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Tie Break Tens tennis live scores, blog

10th January, 2018
Start time: 7:30pm (AEDT)
Venue: Margaret Court Arena, Melbourne
TV: Live, Fox Sports More
Online: Live, Foxtel now or Foxtel app

Players
Tomas Berdych (Czech Republic)
Novak Djokovic (Serbia)
Lleyton Hewitt (Australia)
Nick Kyrgios (Australia)
Rafael Nadal (Spain)
Lucas Pouille (France)
Dominic Thiem (Austria)
Stan Wawrinka (Switzerland)
Lleyton Hewitt must repair a fractured relationship between Kyrgios and Tomic. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
Expert
10th January, 2018
181
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Tie Break Tens will make their first stop in Melbourne, with an all-star field including Nick Kyrgios, Rafael Nadal and the legendary Lleyton Hewitt set to battle it out in the exciting format. Join The Roar for live scores and coverage from 7:30pm (AEDT).

Tie Break Tens are tennis’ second attempt to answer sports like T20 cricket and Rugby sevens.

Instead of sets and games, it’s a case of first to ten wins. However, as with any breaker in tennis, there must be a two-point advantage before a winner can be declared.

This is the third edition of the tournament, although the first in Australia. It has previously been played in London, Vienna and Madrid with Kyle Edmund, Dominic Theim and Grigor Dimitrov the previous winners, while Simona Halep won the first women’s tournament last year.

None of those players are in the tournament, however, this year’s will follow the same straight knockout as seen in Madrid during 2017.

Eight players will take to the court, with quarter-finals, semi-finals and a final to be played over roughly a two and a half hour window.

Lleyton Hewitt has once again been willed out of retirement to feature in the tournament, with the Aussie also playing doubles at the Brisbane International (with Jordan Thomspon) and Australian Open (with Sam Groth) this summer.

Hewitt was in good form during his loss in Brisbane, but it’s doubtful he will be able to compete with the best on the ATP tour.

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The other Aussie in the field will be Nick Kyrgios. His big serving suits tie-break tennis, and a relaxed tournament like this is right up his alley.

Rafael Nadal will also start his season at the tournament after pulling out of both the Brisbane International and Fast 4 event in Sydney earlier this week as he tries to prove his fitness.

Both Novak Djokovic and Stan Wawrinka are top players, but battled injury at the end of 2017. Their rankings have both dropped, but they will bring plenty of star power to Margaret Court Arena and it’ll be interesting to see exactly where their fitness is at.

Tomas Berdych, alongside Hewitt is the most experienced player in the field, with the Czech Republican making many runs deep in grand slams, while Dominic Thiem is one of the best up and coming players in the world of tennis. The field is rounded out by Frenchman Lucas Pouille, who has come on in leaps and bounds over the last 12 months.

And for those thinking the players might take this like an exhibition? $250,000 is on the line in a winner takes all situation – so try telling them it means nothing.

Full draw

Section Quarter-final Semi-final Final
1 Novak Djokovic – 6 Lleyton Hewitt – 11 Rafael Nadal – 5
Lleyton Hewitt – 10
2 Lucas Pouille – 1 Rafael Nadal – 13
Rafael Nadal – 10
3 Tomas Berdych – 10 Tomas Berdych – 11 Tomas Berdych – 10
Nick Kyrgios – 8
4 Milos Raonic – 10 Milos Raonic – 9
Dominic Thiem – 7
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Prediction
It’s reasonably difficult to assess the form of Djokovic and Nadal, but the Spaniard should move to the final from the top half. With Kyrgios in good form, he will advance from the bottom half of the tournament and then, in a format that suits him, come away with the win.

Kyrgios to beat Nadal in the final.

Be sure to join The Roar for live coverage of the Tie Break Tens tournament in Melbourne from 7:30pm (AEDT) and don’t forget to add a comment in the section below.

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