Just a thread to let you know that Aus Open has started for anyone interested in Tennis, British Eurosport and Eurosport 2 will have coverage from Midnight right through until last point of last match scheduled.

As i am huge Tennis fan, i will give you my predictions for the titles ;).

Mens 2012 Champion: Roger Federer- He finished the year off strongly by winning ATP World Tour Finals in London and i believe he is hungry for more Slam titles.

Ladies 2012 Champion: Petra Kvitova- Like Federer, she finished year off strongly and also played immense Tennis at last weeks Hopman Cup.

Anything you want me to predict, i will happily predict for you ok ;).

Also a massive tennis fan + player (albeit at club level!) My prediction for the men's has to be Novak Djokovic. Just can't see anyone beating him, although I think Federer is close 2nd favourite! Agree with you on the women's though. Good to see 6 British players in the main draw as well! Although I'm not sure how many will be left after the 1st round!

Well the first 5 have gone on day 1, after winning not a set, and hardly an games, between them.

Yup! Very disappointing indeed. Although, to be fair, Watson and Robson had very tough draws and Keothavong had food poisoning and had not slept for 2 days apparently. Had expected Baltacha to do better though. Ah well, all of Scotland's...er, I mean Britains, hopes lie with Andy Murray as usual! On court tonight around 3am and I shall be waiting up to cheer him on.

Edited January 16, 201214 yr by caleyfan4ever

The Tomic v Verdasco match was entertaining but Verdasco started to use Murray tactics by shouting at his coaching staff once Tomic got back into the match.

How Tomic won that from 2 sets down and an apparant injury at start of 3rd is beyond me.

I reckon Murray is playin around breakfast time on Sunday morning......................................... listen to this song and tell me if he is ready....

Mr Murray on soon against Llodra 08:00 allegedly.

Third set bagel from Murray in a highly entertaining game winning

6-4

6-2

6-0

The final game of the second set was one of the most entertaining I've ever seen. Some outrageous skill from both players.

Also, an amazing win for Lleyton Hewitt! He beat 23rd seed Milos Raonic 4-6 6-3 7-6 6-3 and will face Novak Djokovic in the 4th round.

By my calculations, Murray v Kukushkin could be on around 02:00 in the early hours of Monday morning.

So... you staying up to watch it live mannie?

Probably stream a bit on the laptop

i reckon it could be later, Ivanovic v Kvitova has the makings of a long 3 setter but only if they both play well. At times, Ivanovic's servr lets her down at crucial stages of matches and Kvitova will punish her if she doesn't serve well tonight.

As for Murray v Kukushkin, Murray SHOULD have far to much for Mikhail especially if he plays as well as he did against Llodra, my prediction is Murray in 3, anyone else want a go at a prediction lol?

Murray cantering through the first set 6-1.

opponent retires when Murray leading

6-1

6-1

1-0

Edited January 23, 201214 yr by tm4tj

Good for Murray to get the match over with quickly, especially in the searing heat and could also be a major advantage if the match between Tsonga and Nishikori is dragged out. Tsonga took the first set 6-2 but Nishikori is 4-0 in the 2nd.

Edited January 23, 201214 yr by caleyfan4ever

Nishikori v Murray in Quarters on Wed and expected to be at 0830 GMT.

Nishikori won't be an easy opponent for the Scot after the Japenese beat Tsonga in a 5 setter, however, i do think Murray will win but maybe in 4 sets.

Agree with Mahonio. From here on in there will be no easy matches, but fully expect Murray to win in 3 or 4 sets, especially due to the fact that Nishikori has had 2 five setters already.

Listening to Nishikori's interview on the radio yesterday gave me the impression that he is already a beaten man. Talking about how Murray destroyed him in their previous meeting doesn't give the impression of confidence.

Could of course be a cultural thing..........his polite Japanese self deprecation and my over the top (set yourself up for a fall why don't you?) uniquely Scottish optimism?

Semi Final line ups are as follows: Kim Clijsters v Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova in Ladies draw and Roger Federer v Rafa Nadal and Andy Murray v Novak Djokovic in Mens.

I am predicting the finals to be Clijsters v Sharapova and Murray v Federer.

I have gone with these because Kvitova is hot and cold just now, whereas Maria is on a hot streak and will pounce on any slip in concentration from Petra.

I am also predicting that Murray will beat Djokovic but only because against Ferrer, Nole was struggling physically during the 2nd set.

I think Sharapova now has a great chance of going on to win the whole thing now to be honest, she's playing some great stuff now. Though to call who's going to win either of the men's semi-finals. I think both will be very close 4 or 5 setters. If Murray is going to beat Novak, he MUST improve his first serve %. 45% is just not good enough!

Looks ominous for Murray, he can't do anything right at the moment. Going out unless he gets his finger out. Djokovic bossing him around and too many unforced errors. He is scrapping hard just to save points when he is down.........not good at the moment, needs big serves to start working.

Wait a minute, he has got through the sticky patch and Djokovic suddenly looks beatable. Tough tough points though and if Murray can hang in I think Djokovic will run out of steam. Fingers crossed.

A few hours later and Murray loses it in the fifth set. He done really well today but Novak was just too good for him.

Gutted for Murray, he really should have won it after going ahead in the final set, but Jockovic knows how to see out majors, something Murray has to learn yet, but Murray made a pretty good stab at it.

:clapping: Well done yersel loon.

Looking at this match alone, i am now 100% convinced that Murray can win a Grand slam title and maybe even this year :).

From the Highlights i saw, Murray was playing a lot more aggressive than normal and it seemed to be working at times, it just goes to show that if you play a fine tactical game, these top 3 guys CAN be beaten. I agree with Mannie ^ when e says that Murray should have won that Semi but as he said himself, "it took a great performance from him (Djokovic) to beat me tonight".

All i will say is, to anyone who thinks Murray won't win a Grand Slam title during his career, look at todsys performance and think again!