A couple of days ago, I posted the first installment of who is not going to win the 2012 Australian Open and now I present you the second part of my 2012 Australian Open predictions.
In the first part, I described the Americans and French who aren’t going to win, now we move on with the Argentine and Spanish players:
The Argentines
There are quite a few tennis players on the tour from Argentina; David Nalbandian, Juan Martin Del Potro, Juan Ignacio Chela, Gisela Dulko, and Juan Monaco. I’ll start with the only major winner in this group, Juan Martin Del Potro; there’s been quite a lot of buzz surrounding his potential winning 2012 tennis season. Sure, he’ll win some of the smaller to medium tournaments, but I think his chances of winning a major in 2012 are pretty slim – especially with the likes of Djokovic on the receiving end. He had a decent 2011 tennis season, coming off a wrist injury, winning some big matches and losing some deemed to be easy ones as well. I just don’t see the same intensity he had in 2009, it’s like he’s running a little flat. Like I said, I’m sure he’ll do fine, but he’ll probably find it hard to come up with the goods under pressure. Out in fourth round, me thinks.
I’m not quite sure where to place David Nalbandian, he’s been around for ages and he recently turned 30 (happy belated David). How is he still on the tour? I remember a couple of years ago hearing about some major hip surgery that sidelined him for the rest of that year. I have no doubt that it must be hard to come back from that kind of repair. I’m pretty sure Nalbandian will have a decent run and get his points, though I can see him being shown the exit in the second round.
The hottie from Argentina, Gisela Dulko, an amazing doubles player and a decent singles player (don’t cry for me Gisela…). Does she have a chance to win Australia? Nope. She’s a better doubles player so she should stick to just that. She doesn’t really have the firepower to hurt her opponents on the ground so may as well stick to the I-Formation. I’m just sayin….kiss her goodbye in the third round.
The rest of the bunch, Monaco and Chela are pretty good. Monaco is the better of the two by the numbers, being ranked #27 but lacks the game plan to beat even a weak top 5 field. Chela just keeps hanging around, like an old sock – no matter how many times you think you’ve thrown it out, it still makes an appearance. Monaco is already out and Chela will soon follow.
The Spaniards
Every Spanish tennis fan in the world (specifically Rafael Nadal fans) is going to hate me for the following predictions, so I’ll apologize now; sorry.
In all honesty, I don’t foresee Rafa Nadal making it past the quarterfinals. I know, he’s #2 in the world and he’s one of the best players in the world…yaddda yadda yada. But, if you really take a close look at his game, it’s way too physical, he’s always lacked the finesse that many of his opponents have. Don’t get me wrong though, I think he’s got a great game; however, in a best of 5 set tournament of the span of two weeks, that’s his weakness. Nadal is already having some injury issues in the first round, with an tender ankle and there’s 5 more rounds just to reach the finals. Best case, he wins all matches in straight sets, reality, out in the quarters.
There’s also Rafael Nadal’s “twin”, Fernando Verdasco, who is also a lefty and has a similar game (a bit more raw in nature though) is not a contender for the 2012 Aussie Open title. Especially since he’s already been ousted by Aussie, Bernard Tomic. Verdasco didn’t have a chance anyway, I think his tennis game fails after he relaxes and loses all intensity. There was a time we all thought that Fernando was going to be the next Nadal, wrong again.
There is still hope for the Spaniards though, David Ferrer. You know, the short one. David might actually have a chance this year, having played an excellent 2011 tennis season. He’s had match wins over Djokovic, Murray, Roddick, and part of the 2011 Davis Cup team. He’s a scrapper, he’ll push and push until he can’t push no more; however, Ferrer has stuck around but have never capitalized on his fitness to outlast his opponents in the majors. I say, fourth round, 5 sets, exit.
I can’t forget about that pretty one, Feliciano Lopez. I like this guy, he’s got a good game, love his backhand and calm play. Remember Lopez taking Roddick out in straight sets of the third round at Wimbledon 2011? The thing with Lopez is, he’s hot and cold, when he’s hot he’s unstoppable then plays like a fool when he’s cold. If he were to find a way to keep warm in Australia, he could do well, but there’s not really a chance for him to go all the way and win the darn thing.
There ya have it folks, another installment of 2012 Australian Open predictions. Stay tuned for the next installment where I’ll cover the Serbian and Australian tennis players.
- 2021 French Open Wilson Racquets - April 13, 2021
- Slinger Bag and Wilson Tennis Collaboration - March 2, 2021
- Wilson Tennis and Romero Britto - February 22, 2021