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

amritia3ee wrote:Luvsports
btw Congrats on a superb performance from Fed today, great performance!

haha i gave him a few words of encouragement and even offered to play myself, he was tempted but he said 'naaaaa man i wanna get as many wins as i can before i play rafaaaa! hes a smart guy cant argue with that mmmmhmmmm

so smart of Nadal to stay away from Nalby's BH....
naah...Nadal, like always, goes for the obvious game plan.

BW: Excellent performance by Fed. The Fed-Delpo match up is quite the same as the Fed-Blake match up by now. One guy fully confident and the other not too bothered with losing against the one he admires

Nadal's playing better than ever...and Nalby does well to stay with him....if only he had Nadal's court coverage.

Tenez wrote:Nadal's playing better than ever...and Nalby does well to stay with him....if only he had Nadal's court coverage.

Or is Nadal outsmarting him?

Amazing invention to win the set.

nalbo!!!! 1st set

Lovely variety from Nalby.

nearly outsmarting him!

What a talent this nalbandian! Nadal is going to rely heavily on the distance...once again.

What a great era of tennis! Peak rabbit v old class.

Problem is: Nalby has to win this set too..

BTW: that dropshot was probably the tightest DS ever played on a tennis court. After Nalby hit it, he apologized...for his genius

that really came out of nowhere but that was a couple of great points and that netcord may have been the difference.

Ole ole ole ole ole ole ole ola cada dia te quiero mas, soooy cerveceroo
es un sentimiento, no puedo parar!

Is it just me or does Nadal seem bigger than during AO?

This court is so sticky, even Nadal fell over

noleisthebest wrote:Is it just me or does Nadal seem bigger than during AO?

No, It's Nalby, he turns men into mice

for me i thought this match wud go the same way it did back in the 09 encounter at IW and 2010 match at miami when he one the 1st set but was the defeated :/. What a chance for the break there!

No! That was his chance

Does anyone know who the moron commentating alongside Robbie is?

im sensing rafa is going to break soon :/ now that david's missed that breakpoint

lags72 wrote: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 ..... ???

lags lets hope so, Nalby on his best days is a treat to watch, his genius can be at time un-parralled in the court, even the GOAT at times had to bow to Nalby's genius.

Great game by the Genius so far, its just an example what he can do even on the court even on his off color off season days.

You right this commentator with Robbie is just a pain.

"Nalbandian should be top 20 withou injury! " That's a courageous quote!

Tenez wrote:You right this commentator with Robbie is just a pain.

"Nalbandian should be top 20 withou injury! " That's a courageous quote!

how about :It's a privilege to compete against this guy? (Nadal)

noleisthebest wrote:Does anyone know who the moron commentating alongside Robbie is?

That's the one I was referring to...He is soooo annoiying.

Nadal: if in trouble, hit harder!

i'd prefer to hear robbie and the yank compared to castle

Can Nalby's body hold some more games? I guess he is tiring already.

Nadal making sure that Nalby does his share of the running.

LuvSports! wrote:i'd prefer to hear robbie and the yank compared to castle

he's so irritating, I'd rather have nobody, shame there's no such an option...the guy blabs NON-STOP!!!!
And if he runs out of things to blab about he asks Robbie stupid questions

My dad loves Nadal's shots hitting the net more than Nole winning, bless him!

Castle so far up Nadal they can only recognise him by his shoes.

The Yank should be kicked out of that booth, he is becoming painful and unbearable.

bogbrush wrote:Castle so far up Nadal they can only recognise him by his shoes.

The Yank's completely disappeared, we can only recognise him by his accent

WOW Nalby in no mood to give up either, that was a sensational hold in love to go 5-4

I love Good Vibrations.....

bogbrush wrote:Castle so far up Nadal they can only recognise him by his shoes.

If Nalbandian wins this one I almost hope he beats Federer tomorrow - I think Roger's won enough trophies; time for David to have his turn! People moan about the double hander being an ugly shot in comparison to the single hander, but Nalbandian's backhand is a thing of beauty at times.

15 all but should have been 0-30 Nalby

Nadal had quite a few lucky breaks this match

he shudda had a match point david but rafa takes it to 5-5

Chazfazzer wrote: People moan about the double hander being an ugly shot in comparison to the single hander, but Nalbandian's backhand is a thing of beauty at times.

can't agree more , Nalby makes even double hand backhand a shot to watch.

gallery play wrote:Nadal had quite a few lucky breaks this match

i think he was rather unlucky to have that net cord at 5-4 down 15-0 in da 1st set 2bh.

Nalby's nervous. He hasn't played many big matches lately

Is anyone here on Twitter, if so, please tweet Robbie to tell the Yank to SHUT UP !!!!!!!

WTH, Nalby is running out of reserves.

rafa breaks careless game

Urgh...Nalbandian chokes the game, and probably the match, away.

gallery play wrote:Nalby's nervous. He hasn't played many big matches lately

True but even when he did, that was his trade mark unfortunately.

GET IN

I can see a big bicycle kick/fist pump coming up. Time to hide

FFS

1 set all.