I can’t say that I’m awfully surprised Djokovic raised his level for the final to embarrass Raonic 6-2, 6-0. I thought he might do that which is why I asked on Twitter before the match whether Djokovic would raise his game.

He did it in the Doha final after what were a few performances which were below his best, the same way he was below his best in Indian Wells before the final. Djokovic plays his best tennis when it is most appropriate to do so.

It was appropriate for him to do so in the final against a player who has received a lot of hype recently. Some people actually thought Raonic had a legit shot to win so it was important for Djokovic to destroy these people’s hopes utterly.

This is something which I personally enjoy very much about Djokovic. It is like he gives the haters hope by saving his best tennis and then he devastates them with a masterful performance. This is how you dominate and become the greatest.

Djokovic’s level is beyond belief. For the ones who still don’t believe that he is playing the highest level of tennis ever seen, that message is becoming clearer every day. And the sooner they accept it the better for them.

I guess the haters got their hopes up after Djokovic pulled out of Dubai and lost sets against Kukushkin and Frantangelo. Maybe next time they will know better. Djokovic is here to stay and he only has one thing on his mind.

His level is also higher than in 2015, which is astonishing in itself. The fact that he beat Tsonga and Nadal in straight sets without playing his best tennis is another astonishing fact. Not to mention that he almost double bageled one of the biggest servers in tennis.

Djokovic’s returning was just scary. He made handling the massive serve of Raonic look like child’s play and broke him almost at will. Raonic took an MTO at the beginning of the second set again but probably to come to terms with the shock of Djokovic abusing his serve like it was a joke.

I feel privileged just to witness this level of tennis. Djokovic did it in the Doha final, he did it in Melbourne against Federer, and he did it again against Raonic. He is creating a gap between him and the rest of the field which pretty much allows him to win whatever he wants.

With this title Djokovic now holds the record for most Indian Wells titles at 5, surpassing Federer’s 4. He also ties Nadal for most Masters titles at 27 and it is just a question of time before he holds that record by himself.

Another crazy stat is that he opened an 8000+ point lead in the rankings over second-ranked Murray, something that has never been done before. Just utter dominance.

I have to say I feel sorry for the hardcore Fedfanatics who still can’t accept Djokovic as Federer’s successor. We are witnessing the best thing that has ever happened in tennis and they are missing it due to their stubborn bias.

Oh well. Their loss.

The Miami draw was just made and the potential quarterfinal matchups are as follows:

Djokovic v Berdych
Federer v Ferrer

Nadal v Wawrinka
Nishikori v Murray

Federer is back of course and I am not sure it was wise for him to come back in Miami. At first, he was going to come back during the clay court season which I thought made sense but now he is travelling to another continent for one event on hardcourt which doesn’t favor his knee and where he hasn’t been very successful historically.

A fourth Indian Wells/Miami double incoming?

And aside from those issues, he could very well play Del Potro in his first match if Del Potro defeats Pella. And we all know how dangerous Del Potro can be, even if he only came back recently.

Don’t get me wrong. I am glad Federer is back and I hope he makes semis but that will be a tall order given the surface, the fact that he won’t be match fit, and his draw.

Nadal has a tough draw with Raonic in his fourth round and Wawrinka in the quarters. Murray, on the other hand, has a pretty decent draw and I can see him making semis at least.

I am hoping for a Djokovic vs Federer semi in the top half and a Nadal/Wawrinka vs Bautista Agut/Tsonga semi in the bottom half.

Looking forward to another exciting tourney!

🎾

Since the last time I posted, Djokovic defeated Tsonga 7-6(2), 7-6(2) and Nadal defeated Nishikori 6-4, 6-3 which meant we had the semi-final I hoped for. Tsonga played some unbelievable tennis to take Djokovic to two tiebreaks.

As you can see Djokovic easily won the tiebreaks but Tsonga didn’t make his life easy. In fact, he made it harder than Nadal made Djokovic’s life. Tsonga has a huge forehand and twice on match points in the second set he hit clean winners from that side.

And it wasn’t easy shots. The first one was particularly difficult because there was very little room for error. When Tsonga is on his game he is still by far one of the most dangerous players on tour and I thought Djokovic did a great job of shutting him out in the tiebreaks.

Djokovic has not been at his very best so far in Indian Wells but he is still winning his matches in straight sets against quality opposition. In the other quarterfinal, Nadal defeated an extremely overrated Nishikori.

#Djokovic calls himself for touching a #Tsonga out ball. Chair umpire didn’t see. Sportsmanship barometer: HIGH https://t.co/lDFdST3Cdu

— BNP Paribas Open (@BNPPARIBASOPEN) March 18, 2016

Nishikori was up 3-1 and 40-15 on Nadal’s serve in the opening set with a very makeable forehand pass to go up a double break and put the first set to bed. But he was tentative and dumped the pass into the net.

Against Nadal you just can’t afford to miss those kinds of opportunities because that is like telling him you don’t want to win. Nadal went on to hold serve and allowed Nishikori only one more game in the set.

Although I thought Nadal did a great job of defeating Nishikori 6-4, 6-3 it just showed me once again how overrated Nishikori is. I mean the guy is #6 in the world but he is just miles behind the top 5.

He has the game but mentally I just don’t rate him and I don’t think he will ever win a slam.

Well, I thought Nadal had shown some promise again by defeating Nishikori but there was no way in my mind that he was going to beat Djokovic. Nadal now hasn’t won a set against Djokovic in their last seven meetings on hard court.

And the 7-6(5) scoreline in the first set was the first tiebreak in all of those losses. Again, I can’t say that Djokovic was at his very best. Not anything close to his level in Dubai or Australia anyway.

But he is so damn good that even his B game is good enough to beat everyone else in straight sets. Djokovic was not as clinical as he usually is but when it mattered most he won the point again. At 5-4, Nadal had a set point but in his usual clutch way, Djokovic saved it.

Watch Stadium 1 give @DjokerNole a champion’s send off as he exits from court following a #BNPPO16 SF win #Djokovichttps://t.co/YkSqqxuZke

— BNP Paribas Open (@BNPPARIBASOPEN) March 19, 2016

Then in the tiebreak, Djokovic should have been up 5-1 at the turn but left the door open for Nadal. At 5-2, he also allowed Nadal back to 5-5 but just as you think Nadal has found a way back Djokovic shut the door right in his face.

It really is quite an enjoyable sight. It must sting Nadal that he had a set point in the first set and ended up losing by a fairly routine scoreline, 7-6(5), 6-2. Nadal has now lost 10 of his last 11 matches against Djokovic.

Nadal will take heart from his performance in Indian Wells though and try to make a serious run on clay again. It will also be interesting to see how he does on the slow courts of Miami where I hear Federer will be back as well.

When the draw came out the finalist in the bottom half was always going to be decided between Murray, Stan, and Raonic. In the end, Raonic took advantage of quite a favorable draw without having to face either Stan or Murray.

Yesterday he defeated Goffin 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 and that was also the first time he dropped a set. So he has been looking pretty good and now we will have the final that I hoped for at the Australian Open this year.

#Raonic and #Goffin play the point of the… tournament (?!) here. But who wins it? Watch: https://t.co/XbjfNsC5eI

— BNP Paribas Open (@BNPPARIBASOPEN) March 19, 2016

Djokovic leads the head-to-head 5-0 and Raonic has only ever won one set against him so there doesn’t appear to be much hope for Raonic. Djokovic is not a good matchup for Raonic because he relies so heavily on his serve and Djokovic is the best returner of serve in history.

I’m very much looking forward to the contest anyway. It is always fun to see a great server up against a great returner. Raonic has also come a long way and if he wasn’t so plagued by injuries he would probably be top five by now.

He is a dangerous player with his huge serve, big forehand, and pretty clutch mentality. It should be another very enjoyable match!

🎾

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.

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.

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.

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!

🎾