, 6-4, 6-4

This is a terrible matchup for Istomin, who struggles to move his giant frame laterally and forward, and was faced with a barrage of quick, early Federer changes of direction, and knifed slices, to exploit said weakness. Fed was excellent today for the first two sets, coming up with great variation on serve anytime Istomin got to 30 (Fed faced 0 break points in the entire match), and returning effectively (Fed’s blocked return was great at forcing Istomin to move forward to lower balls). Despite Istomin landing 86% of 1st serves in for the 1st set and 63% in the 2nd, Federer managed to come up with some timely returns to grab breaks of serve in sets one and two.

The third set featured some quite sloppy play from Federer, who looked a little like he had taken his foot off the gas, after cruising through the start of the match. Fed’s 1st serve in dropped to 52% for the final set (from 63% in 2nd set), and the Swiss was wasteful on his break point chances, taking just 1/5. None of this really mattered however, as even Federer’s foot-off-the-gas level was more than enough to close out the match.

— Federer’s 3rd set sloppiness.

Good signs for Federer in the first two sets, and nothing bad enough in the 3rd set to be concerning. He’s inevitably going to have more lapses in concentration in the longer, best of 5 format than he did a few years ago, with the third set today being a prime example. But as long as he keeps looking after his own service games in this first week, it’s doubtful that will really matter. Federer finished with 52 winners to 30 unforced errors, Istomin with 22 winners to 21 errors.

Bautista Agut (RBA) d Murray: 6-4, 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-7(4), 6-2 🤯

A match that was regularly hard to watch thanks to the telltale signs of Murray’s hip issues. Andy struggled to push off and rotate from his right foot, having to rely heavily on his left side when striking his forehand in particular.

— Murray incapable of consistently leaning into his forehand side. So careful not to put too much force on that right leg/hip, when rotating through contact.

Despite this issue, Murray was very competitive, and at times looked very impressive, holding break opportunities in each of the first three sets. Andy failed to convert in sets 1 & 2, thanks to some untimely errors, but finally broke through to get back on serve early in the 3rd. Murray then managed, with his customary fight, to create a set point with RBA serving at 4*-5. Unfortunately for Andy, some brilliant defence from RBA saved the opportunity, and the players headed to a tiebreak. By this point, the Murray of old had shown up (albeit with some slightly dodgy movement), retrieving improbable balls, mixing in some breathtaking slices to throw RBA off his rhythm, and generally looking the stronger player to rush out to a 4-1 lead. RBA missed a drive forehand very long to set up two more set points for the Scot, and a huge Murray serve converted the 2nd chance. Onto a 4th.

Murray, despite battling bravely to stay on serve in the 4th set, looked like his hip was causing him more and more discomfort, with constant, worried glances to his box. On the plus side however, RBA seemed to be doing his best to keep Murray in the match, missing opportunities left and right to grab the decisive break. Neither player could breakthrough on return and they headed to another tiebreaker. RBA’s level continued to nosedive, missing two routine groundstrokes in a row to, once again, set up a 4-1 lead for Murray in the breaker. Andy converted his 4th set point to take us to a 5th set. An incredible effort from Murray under the circumstances.

Sadly for Andy, the match unraveled for him in the final set. After RBA resisted early pressure on his serve, the Spaniard went on the offensive against an increasingly fatigued Murray, grabbing the double break with the sort of tennis he probably should have been playing in the 4th. A characteristically stubborn Murray saved a match point while serving to stay in the match, but succumbed in RBA’s next service game. Murray finished with 50 winners to 51 unforced errors, RBA with 53 winners to just 37 errors.

If this match was Murray’s farewell to the Australian Open, good lord did he put on a show. The heart, and ability, required to take that match to 5 sets (winning just 139 points to RBA’s 164), against one of the toughest baseliners in the world (on one good hip no less), is monumental. If this really is the last time we’ll see Andy competing in Australia (hopefully not): Thank you for everything, Sir Andy Muzza.

🎾

Also:

Berdych d Edmund: 6-3, 6-0, 7-5 ❗️

Very impressive from Berdych, but Edmund just didn’t look ready for this match after struggling with a knee injury over the past few weeks. Big Berd continues his comeback in style, with his serve in particular looking very dangerous on the fast AO courts. Edmund won a measly 16/75 points on return, which was testament to both Berdych’s pace and variation on serve, as well as Edmund’s, at times, gingerly movement.

Tsitsipas d Berrettini: 6-7(3), 6-4, 6-3, 7-6(4)

Good effort by Tsitsipas to get this done in 4 sets, especially given how easily it could have gone to 5, with an inspired Berrettini going up a break early in the 4th set. Berrettini’s slice backhand in particular caused all kinds of problems for Tsitsipas. Important result for the young Greek’s hopes of going deep this week.

De Minaur d Sousa: 6-4, 7-5, 6-4

After a quick 48hr turnaround from having to play two matches in one day in Sydney on Saturday, De Minaur looked a little jaded for much of this match. That he still managed to get it done in straights is a testament to his increasing willingness to attack with his forehand, and his ever-present positive, yet dogged, mentality.

Khachanov d Gojowczyk: 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-3

🤕 Khachanov treated for a hip problem, doesn’t look too serious. He looked good for final three sets. Gojowczyk v impressive early on.

Cilic d Tomic: 6-2, 6-4, 7-6(3)

Good win for Cilic with no signs of the knee injury that was troubling him pre-Australian Open. He moved well throughout.

Opelka d Isner: 7-6(4), 7-6(6), 6-7(4), 7-6(5)

7ft Opelka beats 6ft 10 Isner and just like that we have the first top 10 player upset. The Australian Open continues to be Isner's worst slam, having only made the 4th Rd twice in 2010 & 2016. The American doesn't seem to have made either the medium pace courts (pre 2017), or the medium fast courts (post 2017) work for him. 47 aces for Isner, 40 for Opelka. Consistent returns of serve were rarer than a hair on Ivan Ljubičić’s head.

Anderson d Mannarino : 6-3, 5-7, 6-2, 6-1

Dimitrov d Tipsarevic : 4-6, 6-3, 6-1, 6-4

Basilashvili d Eubanks : 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(6), 6-3

Ebden d Struff: 1-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 (plays Nadal next)

Millman d Delbonis: 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(3), 6-2

Evans d Ito : 7-5, 6-1, 7-6(8) (plays Federer next)

Monfils d Dzumhur : 6-0, 6-4, 6-0 💥

McDonald d Rublev : 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4

Fritz d Norrie : 6-3, 7-6(6), 6-2

Schwartzman d Molleker : 6-1, 6-3, 4-6, 6-0

Tiafoe d Gunneswaran: 7-6(7), 6-3, 6-3

Full Results.

SHOTS OF THE DAY 😮

— Very good to have this shot back on tour. Nadal’s forehand down the line never gets old.

— Duckworth’s unrelenting willingness to attack the net was refreshing. The Aussie pulled off some solid volleys today.

— Another one.

— Rafa so good at digging out these passing shots in the face of the onslaught of approaching/net-play from Duckworth.

— What a way to break serve.🔥

— De Minaur scrambling to the drop shot and then pulling off a fantastic backhand smash (vs Sousa).

— Every now and then this evening Murray would throw caution (for his hip) to the wind, and lean into a forehand. The results were spectacular.

— Fairly ridiculous point.

— Murray saving match point in some serious style.

— Outrageous backhand flick down the line from Federer (vs Istomin).

— More angles.

— Istomin giving Fed a taste of his own medicine.

— Ridiculous, line-licking, backhand down the line from Fed.

— Way too good.

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INTERVIEW & PRESS BEST BITS 🎤

Nadal after beating Duckworth:

“Of course, it’s not easy to come back after a lot of months especially against a player playing super aggressive every shot. He went on court with determination not to hit more than two balls in a row from the baseline, it was tough.” Source

Nadal on the impending decision, on behalf of the ATP Players Council, about whether current ATP President Chris Kermode, stays:

“I am not in the council anymore, and nobody from the council came to me and asked my opinion. So I can't have a real opinion on all of this, because no one of my representatives came to me and asked me if I am happy with the president or not. Somebody from the council should come to me and ask my position.” Source

“They (the council) have to come to the players. That's why they are in the council and I am not in the council anymore. When I was in the council, that was me having to go to the players and ask their opinions. It's not my work anymore. If they want to read my opinion, I tell you, I think I believe in the long-term projects, not short-term. And because of that, I believe that is not good to have changes all the time, because is difficult to develop a good project of work if we have changes every three, four years.” Source

Hilarious moment when Nadal caught a journalist sleeping in the press room:

“It's not very interesting today (laughs)” “You close your eyes to be better focused on me (laughs)”

Murray after what could have been his last match at the Australian Open:

“If this was my last match, it was an amazing way to end. I gave everything I had - it wasn't enough tonight. Maybe I'll see you again. I'll do everything possible to try. If I want to go again, I'll need to have a big operation, which there's no guarantee I'll be able to come back from anyway, but I'll give it my best shot.” (On Court Interview)

(Matt: given how competitive he was tonight, and of course depending how his hip responds in the aftermath of such a tough match, it does looks slightly less certain that Andy will retire at Wimbledon this year. Especially given that if he elects to have surgery after the Australian Open, he wouldn’t be fit in time for Wimbledon anyway (Tweet referencing this below). Fingers crossed the surgery gives him another chance, even if it means radically altering his game to shorten points.)

Murray watching the tribute full of messages from his rivals and friends👇

Post-match Presser

“Knowing this could've been my last match, I didn't hold back, didn't care not to worsen the pain in my hip, it was easier in a way. I know I won't be hitting balls tomorrow.” Source “That (pre tournament presser) was kind of the 1st time I kind of came out & let everyone know how bad it (hip) has been. I felt a lot better after that. But obviously, like, the reaction, I was really surprised. I genuinely was not expecting it to be like that at all. Yeah, it was really nice.” Source

Federer post win:

Federer on the Players Council not reaching out to Rafa:

“I think it's tricky, but somebody needs to reach out to him (Rafa), no doubt about it. For that we have player representatives. I anyway wanted to speak to Novak a little bit about the whole situation. I also definitely want to speak to Rafa now that he's back on tour. We're here, we're playing the same day. I would like to meet him on an off day and get his take now that he voiced his opinion about the tour. I was on the council with him. I get along with Rafa really well. I do also with Novak. I just want to get the take and see how we can move the sport into the right direction moving forward.” Source

Dimitrov on ATP President, Kermode:

“I think changing Chris Kermode would be one of the biggest mistakes. Tennis is in such a good place. Everything has gone through so many good and positive changes. I wouldn't do that, absolutely.” Source

(Matt: So far we’ve heard Federer, Nadal, Wawrinka, Dimitrov, Tsitsipas & Kyrgios support Kermode. But it would be great to hear from some 100+ ranked players to get a wider, more inclusive opinion on Kermode’s impact).

And on his new partnership with Agassi:

“Today before the match we are talking about completely different stuff...I'm just a better person, period. On a daily basis, I have learned something new from him.” Source

Tsitsipas on the court speed:

“I felt like the serve was going much faster than the week before in Sydney. We had less time to react on our return.” Source

ORDER OF PLAY - DAY 2 (TUESDAY) ⏰

Match to watch = 🔥

Rod Laver Arena

— (@ 11am Local, 12am UK, 6pm CT) —

🇩🇪 A.Zverev vs Bedene 🇸🇮 (H2H: 2-0) (Hard H2H: 2-0)

Prediction: Zverev in 3

— NB 7pm Local, 8am UK, 2am CT —

🇷🇸 Djokovic vs Krueger 🇺🇸 (1st Meeting)

Prediction: Djokovic in 3

Margaret Court Arena

— (@ 11am Local, 12am UK, 6pm CT) —

🇯🇵 Nishikori vs Majchrzak 🇵🇱 (1st Meeting)

Prediction: Nishikori in 3

— NB 7pm Local, 8am UK, 2am CT —

🇦🇹 Thiem vs Paire 🇫🇷 (H2H: 1-0) (Hard H2H: 1-0) 🔥

Prediction: Thiem in 4

Melbourne Arena

— (@ 11am Local, 12am UK, 6pm CT) —

🇭🇷 Coric vs Darcis 🇧🇪 (1st Meeting)

Prediction: Coric in 4

— NB 7pm Local, 8am UK, 2am CT —

🇦🇺 Kyrgios vs Raonic 🇨🇦 (H2H: 3-3) (Hard H2H: 1-0) 🔥

Prediction: Kyrgios in 4

Best Of Outer Courts

— (@ 11am Local, 12am UK, 6pm CT) —

🇨🇭Wawrinka vs Gulbis 🇱🇻 on Court 3 (H2H: 1-0) (1st Meeting on HC) 🔥

Prediction: Wawrinka in 4

🇫🇷 Tsonga vs Klizan 🇸🇰 on Court 7 (H2H: 0-1) (Hard H2H: 0-1) 🔥

Prediction: Tsonga in 4

🇫🇷 Pouille vs Kukushkin 🇰🇿 (H2H: 2-0) (Hard H2H: 2-0)

Prediction: Pouille in 5

Full Schedule ⏰

EXTRAS 🔍📊🎤

🎥 Nadal’s new serve breakdown:

- 2018 (left): Nadal's racquet & left elbow move up & away from body and then back down as left arm begins prep.

- 2019 (right): Nadal's racquet and left arm stay low and close to body until he starts throwing motion.

2018 = up - down - up and away from body to begin throw.

2019 = One movement up, closer to the body to begin throw.

The above angle in the GIF makes it a little tough to see the difference in how much closer Nadal’s left arm is to his body in the 2019 action. Here’s a better side by side for that comparison:

— Similar stages of the toss, but right (2019) shows the much closer-to-body racquet and arm position compared to Nadal’s old motion (left). His left arm is nearly at a 90 degree angle to his body in the left image. And then at about 45 degrees in the right image.

Moya (Nadal’s coach) mentioned that the more direct, vertical swing path means there is less side spin on the ball, meaning more penetration when it bounces and a greater retention of speed. Rafa clearly wants to take time away from returning opponents (although may also take time away from Nadal).

📊 The last time Andy Murray lost a 1st round match at a slam was to Tsonga at the 2008 Australian Open.

Standing ovation for Murray:

NEW BALLS PLEASE 👀

— Tsitsipas’s next Vlog: ‘The Day My SHOE FLEW OFF 😮’

— Good to see that Rafa’s learning from his mistakes.

— #schedulinglols

— Hopefully this won’t be the last Murray roar we see in Australia…😢

— Try and find a more raw and honest sportsman than Andy Murray right now. Source

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GAME, SET, MATCH 👋

— The Racquet is created, and written, by Matt.

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See you tomorrow for Day 2 of the Australian Open!

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