Indian Wells

elmolesto

Who is your favourite for this coming event?

I back Federer for this one.

cfitz

The draw wasn't out the last time I checked, so I'll just jump on the bandwagon and say Federer as well. Though I'd say it's reasonably open.

elmolesto

cfitz wrote: »

The draw wasn't out the last time I checked, so I'll just jump on the bandwagon and say Federer as well. Though I'd say it's reasonably open.

You can view the mens draw here.

The women draw is here

juvenal

I'm going to go out on a limb and say Murray. Federer is just coming back from a layoff, and as well as the fact that he's now an expectant father, he probably won't be "match-fit" for this tournament, although I'm hoping to be proved wrong.

Tbh from Fed's point of view I don't care about the non-GS events. He's nothing left to prove in the game apart from a French Open title and winning at least another two GS titles. Hopefully he'll tack on both of those this year, but the most interesting tournament to me will be RG in Paris.

Nonetheless hope I can catch some of Indian Wells on television.

cfitz

juvenal wrote: »

Tbh from Fed's point of view I don't care about the non-GS events. He's nothing left to prove in the game apart from a French Open title and winning at least another two GS titles. Hopefully he'll tack on both of those this year, but the most interesting tournament to me will be RG in Paris.

I agree about the Grand Slams being the important ones, for Federer especially. However, perhaps a few wins against Nadal in non-Grand Slam events might set him up nicely. Similarly, I don't think regular losses to the top players in the smaller tournaments would be ideal preparation for a Grand Slam.

elmolesto

Roger Federer has returned to action for the first time since the Australian Open, easing into the third round of the Indian Wells Masters Series with a straight-set win 7-6 (7/4), 6-4 over Marc Gicquel.
Andy Murray beat Albert Montanes 7-5 6-3 to qualify for the third round.

Nadal and Djokovic will play later on today.

elmolesto

Nadal and defending champion Djokovic began their Indian Wells campaigns with straight-sets victories on Sunday.

Djokovic cruised into round three with a 7-5 6-4 victory over Martin Vassallo Arguello.

And Nadal then thrashed Michael Berrer 6-2 6-1.

elmolesto

Murray reached the fourth round of Indian Wells with a 6-3 6-2 win over Mathieu.

Federer defeated Karlovic 7-6 (7-4) 6-3.

Gonzalez ousted Blake 7-5 6-1 and Verdasco had an impressive 6-3 6-2 victory over Gasquet.

elmolesto

STADIUM 1
From 19h00
Vera Zvonareva (RUS/n°4) - Li Na (CHN)
Novak Djokovic (SER/n°3) - Tommy Haas (GER)
Dinara Safina (RUS/n°1) - Jill Craybas (USA)
Rafael Nadal (SPA/n°1) - Dmitry Tursunov (RUS/n°26) : 1-0
Fom 3h30
Nicolas Kiefer (GER/n°31) - Andy Roddick (USA/n°7) : 0-4
Ana Ivanovic (SER/n°5) - Flavia Pennetta (ITA/n°12) : 1-0

STADIUM 2
From 19h00
Caroline Wozniacki (DEN/n°9) - Urszula Radwanska (POL/WC)
Jürgen Melzer (AUT/n°30) - Juan Martin Del Potro (ARG/n°6)
John Isner (USA/WC) - Marat Safin (RUS/n°24)
Sam Querrey (USA) - Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI/n°16)
David Ferrer (SPA/n°12) - Jérémy Chardy (FRA)

STADIUM 3
From 19h00
Shahar Peer (ISR) - Victoria Azarenka (BLR/n°8)
Viktor Troicki (SER) - David Nalbandian (ARG/n°14)
Agnieszka Radwanska (POL/n°7) - Agnes Szavay (HUN/n°22)
Sybille Bammer (AUT/n°23) - Daniela Hantuchova (SLO/n°30)

From 22h00
Nuria Llagostera Vives (SPA) - Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS)

elmolesto

Nadal and defending champion Novak Djokovic remain on course for a semi-final clash after third-round wins in Indian Wells.

Djokovic moved into the last 16 with a 6-2 7-6 (7-1) win over Tommy Haas and Nadal then swept past Dmitry Tursunov 6-3 6-3.

Nadal will now attempt to beat David Nalbandian - a 6-4 6-2 winner against Viktor Troicki - for the first time in their third meeting.

Juan Martin del Potro beat Jurgen Melzer 6-2 2-6 7-6 (7-2) and goes on to face John Isner, who defeated Marat Safin 6-4 6-4.

Roddick defeated Nicolas Kiefer 6-4 7-6 (7-4), and the American will take on David Ferrer after he beat Jeremy Chardy 3-6 6-4 6-4.

elmolesto

Some interesting matches today

STADIUM 1
From 19h
WTA - V. Zvonareva (RUS/n°4) - C. Wozniacki (DAN/n°9)
Pas avant 21h00
ATP - F. Gonzalez (CHI/n°17) - R. Federer (SUI/n°2)
ATP - N. Djokovic (SRB/n°3) - S. Wawrinka (SUI/n°16)
ATP - D. Ferrer (SPA/n°12) - A. Roddick (USA/n°7)
From 3h30
WTA - D. Safina (RUS/n°1) - V. Azarenka (BLR/n°8)
From 5h00
ATP - R. Nadal (SPA/n°1)- D. Nalbandian (ARG/n°14)

STADIUM 2
From 19h
ATP - P. Kohlschreiber (ALL) - F. Verdasco (SPA/n°10)
ATP - T. Robredo (SPA/n°15) - A. Murray (GBR/n°4)
ATP - I. Ljubicic (CRO) - I. Andreev (RUS/n°22)
ATP - J. Isner (USA) - J. Del Potro (ARG/n°6)

juvenal

Watched most of Federer and Gonzalez this afternoon. Fed won the first set 6-3 with a single break, and looked to be in control, but then went off the boil in the second. Granted, Gonzalez played much better in the second set, and deservedly took it 7-5.

Federer seemed to turn it on again in the third, and as his dominance grew, so did Gonzalez's need to go for unlikely winners, most of which didn't come off. Federer ran out 6-2 in the end to advance to the quarters.

elmolesto

It seems everyone had a tough one last night.

Djokovic was made to battle hard by Stanislas Wawrinka before sealing a 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (8-6) victory.

He will now face home favourite Andy Roddick, who saw off 12th seed David Ferrer 7-6 (7-5) 3-6 6-3.

Juan Martin del Potro overcame American John Isner 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-3)

Nadal is currently 1 set down against Nalbandian.

cfitz

Watched Roddick v. Djokovic last night. Djokovic doesn't seem to be quite right, but credit to Roddick, he took his chances and made it look easy. He must be hoping for big things this year.

Cathal93

Wats wit the Serbs falling apart as they reach the top ranking places.
Ivanovic's latter half of 08 - disaster!
Djokovic seems to be falling apart in 09
Jankovic atm is 17 in the wta race!

Murray v Federer......why they keep ending up on each others half of the draw! I wanna see em in a final! Am torn here. Would love to see Federer win another title, and get back to no.1, but would love for murray to get up to no.3

My pick.....Fed

Womens final....come on Ivanovic!!!:D:D

juvenal

After knocking out the #2 seed Federer, Murray advanced to the final to face Nadal who beat American Andy Roddick in straight sets in the other semi-final.

Unfortunately for the Scot, #1 Nadal made short work of the final, winning 6-1, 6-2 in California. Nadal is just unstoppable at the moment it seems.

cfitz

juvenal wrote: »

Unfortunately for the Scot, #1 Nadal made short work of the final, winning 6-1, 6-2 in California. Nadal is just unstoppable at the moment it seems.

Not a very entertaining match at all. The Sky Sports analysts tried to convince us that Murray was in contention early in the first set, but I think the signs of a hammering were there from very early on. Nadal looked unstoppable as Juvenal said, and Murray could do nothing about it. The conditions were probably tough. Was good to see Murray change his game in the second set even if it didn't work out for him, and it also made for a few exciting rallies.

The womens final was a disaster with the windy conditions - a joke to watch. Ivanovic is in much better form these days though so maybe come French Open time there'll be another contender.