Indian Wells Day 9 (MOTD: Murray vs Del Potro)

by Silver Thu 07 Mar 2013, 10:46 pm

First topic message reminder :

It's time for the first MS1000 of the year! Red and I will be updating the opening post each day with previews of matches that catch the eye, as well as completed results and draws once the tournament moves along a little. If anyone wants to contribute, please do shoot one of us a PM!

96 players are in action with 32 seeds getting a bye into the second round, meaning that as Cogen highlighted, this is the first event since Wimbledon 2011 (at least) where all of the top players in the world are in action. A few of the narratives are the possibility that Federer could be overhauled by Murray at #2, Djokovic looking to continue his unbeaten start to the season, Nadal's triumphant return to hard courts, and numerous other players in reasonable nick - can they challenge for the title, or at least create a few upsets?

Prize: A cool $1 million ($5.4 million purse), and the invaluable 1000 ranking points.
Defending champion is Roger Federer, who defeated John Isner in the 2012 final.
Updated draw on the ATP site.

Preview from Red:

Andy Murray vs Juan Martin Del Potro

Andy Murray is on the hunt for his maiden Indian Wells title. He has reached the quarter final here, for the first time since he reached the final in 2009, but has a tough task to complete if he is to get his hands on the trophy. He is up against Argentine Juan Martin Del Potro in the quarters today, and if he gets through that he can potentially face Djokovic and Nadal in the next two rounds. In his Round 4 match Murray was not at his best, and looked irritated at the end of his tight 2 set win against Berlocq. Berlocq complained that Murray was taking too long between points, Murray complained that Berlocq was grunting too loudly, and well... I think Berlocq is not on Andy's Christmas card list anymore. With the world number 2 ranking potentially on the line if he reaches the final, Murray fans will be hoping a dismissal of Del Potro will help lighten his mood.

Juan Martin Del Potro has never won a Masters 100 title before. Will this be the week he breaks his duck? He has been on good form so far this tournament, an improvement to his relatively mediocre start to 2013. However he has not yet been tested, and with all respects to Bjorn Phau, a fixture against Andy Murray will be a real step up. In Dubai Del Potro tested Djokovic in both sets, but mentally let himself down in the key moments. Will the same happen here against the Scot? The Argentinian's record against Murray isn't great, and he will have to raise his game if he wants to have a chance of winning.

Key Tactics: Murray has a convincing 5-1 lead over Del Potro in the H2H, with Juan's only win coming on clay in 2009. Murray won the last two matches these two played (also both in 2009), and he will fancy himself to continue this run of wins and extend it today. For Del Potro to win, he must be extremely aggressive, in longer rallies Murray will coast. The higher bounce of the surface should suit Del Potro, as Murray's tactic of the low slice which has worked so well against him will be negated. Thus the onus is on Del Potro to force the play, and big serving and aggressive hitting will be his only chance of winning.

Predictions: I think Murray has too much variety and nous for Del Potro, I see the 2012 USO champion winning in straight sets: 6-3 6-4.

by kingraf Sun 10 Mar 2013, 12:27 am

all I'm saying is I was going to be a millionaire tennis player who has had a top 10 ranking with no Slam I wouldnt looking at fellow no-slammer Ferrer thinking 'I should have sold the Ferrari and got an intense coach who locks me in the cupboard"

Red- like I said earlier: even in his golden patch he never defeated The big 4 outside of Murray in AO. So his talent is by no means elite. But I think he was good enough to be a year-in-year-out top tenner

by **laverfan** Sun 10 Mar 2013, 12:28 am

Federer wins, too, SB. Wink

by YvonneT Sun 10 Mar 2013, 12:28 am

YvonneT wrote:
ryan86 wrote:When was the last time Murray played non-Davis Cup Mens Doubles with anyone other than his brother?
I think it was January last year in Brisbane with Baghdatis and prior to that Paris/Bercy in Dec 2011 with Hutchins, then Djokovic at Miami 2011 before that.

Just checked the ATP site & I was right Very Happy

He played with loads of different players prior to 2009. After that, really just Jamie & Ross plus the one pairing with Djokovic and one with Hewitt.

Anyway, only just noticed on the ATP site, they are promoting the return of the "Fab 4" in Indian Wells. Poor Ferrer Crying or Very sad

by summerblues Sun 10 Mar 2013, 12:41 am

laverfan wrote:Federer wins, too, SB.

Hehe, and he looked quite good doing it too. I do not mind Simon so much per se - even prefer him to Lorenzi - but ryan's idea of having all top names lose in that section looked enticing.

by summerblues Sun 10 Mar 2013, 12:45 am

YvonneT wrote:Anyway, only just noticed on the ATP site, they are promoting the return of the "Fab 4" in Indian Wells. Poor Ferrer

And on TennisTV's website their cover image features Nole, Roger and Rafa. Poor Andy Crying or Very sad

by LuvSports! Sun 10 Mar 2013, 12:49 am

Red wrote:
LuvSports! wrote:
For me mental strength is not crumbling under pressure (at times against the big 4 ferrer has done this imo) and going for your shots more and increasing the risk level, ala djokovic when he is mp's down.
I simply fundamentally disagree with this LS.
A couple of years ago when I was playing tennis tournaments and it was a big point in the match, I used to go for broke and try to blitz a winner with an extremely high risk shot... and I lost many (most) of these points; and frankly I think this is what is mentally weak.

Nowadays, instead of suddenly trying to go for incredibly risky 'nothing to lose' shots in key moments, I try to focus my mind, and tell myself to build the point up and use the tactics which have worked well earlier on in the match. This strategy and new found mental strength has worked much better in the key moments.

I know that you will disagree with me on this, but it will be interesting to see what your rebuttal is

A rebuttal to what you do in a match? It just sounds like you are being more defensive and I don't think you have quite grasped the point I was making. Do you think that is a winning post and you have successfully proven me wrong?
As I said we shall agree to disagree.

by User 774433 Sun 10 Mar 2013, 1:08 am

LuvSports! wrote:
Red wrote:
LuvSports! wrote:
For me mental strength is not crumbling under pressure (at times against the big 4 ferrer has done this imo) and going for your shots more and increasing the risk level, ala djokovic when he is mp's down.
I simply fundamentally disagree with this LS.
A couple of years ago when I was playing tennis tournaments and it was a big point in the match, I used to go for broke and try to blitz a winner with an extremely high risk shot... and I lost many (most) of these points; and frankly I think this is what is mentally weak.

Nowadays, instead of suddenly trying to go for incredibly risky 'nothing to lose' shots in key moments, I try to focus my mind, and tell myself to build the point up and use the tactics which have worked well earlier on in the match. This strategy and new found mental strength has worked much better in the key moments.

I know that you will disagree with me on this, but it will be interesting to see what your rebuttal is

A rebuttal to what you do in a match? It just sounds like you are being more defensive and I don't think you have quite grasped the point I was making. Do you think that is a winning post and you have successfully proven me wrong?
As I said we shall agree to disagree.

I'm suggesting that your idea that playing higher risk shots in key moments is 'mentally strong' is simply flawed. Read my post for why I think this is the case.

by Silver Sun 10 Mar 2013, 1:14 am

Wow. Only just got online to check the scores, the seeds are having a disaster today. Federer's the only one so far who's avoided either going out outright or being taken to three sets, what on earth is going on out in IW? The second round's meant to be nice and predictable for the top players Wink

Benneteau staring down the barrel as well, a set and a break down.

by LuvSports! Sun 10 Mar 2013, 1:21 am

I think you have a fallacious argument. I still think you get the point I am making.

by **laverfan** Sun 10 Mar 2013, 1:29 am

Benneteau gone. Crying or Very sad

Dodig.

by **laverfan** Sun 10 Mar 2013, 1:56 am

MotD coin toss complete. Gasquet to serve. Cool

by summerblues Sun 10 Mar 2013, 2:02 am

laverfan wrote:MotD coin toss complete. Gasquet to serve.

Looking forward to this one. I prefer Gasquet but will be fine if Tomic wins - especially if he cuts down on his slices which can drive me nuts at times.

by **laverfan** Sun 10 Mar 2013, 2:20 am

Bad challenge from Tomic. Sad

by summerblues Sun 10 Mar 2013, 2:25 am

Richard breaks!

by **laverfan** Sun 10 Mar 2013, 2:25 am

Tomic broken with silly errors. Doh

by summerblues Sun 10 Mar 2013, 2:26 am

Tomic started ok (even though not as aggressive as against Roger at the AO) but is now starting to make more errors.

by summerblues Sun 10 Mar 2013, 2:27 am

laverfan wrote:Tomic broken with silly errors.

Yes, very much so. He is less consistent than Gasquet today.

by summerblues Sun 10 Mar 2013, 2:35 am

Mhmmmm...

by **laverfan** Sun 10 Mar 2013, 2:35 am

Serving for set to be broken. Errors galore from Gasquet.

by summerblues Sun 10 Mar 2013, 2:50 am

...but he made up for it in the tie-break. He was pretty solid in there.

by summerblues Sun 10 Mar 2013, 2:50 am

Rafa time soon.

by **laverfan** Sun 10 Mar 2013, 3:05 am

Tomic back to his error-prone self gets broken. Crying or Very sad

by **laverfan** Sun 10 Mar 2013, 3:06 am

Nadal walks in. Hope Harrison does not get overwhelmed by the occasion.

by summerblues Sun 10 Mar 2013, 3:15 am

Tomic falling apart. He looked good maybe the first 2-3 games in the first set, and have been very inconsistent since then.

by summerblues Sun 10 Mar 2013, 3:30 am

And Richard wins. All in all, easy enough. The first set should never have really gone to TB either.

by **laverfan** Sun 10 Mar 2013, 3:40 am

Nadal broken. Crying or Very sad

Back on serve.

by summerblues Sun 10 Mar 2013, 3:41 am

Harrison was trying to moonball him to death on that last point. Successfully too.

by summerblues Sun 10 Mar 2013, 4:13 am

Rafa takes the first set. Good fight from Ryan, but even a rusty Rafa was too much. Rafa making more errors than usual, but I expect he will calibrate himself back to normal within a couple of matches.

by summerblues Sun 10 Mar 2013, 4:14 am

I think I will call it a night here.

by Haddie-nuff Sun 10 Mar 2013, 7:25 am

Red wrote:
Haddie-nuff wrote:
LuvSports! wrote:
Red wrote:LS, on which grounds would you say Verdasco is more talented than Ferrer? Apart from the fact that he puts more emphasis on attack.

If you attack, and you can do so with precision, then that's fair enough- that's talent. But the guy has poor timing on hie forehand; he mis-hits so many! Apart from a purple patch in 2009 frankly he has never shown he can hit with any sort of accuracy and precision for a prolonged period of time, I just don't see how one can argue he's that talented.
In terms of mental talent Ferrer is leagues above him.

In every ground as ever we shall agree to disagree.

I have to agree with LS Verdasco is a wasted talent.. he has an awesome forehand a great returner of serve
cast your mind back to the semi-final of the AO against Rafa... he was brilliant.
HN, from what I have seen from Verdasco... AO2009 was a purple patch.

His forehand breaks down so easily, his timing in matches can be terrible. His accuracy and precision since 2009... has been lacking quite frankly.

Well it wasnt so much a purple patch more that he had spent a great deal of time with Andre Agassi in his Acadamy in Las Vegas--- Andre taught him how to control his emotions on court, and to be disciplined, i.e regular training, practices etc (sounds funny bearing in mind Andre´s past reputation) .Also to be remembered is Nando has a similar problem to Rafa in so far as he has been coached all his life by his own father... When he returned from Vegas, he was there approx 2 mths there was a marked difference both in him and his game. I believe Nando got to no 8 or so in the rankings but he had a slight foot problem and all went down hill once more. But during that episode he displayed some superb aggressive tennis which endorsed my belief that had he been more disciplined when he was younger we may have seen someone quite different. He played a superb singles match to win the DC in Argentina (the year Rafa never played) and was quite the hero in Spain for a while.

by The Special Juan Sun 10 Mar 2013, 9:18 am

Ummmm...... Gulbis for the title? He wallops Tipsy 6-2 6-0 Shocked

by The Special Juan Sun 10 Mar 2013, 9:19 am

In 47 minutes.....

by prostaff85 Sun 10 Mar 2013, 9:25 am

Tipsy has been out of form lately, but nevertheless this is pretty impressive from Gulbis! He was well outside the top 100 just a few weeks ago and played qualifiers at Delray Beach, then won the tournament, played qualifiers again at IW and has won two matches in the main draw so far. That's an 12-match winning streaks and counting. He should be able to take Seppi out next, and will give Rafa a decent test!

by User 774433 Sun 10 Mar 2013, 10:34 am

What should be match of the day today guys?

by ryan86 Sun 10 Mar 2013, 10:53 am

I'd go for Davydenko v del Potro, but there's nothing that really stands out. A few have interesting undertones.

by prostaff85 Sun 10 Mar 2013, 11:17 am

I guess Tsonga vs. Blake could be fun to watch

by Born Slippy Sun 10 Mar 2013, 11:55 am

Davydenko v Del Potro looks the stand-out match to me.

by **laverfan** Sun 10 Mar 2013, 2:00 pm

Surprised that youngsters are being ignored. Crying or Very sad

How about Ebden v Dimitrov being MotD?

by **laverfan** Sun 10 Mar 2013, 2:03 pm

This should be mentioned for non-US spectators, that US switched to Daylight Savings this morning at 2am. We 'Spring Forward' in the Spring and 'Fall Back' in Fall/Autumn. Wink

by Silver Sun 10 Mar 2013, 2:26 pm

Thanks for the heads up LF Smile

I've never seen Ebden play, is he any good?

Hmm, I see Raonic is already into the 3rd round via walkover, I wonder what happened to Llodra? And seven seeds eliminated at the first time of asking, yikes. Berdych will be very pleased with how this draw's panning out so far.

by **laverfan** Sun 10 Mar 2013, 2:48 pm

Berdych played a terrible match against Zverev. There were four consecutive breaks of serve in the second set. Sad

I followed Ebden last year at IW for a bit... http://www.atpworldtour.com/Tennis/Players/Eb/M/Matthew-Ebden.aspx?t=pa&y=0&m=s&e=su#

Shanghai 2011 was another good outing for him.

by hawkeye Sun 10 Mar 2013, 2:59 pm

laverfan wrote:Surprised that youngsters are being ignored. How about Ebden v Dimitrov being MotD?

I'm patiently waiting for a youngster to do something interesting and then I'll pay them some attention.

by **laverfan** Sun 10 Mar 2013, 3:17 pm

hawkeye wrote:
laverfan wrote:Surprised that youngsters are being ignored. How about Ebden v Dimitrov being MotD?

I'm patiently waiting for a youngster to do something interesting and then I'll pay them some attention.

Given Tomic and Harrison outings yesterday, your skepticism is understandable.

by User 774433 Sun 10 Mar 2013, 3:56 pm

Silver, PM alert Smile

by **laverfan** Sun 10 Mar 2013, 4:07 pm

Silver/Red... since you are the TDs, please pick MoTD as you desire. I just happen to have a suggestion, that is all.

by User 774433 Sun 10 Mar 2013, 4:10 pm

LF, we have picked Del Potro vs Davydenko

by **laverfan** Sun 10 Mar 2013, 4:27 pm

Red wrote:LF, we have picked Del Potro vs Davydenko

by User 774433 Sun 10 Mar 2013, 4:54 pm

MOTD today starting at 10 pm GMT Wink

by **JuliusHMarx** Sun 10 Mar 2013, 4:58 pm

Red wrote:LF, we have picked Del Potro vs Davydenko

You're kidding! I have it on very good authority that Djokovic-Fognini is the possibly the most anticipated 2nd round Masters 1000 match ever! Very Happy

by User 774433 Sun 10 Mar 2013, 4:59 pm

JuliusHMarx wrote:
Red wrote:LF, we have picked Del Potro vs Davydenko

You're kidding! I have it on very good authority that Djokovic-Fognini is the possibly the most anticipated 2nd round Masters 1000 match ever!

Feck, why didn't you tell me earlier!!

Grrr

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