Buckle up possums, it’s the Australian Open!

[IceandIndigo]

New thread.

yes poor Boris - hope that Bear and Holly don't get stuck on the island - that would be bad!

I saw the Stan and Andy comments kazza - it's nice that they have such respect for each other

I'm just watching Carlos and Robotic VDZ - Sleeveless Carlos looks out of place on the gloomy grey court - he looks as if he should be out in the sun

He's also wearing the nasal strip of doom so hope he's OK - Botic is a bit of a strange one but can pull off some surprising results every now and again (poor Rafa)

Botic was also the one who beat Carlos in the second round of the US Open, so that might be playing on his mind.

I've just switched on, the nasal strip does look odd. And I really don't like the gloomy court. (Though his shoes are highlighter yellow)

I also keep forgetting how annoyingly quiet the Sky coverage is, and that I have to keep adjusting the volume. Which means when I switch channels it's really loud and I scare the dog.

Yes sky coverage is just rubbish really Raahh

Carlos looks as if he should be on a beach somewhere but Botic is fitting in quite well with his grey kit

Looks as if Carlos is coming back in this set but I think he's got a bit of a cold - the arena looks chilly - maybe he needs some sleeves

It's not really the outfit for Rotterdam in February, is it Fizzy ?

I never like the dark courts. Always make me think of computer graphics., the way the players show up against them. I 'm sure there's an aesthetic reason for them, but no, don't like them .

I disappeared for a bit, but I feel like Carlos let the second set go almost, looking at how much more comfortable he is in the 3rd.

Just read that Simona Halep announced her retirement tonight, after another 1st round defeat.

That's a shame. She never recovered from her ban.

Damn ad breaks. I want to hear what Holger was saying to the umpire about the shot clock.

Yay! Well done Holger!

It's a huge shame about Simona, I was reading about that in the night. The last 5 years have been a real nightmare for her with one thing and another.

Casper's match was cancelled, not sure what happened to Giron- but Casper straight through to the next round.

Well done Holger- couldn't stay awake at that point!

Yes it’s very sad for Simona. She had a great career. I guess at this stage, if she stops training she loses condition very easily, and she was initially banned for a really long time.

Looks like Casper did play, but against James Duckworth. Casper won in 3 sets.

That's confused me Ice- all I could see was the cancelled Garin result! (to be fair, it was pretty early on when I looked --my excuse-).

Daniil has dropped a set to Mattia Bellucci,
who has come dressed as a pirate.

Sad to see Matteo lost earlier, in a third set tiebreak.

Belluci is another Italian who is easy on the eye and pretty much the same age as my son.

I was very sad to see Matteo lose, it was close in the end.

Sooo many Italians!
Some more easier on the eye than others
All of them young enough to be my son

Noo, Daniil lost to the pirate with the spectacular cheekbones.

Oh no - I managed to miss all of the Italian players! I did see that Matteo had lost in the third set tiebreak

They are definitely easy on the eye - I usually quite like watching the Italian football team (for purely football reasons of course!)

Hopefully I'll get to see some tennis today

A lot of the players coming through are now younger than my youngest DS kazza - I am old!

DS is 21 but I was termed a "geriatric mum"
Will be 59 next month so the depressing fact is that I'm old enough to be a grandmother to some of the newbies fizzy
Ffs!!

Not a good start for Holger- lost the first set but I think he might be injured(I've just turned on , so not sure).

ADF not doing too well over in Dallas, 1-6 loss in the first set to Arnaldi (they are everywhere, the Italians )

I only saw a little bit of Holger’s match, but he looked ill. It’s a shame.

Switched over to Dallas and the contrast with Rotterdam is hilarious. The stadium looks budget and the crowd is about 7 times as loud.

What’s with all the nose strips? First Carlos now Casper as well?!