Tennis Thread:- The players are all on holiday, 2018 is coming to an end, but 2019 is around the corner and there will be lots to look forward to!

[Raahh]

Although I can't think about January yet...

I'm still in denial it's nearly December- which means ds will be 16 , and I will be 47 and another year will be over.

it was yesterday,jane. and poor ds was 16 the day before- he had big plans to stay oyt with hìs mates. They obviously had other ideas. he was home for 8!

They sound very sensible

Happy birthday for yesterday Raahh. Your meal and waiter combo sounds fab

I know what you both mean about NYE. It always feels a bit melancholy to me as well. Will stay up for midnight but we are just going to be at home - our neighbours on either side usually call in but that's it. Perhaps I can get them to eat the last of the Twiglets?!

DS1 has just alerted me to this. Hope next year goes better for Andy.

I must join Instagram for the New Year and stalk follow some tennis players.

Poor Andy - he does make me laugh though. Have you seen his photo of them all (Kyrgios, Tsonga, Keith, etc) in 2019 novelty glasses?!

Btw apparently Kyrgios was in hospital over Christmas with a spider bite perhaps he's about to turn into some kind of tennis superhero (or have I been watching too much Spiderman?!).

Omg I missed Rafa from that list, what was I thinking?! Here's a pic from Twitter to make amends

I've just had a look. Keith looks very happy

Belated Happy Birthday, Raahh.

I hate NYE & am quite happy to be in bed early.

And will definitely be in bed early tonight as came home with a lovely pressie from PGDs - stinking cold!

Don't mind though as cold did not arrive until I got home & we had a wonderful Christmas.

Glad you had a good time magi. I'm hoping to avoid the cold as everyone around me seems to be getting it. I'm using alcohol as a germ killer

Happy belated birthday Raahh. Loving all the pictures especially Rafa in his 2019 glasses. Poor Andy - hope it’s a better year for him. Looking forward to watching some tennis - Federer and Serena are supposed to be playing against each other in the mixed doubles in the Hopman Cup I think?

Happy new year everyone - hope it’s a good one 🎾🎉🎾 (I’m not really a NYE fan either - we’re going round to some friends which will be nice but wouldn’t mind if I was just at home)

Maybe that’s why I’ve managed to avoid getting a cold Jane

I have had enough 'alkihol' to float a battleship & it hasn't prevented a cold and am just about to carry on numbing the effects of said lurgy with more

Happy New Year to you all & looking forward to lots of in 2019.

Happy New Year all of you
Get well soon magi

Delpo has announced he will not play at all in Australia this year (he hasn't played there for yonks - he's getting like Fed and RG!) - but he wishes us (well, on twitter - but I'm sure he means us personally ) "a big 2019". Same to you JMDP!

I was wondering earlier about Delpo, that knee injury looked nasty. it's such a shame he won't be playing, he's the one I have been really pulling for, after Rafa.

Hopefully he will recover to have a good go at defending his title in Indian Wells.

Yes IW seems a more likely target. Feeling a bit less excited about the Aus Open than I was though!

I'm just watching ISA v Switzerland in the Hopman Cup. Serena has just beaten Bencic in 3 sets (Bencic looks just like one of my DS's teachers which is a bit distracting). I've only just realised that they then come straight back out for the mixed doubles. Quite looking forward to this.

I like the Eurosport commentators - Jo Durie and Chris Bradman, but if I see that fecking peleton ad again there is going to be trouble! Argh!!!

Private

I was getting annoyed by all the 'Federer and Serena playing each other for the first time' stuff the other day- erm, what, by themselves?? .

I know what you mean, it takes a lot of the shine off the Australian open for me too. I'm hoping Rafa will be in good form, but I did hope that Juan would be back.

Will be good to see how the likes of Tsitsipas do- and if Sascha can improve his GS record. Maybe winning the tour final will boost his confidence.

It's not long off.

Is Serena wearing a raincoat? What is it with her attention seeking clothing (which is precisely what it is).

(After the US open , I'm not even going to pretend to care about her. I like Tiafoe though.).

Oh good- she has removed the raincoat now.

I missed the raincoat as we went out for a walk. Honestly, I've spent the last couple of days trying to get them to shift their butts off the couch, and when they finally do, it's when I want to watch tennis

I did like Serena 's dress though.

I see what you man about the pelaton advert Private and I’ve only seen it once

I also missed Serena’s raincoat - I agree Raahh she is attention seeking.

Andy Murray is playing (Jack) Duckworth - hoping that Andy will do well.

Is Rafa playing Brisbane? I’ve not seen him play tennis for ages.

The Australian time difference confuses me even more than the US time difference - need to get my head round it before the Australian open starts.

Trying to summon up some energy to make meat and potato pie - the menfolk are at footy and will no doubt be starving when they get back.

Fizzy Murray beat Duckworth, (played ok, from what I read) and Rafa is playing in Brisbane too (he has a bye in the first round, his draw is a bit tricky- his first round opponent is Tsonga , I think, who has just beat Kokkinakis. )So he will play over night uk time/ tomorrow morning?

Once I get my head round it, I find Aussie time ok, I miss the early matches but the evening matches at the Open start about 8.30am UK time ish- and then I can just sit around all morning until they finish. (or the dog makes me feel guilty).

We are having a proper New year's day dinner- mainly because we were at my sister's for Christmas day, so have a beef joint to cook. It prolongs the celebrations. Dh is back at work tomorrow- it means he can take the left overs with him for his lunch .

Fizzy that pie sounds lovely, can you save me some?

Andy won overnight, I didn't see any of the match itself, but I saw a clip of his interview afterwards. He said he felt ok but "he didn't know how long it would last" or something along those lines So it's hard to know the situation. But presumably he wouldn't have travelled all the way out there if he wasn't going to give it a good go at the tournaments. Not sure who he plays next.

I think Rafa is in Brisbane but hasn't played yet - I think! I can't find it on TV anywhere though.

I can't watch Brisbane, but accidentally found the Hopman cup

Raahh roast beef also sounds good, I'm feeling quite jealous as I was only going to dish up "scraps" aka random bits and pieces from the fridge/cupboards! I actually feel more like eating a proper meal bu I don't feel like cooking and I can't see DH whipping anything up either!

That's a good win for Tsonga. I feel like there are already too many tournaments going on and I'm getting confused at who's where! Stan, Djok etc are also playing this week aren't they? It's all too much for me already!