ATP MASTERS 1000 Indian Wells: Let The Party Commence!

First topic message reminder :

At last!

Tennis is back in town. And sleepless nights, and bags under the eyes in the mornings.

For a fortnight or so, we'll forget about fast courts and GOATs and watch some good tennis for a change.

Indian Wells first 1000 Masters event of the year, first "big" tournament after AO.

All players are there, fit and raring to go, the "come-backers": Davydenko, Querrey, Simon, the "newcomers": Tomic (I think he's already out), Raonic, Dolgopolov, and last , but not the least the "big" 4.

I'm sure you'll forgive me for focusing on the top 4 players, because at the moment, they all seem be pretty keen to win this tournament (which is not always the case when it comes to non-slam tournaments).

Nole, who loves slow hard-courts of IW, will want to continue where he stopped in Melbourne, and should he bump into Murray in the semis, show him who's the boss.

Nadal, match-free for nearly 6 weeks, must've worked on his game or serve in the meantime, 2012 is his make or break season in many ways, and it's usually this time of the year he gets going as a warm-up for clay season.

Federer, on a good winning streak since last autumn (lost only two matches, one to Nadal one to Djokovic), will want to get a good result and possibly close the points gap between him and Nadal, or at least keep Murray at bay.

Murray, with, I believe Lendl again by his side, must be hoping that this 2012 is his slam-break-through year: he has been working very hard for several years and generally improving his game and shots. His win over Novak in Dubai must have boosted his confidence immensely, still, he failed to capitalise on it and win Dubai, failing to Federer.
He has few points to defend in IW and Miami, and a great opportunity to move up the rankings.

The players have had a party last night, and all seem to be happy to be there and play.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jv8T10SOE

Indian Wells has apparently continued to improve their facilities and make life nicer both for players and fans :

( http://blogs.tennis.com/thewrap/2012/03/nice-work-if-i-can-get-it.html )

In today's order of play, we have some interesting matches, and Novak and Murray out on central court.

Order of play for Friday, 16th of March:

http://www.atpworldtour.com/posting/2012/404/op.pdf



So, let's enjoy the return of tennis and may the Best win

Finally, last but not the least:

GO NOLEEEEE

laverfan wrote:

spuranik wrote:

LuvSports! wrote:

Tenez wrote:

LuvSports! wrote:WHAT A POINT! amazing defence by feds and he takes the 2nd 6-3

Thanks to bloody slow courts too.

It was great defence from feds and i remember when he won that great point against DP in Dubai you said fantastic defence from feds ( or something of that persuasion). Is there that much difference between the 2 courts to merit what is great defence in one and not the other? Feds had to run further in the point vs bellucci but dealt well with the barage of heavy shots from DP, both seen as strong defence but is the faster one seen as better defence? sorry just need that clarified?

Maybe on a "bloody slow court" ball just sits up and slows down drastically near baseline makes it a little more easier to retrieve than on a faster court? Like it takes incredible defense to run down everything on "fast" grass than "slow" clay?

But one point I agree with... On purely basis of defense, both points are incredible...

The 29-shot Federer-Del Potro rally in Dubai was excellent compared to the Bellucci-Federer point.

http://www.thenational.ae/thenationalconversation/sport-comment/federer-reminds-dubai-of-his-brilliance

PS: This is another one - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZH3_MfUbyc

do u not think the feds IW's point on defence was a goody?

LuvSports! wrote:

Tenez wrote:

LuvSports! wrote:WHAT A POINT! amazing defence by feds and he takes the 2nd 6-3

Thanks to bloody slow courts too.

It was great defence from feds and i remember when he won that great point against DP in Dubai you said fantastic defence from feds ( or something of that persuasion). Is there that much difference between the 2 courts to merit what is great defence in one and not the other? Feds had to run further in the point vs bellucci but dealt well with the barage of heavy shots from DP, both seen as strong defence but is the faster one seen as better defence? sorry just need that clarified?

Fed played really great in that point v Bellu but certainly he should not have put his racquet on it had the balls be moving faster. And yes, in DUbai Fed played a fantastic point too v Delpo but if it's the one you are ferring to (giving him a MP I believe) it was not real defence as Fed hit a few flatter SHBH to refuse being dictated.He was trying to trade with Delpo. Fast courts allows his BH to be a force which is certainly not teh case on those slow bouncy courts.

Spur is also correct about the defending being certainly easier to do here than in Dubai.

Right! I am easy between Fed and Delpo this evening. I don't really want to see Federer receiving 100 banana shots on his BH on those dead slow courts from Nadal the following day. But I fancy Delpo to hit through the slow courts and hammer that ball past Nadal.

However Federe might surprise us again and go all the way.....doubt it though.

Tenez wrote:Right! I am easy between Fed and Delpo this evening. I don't really want to see Federer receiving 100 banana shots on his BH on those dead slow courts from Nadal the following day. But I fancy Delpo to hit through the slow courts and hammer that ball past Nadal.

However Federe might surprise us again and go all the way.....doubt it though.

C'mon Tenez, it's about time Fed beat Nadal and get the load off Nole for once!

I hope Del Po wins, honestly I haven't really enjoyed many of the recent Fed v. Nadal matches, if they aren't on indoors it doesn't seem roger has much of a chance. I would like to see a Del po v. Nadal semi more than Fed v. Nadal. I guess that just shows that the fedal non-rivalry isn't what it was back in 05-09.

noleisthebest wrote:

Tenez wrote:Right! I am easy between Fed and Delpo this evening. I don't really want to see Federer receiving 100 banana shots on his BH on those dead slow courts from Nadal the following day. But I fancy Delpo to hit through the slow courts and hammer that ball past Nadal.

However Federe might surprise us again and go all the way.....doubt it though.

C'mon Tenez, it's about time Fed beat Nadal and get the load off Nole for once!

You would be terrified if Fed were to beat Nadal, isn't it? Nadal is easy cake for Djoko.

Djoko is more fearful of Isner than Nadal.

I actually will be very surprised if both Nadal and Fed win their quarters. I think there is a big chance that one of the two quarterfinalists, Nalby or Del Po may pull off the upset. Del Po probably has the better shot of the upset, but Nalby is going to prove tricky for Nadal if the real Nalbandian shows up.

I personally would love to see Roger in the final as Novak fan, nothing i like better than a Novak v. Roger match win or lose. By far in my opinion the best rivalry currently on tour. Mainly because you know that both guys don't exactly like each other eventhough they play nice for the media.

Wow, so much drama and the first game still underway, another Hawkeye blunder...poor Delpo!
What's Layani doing....

Murray would've gone bananas...

Tenez wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:

Tenez wrote:Right! I am easy between Fed and Delpo this evening. I don't really want to see Federer receiving 100 banana shots on his BH on those dead slow courts from Nadal the following day. But I fancy Delpo to hit through the slow courts and hammer that ball past Nadal.

However Federe might surprise us again and go all the way.....doubt it though.

C'mon Tenez, it's about time Fed beat Nadal and get the load off Nole for once!

You would be terrified if Fed were to beat Nadal, isn't it? Nadal is easy cake for Djoko.

Djoko is more fearful of Isner than Nadal.

Anyone should be easy cake for GOAT as far as I'm concerned. I'm not buying any excuses

Layani is not having a stellar week in IW, he stuffed Raonic on two calls and now Delpo.

Who is that woman looking (bun & women's sunglasses wearing) man in Fed's box. what a disgrace...

Who sis this tragic excuse of a commentator next to Robbbie (heavy American accent) ? He's been getting on my nerves all week.

noleisthebest wrote:Layani is not having a stellar week in IW, he stuffed Raonic on two calls and now Delpo.

Its funny, whenever I tune into a match, its Layani who's the umpire!

Oh and do you mean Gavin Rossdale?

HarpoMars wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:Layani is not having a stellar week in IW, he stuffed Raonic on two calls and now Delpo.

Its funny, whenever I tune into a match, its Layani who's the umpire!

Oh and do you mean Gavin Rossdale?

must be him...isn't he in love with himself?

Fed is in the groove, he just is beguiling poor del po again.

Hm I thought I saw Federer and Del Potro were playing now. Nothing on Sky though. I thought they had a comprehensive coverage?? It's Friday night, not like there's loads of sport on?

Henman Bill wrote:Hm I thought I saw Federer and Del Potro were playing now. Nothing on Sky though. I thought they had a comprehensive coverage?? It's Friday night, not like there's loads of sport on?

cancel the subscription and save yourself some money. £74 per year for tennis tv.

It seems from the schedule that tennis is on all evening but replaced by under 20s rugby for the biggest match of the tournament so far??

Henman Bill wrote:It seems from the schedule that tennis is on all evening but replaced by under 20s rugby for the biggest match of the tournament so far??

Enjoy!

Woo! The Fedster is looking gooood! (Tennis wise )

Delpo serving really well, 1st serve % close to 80%, much higher than Fed's

I tried Tennis TV but they were spectacularly incompetent, overcharged me, enormous hassle to get a refund. And Sky TV has the major advantage of having the US Open. Also I don't want to pay a full subscription. I asked someone at work who has Sky TV but doesn't use the Sky go login and he gave me his login and I pay him a contribution to his charges.

Henman Bill wrote:I tried Tennis TV but they were spectacularly incompetent, overcharged me, enormous hassle to get a refund. And Sky TV has the major advantage of having the US Open. Also I don't want to pay a full subscription. I asked someone at work who has Sky TV but doesn't use the Sky go login and he gave me his login and I pay him a contribution to his charges.

I had similar experience a few years ago, before they could work with Macs, they are fine now. Although I didn't like the fact they roled on subscription and debited the money without even notifying. May cancel it next year.

HB - I like that, sounds like a neat little arrangement

Henman Bill wrote: Also I don't want to pay a full subscription. I asked someone at work who has Sky TV but doesn't use the Sky go login and he gave me his login and I pay him a contribution to his charges.

well,tonight you seemed to have got what you paid for

Federer is playing very well. The first game was difficult but one could feel already Federer was going to have a good day.

I tried Tennis TV but they were spectacularly incompetent, overcharged me, enormous hassle to get a refund. And Sky TV has the major advantage of having the US Open. Also I don't want to pay a full subscription. I asked someone at work who has Sky TV but doesn't use the Sky go login and he gave me his login and I pay him a contribution to his charges.

Bet365 live streaming is the way to go. Just create an account, stick a fiver in it, and watch matches for free from then on. It has pretty much every tennis tournament on there, even some of the more obscure events. The only problem is you can't make the video go full screen, although Magical Glass can easily fix that!

Delpo has definitely become Fed's bunny

Chazfazzer wrote:

I tried Tennis TV but they were spectacularly incompetent, overcharged me, enormous hassle to get a refund. And Sky TV has the major advantage of having the US Open. Also I don't want to pay a full subscription. I asked someone at work who has Sky TV but doesn't use the Sky go login and he gave me his login and I pay him a contribution to his charges.

Bet365 live streaming is the way to go. Just create an account, stick a fiver in it, and watch matches for free from then on. It has pretty much every tennis tournament on there, even some of the more obscure events. The only problem is you can't make the video go full screen, although Magical Glass can easily fix that!

How large is the window on bet365? I have used betfair but it's pretty small. Now I used the forbidden ones and it's free and cool.

about 10x10 cm

Yes like betfair and this is why I don;t even bother.

Fed played very well. He has been playing the best this season. If it wasn;t for that heavy topspin CC, I would have fancied him to be unbeaten till now.

Tomorrow should be tougher though.

Tenez wrote:Yes like betfair and this is why I don;t even bother.

Fed played very well. He has been playing the best this season. If it wasn;t for that heavy topspin CC, I would have fancied him to be unbeaten till now.

Tomorrow should be tougher though.

I guess Nalby will be the stumble block and for once it would be great to see Naalby-Fed classic rivalry if it happens, Nalby on his day is tougher opponent than Rafa is for Federer.

invisiblecoolers wrote:
Nalby on his day is tougher opponent than Rafa is for Federer.

Really???

Yes like betfair and this is why I don;t even bother.

You can blow it up with Magical Glass to full screen size so it's not really an issue. I just like the ease of use of Bet365 since I know every match is going to be on there, whereas if the forbidden streams are anything like the ones I use for football they tend to be highly unreliable!

Delboy - I had money on you (I told you I did) but I've no cash to splash on my w/end now ....

I thought you were meant to be strong as an ox, seeing as you're 100% fit again.

But still not taken even one set off the old man in these past five meetings .......

What's that all about Juan ....?

Federers just miles better.

There's no explanation, Federer is just simply better at tennis atm.

Chazfazzer wrote:

Yes like betfair and this is why I don;t even bother.

You can blow it up with Magical Glass to full screen size so it's not really an issue. I just like the ease of use of Bet365 since I know every match is going to be on there, whereas if the forbidden streams are anything like the ones I use for football they tend to be highly unreliable!

Will try with Mglass then (did not know about this app) cause the image is smoother. Does it comes with windows? I dowloaded a freeware version.

I thought this might be del Potty's day. Did Rog play particularly well or was del Po a bit out of sorts ? Reckon whatever bug Fed had has cleared.

Yes Roger played very well actually. His BH and FH were excellent and so was the serve.

His shots seem so much more secure than in the past....I mean when facing the big hitters.

amritia3ee - maybe so.

But ...... if I've got my sums right, Federer has given away a combined age advantage totalling 33 years ( ) to his four opponents this week alone, en route to the semis.

With the understandable exception of rookie Kudla, I'm surprised not one of them had enough to knock out the OAP.

Shame on you all, & you'll now stay behind for extra practice

lol

Anyone know what happened to Delboy in that opening game?

Nadal will roll past Nalby then edge and shimmy his way past Federer. Sad but true!

Over an out!

(duplicated in error)

amritia3ee wrote:

invisiblecoolers wrote:
Nalby on his day is tougher opponent than Rafa is for Federer.

Really???

i have to agree with amrit have you lost your marbles?

Luvsports
btw Congrats on a superb performance from Fed today, great performance!

amritia3ee wrote:

invisiblecoolers wrote:
Nalby on his day is tougher opponent than Rafa is for Federer.

Really???

Nalby won many matches in a row against prime Fed, he use to be the bad match up for Fed until Rafa came to scene. Rafa is the biggest boogeyman for the GOAT without a doubt, but Nalby was doing the same in the ealry part of Fed's career, but poor Nalby could never control his appetite, he was hunger for burgers more than hunger for success and hence got his wish

Josiah Maiestas wrote:lol

Anyone know what happened to Delboy in that opening game?

Nadal will roll past Nalby then edge and shimmy his way past Federer. Sad but true!

Over an out!

Why was Delboy so far back behind the baseline all match, he was very passive. A very odd performance by Juan.

socal1976 wrote:

Josiah Maiestas wrote:lol

Anyone know what happened to Delboy in that opening game?

Nadal will roll past Nalby then edge and shimmy his way past Federer. Sad but true!

Over an out!

Why was Delboy so far back behind the baseline all match, he was very passive. A very odd performance by Juan.

May be he tried to do something to reverse the losing trend and sadly it didnt work either , Del Boy will come stronger come FO.

socal1976 wrote:
Why was Delboy so far back behind the baseline all match, he was very passive. A very odd performance by Juan.

He was minimising the risk of catching Roger's cold.

invisible - ref Nalby's early victories.... I'm not sure either Nalby or Federer were truly "in their prime" back then (well certainly not Fed at least), still pretty young only about 21 or 22 I guess. And most of the wins were pretty close, inc. a 5-setter at AO

But you're right, Nalby certainly did have the better of those encounters, until the tables turned.

Now the years have gone by and Nalby will sadly end his career Slamless, never having fulfilled his great potential. But an admirable record nonetheless and maybe, just maybe, something else to add to the list tonight ..... ???