My old mate Rafeal Nadal at number 1 again- no one can count this man out-  he is a beast- he is playing through the opening rounds and on par to give this a red hot go- the terrible heat of the last few days has been gruelling and hopefully the weather holds off for the remainder- click on pic to resize

https://wwos.nine.com.au/2018/01/19/21/11/rafael-nadal-continues-perfect-open-st...

Alinta wrote on Jan 20^th, 2018 at 12:40pm:


I saw his debut match when he was age 17 Alinta- I could see then he was destined for great things- so much talent and fire- then to see him suffer with so much injury which robbed of a few crucial  wins- meaning he would have had a couple more slams under his belt at least by now - he would be equal to Fed at least now if not for his injuries- I must admit I took my eye off the ball for a bit as he slipped further down the rankings thinking injury has ruined his career and nOW to see him back at number 1- yes was shocked- he is all grit guts and heart this guy ! Rafeal is my all time fave too- I dont live anywhere near Melbourne so will most likely never see him play in person - if he is back next year I might try to get there-

I know it is not very patriotic of me but I was secretly rooting for Tsonga in his match with Kyrgios last night.

Tsonga seems to be a really nice, calm and gentle person.

Tough match it was too.

Black Orchid wrote on Jan 20^th, 2018 at 5:44pm:

Tsonga is a great player has been in the top 10 for years now- always good to see him in the line up each year and can be pretty intense

UnSubRocky wrote on Jan 21^st, 2018 at 1:42am:

Its part of the Australian Open, survival of the fittest, no shades and no A/C.

Working construction - I've been on sites where they allow work to stop when something like 45C starts to belt down.
Other sites keep them working and some 'drop' from heat exhaustion ...not a good thing as when the core Temp starts crackling over 38-39C, brain damage can occur. Heat-stroke.
Many Farmers and other jobs incorporate 'siesta' - where they work a split day of early morning starts and late evening finishes. A very long break in the middle.

I gave up Construction a month back. Got sick of being a sausage in a micro-wave out in the heat, where not only did I work at a snail's pace so I didn't over-heat, but I would just over-heat standing there anyway. Nothing to do with dehydration. I was well 'watered'. But my core temp just continued to rise. I began to shake, started feeling distressed...   
...threw my shovel down and said "Enough!"

Poor Policies for such 40C+ conditions on worksites that involve 'physical labour' out 'in the sun' really does hamstring the Labour industry of enough workers.

It's not about being 'tough', unless you are really an 'idiot'.
Unless you want to be like a punch-drunk ex boxer down the line from all the brain-damage you received from working through those extreme conditions.
Like an idiot who goes and gets frostbitten from being a tough guy in a blizzard (for no real justified reason).
Like an idiot who ascends too quickly up a mountain,
like an idiot who ascends too quickly up from a deep depth of water.

So why these Tennis Players, let alone the crowd - basically the Admin of the Tournament...
...kept pushing through the ridiculous 'heat' (40c+ = HOT) conditions? 
Do they play in 'rain'?
Why not? They should HTFU! 

Come on Rafa....either surrender or stop the oh so obvious and ever so sudden limp!

And he surrenders.  Well played Cilic!