Indian Wells 2012 - The Draw

http://www.atpworldtour.com/posting/2012/404/mds.pdf

Again, Federer seems to have the toughest draw as usual : Raonic, Davydenko, Delpo...

Nadal very easy as usual : Granollers, Dolgo, Lopez, Tsonga

Djoko bloody easy...for a change: Berdych being his toughest opponent (a joke).

And Murray the easiest: Scary Fish being his sole opponent.

I dunno, Anderson is no pushover....Big Kev just won his first title on Sunday. But agree about Fed, he's got his work court out. I hope Davy is fit to play properly, really enjoyed his recent form.

I think djokovic draw is tricky enough. Anderson, gasquet, berdych, Murray and possibly fed or nadal. Easy, really???

Murray draw is very nice though

slashermcguirk wrote:I think djokovic draw is tricky enough. Anderson, gasquet, berdych, Murray and possibly fed or nadal. Easy, really???

Murray draw is very nice though

You cannot count Murray/Nadal and Fed as part of the draw really.

The others are never going to trouble Djoko....not Kevin for sure....unless Djoko wants to rest for Miami. I doubt he will play both (IW and Miami intensely) this year. But with such a draw he will give it his best chance.

You've really got to feel for Fed, Davydenko, Del Boy - they must be sick of the sight of each other having already played so much this year.

I'd love to see one of Del Boy or DD drawn against the other members of the big 4 - and particularly Nadal with whom they both have very interesting rivalries (although to be fair 2011 was a big year for Del Boy vs. Nadal).

If those three (DD, Del Boy and Fed) are in the same Quarter for Miami I'll scream.

It's also tough that in the last 16 Ferrer at No. 5 has been drawn to face Del Boy at No. 9.

Otherwise the dominance of the top 4 make this a pretty dull draw on paper - let's see what happens in practice.

Tomic-Muller and Llodra-Gulbis can be interesting.

Cilic is a bit of an unknown after such a long injury break and losing to Nieminen at Delray Beach.

Given Fed's current form, it hardly matters who's in his draw. He can beat them all, even on the slower IW surface condition, imo. Actually, I think a tough draw is better than a soft draw. It'd set Roger up better tested, making the win feel more well-earned. The only real threat is Nadal. And that's not so much a technical but a mental issue for Roger. I do hope they'll meet and see if Roger current momentum can change anything to help him overcome a bad match-up.

Interesting now Djoko gets Murray 3 times in a row, the new conspiracy unfolds. I guess the tournament directors are happy to settle for fedal semis now that fedal finals seem harder to rig.

I respect their capitalistic instinct to get as much mileage as possible of the now nearly defunct fedal non-rivalry.

socal1976 wrote:Interesting now Djoko gets Murray 3 times in a row, the new conspiracy unfolds.

Yes, the odds on that are staggering

socal1976 wrote:Interesting now Djoko gets Murray 3 times in a row, the new conspiracy unfolds. I guess the tournament directors are happy to settle for fedal semis now that fedal finals seem harder to rig.

I respect their capitalistic instinct to get as much mileage as possible of the now nearly defunct fedal non-rivalry.

I hope they are just doing this so they can stop suspicion. Then they can get back to "fixing" for the slams.... ha ha ha.

JuliusHMarx wrote:

socal1976 wrote:Interesting now Djoko gets Murray 3 times in a row, the new conspiracy unfolds.

Yes, the odds on that are staggering

Indeed. Obviously the remoteness of the odds against him getting Federer then not getting Federer make a set up clear.

let's be honest, draws mean little nowadays, as the top 4 make the semis of nearly all events, and the QFs of every one. still looking at the likely QF opponents for each of them, Nadal probably has the toughest opponent in Tsonga, while Murray undoubtedly has the easiest (Fish hasn't done anything for a while, and Isner is a good draw for Murray). Federer has Ferrer and Del Potro, neither of which trouble him, while Berdych won't beat Djokovic. So the only upset I can see is from Tsonga vs Nadal.

The rest is pretty much irrelevant, though it's interesting to see that Murray has Stan in his part of the draw (a player he struggles against). Of course, Wawrinka could well not make it that far...

MFC, I think Mardy Fish is a legendary Andy slayer, wouldn't go as far as saying that Andy would have it easy against Mardy, a former finalist at this event.

just don't think he's in any sort of form right now though, and TBH I'd be surprised if he made it that far.

You don't want big Marinko taking one of the Q spots in your part of the draw - the man is on fire at the moment, currently on a 14-1 streak. Also a possible Mahut-Isner 3R match.

Federer definitely appears to have the tougher of the quarters.

How is Federer's draw tough? I mean the OP says it is but actually contains two players who spawned from an era he makes no bones pointing out as a weaker era with Raonic renowned chiefly for his serve on these god-damn awfulk slow courts of his so hardly going to benefit him and only Davydenko with his roots in circa 2006?

Also says Nadal has an easy draw yet Dolgopolov (a player he frequently lauds up) is in his quarter and Tsonga who has shown he can beat Fed at slams in there.

I tend to agree with MadforChelsea and believe the cream will come to the top come what may.

CaledonianCraig wrote:How is Federer's draw tough?

Well (and this is not a complaint) the ATP site is calling Federer's quarter 'tricky'.

Raonic is up and coming. Delpo just really beginning to find form - he ran Fed very close indeed at IW (though I just fancy the ever bustling Ferrer to nudge Delpo this week)

CaledonianCraig wrote:I tend to agree with MadforChelsea and believe the cream will come to the top come what may.

I agree with MFC too, but I would just add the caveat of best on the day. For instance you are pointing to Tsonga being tough - and yes I would agree with that if we weren't talking about such a slow court and the fact that Tsonga has just (temporarily I hope) lost a little form at the moment.

CC wrote: "the cream will come to the top come what may."

My point (above) precisely, but you said it better.

Murray/Djokovic for the win.

Harrison dismissing Cipolla 61 62. Could actually be a good challenge for Murray.

I do think those guys are progressing faster than we think...Not ready to beat Murray yet maybe but they will get there soon.

Tenez wrote:Harrison dismissing Cipolla 61 62. Could actually be a good challenge for Murray.

I do think those guys are progressing faster than we think...Not ready to beat Murray yet maybe but they will get there soon.

I watched the Raonic Harrison match recently, Raonic totally dismantled Harrison (and Harrison didn't play badly), that was the second of their matches I saw, and they really have a rivalry there already, it's really funny to see them, excellent match-up both in the game and personalities.

Their previous match was much more balanced and interesting. You could see that Raonic improved a lot whereas Harrison stayed where he was. I like them both, but they , esp Harrison, look like babies compared to the seasoned sharks at the top. Still, it's great to have the new crop pushing forward.

I think Harrison has a more fragile game so he is more likely to ups and downs but on top of his game....with confidence? He is going to be tough to handle.

Raonic however has a great physique and teh game is always going to be easier for him. If he gains in power, stamina and confidence he is going to be extremely difficult to beat.

He is the new Sampras to me.

nitb, tenez,

any idea about how the courts are playing? I haven't been able to see any bit as yet?

Not not a clue ROTLA. BUt like you I am curious whether there is a will to speed things up. Though I doubt IW and Miami will venture in having the poosibility of upsetting their top seeds.

raiders_of_the_lost_ark wrote:nitb, tenez,

any idea about how the courts are playing? I haven't been able to see any bit as yet?

They are traditonally slower type of hard-courts. Nole's bread&butter

Tenez wrote:I think Harrison has a more fragile game so he is more likely to ups and downs but on top of his game....with confidence? He is going to be tough to handle.

Raonic however has a great physique and teh game is always going to be easier for him. If he gains in power, stamina and confidence he is going to be extremely difficult to beat.

He is the new Sampras to me.

In what way is he a new Sampras to you: game wise or career wise?

noleisthebest wrote:

In what way is he a new Sampras to you: game wise or career wise?

Could be both. He seems really dedicated and has a lot between the ears. I don;t think he has much flair but that is an advantage at that level. Like Pete he will keep things simple...and deadly...I feel.

He has got a big frame but nowadays it seems one can last on tour with teh right training.