Indian Wells - the next grand slam
Indian Wells, ATP 1000 event (first of the year)
(pictured left to right: Querrey, Rochus, Isner)Seeds:
1. Nadal
2. Federer
3. Djokovic
4. Murray
5. Davydenko - pulled out before the tournament started
6. Del Potro
7. Roddick
8. Simon - Ljubicic
9. Monfils - beat by Isner
10. Verdasco
11. Tsonga - beat by (22)Andreev
12. Ferrer
13. Blake - (17) Gonzalez
14. Nalbandian
15. Robredo
16. Wawrinka
My Pick: Nadal
Underdog Pick: Robredo
If you're a tennis fan, which I'm guessing you are unless you clicked the wrong url and got stuck here... you have to be happy with how this tournament has developed.
Not only by results but in terms of actual play, it seems like for this time of the year we have a very high level of tennis. Here are some interesting results thus far:
Isner d. Monfils - 6-7(5) 6-1 6-4
Great job John. I have been a fan of Isner for the last couple years ever since we played against Georgia in college tennis. Nice guy, big game, tons of potential.
Del Potro d. Sweeting - 6-7(6) 6-3 6-1
Sweeting went to Alabama to be a hitting partner for the US Davis Cup team, then gets the WC into Indian Wells and beats Odesnik in the first round and has battle with the #6 ranked man in the world. Those of you wondering about American tennis may be interested in this turn of events.
Chardy d. Fish - 7-6(4) 7-6(1)
No suprise, Chardy has had some great results this year so far and Fish can lose to anybody. If your really taken back by this result please leave a comment and tell me why!
Querrey d. Stepanek - 6-4 6-3
If your not suprised by this result, tell me why! I like Sam and he's got a big game and big potential but Stepanek has been one of the hottest players in the world the last couple months. To get beaten that badly by Querrey is a little suprising, maybe all of the tennis caught up with him.
Ljubicic d. Simon - 6-3 7-6(3)
Ljubicic catches a break with Ancic defaulting at 3-3 in the round before and rides it a couple rounds! He faces Andreev in the next round whom he has beaten the last 3 times they've met. His ride will end after that at the hands of Robredo or Murray however.
Robredo d. Cilic - 7-5 7-6(2)
If you've read my blog before then you know this isn't a suprise... but yet another great result by Mr. Robredo. Now to take out Murray.
Murray, Federer, Nadal, Djokovic - cruising
Gonzalez d. Blake - 7-5 6-1
The coin toss landed on tails for Blake early this tournament.
Verdasco d. Gasquet - 6-3 6-2
From a talent standpoint this is a very suprising result. From a mental standpoint, this is what was expected. Verdasco is a fighter who is hungry to put his name a little higher on the peg board of tennis... Gasquet on the other hand is pretty content with his career and is going to hover around his current ranking until he retires or gets injured or somebody decides to give him a win.
Great matchups coming:
Federer vs. Gonzalez
Some were worried about the Fed vs. Karlovic but he simply returns too well. Gonzalez in my opinion is his first scare in this tournament. Federer has beaten Gonzales 11 times and only lost once, but of their 12 meetings 9 have gone into extra innings. I'm putting my money on Federer but we'll see how his health is here with this test.
Murray vs. Robredo
Murray wins the talent war here... but Robredo is a fighter. I realize I'm going against the grain here, but I'm taking Robredo (who has won both times they've met) to win. Murray can surely find an excuse to lose can't he?
Querrey vs. Wawrinka
Could go either way, I expect a tight match here.
Safin vs. Isner
Safin has had a pretty down year. With Isner having two great wins so far this tournament and everything to gain by this win... I'll pick Isner with the upset.
If you get a chance to watch this tournament... Do it! also you can follow the live scores at bnpparibasopen.com or click HERE for the updated singles draw
8 Comments:
Something must be very misleading with that photo because Isner isn't that much taller than Querrey unless he shot up in the past year! In any case, great win by Isner over Monfils and Querrey over the Worm. Can't wait to hopefully be able to watch Safin-Isner. For the long term, things can get really interesting if Verdasco can keep up the form he showed in Australia. Thanks for the updates Jason!
I feel like Simon has slipped a notch. I don't think he's as steady now as he was at the end of last year. I wonder if the Davis Cup loss got to him (he lost both his matches against the Czech Republic).
Nice pick Jason! Isner defeats Safin 6-4, 6-4.
Wow, Isner on a fricken roll, I'm really impressed with both of his last two wins. I gotta pull for an American serve and volleyer any day of the week!
Nice write up Jay
Thanks for the feedback gents. Fantastic win for Big John. One of the biggest jokes on the tour is any time Isner is listed under 6'11. He's every bit of 7' tall, and everyone knows it... but I asked him about why they publish 6'7 etc. for him and he said he HATES people thinking he's freakishly tall (though he is).
I'll be cheering for big John against everyone in the world other than Somdev (or Treat).
Querrey vs. Wawrinka was quite close, and really could have gone either way. Third set tiebreak. Wawrinka started holding his serves better and didn't let Querrey dominate him as in set 1.
Robredo is the one who retires so Murray advances without trouble.
Gonzalez gave Fed a little scare winning a set off Fed, but Fed broke twice in the third to get him into the next round.
Hmmm, maybe that photo is more accurate than I thought. I never realized Isner was so much taller than Querrey. Can't believe you would actually root for a UVA guy, Jason. I'm very disappointed in you. ;)
Oops. Make that a UGA guy, can't believe you'd root for a UGA guy. Haha!
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