Indian Wells Day 9 (MOTD: Murray vs Del Potro)

First topic message reminder :

It's time for the first MS1000 of the year! Red and I will be updating the opening post each day with previews of matches that catch the eye, as well as completed results and draws once the tournament moves along a little. If anyone wants to contribute, please do shoot one of us a PM!

96 players are in action with 32 seeds getting a bye into the second round, meaning that as Cogen highlighted, this is the first event since Wimbledon 2011 (at least) where all of the top players in the world are in action. A few of the narratives are the possibility that Federer could be overhauled by Murray at #2, Djokovic looking to continue his unbeaten start to the season, Nadal's triumphant return to hard courts, and numerous other players in reasonable nick - can they challenge for the title, or at least create a few upsets?

Prize: A cool $1 million ($5.4 million purse), and the invaluable 1000 ranking points.
Defending champion is Roger Federer, who defeated John Isner in the 2012 final.
Updated draw on the ATP site.

Preview from Red:


Andy Murray is on the hunt for his maiden Indian Wells title. He has reached the quarter final here, for the first time since he reached the final in 2009, but has a tough task to complete if he is to get his hands on the trophy. He is up against Argentine Juan Martin Del Potro in the quarters today, and if he gets through that he can potentially face Djokovic and Nadal in the next two rounds. In his Round 4 match Murray was not at his best, and looked irritated at the end of his tight 2 set win against Berlocq. Berlocq complained that Murray was taking too long between points, Murray complained that Berlocq was grunting too loudly, and well... I think Berlocq is not on Andy's Christmas card list anymore. With the world number 2 ranking potentially on the line if he reaches the final, Murray fans will be hoping a dismissal of Del Potro will help lighten his mood.

Juan Martin Del Potro has never won a Masters 100 title before. Will this be the week he breaks his duck? He has been on good form so far this tournament, an improvement to his relatively mediocre start to 2013. However he has not yet been tested, and with all respects to Bjorn Phau, a fixture against Andy Murray will be a real step up. In Dubai Del Potro tested Djokovic in both sets, but mentally let himself down in the key moments. Will the same happen here against the Scot? The Argentinian's record against Murray isn't great, and he will have to raise his game if he wants to have a chance of winning.

Key Tactics: Murray has a convincing 5-1 lead over Del Potro in the H2H, with Juan's only win coming on clay in 2009. Murray won the last two matches these two played (also both in 2009), and he will fancy himself to continue this run of wins and extend it today. For Del Potro to win, he must be extremely aggressive, in longer rallies Murray will coast. The higher bounce of the surface should suit Del Potro, as Murray's tactic of the low slice which has worked so well against him will be negated. Thus the onus is on Del Potro to force the play, and big serving and aggressive hitting will be his only chance of winning.

Predictions: I think Murray has too much variety and nous for Del Potro, I see the 2012 USO champion winning in straight sets: 6-3 6-4.

Nicely done Djokovic to have a friendly discussion with Bernardes.

Fog played some nice BH and FH in the second set, but now back to bad shots.

Night SB, Djokovic's matches will only get tougher.

laverfan wrote:Which makes him a bit more human, and hence perhaps a bit more likable.

Agree. Even though I suspect I would not find his coaching violation so endearing if he was one of the top players. As it is, it kind of adds to the richness and texture of the tour without causing too much commotion.

laverfan wrote:Night SB, Djokovic's matches will only get tougher.

Night LF.

Fognini gets broken from 40-0 up Surely this is the end.

All in all, fairly routine for Nole, in spite of not playing his best and in spite of the hiccup in the second set.

Del Potro to win east 6-2 6-1

MotD suggestion - Janowicz v Gasquet.

Aside from the Murray match, interesting that Crofters touched on an interview Federer gave post AO saying that he felt Andy 'Was at peace with himself'

A very insightful quote. I am hoping that is the case.

Dimitrov does justice to my faith in him, beating Ebden.

OP updated with a brief overview for anyone who missed the matches. Good to see Dimitrov set up the Nole clash, LF!

What's the match of the day suggestion for today, chaps?

I'm tempted to say it must be Rafael vs Leonardo for the artistic (or ninja turtle) value.

I went IW yesterday and it was a good day of tennis got to see Murray and Djoko play 6 sets of action, and witness the most eagerly anticipated second round masters match in history. It was a little bit of contentious match with the official getting involved on a couple of occassions. The day was beautiful and not too windy by past IW days that I have seen. Oddly after winning the first set 6-0 and going up a break Novak seemed to relax too much and lose his focus missing numerous easy backhands. Murray fought back well his opponent was just so on fire in the first half of the match and finally andy woke up.

By the way fear the gulbis!

Gasquet vs JJ

socal1976 wrote:I went IW yesterday and it was a good day of tennis got to see Murray and Djoko play 6 sets of action, and witness the most eagerly anticipated second round masters match in history. It was a little bit of contentious match with the official getting involved on a couple of occassions. The day was beautiful and not too windy by past IW days that I have seen. Oddly after winning the first set 6-0 and going up a break Novak seemed to relax too much and lose his focus missing numerous easy backhands. Murray fought back well his opponent was just so on fire in the first half of the match and finally andy woke up.

By the way fear the gulbis!

Good stuff, socal, glad you got to see some good matches.

I am really looking forward to seeing if Gulbis can make some things happen, what is going on with Tipsy he is in tailspin right now, he got the david Ferrer treatment 6-0 an 6-2 but Ferrer at least has the excuse that it was Nadal on clay that humbled him in that manner.


JJ looking like he may be a real contender he did pretty well at the AO as well didn't he make the 4th round? I like the kids game, I could see him if he works hard winning a slam or two. Gasquet as well has been playing well but still has the mind numbing tendency of playing the match pinned agait the back wall.

I hate the phrase "Is it just me or" but is it just me or are there more bagels in this tournament than normal?

One thing I noticed is that for whatever reason IW seems to be playing even slower than in past years, it seems very tough to hit through the court, if that is the case and it is harder to hold that could be one reason for the bagel sets. To bagel someone you have to break them 3 times, and right now it seems that even in comparison to past years. The surface is much slower.

I think Madrid plays quicker than what I am seeing at this year's IW, it has always been slow but it seems particularly slow now.

Yes, players have been noting that the ball is fairly quick through the air, but slower off the court.

I agree with that socal, I watched Murray last night and it looked really slow (despite being played in the middle of the day). If Murray and Djokovic do meet in the semi it could last weeks

I don't know if it is just weather or slight variation when they resurface the courts prior to the tournament or not, but that is the general view that I had.

Fantastic preview Silver

Good point socal. I'm rubbish at judging court speed (and haven't seen action action at all yet) but that's a logical point and I agree with it.

socal1976 wrote:I think Madrid plays quicker than what I am seeing at this year's IW, it has always been slow but it seems particularly slow now.

Good, tournament directors in California did read and adhere to my letter after the Nadal loss last year.

We aim to please Amritia, who knew you had such pull with pasarell and Ellison.

I wish they would cover the outside courts a bit more maybe show a repeat of the outside court matches at night some of the best matchups in early rounds are on the outside courts and they just don't broadcast much of the action.

Thanks Red All comments and speculation welcome, whether you agree with me or think I'm a blind idiot

Looking forward to play today. Anderson has opened up proceedings against Nieminen, already a break up too.

Come on Jarkko! Boo Dirk Kuyt! The court doesn't really look that slow but maybe that's because Jarkko and Kuyt are just belting the ball at each other. I can't say there's too much variation here, but I do like the odd match where the number one objective is to batter your ball at your opponent harder than they can batter it at you.

I am opposed to battered balls as a rule, it can be quite painful although very funny if they aren't your balls.

donatello the best??? you madddd ??? all about mikey!

I think they serve battered balls in Asia.

If Kuyt breaks here then it's match over. Come on Jarkko!

socal1976 wrote:We aim to please Amritia, who knew you had such pull with pasarell and Ellison.

I wish they would cover the outside courts a bit more maybe show a repeat of the outside court matches at night some of the best matchups in early rounds are on the outside courts and they just don't broadcast much of the action.

Me too, you see some really interesting stylistic matchups every now and again on the outside courts. Plus you can even make the odd breakthrough discovery at some tournaments, though not too often obviously...

But LuvSports, Donatello does machines!

Wow, that was rapid. Just over an hour, and Anderson sends Nieminen packing 6-3, 6-1. That area of the draw is very open after Ferrer's departure, he'll play the winner of Simon/Paire.

I'd rather watch Seppi v Gulbis than Nadal v Mayer in all honesty. Get a grip, Sky!

socal1976 wrote:I went IW yesterday and it was a good day of tennis got to see Murray and Djoko play 6 sets of action, and witness the most eagerly anticipated second round masters match in history. It was a little bit of contentious match with the official getting involved on a couple of occassions. The day was beautiful and not too windy by past IW days that I have seen. Oddly after winning the first set 6-0 and going up a break Novak seemed to relax too much and lose his focus missing numerous easy backhands. Murray fought back well his opponent was just so on fire in the first half of the match and finally andy woke up.

The courts are slow. The coaching/time violation for Fognini, time violation for Djokovic, the conversation between Bernardes and Djokovic. Murray, after losing the first set was looking at repeating his early IW exits, but managed by long rallies, to get Donskoy to make mistakes.

socal1976 wrote:By the way fear the gulbis!

Gulbis was impressive at Delray.

Raonic is yet to play a match with a bye and a w/o.

The Special Juan wrote:I'd rather watch Seppi v Gulbis than Nadal v Mayer in all honesty. Get a grip, Sky!

Unfortunately in early rounds the tv audience rarely sees much of the best action as in most tournaments the most competive match ups occur on the outer courts

I know what you mean. The TV coverage seems to be more about watching the top players rather than the matches which may well be better on paper. Funnily enough, as I've typed this, they've announced that Mayer has pulled out with a back injury and Nadal gets a WO so maybe the Gulbis match will stay on

I wonder how many rackets he will break before the end of the match

The Special Juan wrote:I know what you mean. The TV coverage seems to be more about watching the top players rather than the matches which may well be better on paper. Funnily enough, as I've typed this, they've announced that Mayer has pulled out with a back injury and Nadal gets a WO so maybe the Gulbis match will stay on

Yes Juan, I mean most of the early round matches of the top guys usually aren't that competitive. Although luckily for me both the murray and the djoko match were pretty hardfought at times yesterday and I got to see 6 sets of it. But usually the close matches early on happen on the outside courts and the broadcasters won't show those matches but will show Nadal or Djoko steamroll some poor schlub in the first couple rounds that you have never heard of.

Haven't been watching actively but from what I gather, Gulbis imploded after being given a warning for time violation - anyone see this? No point penalty or anything.

He lost the first set 7-5 after being 5-2 up, so...

I am at work so I have the match on tv, will stop following the thread to keep the suspense for viewing, the time violation is getting very controversial very fast. Del Po as well seemed to lose it when he was warned against Djoko at the Dubai semi.

Berdych now playing against Mayer, and the MOTD has got off to an...interesting start.

Janowicz looks 1 dimensional to me.

My first look at Paris finalist Janowicz. Reminds me of Isner or Roddick, in that he's a player with limited technical ability but a big serve and forehand and some heart. But he's not as good as them.

At times in that first set he looked like a player from outside the world's top 200 that had somehow snuck into the tournament when no-one was looking. Rosol showed that low ranked players that on their day they can produce magic but someone like Janowicz or Rosol could also sink into obscurity fast if things don't go their way.

24-ranked Janowicz has 1,371 points, but about half of those are from Paris, and I think he'll need to make improvements to his game to maintain his ranking by Paris. Then again, I'm judging on very little here.

I also expect he will improve in the second set against Gasquet, but still think he will lose the match.

Janowicz has a decent range of shots. He has far more potential than someone like Isner. If anything he is a little confused about his game. A bit of 1D tennis might be the way to get into the match.

He is also cat-like for a big man.

This is bizarre. He looked a far, far more complete player at Paris last year, with a whole array of shots. Haven't seen him since then but you're both right, he looks really ordinary. Gasquet playing competently but not having to do an awful lot right now.

I may be talking rubbish here as I watched him for about 20 minutes and started making judgements. He does look inferior to Isner now, I don't know about the potential.

I should also think he'll easily get his ranking to well above 24 before next year's Paris, but whether it will be high enough to still be above 24 after next year's Paris is another matter. Let's see.

Rats, change to Dodig v Federer, no interest in that, would rather see a closer match. No red button for me. Off to bed.

Jerzy had the wool pulled over his eyes there.
Me thinketh socal talketh this guy up a wee bit too much.