Indian Wells and Miami 2018

Can Fed complete a double sunshine double? It's asking a lot, but there are a host of big names missing this year, including Rafa.
Delpo could have a good chance, having taken the Acapulco title. Could one of the young guns make a mark? The likes of Shapovalov, Tiafoe, Tsitsipas and Fritz are coming through. There will be some interesting early matches at IW, as a lot of the big names who have managed to turn up are now comparatively lowly ranked (Nishi, Tsonga, Gasquet, Raonic).
   Fed needs to make the semis to keep his number one slot. You'd reckon he'd manage that, particularly if Delpo is not in his half of the draw.
   As for the women, I'm not sure if world number one Halep is going to be fit. Kerber could be a good bet.

So just going to update on the situation re injuries

Djokovic could be back at Indian Wells. To be confirmed.

Nadal is out for Indian Wells and Miami. Presumably back for clay.

Murray is possibly targeting back for grass.

Wawrinka out for Indian Wells and Miami. Attempting to get back on clay.

Nishikori - seems to be working his way back steadily with smaller tournaments, presumably fully fit but not quite back to best, will presumably play Indian Wells which would be his first tournament at that level for quite some while.

Arguably the biggest story in the womens' is the return of Serena Williams. Interesting tournament for her to make her post-baby comeback in, as she boycotted the event for 14 years due to fans' behaviour in 2001 (which had a racial element).

Meanwhile, in the mens' qualifying, Pospisil is the top seed and Cameron Norrie is up against Christian Harrison. I don't see Federer winning *both* Indian Wells and Miami this year and think one of Zverev, Kyrgios or Dimitrov will win one of these tournaments.

Liam Broady knocked out in first round of qualifying.

Cameron Norrie defeats Christian Harrison 62 63 and now faces 32 year old Sergiy Stakhovsky in the second round (currently ranked #118 but with a career high of #31 back in 2010).

Novak Djokovic is seeded 10th at Indian Wells Opener, and is at Indian Wells and reported to be "working out". His issue is in the elbow. He has had minor surgery so maybe that has fixed the problem. Seems early to be back but time will tell.

Nice draw for Federer.

Nightmare for Djokovic - Nishikori/Del po/Cilic/Zverev/Federer.

Men's main draw is out. Delpo and Djoko in the bottom half. Djoko, delpo, Nishi and A Zverev all in the same quarter. Thiem, Dimi, Fognini and Kyrgios among those in Fed's top half.
   All the top women are playing plus Serena who could meet Venus quite early on.

Guest82 wrote:Nice draw for Federer.

Nightmare for Djokovic - Nishikori/Del po/Cilic/Zverev/Federer.

In my view the draw for Djokovic is inconsequential.  He needs to find out whether or not his elbow has healed / can sustain the rigours of elite level tennis.  He will either find out during practice or during one of these matches.  Of course he also needs to have match fitness / tournament fitness which is something that is dependent on how well he can trust his elbow to put it through its paces.

I doubt whether he will be fully match fit and strongly doubt he will be tournament fit.  However, his main concern I expect is a testing out of his elbow. Some people say that having had a particularly injury for a long time, there is also a psychological hurdle to be overcome.

No name Bertie wrote:

Guest82 wrote:Nice draw for Federer.

Nightmare for Djokovic - Nishikori/Del po/Cilic/Zverev/Federer.

In my view the draw for Djokovic is inconsequential.  He needs to find out whether or not his elbow has healed / can sustain the rigours of elite level tennis.  He will either find out during practice or during one of these matches.  Of course he also needs to have match fitness / tournament fitness which is something that is dependent on how well he can trust his elbow to put it through its paces.

I doubt whether he will be fully match fit and strongly doubt he will be tournament fit.  However, his main concern I expect is a testing out of his elbow.  Some people say that having had a particularly injury for a long time, there is also a psychological hurdle to be overcome.

With the tour as it is at the moment, if Djokovic can be 80% of the player he was two years ago, then he'd probably win, or at least contend for, most things.

As the AO proved, he's still capable of beating some good players when not ready. I think he will be looking at quarter or semi finals here. Obviously that draw hasn't helped.

Djokovic needs to be 100% of an "injury free" 2018 Djokovic, even if this is an 80% of a 2016 Djokovic.  

With the elbow, as long as it doesn't cause him pain, or further damage, he has to be using it freely - I don't think he would otherwise be able to "protect" it during an elite level tournament.  Maybe if he had weak opponents in the first few rounds this could be possible. but eventually he will have to be playing uninhibited tennis.  I am not sure whether there needs to be some change in technique in order to prevent recurrence of the injury if there is some now ingrained permanent weakness to the elbow, but I don't think he can be playing with an unhealed injury.

In my view he will either fully recover and then be competitive, or he won't recover and then would have to retire from elite level competitive tennis.  

In my view, this tournament will show that either Djokovic has recovered fully from his injury and that he perhaps just lacks match / tournament fitness or that he hasn't recovered from his injury. So for Djokovic I don't see the interest as being whether or not he wins this tournament, but rather whether or not he has fully recovered from his long term elbow injury.

Del Potro is a bad draw for Djokovic as he may be in form and he would want to have built up more slowly. Nishikori could be OK because Nishikori is not back to his best and is up and down at the moments in his results.

Well done to Cameron Norrie on qualifying for his first Masters event. He beat Sergiy Stakhovsky comfortably in straight sets to enter the First Round draw and in the live rankings he has now broken into the top 100. In the First Round he will face fellow qualifier Taro Daniel and should he win that he would face none other than Novak Djokovic in the Second Round.

Yes excellent win for Cameron Norrie against Stakhovsky 64 62.  He seems to have come from nowhere, and this year could be his breakthrough season in registering on the British tennis public consciousness.

Today the Indian Wells Masters tournament starts properly with a set of first round matches (East Coast time). I think Cameron Norrie is due to play tomorrow (?), while the seeds enter in the second round due to begin Saturday 10th presumably (?).

I see that Sharapova lost again at IW. Her comeback - possibly to the delight of some - has been far from spectacular.
   Norrie has a winnable match although another Briton - Heather Watson - faces Azashrieker.

Three out of four British players playing in the singles tournament lose their first match proper of the Indian Wells tournament. Norrie (3-6 6-1 1-6) and Watson (4-6 2-6) lose in the first round and Konta (6-7 4-6) loses in the second round (after a bye in the first round). Kyle Edmund, like Konta, has a first round bye.

Konta, to me, has been over-ranked for a couple of seasons and may well slip down the rankings this year. Pity Norrie lost. Four teenagers, including 17-yr-old Canadian Felix A-A, are thru to the second round.
   Fed faces a guy today who is one of the few to have a winning h-to-h against him, albeit just 1-0.

Fed first match suspended thru rain and they will have to finish today. Fed 6-2, 2-2 up. Another awful result for Dimi - beaten by Verdasco. Serena thru to meet Venus in third round.

Kyle Edmund perhaps showing he is not quite match ready after a lengthy period off injured, loses his first competitive match back 6-4 6-4 to Dudi Sela.

Djokovic loses the first set on a tie breaker (7-3) to Taro Daniel (ranked 109).

Djokovic first to break in the second set and consolidates to go 5-3 in the second set. But is his elbow holding up? Has he over-extended himself, are his elbow tendons strong enough to last? Only time will tell ...

Djokovic wins the second set 6-4.  So Djokovic will either now go on to find a match fitness / match readiness and then on from strength to strength or will suffer some sort of reaction.

Djokovic loses the third set at 6-1. He will need to play and become match fit, before the next slam.

It looks like Djokovic is f&cked. He loses the last five games to lose the third set 6-1, and the match 6-7 6-4 1-6 to Taro Daniel.

laverfan wrote:Djokovic loses the third set at 6-1. He will need to play and become match fit, before the next slam.

The manner of the performance suggests he over-extended himself in the second set and suffered an elbow reaction in the third. This looks like a reoccurrence of his injury. I would be surprised (and relieved) if this was just a question of match fitness.

Yes, it did look like his elbow was causing issues, and some issues with his movement too. I hope he comes back stronger.

The BBC are quoting Djokovic as saying that he just felt weird on court and was unable to gain any rhythm.  But I am not sure - because he played well in the first set, lost the tie-breaker, then upped his game in the second for the break, and then after going 1-1 in the third, lost the next five games.  Djokovic said he was not expecting to make Indian Wells after surgery but his recovery was tremendously quick and so was able to make this tournament.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/43367239

ps I imagine that if he has had his arm in a sling for a few weeks, he may have lost muscle mass in his arm, which would need to be built up again. Anyway time will tell, except this performance provides no evidence he is over his elbow issue.

A Zverev beaten but Cilic and delpo thru. Big shock in the women's with a 16-year-old beating Kvitova who was on a 14-match winning streak.
   Fed thru, but said it was quite different playing in the day than at night. Well, he's got another day match today, as he's second on court.
   Djoko said he was not in pain which is good. But he committed around 60 UEs which aint so good.

Just watched the tiebreak in the Fed match from yesterday. Rog was 5-2 up then 6-5 down before winning.

Thiem retires injured - Cuevas through.
Chung beats Berdych 6-4 6-4
Coric thrashes Bautista Agut 6-1 6-3

Fed won 17 points in a row at one stage mid-way through his second match. No Thiem or Berdych to face now as both are out. Should make the semis and keep number one.
   Venus bt Serena in straights, while Kerber and Caroline W both came thru.

I see that Cilic was beaten in the round of 32 by Kohlschreiber and in straight sets (64 64) and Monfils retired injured while losing 6-2 3-1 to Pierre-Hugues Herbert. Raonic has made it to the "round of 16".

With Cilic gone, it's looking good for delpo in the bottom half of the draw. A Fed-delpo final? It's possible.
   Caroline W is out so can't get back to number one yet.

Federer is facing Chung in the quarter final, and if he gets past him might be facing Coric (or Anderson) in the semi final.  

When Chung & Coric first broke onto the scene about two years ago I thought these two could be future stars of men's tennis, but both hit a ceiling and seemed to stagnate.  

Chung seems now to be back rising up the rankings and I don't think his semi-final at the AO2018 is going to be a flash in the pan.  Possibly Federer will have too much nous for Chung this time round (quarter final).  Last time these two played Chung, with blistered feet, was unable to provide an opposition and retired.  

Another up and coming player is Taylor Fritz and he played well against Coric in the Round of 16, but Coric pulled through in three sets.

ps I should note the importance of conditions. Coric said that when the wind picked up he found it hard to adjust, which suggests that the younger players have yet to gain the experience of such conditions.

In the first set of Coric's QF with Anderson, the young whipper snapper was apparently blown away by Anderson's heavy serving in the first set, losing it 6-2. However, Coric is currently a break up in the second set.

Coric came thru after a third-set tiebreak while Fed beat Chung in straights to guarantee number one for at least another two weeks.
   Think I'm right in saying that if Fed wins IW he'll be top after Miami whatever he does there. 
   Surprisingly, Kerber smashed in her match.

Wanted to put in a brief word for tournament director Tommy Haas who announced his retirement from playing - see http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/43427062. Haas was a great all-court player to watch, a bit of an underachiever and somewhat unlucky with injuries earlier in his career, but he pushed Federer hard in a few matches I seem to recall.

Federer v Coric semi-final should be good. Del Potro to get through the other half?

It looks like Federer has young Chung's measure. Chung put up a great effort in the first set and early in the second set, but he was poor at saving break-points, and ran out of belief / conviction at the end. Disappointing, but he is still on an upward arc. Windy conditions may also have played their part with Federer being better at handling all conditions.

Next young whipper snapper for Federer - Coric.

Good win for Raonic, over 3 sets against Querrey to reach semi-final - the big-serving Canadian back in business finally after his injury lay-off. Meanwhile Del Potro is down a break in the 1st set against Kohlscreiber.

Just caught highlights of the Federer v Chung match.

Was amazed (though I guess I really shouldn’t be !!) at the aggressive hitting, urgency, and general reactions and speed around the court from Federer.

Chung is clearly a hard-hitting, fast player with a promising future. But - this time at least - he actually looked a little fatigued by the end of the breadstick set.

I think it’s easy for us to forget just how mentally draining it must be for those players who are coming to the main Tour just recently from the Challengers (and previously, the Futures too) when they are tested by the vast experience and guile of the World No. 1.

Even when some of the youngsters do score a rare win against him, the effort involved can often end up taking a lot of them.

Chung played the first set fairly well, but Federer never looked back after the break to take the first set. We have the three of big four out, and if they were in the mix, the #NextGen players would have an even tougher journey to the top.

Tough one for Coric today. Raonic v delpo could be a long match.
   Big story in the women's is the rise of Kasatkina who has beaten Stephens, Wozniaki, Kerber and now Venus to reach the final - that's quite a haul.

Looking at the results of the women's tournament - there seems to be a revolution going on, with two youngsters 20 year old Japanese player Naomi Osaki and 20 year old Russian Daria Kasatkina ripping through the established order to get to the final.

As I have previously mentioned I have stopped watching the women's game some time ago because I personally can't take all the shrieking and grunting. I just hope these two are not shriekers.

Highlights...

Kasatkina vs Williams

Osaka vs Halep

Federer’s 2018 streak looks in serious danger ..... Coric takes the first set, giving himself a strong chance to end the run here with a big statement triumph over the maestro.

Can’t see the match ......... is there anything troubling Federer (I mean, apart from Coric !)...... ?
He’s now lost serve right at the start of the second.

Coric goes 0-40 down on serve but comes through to consolidate his break in the second set.  I can't see the game either, but this looks like a fair battle.  Maybe a younger player is going to finally beat Federer.  Coric must have been given a huge boost in confidence in beating heavy serving Kevin Anderson 2-6 6-4 7-6 in the previous round.  However, if Federer can get the break back we might expect Coric to tire (given his previous round travail).  

Even if Federer loses this will represent his best start to the season ever.  However I am sure Federer will be focused on trying to turn this tie around.

Coric saves yet another break point to go 4-2 up, 7-5 4-2. It looks like Coric is a fighter and maybe he has the mental strength to go all the way.

Maybe a combination of an off-colour Fed and an on-fire Coric.

These days happen. All credit to the youngster

No he hasn't won yet - it was 7-5 4-2 but it is now 7-5 4-4, Federer has finally broken Coric so it is back on serve in the second set. Federer has been pressurising Coric's serve in this set.

Federer breaks Coric's serve twice in a row to take the second set 6-4. Federer had been pressurising Coric's serve in the second set for a while before he actually broke him. Coric had held strong saving break point after break point, but Federer just kept the pressure up.

At the moment the momentum is with Federer. One set all. Final set.

This is a weird match.

Having just levelled it up, Federer has dropped serve yet again, right at the start of the decider - and this time, to love .......

He must have broken back because I checked when it was 1-1. Currently its on serve 3-2 final set. It could be fairly windy - it has been windy in a few previous matches and players have said it becomes difficult to play in. Anyway Coric has not given up nor has Federer. So this must be Federer's most competitive match so far this tournament.