Who will win the Aus. Open Men's Final?

[spooky3]

Roger Federer always plays beautifully in finals. But Fernando Gonzalez has been hitting tons of winners with few unforced errors, and beating good opponents by lopsided margins. Does he have a chance against the greatest player of all time?

[xchrom]

1. i think fed will win in more than three sets.

he's not a player i'm interested in -- but dear lord god that boy can play tennis.

he has amazing moves.

you just wish other players would watch to see the control he has over his body.

[spooky3]

2. yes, but I think a lot of it is genetic--natural gifts

that no amount of work would help someone without them to obtain.

Still, some of the players have a lot of talent that they could do more to develop to get closer to him, and some don't use their brains as well as they could.

[xchrom]

3. indeed genetics is a factor.

but take rodick for example -- here is a guy who has The Game -- i.e. strategy, skills -- but who simply could use a better approach to controling his body.

at the net or faster more controlled footwork or just working on that eye hand coordination to get some balls wher they are supposed to go.

accuracy counts for a lot in a close game.

p.s. andy is doing better at the net -- and that has been really refreshing.

[spooky3]

4. he has several glaring weaknesses that I think Connors has

helped him with (and I never liked Connors so I hate to admit that).

--return of serve is getting much better; he used to just put it in play but now occasionally returns aggressively
--backhand--similar problem to return of serve
--volleying--I agree he is doing better at the net.

However, I do not think he will ever have the athletic grace and balance, or quick reflexes of Roger, which would help with returns and net play.

Roger has a little trouble with players who hit with pace and spin, and who are equally as quick, like Nadal. If Andy could develop more variety of spins, that might help him.

The players that I think are closer in amount of raw talent (although their talents aren't the same as RF's or each other's) are Nadal, Nalbandian, Safin, Berdych.

[xchrom]

5. i was never a connors fan either.

and i think that he really has helped him at the net -- and it also underscores the very thing we're talking about in a weird way.

he is doing better on return of serve -- and there is potential there to get a lot better. we'll see.

safin could be as great a tennis player as ever was -- if he could focus long term on his game.

nadal is brilliant -- i love to watch him and it will be interesting to see what happens as he matures.
he has a beatiful body really made for tennis.

nalbandian and berdych -- i think they are ok -- i don't love their game so i tend not to watch so much.

it's exciting to see mardy fish back in the game -- i'm anxious to see what happens to him.
he did really well at this open.

[spooky3]

6. shameless kick as we are only about 5 hours away...

[bigwillq]

7. Fed in 4 (nt)