Favorite for the Australian Open 2025 (men's singles)?

[McGradey]

The semi-final of the 2024 edition between the two of them was one of the most exciting matches of all of 2024.

Which is the exception not the rule in that matchup. Regardless, they're both boring to watch compared to Sinner and Alcaraz.

 

[nighthawkrr]

Weak era

Normal era. Big 4 was unusually strong.

 

[Drob]

Novak.

Because he hasn't played tennis since mid-October and has enough time to rest and prepare for the new season (he didn't have that luxury at the end of last year, and after only 25 days of rest and preparation he went to Australia). It has already been heard from certain circles that he is preparing for the new season as much as possible and that motivation is at a high level. He will chase a new Slam title like he chased gold this year and I simply don't see who can beat such a focused, ready and motivated Novak.

Could be.

 

[Drob]

This would be a good time for Big Z to finally snag a Major.

Or that, or the strangest career since Marcelo Rios or Tony Roche

 

[Drob]

Sinner is the favourite.
I've got semi finals tickets and have fingers crossed I will be watching Alcaraz vs. Sinner. Previously when I've had finals tix for the AO, the matches have been disappointing: Berdych vs. Wawrinka and Raonic vs. Murray. It would be sickening if I got Zverev vs. Medvedev this time around lol.

Good for you.

 

[JoelSandwich]

Here are the odds of winning 2025 AO, IMHO:

Sinner 35%
Djokovic 25%
Med 12%
Alcaraz 10%
Zverev 8%
Fritz 8%
Rest of field 2%

Like Fed in 2017, Djoker will come back strong a year after having his meniscus repaired. The problem is that he will have stronger competition than Fed did in 2017. But he still might prevail anyway. Never write off Nole. That said, I still have Sinner as the favorite. Sinner recently hit a new level, which is tough to ignore.

I’m pulling for Alcaraz to win it all. I’ve love to see him get the record for winning the career slam at the youngest age.

The tour is much worse now than 2017 so this makes zero sense.

 

[Drob]

Hilarious seeing The Oracle speak about how Djokovic has no chance to win slams, when failed prediction after failed prediction about how Nadal could win slams in 2024, and even have a shot at RG 2025 didn't take into account how badly he was getting hammered everywhere. Some desperate wishful thinking here.

Nole has a Slam yet. Think
Wimbledon, though

 

[Drob]

Djokovic isnt a contender lets be brutally honest. He was a total non factor at the slams this season really, ok he made AO SF and W final but he got humiliated in both matches and although he won the Olympics that was best of 3 sets and he was dead on his feet after 2 sets, so however you look at it at slam level he just is finished. Father time always wins.
I hope Novak is realistic. I really do like Novak, and i want him to enjoy his remaining time on tour as once its over its over. If though he thinks he can win slams still, the end of his career is going to be tragic for him and mentally scarring. He needs to be like Connors in 1992 at USO, and just accept where he is at now, i.e huge underdog. I remember Connors getting utterly humiliated at USO by Courier, but Connors never positioned himself as a contender he was just loving the ride. Thats what Djokovic has to do now at this stage of his career.

perhaps. five sets is a lot different. is one reason why i think All-England is his best shot

 

[Drob]

Never write off Nole.

That is for sure. But 37 and 8 months is really pushing it. Tilden, Rosewall, Segura only comparables.

i am for him

Alcaraz keeps finding ways to surprise us

Fair enough, for sure. No surprise if he wins AO. No surprise if he does not.

 

[nolefam_2024]

That is for sure. But 37 and 8 months is really pushing it. Tilden, Rosewall, Segura only comparables.

i am for him




Fair enough, for sure. No surprise if he wins AO. No surprise if he does not.

Actually those are pretty old era players. We can't use them.

See today's players. No one has better forehand and backhand potency even in 2024 season, Djokovic's worst.

Djokovic is still going strong. His only problem is now there are two, not one, two guys who are as good as him. So while it's bad for him, he is bad for them as well. They have youth so no excuses but if he comes fit and prepared, they are on equal footing.

 

[Incognito]

The best thing that could happen to djoke is if Carlos and Sinner end up in the opposite side of the draw, and he ends up in Zverev’s.

 

[Subway Tennis]

That is for sure. But 37 and 8 months is really pushing it. Tilden, Rosewall, Segura only comparables.

i am for him




Fair enough, for sure. No surprise if he wins AO. No surprise if he does not.

The impression I get is that AO will be unhappy hunting for Carlitos relative to his talent and success at the other majors, but he is such a great player he will still make multiple opportunities for himself and of course win it.

 

[socallefty]

If Craig Tiley called Djokovic and asked him who he wanted to draw in the QF and semifinal and who he wanted in the other half, who are the players he would ask for?

 

[nolefam_2024]

If Craig Tiley called Djokovic and asked him who he wanted to draw in the QF and semifinal and who he wanted in the other half, who are the players he would he ask for?

ADM in r16
Fritz in qf
Zverev in sf

 

[messiahrobins]

So a get-out-of-jail-free card for Alracaz.

"He lost; therefore he wasn't fit." Yeah, I know it's a nonsequitur.

Well he could get injured and miss the event!! Hence why i say if fit!! How the f*Ck do i know if he will be fit, i am not from the future!

 

[Aabye5]

My top 3 picks:

Sinner
Alcaraz
Tsitsipas

 

[Airspun]

This would be a good time for Big Z to finally snag a Major.

1 match to go! ?

 

[Aabye5]

Did anyone have Zed as "the favorite"? Not "one of the favorites".

 

[MrFlip]

You had Tsitsipas so you have to ban yourself

 

[Sudacafan]

Federer said his knees are feeling excellent now..

Could that be because he isn’t feeling them at all now?

 

[DSH]

Sinner consolidates

 

[DSH]

The current number of 4 votes is low. The trick is that even a 37-year-old Novak is better than a 23-year-old Sinner when he is motivated and ready to fight. It is also bad that Alcaraz has 0 votes, because he is also the favorite against Sinner on AO. It seems that the victory over Fritz, De Minaur, Medvedev, Ruud, Baez, Griekspoor has clouded people's minds too much and they cannot rationally see the situation around AO, which is obvious, Alcaraz and Novak have more chances to beat Sinner at AO than he does them.

Delirious Djokovic fans, they never learn their lesson.

 

[DSH]

Sinner is the overwhelming favourite for me. He is so much better than anyone else in the particular Melbourne conditions and surface that it would take something momentous for him to be troubled.

Sinner has a great advantage each year in that the season starts with a major in conditions that are theoretically his strongest (even more so than US Open possibly) and Alcaraz’s weakest. They way Sinner coped with the pressure and expectation last year was masterful. Haven’t seen someone cruise through the early rounds of AO that effortlessly since Federer tore the AO to shreds in the 2000 decade.

The thing that makes this upcoming AO so intriguing is that time and time again Alcaraz keeps finding ways to surprise us. Whenever we think we’ve got him pigeonholed, he breaks out of whatever expectation we have set for him. One year he will eventually do this at AO despite the conditions not suiting his game at all.

YesSir!

 

[DSH]

That is for sure. But 37 and 8 months is really pushing it. Tilden, Rosewall, Segura only comparables.

i am for him




Fair enough, for sure. No surprise if he wins AO. No surprise if he does not.

What extraordinary thing did Segura achieve at that age?

 

[Mustard]

What extraordinary thing did Segura achieve at that age?

Segura was consistently holding his own on the Professional Tour when players like Gonzales, Hoad, Rosewall and Trabert were there in the late 1950s and early 1960s, but his best days were in the early 1950s, when Segura was around age 30.

 

[DSH]

Segura was consistently holding his own on the Professional Tour when players like Gonzales, Hoad, Rosewall and Trabert were there in the late 1950s and early 1960s, but his best days were in the early 1950s, when Segura was around age 30.

Drob implies that Segura did great things in his late 30s, as did Tilden and Rosewall.
That's why I have doubts.

 

[Subway Tennis]

For players with 6+ majors, which 10 players had the longest amount of time between their first and last major?

 

[Vincent-C]

Segura was consistently holding his own on the Professional Tour when players like Gonzales, Hoad, Rosewall and Trabert were there in the late 1950s and early 1960s, but his best days were in the early 1950s, when Segura was around age 30.

One can hold Schwartzman (for example) in great esteem, until thinking of Segura..

stud

 

[Drob]

What extraordinary thing did Segura achieve at that age?
n

Drob implies that Segura did great things in his late 30s, as did Tilden and Rosewall.
That's why I have doubts.

Sorry i am such a disappointment to you. But it does not take the vast research me and many others do to get a good basic knowledge of tennis history. Less than a half-dozen books you need. As to achievements in the Pro game, The Professional Tennis Archive by Chris Jordan is available on Amazon and has the most reliable and thorough records. There is no reason not to know.

Right at his 37th birthday, Segura won the 1958 Masters. This would be like going undefeated at the ATP Finals, which counts extraordinary to me because he went 6-0, defeating Gonzalez, Rosewall, Hoad, Sedgman, and Trabert, along w Hartwig (a good player). The Master RR would be like the ATP Finals in prestige. Earlier, a few months shy of 36, he won the 1957 Sydney T.O.C., a tournament so close to a Major that there are posters here (and certain eminent former posters) who count all six of the T.O.C.s as Majors. Oh, and Segura at 37 played 27-year old Trabert to an effective draw in their 69-match tour. Later that season, playing against peak Hoad, the emerging Rosewall, Trabert and occasionally Gonzalez in the 1958 European Tour, Pancho went 22-27 - "holding his own." And beyond. The following year he came within a couple of points of winning Wembley. The next, now 39, he beat Hoad and Sedge (and Nielsen, the two-time Wimbledon finalist) September 1960 at Wembley, then lost in four sets to Rosewall. In the summer of 1961, he won three straight pro tournaments. Between age 36 and 41, Segura made the finals at five traditional Pro Majors (at least once at each). In the category of greatest players after 35:

Rosewall
Tilden
Each of the Big Three
Gonzalez
Connors
Segura
Kozeluh
Drobny


Maybe?

 

[DSH]

Sorry i am such a disappointment to you. But it does not take the vast research me and many others do to get a good basic knowledge of tennis history. Less than a half-dozen books you need. As to achievements in the Pro game, The Professional Tennis Archive by Chris Jordan is available on Amazon and has the most reliable and thorough records. There is no reason not to know.

Right at his 37th birthday, Segura won the 1958 Masters. This would be like going undefeated at the ATP Finals, which counts extraordinary to me because he went 6-0, defeating Gonzalez, Rosewall, Hoad, Sedgman, and Trabert, along w Hartwig (a good player). The Master RR would be like the ATP Finals in prestige. Earlier, a few months shy of 36, he won the 1957 Sydney T.O.C., a tournament so close to a Major that there are posters here (and certain eminent former posters) who count all six of the T.O.C.s as Majors. Oh, and Segura at 37 played 27-year old Trabert to an effective draw in their 69-match tour. Later that season, playing against peak Hoad, the emerging Rosewall, Trabert and occasionally Gonzalez in the 1958 European Tour, Pancho went 22-27 - "holding his own." And beyond. The following year he came within a couple of points of winning Wembley. The next, now 39, he beat Hoad and Sedge (and Nielsen, the two-time Wimbledon finalist) September 1960 at Wembley, then lost in four sets to Rosewall. In the summer of 1961, he won three straight pro tournaments. Between age 36 and 41, Segura made the finals at five traditional Pro Majors (at least once at each). In the category of greatest players after 35:

Rosewall
Tilden
Each of the Big Three
Gonzalez
Connors
Segura
Kozeluh
Drobny


Maybe?