Djokovic and Nadal On Course for Semi-Final Meeting in Indian Wells

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Since my last post both Djokovic and Nadal had two more wins each. Djokovic over Kohlschreiber and Lopez and Nadal over Verdasco and Zverev. Djokovic defeated Kohlschreiber 7-5, 7-5 which meant he would face the player who he had to pull out against in Dubai due to an eye infection.

I guess he wanted to make a statement in that match because he schooled Lopez 6-3, 6-3 in a devastating display of baseline mastery. Nadal, on the other hand, defeated Verdasco 6-0, 7-6(9) in a rematch of the Australian Open first round this year.

Nadal did well to win that second set tiebreak against a dangerous Verdasco but against Zverev he got lucky when Zverev choked at 7-6(8), 0-6, 5-3 and 40-30 by missing an easy volley to the open court.

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I was very impressed with Zverev nonetheless. He is only 18 years old and this will be a good learning experience for him. It will hurt a lot because he was on the brink of the biggest win of his career but in the end it will make him stronger.

I liked everything I saw from this kid. He has a big game and was clutch in the first set tiebreak. Yes he choked at the end but that happens. Especially if you are only 18 years old and playing against a 14-time slam champ.

I think he has a very bright future ahead and I like his game too. In the top half quarterfinal matches which will be played tomorrow Djokovic will play Tsonga while Nadal plays Nishikori. Tsonga defeated Thiem 6-3, 6-2 but Thiem still did well by defeating Sock in the previous round.

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You’d expect Djokovic to get by Tsonga who he has beaten 10 times out of their last 11 meetings. As for Nadal against Nishikori that will be interesting because Nadal seems to be getting better but of course Nishikori can beat him.

I hope Nadal wins anyway because I’d like to see a Djokodal semi-final.

  • Elsewhere in the Draw

In the bottom half both Murray and Wawrinka is gone after Goffin defeated him. Goffin also won already today againt Cilic so he is the first player in the semis. The quarterfinal that still has to be played is between Monfils and Raonic.

Obviously I favor Raonic there who I also favor to make the final. But who knows. Looking forward to tomorrow’s tennis!

  • Highlights

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Djokovic Advances as Murray Falls in Indian Wells

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Just a quick update from about what has happened so far in Indian Wells. The world number one Djokovic dropped another set in his first match against Frantangelo who I’ve never seen play before.

He ended up winning 2-6, 6-1, 6-2 after a slow start against a player who was probably playing the match of his life. It was a bit concerning to see Djokovic losing the opening set after dropping two sets against Kukushkin in Davis Cup as well.

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But he opened the bakery in the second set and in the end I was very impressed with how he came back. I guess it just took a little while for him to adjust because the old Djokovic is back and he will probably win the tournament now.

Then yesterday Murray got upset by Del Bonis who came back from a break down in the third set to defeat Murray 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(3). Unlike Djokovic, Murray didn’t have to the quality to come back from a set down and a slow start.

  • Elsewhere in the Draw

Nadal advanced to the third round as well after a tough test from Muller to win 6-2, 2-6, 6-4. He now plays Verdasco in a rematch of that Australian Open first round which Verdasco won.

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Stan also won yesterday and is probably the favorite to make the final in the bottom half now although I’m sure Raonic and Berdych will have something to say about that.

Today there will be some good matches with Djokovic in action again against Kohlschreiber, Thiem against Sock in the battle for the big forehands, and Nadal against Verdasco.

Enjoy!

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Indian Wells Draw Analysis

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[1]DJOKOVIC, Novak SRB vs BYE
QUALIFIER vs GABASHVILI, Teymuraz RUS
ISTOMIN, Denis UZB vs KUDLA, Denis USA
BYE vs [27]KOHLSCHREIBER, Philipp GER

[18]LOPEZ, Feliciano ESP vs BYE
GULBIS, Ernests LAT vs GARCIA-LOPEZ, Guillermo ESP
BEDENE, Aljaz GBR vs YOUZHNY, Mikhail RUS
BYE vs [16]BAUTISTA AGUT, Roberto ESP

[19]THIEM, Dominic AUT vs BYE
QUALIFIER vs QUALIFIER
QUALIFIER vs MONACO, Juan ARG
BYE vs [25]SOCK, Jack USA

[31] QUERREY, Sam USA vs BYE
VESELY, Jiri CZE vs DE BAKKER, Thiemo NED
QUALIFIER va. [WC] McDONALD, Mackenzie USA
BYE vs [7]TSONGA, Jo-Wilfried FRA

—–

[4]NADAL, Rafael ESP vs BYE
MULLER, Gilles LUX vs ESTRELLA BURGOS, Victor DOM
QUALIFIER vs vs VERDASCO, Fernando ESP
BYE vs [25] KLIZAN, Martin SVK

[23]DIMITROV, Grigor BUL vs BYE
DODIG, Ivan CRO vs ZVEREV, Alexander GER
[WC] DONALDSON, Jared USA vs POSPISIL, Vasek CAN
BYE vs [16]SIMON, Gilles FRA

[9]ISNER, John USA vs BYE
YOUNG, Donald USA vs SEPPI, Andreas ITA
ROSOL, Lukas CZE vs MANNARINO, Adrian FRA
BYE vs [19]PAIRE, Benoit FRA

[30]JOHNSON, Steve USA vs BYE
MILLMAN, John AUS vs QUALIFIER
KUKUSHKIN, Mikhail KAZ vs MUNOZ DE LA NAVA, Daniel ESP
BYE vs vs [5]NISHIKORI, Kei JPN

=====

[8] GASQUET, Richard vs BYE
MAHUT, Nicolas FRA vs QUALIFIER
SCHWARTZMAN, Diego ARG vs HAASE, Robin NED
BYE vs [26]DOLGOPOLOV, Alexandr UKR

[20]TROICKI, Viktor SRB vs BYE
GROTH, Sam AUS vs MAYER, Leonardo ARG
QUALIFIER vs LAJOVIC, Dusan SRB
BYE vs [12]CILIC, Marin CRO

[15]GOFFIN, David BEL vs BYE
[WC] TIAFOE, Frances USA vs [WC] FRITZ, Taylor USA
EDMUND, Kyle GBR vs PELLA, Guido ARG
BYE vs [22] CUEVAS, Pablo URU

[28] CHARDY, Jeremy FRA vs BYE
QUALIFIER/LL vs KUZNETSOV, Andrey RUS
MARCHENKO, Illya UKR vs [PR]TURSUNOV, Dmitry RUS
BYE vs [3]WAWRINKA, Stan SUI

—–

[6]BERDYCH, Thomas CZE vs BYE
QUALIFIER vs [WC] DEL POTRO, Juan Martin ARG
CORIC, Borna CRO vs POUILLE, Lucas FRA
BYE vs [29] BELLUCCI, Thomaz BRA

[17]TOMIC, Bernard AUS vs BYE
RAM, Rajeev USA vs QUALIFIER
ALMAGRO, Nicolas ESP vs CERVANTES, Inigo ESP
BYE vs [12]RAONIC, Milos CAN

[23]MONFILS, Gael FRA vs BYE
DONSKOY, Evgeny RUS vs CARRENO BUSTA, Pablo ESP
CHUNG, Hyeon KOR vs RAMOS-VINOLAS, Albert ESP
BYE vs [29]KYRGIOS, Nick AUS

[32]SOUSA, Joao POR vs BYE
GIRALDO, Santiago COL vs DELBONIS, Federico ARG
DZUMHUR, Damir BIH vs GRANOLLERS, Marcel ESP
BYE vs [2]MURRAY, Andy GBR

Draw

 

Hi, folks. As promised, I’m back with the Indian Wells draw. This past weekend there was of course Davis Cup and I just caught some of Serbia’s match against Kazakhstan which was quite interesting because Serbia found themselves down 1-2 after the doubles after Djokovic lost the doubles with Zimonjic.

Troicki had also lost his singles match which meant Serbia was in trouble. Especially when Djokovic also went two sets to one down against Kukushkin. The courts were fast which suited Kukushkin while Djokovic was looking out of sorts.

But Djokovic pulled out the win in five sets and Troicki finished the job in the deciding rubber. Pretty cool stuff. After pulling out of Dubai with eye problems I guess Djokovic was not at his consistent best yet.

The important thing is that he won that match against Kukushkin which helped Serbia get the win and that in turn will give Djokovic a boost for Indian Wells. I don’t think there is anything to be concerned about from a fan’s perspective.

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Djokovic is held to such high standards that when he shows the slightest weakness it is all of a sudden a big thing. He still hasn’t lost a singles match since the round robin in London last year so he is hardly having problems.

As far as the draw in Indian Wells goes you have Djokovic and Nadal in the top half and Stan and Murray in the bottom. Djokovic has a pretty tough draw with Bautista-Agut or Lopez in the fourth round and Thiem or Tsonga in the quarters.

Nadal is struggling so who knows who will come through in the second quarter. I’d prefer it is him so Djokovic can possibly extend the head-to-head lead. The third quarter where Stan is doesn’t look all that strong and he is probably the favorite to come through.

The bottom quarter is stacked with Berdych, Kyrgios, Murray, Raonic, and Tomic. Djokovic remains the man to beat though and it will be interesting to see if he wins a fourth Indian Wells/Miami double this year.

Well, that’s a wrap from me talk soon!

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