NEW TENNIS THREAD! Happy 2016! Gearing up for the Aussie Open.

[Raahh]

Here we are again- last year has flown. Soon be Wimbledon.

Hope everyone is well- very wet here (NW).

So, Qatar has started, Rafa has won his first round in Doha after a shaky start. So that's already better than last year!
Hopman cup underway.

Here's to an exciting 2016, Olympic year, can anyone stop Djok, who is starting to look unbeatable?

I'm really hoping Rafa can have a better year, and of course there is a wee Murray on the way . (Might not be a fan of Andy, but babies are always good news).

fell asleep and didn't see the final score. Think Rafa's serve deserted him in the second set.

Oh well.

Come on, Raonic!

Milos was clearly no match for Djok.
Ahh, well. Miami next...

Djok again? It's getting boring now, him winning almost everything.

At least Djokovic has livened things up with his comments on equal pay for women players. Or do I mean better pay for men?

And I was happy for Vika.

(Although I wish she would stop yipping when she plays.)

Unequal pay is one step up from shouldn't be playing at all I suppose.

and there goes serena bitching off again.

personally IMO the men should get more pay than women purely because the women don't play as many sets as the men in grand slams.

in the ATP and WTA tourneys, absolutely euqal pay, men play best of three, but in grand slams its not right that men slug it out mostly over 5 sets and most womens matched are over in a hour.

(dons hard hard....).

surprised at Djoko saying what he said though.

What interested me most about ND's opinions wasn't really his views on the equal pay issue, but his enlighented views on hormones.

He sounded like an idiot, there.

I thought there was a famous letter in which women players offered to play 5-setters at slams, but tournament directors and TV planners were dead against it, anyway. Must google that....

Why the hell wont the LTA accept Bedene as a member of DC team?

they need all the help they can get, its carried by the Murrays all the time (even tho Wardy played that awesome match against Isner).

Did they do the same when Greg changed his nationality?

BTW. was watching an old Doctor Who, 2nd doctor Patrick Troughton. his companion was Victoria. Could she have been Kim Sears mum? what a resemblance! . or maybe Kim went in the tardis one day! .

also, see the Djoko talk has taken the heat off Shriekypova.

Becker I saw that. And I agree the Davis Cup team should be more diverse. But they obviously want the Murrays to end up playing all the matches. We wouldn't have won otherwise.

On a cheerier note- though not for Federer - Potato was scheduled to play him in the second round and now gets a walkover to the 3rd.

I wonder if the French minister who claimed Rafa being off injured for a length of time was due to drugs, will say the same of Roger? No, of course not.

Becker- It's almost like it was planned re-taking the heat off the drugs allegations isn't it?. Djok was asked to comment on what Moore had said. Which was almost leading him to put his foot in it. I think he put his point across clumsily, and I don't think he meant it to be sexist.

And I am not a Djok fan. ordinarily, I would be hoping he would pull out, embarrassed. And let Rafa have a chance.

Well, poo! I'd arranged my day to watch the Fed-Del Po match. It's not often I watch tennis where I really like both players.

I'll look forward to watching Jo Konta instead, then.

But poo, all the same. I miss Fed.

I don''t remember there being a fuss when Rusedski took British citizenship. I know he wasn't well liked amongst a lot of players- but we were desperate for anyone to play for us at the time.

We've got a GS winner now, and the powers that be aren't so keen to give Bedene a chance.

No- I think it could have been a good match, even though I am pleased for Potato.

now I'm

Del Potro has lost to Zeballos.

I sure he was meant to play Fed!

It seems Zeballos replaced Roger in the draw-I had hoped, being a second round match Del Potro would just go through.

That was agonizing to watch, to be honest. At one point, Juan delP let out what can only be described as a howl of anguish after a shot; whether it was physical pain, or frustration, I don't know. His backhand was really not available to him.

The commentators actually said at one point: "This could well be the last match he ever plays." I'm hoping they were completely wrong, as is, it has to be said, so often the case with commentary...

I wondered why Juan did not just get a walkover, too -- Berdych did. Maybe it is because Berdych's opponent had already played a match, and Roger had pulled out before he had actually played? I must look that up.

Can't even watch Jo Konta, as I thought I'd be able to: apparently WTA matches won't be on now until Vika, at the end of the night.

What a sobering day. I actually spent time cleaning.the.house ... I'd hoped, having turned in a big project at 13:54, to enjoy an afternoon and evening of lovely tennis.

Well, poo. One last time.

Any chance Kyle Edmund can redeem the evening for me ...?!

OK. No.

Struggling to find a match that sounds interesting today.

Wait -- Baghdatis v Kyrios. That could work.

Nadal has retired against Dzumer. Rubbish.

And Stan appears to have lost too

C'mon Andy?

(or do I have the wrong crowd, here?)

The reason they won't let Bedene play is the new Davis Cup rules. If a player has already represented one country he can't then represent another - a rule change that came into force in January 2015. Bedene had already played 3 times for his native Slovenia in dead rubbers, so that scuppered his chance. Seems a really unfair rule when he has done the hard yards to become British.

Rudseksi had never played Davis Cup for Canada and in any case the rules were different then.

Just been catching up on lost threads.

Chuffed for Jamie at becoming the number one doubles player-and hard to do, given how many partners he has had. Much easier for the Bryans, who have known each other since birth.

Got pissed off reading an article by Annabelle Croft- Murray losing is because of the baby, apparently. Lack of sleep and all that. He's not exactly the one doing night feeds.

Here's a thought, maybe Dimitrov just managed to beat him? Why do they have to make excuses?

And massive whoop for Jo Konta- she is so close to cracking the top 20. I think she has a good chance against Azarenka.

Interestingly, on the back of the Bedene debate- the rules on the women's tour must be different, as Konta previously played for Australia, yet was named in the GB Hopman cup team.

Also (clearly I've been worrying abut this)- will Bedene be able to play for GB at the Olympics?