Indian Wells - Match of the Day Thread : 20th March, 2011 - THE FINAL

[Wooffie]

First topic message reminder :

Welcome to the Match of the Day Thread ... a place to discuss all the latest matches and the tennis as it happens.

After a bit of a topsy turvy tournament, the cream of the crop rose to the top yesterday with our final four protagonists, resulting in World No. 1 - Rafael Nadal - and the new World No. 2 - Novak Djokovic - as the eventual winners. So tonight, at 8 pm UK time, we can settle down as we let battle commence.

Rafa holds a compounding 16-7 H2H against Novak, but perhaps a more telling stat is that Novak leads Rafa 7-5 on hard courts, BUT he's 0-5 when it comes to finals won. Will the current in-form player find a way through the World's best defender? Who will dare take the initiative and attack?

Lets hope we're in for a great match ... and may the best man win!

The ORDER OF PLAY is here and LIVE SCORES can be followed on this link.

If you want to follow all the news and happenings, then you can go to the tournament website.

[Haddie-nuff]

Absolutely.. on receipt I will book my flight and prepare the "homily" I propose to put to Andy.. (. whilst sitting round the pool of course .). Anything for his fans <whistle>

[cats_r_cool]

Hi everyone. Did anyone get to see the Baggy match? I know he is one of the most frustrating players to watch as he is so inconsistent but just a bit concerned that he might be injured again and can't seem to find anything about the match.

[Haddie-nuff]

What I saw of the match on Teledeporte (Spanish TV) just a snippet ..was that no he wasnt´injured.. more outclassed... seems it was a bad day for quite a few yesterday so he was in good company <

[cats_r_cool]

Thanks Haddie-nuff. Glad he's not injured at least. Yes, Andy's result was a bit of a shocker. Hope he can shake off whatever it is, be that physical or mental.

[Green]

Djokovic - Golubev 6-0 6-4

Djokovic was scary in the first set, losing only 6 points... Golubev seemed a little bit lost, but that's cause he was scared . Djokovic lost his focus a bit at the start of the 2nd set and was down 0-2... but nothing he couldn't handle.
Novak to play Gulbis in R3! [Djokovic leads H2H 3-1]

Djokovic hasn't lost a match this season (losing only 3 sets so far + one to Golubev at the Hopman Cup), and the way he looks on the court, he isn't planning to lose one any time soon!

[Haddie-nuff]

Yes Nole definitely is a man on a mission... he can see the top of the ladder and he is going for it.. Should make for some very interesting tennis this season

[sportslover]

Yes Roger you better watch out for that No.2 spot

[Wooffie]

I think the number 2 spot is Nole's for the taking. Should he do well here and in Miami, he's always been a pretty good clay court player. Unbelieveable form he's shown this year.

[Green]

"Djokovic will become World No. 2 if:

- He wins the Indian Wells tournament;
- He reaches the final and Federer loses before the title-match; or,
- He advances to the semi-finals and Federer loses before the quarter-finals."

(Battle for World No. 2 Set to Intensify)

[Green]

That article had been written before the IW draw was made, meaning - if Djokovic reaches the final, Federer won't.

Are they going to play each other again?

[cats_r_cool]

Pretty exciting stuff at the moment (says me safe in the knowledge that Rafa will be no. 1 whatever happens this week!).

[sportslover]

How good or how bad is Donald Young (the man who took out Andy Murray)!

He has just lost the first set 6-0 to Tommy Robredo.

I take it Andy must have been well below par when he played him

[Haddie-nuff]

How good or how bad is Donald Young (the man who took out Andy Murray)!

He has just lost the first set 6-0 to Tommy Robredo.

I take it Andy must have been well below par when he played him

Rather I would suggest he chose the wrong tactics against Young ... Robredo is taking the match to Young .. very aggrressive attacking tennis... Andy did what Andy is known for at times Defensive behind the baseline and..waited for Young to make the mistakes.. and he didnt.. simples

[sportslover]

He needs a GOOD coach like yesterday to get him to sort out his tactics + the other issues.

The "Team" he has might be a good bunch of chaps but he needs more than this IF he is going to get what he really wants out of the game and we all know what that is

[yummymummy]

My Bank Account is empty SL

All contributions gratefully received.

Blow Miami - Hawaii here I come

[yummymummy]

He needs a GOOD coach like yesterday to get him to sort out his tactics + the other issues.

The "Team" he has might be a good bunch of chaps but he needs more than this IF he is going to get what he really wants out of the game and we all know what that is

A kick up the backside, Johnny Mac as a coach, and Moi as his bete noir

[Green]

Kohlschreiber def. Soderling 7-6 6-4

Montanes def. Almagro 4-6 6-2 6-4

Next up: Dolgopolov vs. Del Potro

[Geosynch]

Looking forward to Del Potro v Dolgopolov. Should be an interesting match up.

I hope Delboy wins though, It's great to see him back

[Wooffie]

Looking forward to this match too. Hope for a good win for Delpo.

[Wooffie]

And a good game from Dolgo to bring himself back in it.

Enjoyable match so far.

[Green]

Anyone watching any tennis these days... perhaps?

If you missed Djokovic-Gulbis match, you didn't miss much - Gulbis was terrible! Djokovic beat him in less than an hour: 6-0 6-1 !!!

[Green]

Berdych beat Bellucci 6-3 6-2 ...

AND Ana Ivanovic beat Jelena Jankovic 6-4 6-2

[yummymummy]

Heh Heh Heh

Just a credit card number will suffice

[sportslover]

Gulbis was going to be the future of tennis (according to some!) but I don't think he will ever make a top 5 player.

OK wouldn't expect Djokovic to lose to him but the scoreline doesn't do him any favours (a bakers dream)

Understand the highlights are on Sky after 9-00pm if anyone is interested.

[Wooffie]

Well the scoreline suggested that Djokovic battered Gulbis. Seems like he's going backwards again.

I thought Rafa played an excellent match last night and is warming up nicely. His half of the draw has really opened up for him ... except for this bloke Del Potro lurking quiety.

Novak has a decent shout too. Should soon start to get interesting.

[sportslover]

To be honest Del Potro will I think struggle against a top three player.

He has had some good results but not against the top boys.

However never say never

[Wooffie]

Hope so.

[Green]

"Well the scoreline suggested that Djokovic battered Gulbis."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They both started terribly (Novak once said he wasn't a morning person ), but then Djokovic woke up and Gulbis continued the same way...

These stats say a lot:
Gulbis - 1st serve points won 9/20 (45%);
2nd serve points won 3/16 (19%)

Djokovic hit 10 winners to Gulbis's - 1 !
UEs: 13 - 28

Djokovic wasn't too impressive, but he didn't need to be...

And I expected a good match!

[Wooffie]

I obviously didn't see the match, but I'm surprised at how poor those stats are. Like you, I expected much more of this match, but then with Gulbis, its no surprise that people ask which evil twin will turn up.

I just live off the memory of what a tough match he gave Rafa in Rome last year and you tend to worry about that because good play is obviously still in him somewhere, and you just wonder who he might produce it against.

[Green]

Yeah, I was very disappointed actually... Cause I like watching him play when he feels like playing!

PS. I don't recommend watching those highlights...

In the meantime, Troicki beats Llodra, pretty easy, 6-3 6-3 in 65 minutes and will play Djokovic in the next round.

[Wooffie]

Didn't Troicki push him all the way in the US Open? First round or something?? I don't expect him to give Nole too much trouble at the moment, but he might make more of a match of it.

[Green]

"Didn't Troicki push him all the way in the US Open? First round or something?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That is correct, but that was back in those days when Djokovic didn't like the heat...

I too expect a good match (again?)... I like it when Novak is winning easy, but I don't like when he is winning too easy!
Cause I like Djokovic, but I like quality tennis more... I'm a bit selfish, you see.

[Haddie-nuff]

Cilic´s performance wasn´t much to write home about either (another player who it was forecasted would be a threat to the top players). True Stan the Man played a solid match and deserved the win.. but Cilic looked under the weather (literally). He was no match for Wawrinka today

[Green]

Federer - Chela 6-0 6-2

Winners: 30 - 3 !

[Haddie-nuff]

The crowd looked suitably impressed :sleep:
It must have been a long day

[Green]

Ryan Harrison just defeated Milos Raonic: 7-6 4-6 6-4

I guess there's no one here at the moment...

[Wooffie]

I watched about the first 4 games of the match before bedtime, and I didn't think that Raonic was quite this serve monster that Verdasco had painted him as and there was some quite reasonable play between the two players.

What's your verdict, Green, on the 'next' Next Big Thing??

[sportslover]

And a lot of people had Milos Raonic taking out Federer in the next round.

I think he like Dolgopolov & Donald Young + a few others have still a bit to go before they can be put up on a pedestal but they are certainly ones to keep an eye on

[Green]

"What's your verdict, Green, on the 'next' Next Big Thing??"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well, I haven't seen the entire match, mostly the second half of it, and I hadn't seen him play before that... But that Harrison was pretty good, too. If he plays that way against Federer, he ain't gonna make it easy for the old man .

Raonic was down two breaks in the final set and he almost levelled it, so the attitude and the approach to the game is , but I suppose it's quite different for a next big thing when he is the favourite in a match - that always takes some time of getting used to...

My verdict: Milos still is - the Next Big Thing, and he probably will take out Federer in the next round... some day!


Raonic: "It doesn't matter what the score is. It's my job to give myself a chance and to keep fighting. I fight for every point, I fight for every match, I fight for every game, and it's important for me to keep the spirit and stay hungry for the wins." 8)

[Haddie-nuff]

Raonic: "It doesn't matter what the score is. It's my job to give myself a chance and to keep fighting. I fight for every point, I fight for every match, I fight for every game, and it's important for me to keep the spirit and stay hungry for the wins

...........

Spoken like a professional.. exactly the attitude that got Rafa where he is today.

[Wooffie]

I wonder if someone can put me straight on this?

On listening to the commentary last night in the Raonic match, the commies were recounting this tale about young Milos with a heap load of attitude. So much so, that his coach told him to either pack it in ... or he was off. Milos ate some humble pie and got over himself. I'm sorry that I wasn't paying better attention, but it struck me that he was responding to disciplinarian treatment and was learning lessons ... which is no bad thing. On watching Sweeting against Rafa the other night, he could do with a bit of that too.

I was also interested to hear your takes on Harrison, the nearly Next Big Thing ...

[Haddie-nuff]

Sorry I cant help with the Raonic question... to be honest I seem to have missed his matches and am only going on what I have read about him.. it sounded to me as though "everyone and his uncle" had him down as the next Sampras.. that being the case then I would suggest the prospect of such fame may have gone to his head.

As for Harrison goes I saw a programme featuring both he, and his younger brother, again parental training I think. As far as tennis protedgies went they looked very promising., the young boy even more so. However I cannot remember what tourney I was watching but Ryan was playing as a qualifyer against someone like Tommy Haas... and although he lost, he made one hell of a fight of it . An all court player who run everything down. So thats my take, not a lot to go on but I would be interested in seeing Harrison perform against Fed. To get this far he cant be half bad methinks.

[Green]

"and was learning lessons"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Part of growing up I suppose...


"I was also interested to hear your takes on Harrison"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I think I need to see him play at least one more match...

(I just hope he doesn't get too overwhelmed by that guy on the other side of the net... Cause he played a very good match last night.)


PS Total points won: Raonic-Harrison 100-103

[Wooffie]

Funny thing Haddie when watching Raonic last night ... I was thinking "Sampras" ... :run2: A big serve, but he was rallying from the back of the court when I'd expected this one-two sort of player. Both of them were hitting some lovely shots.

There was this young pup who took on the Lion King when he was in his prime and beat him. Harrison should shut his eyes and just go for it.

[Haddie-nuff]

There was this young pup who took on the Lion King when he was in his prime and beat him. Harrison should shut his eyes and just go for it
---------------

Now I wonder who you are talking about Wouldn´t be a young pup that grew into "the bull" by any chance

I think you are absolutely right.. Ryan forget the maestro on the other side of the net ... as someone famous once said..VAMOS

[Green]

Same old, same old in Indian Wells... Novak still scary, his opponents still scared. Another bagel, another breadstick...

[Wooffie]

Yeah ... its getting boring now.

[Haddie-nuff]

:

[Green]

Anyone saw Federer-Harrison match? I fell asleep !

How did young Harrison do? The scoreline and the statistics suggest not bad, not bad at all. He broke Federer twice!

[cats_r_cool]

Green, I'm suffering this tournament as I'm not getting to see any matches (being 9 hours ahead of IW and therefore the matches are being played when I'm tucked up in bed), but Feds was pretty complimentary about Harrison and as you say the scoreline suggests he gave Roger a match.

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