Indian Wells 2014 - 13 March

STADIUM 1 Start 11:00 am

[1] Na Li (CHN) v [12] Dominika Cibulkova (SVK)

Not Before 1:00 pm

[28] Alexandr Dolgopolov (UKR) v [10] Milos Raonic (CAN)

Not Before 3:00 pm

[20] Flavia Pennetta (ITA) v [17] Sloane Stephens (USA)

[1] Bob Bryan (USA) Mike Bryan (USA) v John Isner (USA) Sam Querrey (USA)

Not Before 7:00 pm

[17] Kevin Anderson (RSA) v [7] Roger Federer (SUI)

[8] Lucie Hradecka (CZE) Jie Zheng (CHN) v [5] Cara Black (ZIM) Sania Mirza (IND)

MoTD - Na v Cibulkova (IMO).

Enjoy!

Lets hope for Dolgo and Fed to move along

Federer is yet to lose a set, while Anderson has lost two, one each to Donskoy and Wawrinka.

This has been a cracking tournament in terms of upsets, continuing the 2014 trend.

It'll be interesting to see if variety can blunt the huge servers today, though admittedly that's a slight disservice (ho-ho) to both Raonic and Anderson.

Hoping for Dolgo and Anderson wins today. Tennis needs new winners and a Fed v. Djoko final would be something of a let-down for me.

Missed the end of Murray v Raonic. Disappointing loss for Andy. Should have way too much talent to be losing to a player as limited as Raonic. Its strange how poorly he is playing as I actually thought he looked in decent shape in Oz. Seems to be going backwards not forwards at the moment.

C'mon Dolgo!!

I would so love to see a new name on the trophy.

Cibulkova is having trouble closing the second set.

Finally, she does it. Third set.

DF on BP by Na.

Dolgo time!!

Come on Dolgo, slice and dice him like a honey roasted Canadian bacon, yum yum.

Dolgo fires the first bullet and breaks!

3:0 super quick. Raonic out of sync totally. Dolgo like a precision tool.

Promising start from the Dog

4-1 Dolgo. Raonic not troubling the Dolgopolov serve

5-2 Dolgo. Raonic seemingly playing without a BH.

What a shot to finish the set for Dolgo. 6:3

Dolgo takes the first set 6-3. Brilliant

Raonic breaks! 2-0

Raonic taking an age between points. Come on umpire do your job!

Dolgo wastes some BP's. 3-0 Raonic

What a game. Dolgo breaks back. 3:2

Dolgo breaks again 4:3. Could be over soon.

Dolgo takes the match. I though this would be a good long match, but turned out to be a short good match

Great result for Dolgo. A solid display by the Ukrainian

Just finished watching another exhibition from Federer there. It's not helping my sleeping pattern but I am increasingly aware that I might see this standard maybe 10-20 more times from him before he retires, so I'll stay up to watch them. Its impossible for this man to keep it up. So when people say they want to see a new guy winning, I disagree. Our days of seeing the greatest play are coming to an end and we have to relish every opportunity

Well I'm emphatically with you there of course. What matters more? Seeing a new name playing standard tennis, or seeing the last flickerings of Federer's incredible brand? Opinions will be divided but I know what I want.

I tried to stay up but when 2am came and Dumb & Dumber were still on Court I gave up. The score suggests either Anderson was rubbish or Fed was good, and you seem to suggest it was the latter. Was it?

The thing that interests me is the question of whether this is just a hot few weeks for Federer of if, injury free and accustomed to the new racket, it's the start of a prolonged period of good form.

If we view his 04-07 self as his 10/10, would getting to 7/10 or 8/10 be out of the question for this year? The possibilty appears to be growing.

And I would suggest that Federer at 7 or 8/10 would be a serious contender for big titles. Especially given the patchy-to-outright-poor form of Nadal, Djoko and Murray.

Early days yet of course.

Couldn't see the match itself bogbrush, but you might want to check out comments on the ATP Facebook page.

As with all FB pages, a fair amount of drivel ...... but the more calm and rational posters talk of vintage stuff from Federer and a masterclass clinic in the second set. New racquet clearly functioning well ....... 

Lionel Hutz wrote: Its impossible for this man to keep it up.

The US commentators on ESPN were referring to return to 2005-06, which is unlikely. I would prefer him healthy and continue playing.

Lionel Hutz wrote:So when people say they want to see a new guy winning, I disagree. Our days of seeing the greatest play are coming to an end and we have to relish every opportunity

The chasm in what he can achieve (along with Nadal, Djokovic, Murray, and other select few) at this age vis-a-vis the younger generation is very apparent.

Anderson self-destructed in the second. I am looking forward to the mach v Dolgopolov.

lags72 wrote:Couldn't see the match itself bogbrush, but you might want to check out comments on the ATP Facebook page.

I will move your comment (and I stopped watching after 3-0). The Haas match was more competitive than last night, IMO.

HM Murdoch wrote:The thing that interests me is the question of whether this is just a hot few weeks for Federer of if, injury free and accustomed to the new racket, it's the start of a prolonged period of good form.

If we view his 04-07 self as his 10/10, would getting to 7/10 or 8/10 be out of the question for this year? The possibilty appears to be growing.

And I would suggest that Federer at 7 or 8/10 would be a serious contender for big titles. Especially given the patchy-to-outright-poor form of Nadal, Djoko and Murray.

Early days yet of course.

That's pretty much how I'd see it; a 7/10 Federer won't go into Slams as outright favourite for certain, but he would be in the mix , and there are some clouds hanging over each of Nadal, Djokovic & Murray. I don't believe Federer would lose a Slam final to Wawrinka, Berdych or Del Potro and obviously Ferrer.

It'll be interesting if he makes the final with Djokovic. This surface really shouldn't help him as Novak should more or less get everything back, but Federer seems less alarmed at needing to rally now. For a while I think the likes of Novak have known that if they can get it back Roger would panic trying to end the point quickly. Anyway, early days.

bogbrush wrote:It'll be interesting if he makes the final with Djokovic. This surface really shouldn't help him as Novak should more or less get everything back, but Federer seems less alarmed at needing to rally now. For a while I think the likes of Novak have known that if they can get it back Roger would panic trying to end the point quickly. Anyway, early days.

I agree and I think a Federer victory would be hugely significant.

To lose to Federer in Dubai could be passed off as the old master having a rare fast surface with which to use the old tricks.

To lose to him again so soon after on a surface as slow as IW... well, whatever the rankings might say, I don't think there could be any doubt about who is presently the superior player.

(I'm talking about the present where Federer is 32 and Novak is 26, not about all time standing)

Poor old Boris may have work cut out to rebuild that confidence!

A big part is how each player is feeling mentally. Roger is currently in a good place mentally having something of a mini-resurgence and with a new coach and new racquet that he is probably feeling good with now he must feel very good after the year he had in 2013. Novak, on the other hand, has been travelling down a rocky road lately with sub-standard performances ending in surprise defeats so confidence will be low and doubts in his mind that need redressing. Mentally Roger wins at the moment, form-wise in 2014 Roger wins and so unless Novak ups his game he will lose if he faces Roger.

HM, Bogb and others - Quite agree with let's-enjoy-Rog-while-we-can sentiments. There were signs of a revival with Fed at the end of next year and even if he had, by his standards, a poor 12 months, he still managed to get into the top 8 and chalk up 45 wins.
Reckoned this year would be better, but am surprised how well he's done so soon. Various combinations - Edberg, happy with racket, fitter, mixed displays by rivals and CONFIDENCE.
Amazing in sport that even the most talented need that extra bit of confidence to really succeed.

I still want to see Federer at his best, but ideally I want to see someone new start to make head ways in the rankings. Dolgo and Dimi have certainly had good starts. It is just them maintaining consistency.

legendkillarV2 wrote:I still want to see Federer at his best, but ideally I want to see someone new start to make head ways in the rankings. Dolgo and Dimi have certainly had good starts. It is just them maintaining consistency.

Agreed.

If, as suggestions here are to be believed, that Roger is at around 70% performance/standard-wise then if he wins Indian Wells it does not depict a pretty picture for this era's youngsters. It needs a young gun to stand up and grasp the chance that stands before them.

LKV2 - Yes, it's good to see some of the bright young things coming on. With huge demands on fitness and the ultra-competitiveness around, those aged 22 or 23 are the "new teenagers".
Doubt we're going to see the teenage sensations now. The last teenager to win a title was Cilic back in.....2008, I think !
Interesting, also , that some of the nearly men have said how much they were lifted by Stan's display at the AO which made them realise that the old so-called big 4 could be beaten

sirfredperry wrote:Interesting, also , that some of the nearly men have said how much they were lifted by Stan's display at the AO which made them realise that the old so-called big 4 could be beaten

Stan is no spring chicken in terms of his age and time on tour.

BTW, Magnus Norman has produced two Nadal beating players, Soderling and Wawrinka.

HM Murdoch wrote:The thing that interests me is the question of whether this is just a hot few weeks for Federer of if, injury free and accustomed to the new racket, it's the start of a prolonged period of good form.

If we view his 04-07 self as his 10/10, would getting to 7/10 or 8/10 be out of the question for this year? The possibilty appears to be growing.

And I would suggest that Federer at 7 or 8/10 would be a serious contender for big titles. Especially given the patchy-to-outright-poor form of Nadal, Djoko and Murray.

Early days yet of course.

This is why I suggested in socal's thread that he'd win a slam this year. It was all about getting free of injury, deciding to put the work in at the gym, using the bigger racquet, and rediscovering the hunger. Not a guaranteed measure of success, but Federer was never out of it completely - that's why I refused to agree with everyone that said he was 'finished' last year, after one poor year. Two consecutively, sure. But so far, that isn't happening.

My vindication aside (), it's good to see him playing well.

Edit: I swear that's the last time that I'll mention predicting this resurgence in form! Unless he wins a slam, in which case I'll happily hand out lottery numbers

Silver wrote:Edit: I swear that's the last time that I'll mention predicting this resurgence in form! Unless he wins a slam, in which case I'll happily hand out lottery numbers

EuroMillions please.   

bogbrush wrote:Well I'm emphatically with you there of course. What matters more? Seeing a new name playing standard tennis, or seeing the last flickerings of Federer's incredible brand? Opinions will be divided but I know what I want.

I tried to stay up but when 2am came and Dumb & Dumber were still on Court I gave up. The score suggests either Anderson was rubbish or Fed was good, and you seem to suggest it was the latter. Was it?

Actual Verdict from a person who [Me] saw the match as follows -

Anderson is on a great form with big serve and a big forehand and started very well including saving break points, he crumbled under pressure on the 1st set climax 5-5.

On the 2nd set Fed simply grew in confidence and toiled with him, he never let Anderson play his game and the result 5-0 in the 2nd set before Anderson knew whats happening. It was Fed's brilliance to not let Anderson play anywhere close to his level in the 2nd set, the lob in the 2nd set was simply amazing, but the question is would he be able to stop other top guns like Djoko, Nadal, Murray in similar way? the answer would be no, but thats time and again display of how Fed doesn't let opponent play his best game.

Fed has got the ability to prevent opponents from playing their best game and that ability is shining back on 2014 which was clearly missing in 2013.

invisiblecoolers wrote:Fed has got the ability to prevent opponents from playing their best game and that ability is shining back on 2014 which was clearly missing in 2013.

I recall a late-night USO match with Monaco, when rain was forecast. It was lightening fast. This one was similar.

The previous long matches delayed this one. Federer seemed to be in a tearing hurry (like the USO match) to be done with (also due to his Doubles schedule).

Federer's back issues contributed to the 2013 downturn. At 5-6, I knew Federer was going to make Anderson pay for disallowing earlier break opportunities. I stopped at 3-0, going to 4-0 in the second set. The UEs flowed from Anderson.

I do agree KA is a "smaller" fish than Nadal/Djokovic (Murray is still struggling). I still think the way Dolgo is playing, he can and does have the ability to take Federer out. Dolgo had Raonic swearing.

laverfan wrote:

invisiblecoolers wrote:Fed has got the ability to prevent opponents from playing their best game and that ability is shining back on 2014 which was clearly missing in 2013.

I recall a late-night USO match with Monaco, when rain was forecast. It was lightening fast. This one was similar.

The previous long matches delayed this one. Federer seemed to be in a tearing hurry (like the USO match) to be done with (also due to his Doubles schedule).

Federer's back issues contributed to the 2013 downturn. At 5-6, I knew Federer was going to make Anderson pay for disallowing earlier break opportunities. I stopped at 3-0, going to 4-0 in the second set. The UEs flowed from Anderson.

I do agree KA is a "smaller" fish than Nadal/Djokovic (Murray is still struggling). I still think the way Dolgo is playing, he can and does have the ability to take Federer out. Dolgo had Raonic swearing.

I am pretty sure Fed is not gonna let Dolgo play his A-game but if he does then he will have to pay for it like Rafa did.   

What I am more about at the moment is Gulbis vs Isner, Gulbis can take top dogs down but doesn't have the mentality to take players like Isner down, would be a fun match if Gulbis can play anywhere close to his A-game, i really want to see him take on Djoker in the semi's.

laverfan - methinks you are referring to the USO 2011 when Federer played three of the cleanest sets on a HC I have ever seen him play. Near-flawless tennis, and all at an exceptionally quick pace, as you say.

Some folk might say ...ah it was only Monaco. But we're talking about a very accomplished pro who made it to the top ten.

The showreel of highlights is something to behold. Only around seven minutes in all, but if you can't spare that long, just catch the point that begins at 5.01
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=iOLrAYaLZ4Q

@iC... Dolgo is playing very well. He will be tough for the old man, but not impossible.

@lags.. Yes, that is the Monaco match. And Federer finished just as rain was beginning, so he did finish the on-court post-match as well.

Isner takes first set on TB.

Jahu wrote:Isner takes first set on TB.

Gulbis chokes the second set while serving for it at 5-4 with a terrible service game. Loses the match in the second-set TB.

What a way to lose a match!