The Draw is out.

http://www.bnpparibasopen.org/4/assets/com.../09ATP_MDS1.pdf

The chance to see a Nadal - Federer clash could happen a lot sooner than anticipated - in Doubles! Federer & Allegro drew the Top Seeded Bryan brothers in their first match. If they can spring the upset (which is entirely possible), they could face the team of Nadal & Marc Lopez, who won the Doubles Title in Doha this year. They face Frantisek Cermak & Michal Mertinak in their first match. So come the Second Round of the Doubles, we could get a Nadal-Federer match in the first week! I think I'll make the drive to go see it if it happens.

Oh jeez, that's a sucky draw for both doubles teams...but I'd sure like to see that match.

Another interesting doubles match is going on...Roddick/Fish vs Simon/Chardy...a nice match to watch no matter how you look at it!

Why do you think so many more of the top men's players are playing doubles now? Not so much at Grand Slams though, which I do understand since best-of-5 sets is so much more draining. I guess I'm just still surprised that Fed, Nadal, Roddick, etc. would want to undergo any more unnecessary wear and tear even though doubles is clearly not as physically demanding as singles. Good to see though, I just wonder if I'm missing something as to their motivation(s).

I don't understand it either, especially since so many players have been so vocal about how the tour is too demanding already, especially Nadal. And why is the Fed playing doubles if his back's been giving him trouble? While it's nice to see the top players back playing doubles again, these things don't add up.

We'd all be guessing, of course. But Nadal has often entered the Doubles in the Masters Series Events (I just can bring myself to say ATP 1000 Events yet). He says his brand of game needs a lot of matches to get into the optimum rhythm he needs, and Doubles gives him the chance to log more court time that's not just a practice hour. Normally the top Singles Players don't go very deep into a Doubles draw anyway, so its not much of a drain. Although Nadal is even an exception there, having won the Doha Doubles Title this year with Marc Lopez, his partner here.

I'll assume Federer just needs the match time since he missed both Dubai and Davis Cup. That leaves him a little short on fitness coming in to this, especially if the back is an issue, so it makes more sense to me that he did enter. And after watching his match today, a tight one against Gicquel, it looks like he does need time out on court. He hasn't played a match in 6 weeks. Roddick may be doing it on the advice of Stefanki, and it can't hurt him. He's the one guy I can think of who, for his age of 26, has had relatively few injury-related absences from the tour. It's unlikely to exhaust him, so it's probably a good idea that he's playing both.

I looked on the ATP website for Rafa's doubles activity, and I was surprised by how often he plays. I had thought he played dubs only when the tour changes surfaces, like Monaco last year (as if Rafa really needed any acclimation to red clay). But that wouldn't explain why he played both Masters Madrid and Paris in 2008, as well as Masters Miami and Indian Wells after playing dubs on the hardcourts of Dubai. I'm guessing he and Tio Toni look at both the immediate and long-term benefits: immediate, that a "live" match is always good practice, but long-term that it develops his game. Roger's in dubs is no surprise since he's gotta be a bit rusty after a brief layoff. Andy in dubs is what left me scratching my head, but the idea that it was at Stefanki's prompting sounds right. So Andy shed 15 pounds from his looked-pretty-damn-good-to-me frame at Stefanki's prompting, now he's playing dubs ... I'm hoping Larry Stefanki urges Andy to show up at my door wearing nothing but a towel around his waist and a splash of Old Spice Dubs is kinda like hockey for me, in that I don't really care for dubs on TV, but for some reason, watching dubs live is a blast. I really envy anyone going to Indian Wells who's able to watch so many top singles players in the doubles draw.

Called it!! As much as Chardy tried to f*ck it up in both the first and second sets, I had a feeling he would beat Fish today. So, last year's Indian Wells Open finalist loses in the second round to the guy he just beat in the Delray Beach finals. Chardy has a nice game. Fish had too many errors today and not enough of a good serving percentage. Some players can overcome a mediocre or even poor serving day. Mardy needs to be serving well to win. So just as he's creeping back into the top 20, Fish's ranking is gonna take a dive because of these premier points.

Isner just took out Buckwheat Monfils, a result I'm sure he's happy with. Poor Fish, easy come, easy go with all those points. Hewitt, once again had to have a really late night match last night, and lost in three to Gonzalez. At 28, and with not-so-great results since returning from hip surgery (except for an OK SF at Tier 2 Regions Morgan Keegan and tepid QF at a nothing-to-write-home-about Medibank), I wonder how much longer Hewitt'll be around.



edited: put WTA stuff in WTA thread

There's something clearly wrong with Djokovic. It was almost painful to watch the sheer number of shanks, mis-hits and outright errors today. Maybe mentally it's good for him to get through one of these despite the lousy play. But sheesh - he had some genuinely ugly errors that were saved only by his opponent's even worse shots at critical moments. He can only improve from here. Hopefully.

Monsieur Le Buckwheat was having his own drama-queen moments that ended up frying the inside of his head almost as much as his stylist fries his hair. This guy's got talent, but for some reason his maturity is still lagging behind the game he's got. Isner will need his serve kicking flawlessly from here on, because anyone with a decent slice that will force him to bend can send Giant John packing. Gotta hand it to Ryan Sweeting though (and what a gorgeous specimen he is too ). He took a set from JMDP before being overpowered. But that he hung in there as long and as well as he did was a pleasure to watch. In more ways than one .

If you only saw a scoreline and didn't see the Nadal match, you'd think it was a routine impressive start to the tournament, losing just 3 games. But if you read the stats, it's jaw dropping. Nadal had a miserable First Serve percentage of 45%, yet STILL won 80% of first serve points! That's - just mind boggling. And even with the crappy 1st percentage, he still managed to win 89% of his 2nd Serve Points. Amazing that he can have a serving day that bad yet still win almost every point and lose only 3 games.

I've seen some online pics of Nalbandian and it looks as if he has lost some weight. He is looking much leaner.

Chardy is nice to look at. I would like to see more of him.

The problem with Monfils is that his athleticism keeps him from taking his tennis more seriously. He is a beautiful man with too much talent for his age. I think Monfils tennis game will evolve as he gets older so that he can reach his full potential.

Also, my intention is not to start a heated debate or discussion on racism, but I am not sure if I like the nickname "Buckwheat." I think The Little Rascals was somewhat racist in it's depiction of that character. I have very similar features as Monfils (minus the hair) and I would find it very offensive and hurtful if someone called me "Buckwheat."

Novak's match against Vasallo Arguello was indeed painful to watch for Novak fans, or any fan of tennis for that matter because the tennis was so damn ugly. Novak's results so far in 2009 have been pretty disappointing, and I think it all boils down to the forehand. He literally couldn't keep a forehand in play against Simon in Dubai, and it wasn't much better against MVA in Indian Wells. Kinda tough for a baseliner to win a match without a forehand, even at the club level, forget the ATP Tour. When I first saw Arguello, I wondered how the hell a guy this good is ranked #54. Ah, because he can't win any of the important points! I doubt Tommy Haas will be so generous on the big points. Unless Novak does something totally rad, like switching back to his old racket, he has about as much chance of defending his title as Mardy Fish does of making it to the final.

VM, thanks for the info on the Cahill-Verdasco coaching arrangement. That makes more sense, that Cahill will be more like a consultant than a full-time coach since a "consulting" position certainly requires a lot less travel. In any case, I hope it's a fruitful arrangement for Fernando. The guy is clearly very talented as well as very dedicated, and that's the kind of player you want to see succeed. OK, OK, the fact that he's impossibly beautiful might have a little something to do with that too.

I mentioned the possibility of Novak's working with Gil Reyes before, but I just don't see it happening. When questioned about his fitness (a fair question, in light of his history), Novak gets very defensive. While he's opened the door to outside consultants for his game (specifically, Mark Woodforde's help with the net game), I just don't see it happening with fitness. Novak is very open in asking for help from the likes of John McEnroe and Pete Sampras, but his "case closed" demeanor when discussing conditioning tells me that it's quite the opposite when it comes to physical training. Maybe he needs his ass whooped a couple of times by the beauteous Fernando to see things in a different light.

I only saw the last game, but wow, it looks like Andreev played lights-out tennis to beat Tsonga.

Wow, bad two days for the Frenchies, yesterday and the day before...yesterday especially. Maybe the Davis Cup loss is weighing on their respective minds. Le Monf, Simon, Gasquet and Tsonga all gone by the third round. At least Chardy's still around for them.

The young and tall Americans have done quite well for themselves. Isner is through to the third after beating Christophe Rochus and Le Monf, as is Querry who had two good wins over Canas and Stepanek. Both of them have winnable third round matchups, too. Isner plays Safin (so who knows what to expect) and Querry plays Wawrinka.

Federer appears to be on a crash course with New and Improved Verdasco. That's a matchup I've been wanting to see since the AO. Verdasco doesn't look like he's had any kind of let-down since then, either, the way he obliterated Le Beau Gasquet. But Verdasco and the Fed have to get past Kohlschrieber and Gonzalez, respecitvely...let's hope they do. Even if the Fed gets past the red-hot (in so many ways) Verdasco, it looks like Murray is looming large in that half, too. (If only the Fed would get draws like this in the slams)

Oh yeah, Roddick. Kiefer could be an upset for him even though he's 4-0 against him, but I don't see Andy getting out of this quarter, as much as I still love the guy. Hope he proves me wrong, but if the Djoke can play himself back into any semblance of form whatsover in his next two matches, you know he wants to avenge that AO disgrace embarassment loss.

I'm gonna miss Marat when he hangs it up. He's still a great looking hunk of beef, so I'll miss that. And he's funny - when he tries to talk in his Russian laced English in his press conferences. For some reason, some press person at Indian Wells asked him about both Federer and Nadal. Why, I don't know. But here's what he said:

Safin on Nadal: "He's much more talented than he looks, because also a lot of people thought he doesn't have such great hands, but apparently he has unbelievable touch. He sees the ball quite well, unbelievable athlete... Also he improved his serve and decided to go to the net. Just he breaks everybody mentally. Before the match, everybody knows that they don't have any chance."

Safin on Federer: "I play against Federer many times, and he just surprised me every time. Each time the way he's moving the ball, the way he changes the pace, the way he's moving, the way he's destroying your game, basically. Takes him four games to destroy you completely. He serves pretty well, he returns, and that's it. Eventually, you just gonna break down."

Safin on Federer vs. Nadal: "Nadal, he got into his [Federer's] brain. Nadal, he just manage to get into his brain. Psychologically Federer cannot beat Nadal. But tennis-wise, I think Federer is better."

I was not going to bring this up and I'm not going to call anyone out as racist cuz I don't know any of the posters on this board, but I don't like that nickname of Buckwheat either. You, Dedric seem to understand the significance of saying a Black person resembles "Buckwheat". Buckwheat was a character created and designed to riducule and mock Blacks by creating a completely illerate, unintelligble buffoon of a Black child, created during the peak of Hollywood racism in the early 1900s. Most have no idea of that. I'm going to assume that it was not meant in any way other than to ridicule that hot mess called hair he has on top of his head. But trust and believe, there are plenty of Black people out there calling him Buckwheat as well. I don't think its that big of a deal. I wouldn't call anyone Buckwheat simply because I know why that character is created, but like I said...most people are ignorant to that fact. Overall, not a big deal. This is one I may chalk up to being too PC. But thanks for addressing it because clearly you do understand how someone could take being called Buckwheat as offensive.

Well, the good news is that Novak played better against Haas than in his first match against Vasallo Arguello. The bad news is that he still sucked. Tommy didn't give away as many key points as MVA, but that might be a mathematical impossibility. The good news is that he faces Wawrinka in the next round. Stan hits a very consistent, solid ball, just the kind of ball that might allow Novak to find some sort of rhythm. Nothing against Stan or David Ferrer, but I want to see a repeat of the AO quarterfinal too.
Nothing against Kohlschrieber or Gonzalez either, but I'm DYING to see a Federer-Verdasco QF.

Oh joy...Andy Rod-DICK acting like his usual dickheaded self. The way he berates some of these line judges and umpires, I wish someone just whooped his ass til the white meat shows one day. I can't stand his demeanor sometimes. Overhyped, pompous ass****. He needs to sit down somewhere.

The third set hasn't started yet, but regardless: Rafa is unbelievable.

Extraordinary matches yesterday.

Murray is really looking better than anyone so far, despite Robredo's retirement making it easier. Andy's Moving beautifully, and hitting so cleanly. He's looking like the one to beat here, and he's the only one of the Top 4 Seeeds who has yet to really struggle. Federer got #12 of 13 against Gonzo, but not without some very tight looking, ugly serving by Roger in Set 2. I mean, some of his serves were so far out you'd have thought it was me serving. Thanks to a predictable Gonzo self-imposed mental meltdown in Set 3, Federer made it into the Quarters. Call it the Cahill Quarterfinal, where Federer meets the new and improved, souped-up, Reyes-Cahill-Agassi inspired Fernando Verdasco.

All hands together for Djokovic, who came back from a 2-5 deficit in the Second Set to eke it out in straights. And the grudgefest will continue against Roddick, who had an up and down night with Ferrer. Roddick is starting to use a lot more slice on his backhand these days. He'll need to watch the overuse of that against Djokovic, though. Amazing that Feru was playing tight looking tennis on some big points with some wildly struck shots that sailed into oblivion. David doesn't look anywhere near his 2007 form of World #5.

And everyone stand up & cheer for the aged vet Ljubicic!! No doubt the best results he's had in a long while. Despite Andreev looking like he had the match won, he sorta went mental on the big points and the newly turned 30 year old (today's his B-Day) earned it. Shame Ivan has to face Murray, who'll run the old guy ragged. But man, hats off to the Croat.

And speaking of hats off, what's there to say about Nadal? Guy saves 5 Match Points, four of them when he has to serve. Just more evidence of Nadal as the toughest mentally since Borg, or maybe ever. And that relentlessness has it's effect on his opponents. Look at Nalbandian's surrender in Set 3, and it's the kind of match that can keep Nalbandian surrendering for a while. He'll be thinking about those 5 MP's for a long time. Nadal hasn't looked all that great here, but sometimes it's a match like this where you snatch victory from the mouth of defeat that wake your game up. He can get through JMDP if he can keep him moving up & down all match with slices and his uber-topspin. He'll need his game awake, alive and cooking from here on out if he wants to stick around.

Damn Nalby...you had it and lost it. Nadal is unbelievable. He is no die until the ump yells game, set, match.

Here's one of the many reasons Nadal is so admirable. Below is a portion of Nadal's post-match comments on the Nalbandian match. This stuff highlights an undervalued part of who he is: the uncanny ability to self-correct during a match when things are going against him. It's a large part of what makes him a terror to beat:

“I think today I was lucky. Anyway, well, I am not happy. I'm not very happy about myself and the first two sets. I think I had from the memory, a lot, the last two matches. He played well, yes, but I… was a little bit scared about his backhand. I didn't go to the match with the best mentality.

“I think I didn't go to the match with [a] clear idea how to play the match… I didn't have exactly the tactic or the things I had to do to win this match. Probably because I lost very easy in the last two matches against him.”

Early in the match Nadal largely holstered his signature left-handed crosscourt forehand – which time and again has pounded opponents into submission – choosing instead to direct a lot of balls to Nalbandian’s forehand. But the Argentine, who had dropped just seven games in two career meetings against Nadal coming into the match, countered with crosscourt forehands to Nadal’s backhand to keep the Spaniard on the defensive. Nadal said that changing tactics was critical.

“I didn't play against his backhand. I was scared about his backhand and it was a mistake… I have a good close forehand, too. So I [am] think[ing] [it] can't be a problem [to] play against his backhand with my forehand. But I played too much to his forehand and he killed me against my backhand. In the end I have a little bit changes of rhythm with the slice, so that helps me a lot. And, yeah, I find a solution.”

I totally agree. Such a poor sport. I could never imagine Federer behaving anything like that. Although I hear he had quite a temper in his younger years.

Interesting match going on with the Dick and Djoker. It's hot here today. I wonder if ND is thinking of quitting since he lost the first set.

Well, post match....quitting doesn't necessarily have to come in the form of retiring from a match....

Well, I guess I win yet another Bonehead Prediction award. I've just become so accustomed to being in love with the good looking loser with a great ass that I've been writing Andy off for the past few years. Then again, who hasn't? But is it really a testament to Roddick's play, or more of Novak falling off, like his female compatriots? Still glad to be proven wrong, on this one.

Verdasco certainly had his set points, and chances, in that second set. While he's vastly improved, his serve didn't look it, and while his desire to pick on the Fed backhand was the right thing to do, he just couldn't give himself enough room for error...in other words, he tried to be too cute and went for too much when trying to hit into that corner. It seemed like he didn't believe he could win that second set, when after two breaks, for all intents and purposes, he should have. I think next time they play, he'll have a better feeling for it, and I don't believe he'll spray the ball as much as he did in the first 1.5 sets...I believe he was somewhat flat. And I do think AO version of him would have beaten the Fed, but that supposition could go on forever, while going nowhere.

I can't get over Nadal. He's a mental giant. The man is fierce, in every aspect. His physical strength, his mental strength, his desire to improve everything about all things in his game while having the intuition and calm maturity to improvise tactically during a match...along with his polite respect towards other players (heaven forbid)... puts him in a class all his own. He deserves to be the #1 player in the world for all these reasons. I ♥ Rafa.

And as snotty as I've been to Nalbandian (calling him "Donuts'n'Danish Dave") I have to give him props for what looks like an attempt at fitness. He does look a little leaner to me, and the boy was playing some ball. He went away in the third, but like Marat said about Rafa, that's what he can do to you...just utterly demoralize you.

Poor Ljubicic...he got screwed on that line call where shot-spot was looking at the wrong ball, I feel for the guy. I think Murray felt badly, too...after the match. Oddly, he had no problem taking the point, though. I hope Murray/Federer doesn't diasppoint like Verdasco/Federer did...at least Murray has no doubt whatsoever about his ability to beat the Fed.

After his loss, the Djoke had these pearls to offer:

“Overall it was a very bad day. There's not much to say. He played very solid. I mean, he didn't do anything special. It was all me making [an] incredible amount of unforced errors...."

Even if there may be some truth to it (which I'd question when Roddick was serving more than 80% 1st serves)....not only does poor Nole suffer from Djokovitis, he obviously is suffering from Serenaitis as well. So when he's not quitting when losing, he'll have the poor-sport comments for the losing matches he actually does finish.

Nice. And he'll probably still be baffled and befuddled as to why people root against him.

Just got back from Indian Wells and saw the two Mens Quarters today. I'd thought before there was something wrong with Djokovic after one of his earlier matches. After seeing him in person today, there's no question about it. It doesn't look like a physical problem. But you could tell during the first game, when he got broken at 15, he never carried either the belief he could win, or the burning desire to win. His backhand, normally so solid and consistent, was spraying errors left and right, and with no real reason for it. Roddick's shots weren't being driven through the court - it was just Djokovic, well, playing like he had to show up today and nothing more. It looks, to me, like he's developed serious self-doubt on the court. And by the way, Roddick's leaner look stands out much more emphatically when you look at him in person. The guy's got like 2% body fat now. He looks terrific. And he did play very well today. His slice backhand got a lot of opportunities today, and he relentlessly pounded Djokovic's backhand side, having zoned in early to go there often for points in bunches.

Nadal is another that looks much different live than on TV - he's nowhere near as "muscular". In fact, he's more a lean muscle type guy. The biceps don't bulge, and his ass doesn't protrude any more. That undoubtedly helps him recover from matches quicker. His game today was again a combination of good & bad. One thing that I noticed is when you see Nadal live, you get an appreciation for just how hard this guy can hit the ball. He did it sparingly here, deciding to feed Del Potro junk ballls more often than not, but when he unloaded - the sound off the racquet was like the sound of Safin's backhand - like a rifle-crack. Amazing. Nadal's shots were deep, especially off the return. And if anything has greatly improved for Nadal, it's his return. It seemed to have started in the AO Final - where a larger-than-usual number of Federer's First Serves came back to him that night. I haven't seen any stats, but if anyone told me that Nadal put 75% of Del Potro's First Serves into play it wouldn't surprise me. It was stunning to watch him put Del Potro's 125-130 MPH serves back into play with a return landing about 5 inches inside the base line time after time (slice return on the forehand, and a looped, almost moon-ball from the back hand side). Poor JMDP had no clue how to fight that. Once you count on your big serve getting you free points and doesn't, then you gotta have a Plan B. He didn't. That said, Nadal, in the 2nd game of Set 2 let a 0-40 lead slip away on Del Potro's serve, and then had a horrible game serving for the match at 5-2 before he closed it out finally. He'll need to clean all that up in the Semis, because Roddick is playing very well. In fact, of the Semi Finalsits, it's Roddick and Murray who've played the cleanest, most error-less tennis in the tournament so far. It wouldn't be a great stretch to see the two of them decide this title, which is the only North American ATP Masters Roddick has NOT won.

I know it's blasphemy these days to see both Nadal & Federer in the Semis and suggest there's a possibility each could lose there. I'd love to watch them go at it again, for sure. But given how well Roddick and Murray have played, I do think there is a slight possibility The Top Two could head to Miami a little earlier than planned.

I think Novak is suffering a serious sophomore slump. If you set aside calendar years and look at Indian Wells 2007 to IW 2008, Novak's breakthrough year was terrific -- winning his first Masters Series, ascending to #3, notching his first victories over Rafa and Roger, a Slam final, and a Slam title. From Miami 2008 to the present, even though he's retained his #3 ranking and even been thisclose to #2 quite a few times, it's been rough. He's won only three tournaments (Rome, TMC, and Dubai) and didn't face a top player at any of them. He went winless during that long stretch from Rome to TMC, even though most of those tournaments are on his favorite surface. More worrisome is his dark mental attitude. Whereas tennis was a ton o'fun while he was an up-and-comer, it seems much more like a burden to him now. He's become obsessive about the pressure of being expected to win (which is understandable to a point, but he's clearly consumed by it) and whether or not the crowd likes him (that, I just don't get).

I think the doubt about the racket switch is really a manifestation about his self-doubt in general. He's had plenty of time to get adjusted to the racket, and there are times when he's hitting the forehand just fine. Gotta disagree with you, voicemale, about the attitude that he just needed to show up today and nothing more. Come on, Novak's much smarter than that. For Novak today, the lesser problem was his little freakout about playing Andy R in front of an American crowd (he still hasn't gotten over that US Open debacle). But the greater problem was he was paralyzed by pressure. He's the defending champion. He's 4 ranking spots and 5180 ranking points above Andy. And lurking in the back of his mind (cuz you know he wasn't focused on today's match) is the nagging doubt that hasn't beaten any of the Big 4 in quite some time (Murray in Monte Carlo last year, before Andy started his surge, and before that Rafa at IW).

Before the match, Gimelstob said (and it pains me to no end to agree with him) that this match was a real gut-check for Novak, and unfortunately for Novak fans, he failed miserably. He also said that Novak is the most mentally unstable (i.e., his emotions are more up and down and his confidence is the most fragile) of the Big 4. Crap, gotta agree with MakeHimStop again! Novak is still young and he has proven in the past that he does learn from his mistakes. Can Novak get out from under this dark cloud and actually be able to enjoy tennis again? Certainly. Will he? TBD.

OK. Fair enough. I really was trying to be empathic to him and not critical, I just didn't write it that way. What I meant was that he was just listless - that much was unmistakable. The guy has plenty of game, and it's a shame that he keeps losing focus in matches like this. As you point out, his lack of focus is not only problematic, it keeps rearing it's head at the same moments in his career. He's won 12 ATP Titles, but has never successfully defended any of them. In 2009, Djokovic had four titles on the block to defend from 2008: Australian Open, Indian Wells, Rome and the Masters Cup. He's failed in two of them so far, with the other two still to come. If he doesn't find a way to cope with that kind of pressure soon, it'll be tough to see him staying where he is right now.

Have we forgotten already that Djokey's wins in Dubai and even the Masters Cup are not that long ago? These players, even the best ones, simply can't win every week. With that said and to be fair, I did not watch the match against Roddick, but I've seen a lot of Novak's matches this year. He's certainly not as consistent as he was last year, but I think his cockiness will certainly help him from having the doubts about himself that others may be having. I think compared to a lot of first-time Grand Slam winners, he has held up pretty well to the extra pressures and demands that come with the territory.

With the extra rest, I expect Djokovic (or maybe Tsonga) to win Miami next week. And then we can all talk about Rafa, Roger, Andy, or Andy folding under the pressure blah blah blah.

Gone are the days when Federer could beat anyone at will. First Nadal tapped into his mortality, now it seems to be all over the place. On the other hand, Murray has been coming into his own for the past 2 years or so. I once thought that Roger's dominance was half talent, half confidence. I worry that he will bail out like Justine did, because his confidence is waning. I hope that he hangs in there just for the fans...it's great to see such great tennis among the top players. I am just tired of people saying the Fed is done because he isn't so dominant anymore.
And for me, if would be cool to see him become dominant again.

The Federer-Murray semifinal was some cracklin' good tennis for the first 2 sets. Roger had to hit a whole slew of winners to win the 2nd. Unfortunately, he was so baffled/frustrated by the 3rd that the match got away from him. But Murray was top-notch throughout. The quality of the Nadal-Roddick semi dropped off some because of the wind, which apparently was a lot tougher than it looked, but it was still good tennis. I thought the placement and variety of Rafa's serve were key to the win. Thank you, Rafa, for proving that a 120 mph on the serve (scary to think that's an "average" serve nowadays) is plenty if you can mix it up and put it wherever you want.

It will be interesting to see what will become of Federer. Rafa clearly has his number. A 6-2 H2H and 4 wins in a row indicate that Murray probably does too. And let's not forget that there are a bunch of guys now who believe they can beat Fed and occasionally succeed. Bjorn Borg, with his shocking departure from the game, defines one end of the spectrum; Jimmy Connors, who played on the ATP Tour until he was older than most of the guys on the Seniors Tour, defines the other. Where Roger falls between those two, nobody knows, probably not even Roger (yet).

While he's still not my commentator of choice, Gimelstob has improved since last year, when he was moaning orgasmically over Fish's and Roddick's victories over Fed (granted, that's not saying much). Nonetheless, I was still a bit peeved when Gimelstob announced that the Big 4 currently consists of Nadal, Federer, Murray, and Roddick. Um, exsqueeze me? Andy R is definitely looking better (tennis-wise, not just shirtless-wise) -- better mobility, court position, more punch on the backhand, and he seems to have gotten back that "big" forehand he had as a young'un but somehow lost over the years. That said, MakeHimStop's assessment strikes me as just a wee bit premature and, well, just a wee bit biased too. Then again, I'm just a silly fan of the guy who's ranked 4 spots and several thousand points above Andy.

PS: oops, when I mentioned Novak's most recent victories over Nadal/Fed/Murray, I forgot about his win over Rafa in Cincinnati. My bad.

Dios Mio Rogelio. Andy fell and YOU collapsed!! Way too much FedERROR and my goodness please work on that backhand and capitalize on break point opportunities. I'm really tired of seeing you lose to Muzza!! (in non slams anyway)

Murray is a curious World #4. He currently holds winning streaks against the entire Top 3: 2 in a row against Rafa (I'm suspecting it will be 3 after today), 4 in a row against Fed, and 2 in a row against Djoko. This is pretty much the polar opposite of the most recent #4s for long stretches, Davy and Ferru (although the latter two did surprise Rafa periodically). Furthermore, comparisons of form suggest he will be #3 at any moment. I still detest the new points system, but my rough calculation says that with the IW title in hand, Murray emerges a scant 200 pts or so behind Djoko as they more or less trade their results from last year - and they also both lost in the first round of Miami last year. Basically, it would be a race to go one round better than the other down there and claim (or keep) the #3 spot; if Djoko approaches this like he did his numerous openings to nab #2, it looks good for Murray.

But ... I won't be convinced that he 'owns' Fed until he topples him in a Slam somewhere. I don't see it happening at the French or Wimbers, either, where the burden will fall on Rafa as usual to do the honours (and I have the sinking feeling he's due for a bad day against Fed on one of these stages sooner or later). But still, our precious Andy is all grown up. He even has a (gasp) real hairstyle now and is sporting a pretty luscious tan (although I tend to prefer a pale look to bronze) to go with the tight bod. Napoleon Dynamite no more?

I guess the aftermath from the Australian Open Smack Talk by Federer towards Murray is still lingering, given what Murray said in his press conference afterward. Tennis Magazine's website, via Steve Tignor's blog, posted these quotes from Murray, and provides the general context of the press room's aura as Murray relayed them. Not exactly the stuff of homage to Federer:

Murray spends much of the third set hitting dull slices and wobbly loops, only to come up with something 10 times better—a hook forehand crosscourt, a belted backhand down the line—once Federer gets to the net. It's rope-a-dope—or rope-a-Goat—tennis. Muhammad Ali named the tactic 35 years ago. Like him, Murray, a boxing aficionado, knows that it's an offensive tactic disguised as defense. And from the beginning of his press conference today, he wants everyone to know that he won this match, Federer didn't lose it.

"As long as I'm playing the match on my terms," Murray says when asked if he's surprised by Federer's collapse, "and I'm getting the ball in the position that I want to get it in and making him play difficult shots, then [I'm not surprised]."

Murray finishes by suggesting something I've never heard suggested in a press conference by another player: That Federer didn’t play a smart match.

"He was running around a lot," he said, "and playing very sort of low-percentage shots. When you're doing that, you're going to make mistakes."

There is no awe for Roger Federer in those words, none of the usual caveats about how, no matter what happened today, he's still "the greatest player in history." There's nothing but a shrug from Murray that told us, It was all in the plan, why are you surprised?

Agree with you, Suede, that until Murray takes a Major then he won't fully belong in the conversation with the 3 guys above him who have won Majors. I think he will, and maybe soon, but he's gotta walk the walk first. Best of Five Sets over seven matches separates the Men from the Boys. For all of Murray's grand designs of plotting and planning his tactics being as incredibly effective as it is - that kind of strategy isn't exactly ideal when you have to win that 3rd Set in every match you play. Murray has raised counter-punching to an art form. But it's still counter-punching. In Best of Three it's the kind of game that can successfully drive people crazy. But it's also tough to keep doing that during the course of Best of Five. There was a Czech player back in the 80's who had the exact same style as Murray does today: Miloslav Mecir. Both of them float back reduced pace shots more often than not and drive foes nuts mentally trying to cope between 80% junk and the 20% attempt at the Kill Shot. Edberg had said of Mecir that playing him was "..like bleeding to death". It's uncanny how comparable Murray & Mecir are: both move like cats, have every kind of counter punching shot in their arsenals, had the occasional Big First Serve to use, and played almost pure tactical tennis for every shot they hit. For all that, Mecir had only one Major Final to his resume: the US Open where he lost in straights to Lendl. Mecir found it very hard to keep up the counter-punching over a series of matches in a Major.

Wow...terrible conditions for the final today. That wind is swirling so much and Nadal right now is handling it much better.

Horrible match. The wind really made it a slopfest. Nadal gets an A+ for handling it with better precision and better mental toughness. Andy gets an F for not adapting to it in any kind of way and for having a meltdown because of it.

Wow, Windian Wells, er, um, I mean Indian Wells deserved a much better day, weather-wise, for finals. What a shame, I felt bad for the players and all the people who paid good money to have to sit and watch players trying to play through that. Neither final was exactly earth-shattering.

Murray seemed to revert back to Mopey during the match, and the result showed it. Granted, it was hard to play with any semblance of rhythm or normal-ball-striking in those conditions, but Murray seemed a little too resigned, a little too early for my liking. Props to Rafa for adapting to the wind, much like he adapts so well to so many other challenges.

I do disagree about Murray's owenrship of the Fed, though. At 6-2 (7-2 counting the China exhib), I do think he owns him, they've really only met in one slam so far...which is not the fault of either, but if someone is "up-and-coming" as Murray's been the last few years, those slam matches will materialize at some point between the two...unless one of them, or both of them, inexplicably fall apart in early rounds. Yes, a tired Murray lost to the Fed at the USO, and the onus is on him to be fit enough to play many five set matches in a slam...but the venues where Murray did beat the Fed were all pretty big events, with the exception of Doha, even if they were just three sets. I don't think you can discount actual records or results, simply because they aren't slam matches. Yes, slam matches, do have a stronger sense of historical relevance, but when a total record of eight matches had only one in the bunch, I don't think it makes sense to kick out the other seven when weighing how well someone plays an opponent.

How 'bout Andy and Mardy winning the doubles? Who knows, with the aging Bryan's, maybe they'll be the next reliable doubles team for Davis Cup? I think that's awesome how well they played, and how many of the singles players played doubles these past few weeks. Overall, Andy did have a pretty good week, taking out the Djoker (which you just know he must have loved) and making it to the semis, and winning the doubles with a long-time friend. I agree, BoSox, that Gimblestob's enthusiasm for Roddick is WAY over the top and premature (putting him in the top 4 again like that)...but Andy does seem to be moving in the right direction again. I think his ship of slam chances has long since sailed, but he can still entertain with some great tennis into the later rounds of slams, if not maybe notching a couple more "masters 1000" or "500" titles.

True, Rafa coped and adapted far better, but given their games, that's to be expected. Murray's normal game plan of "puff, puff, puff, KILL!" isn't going to work in the crazy wind because he can't control those puffball shots. On the other hand, Rafa's monster topspin gives him so much more margin for error. I loved the way Rafa hit the forehand crosscourt on one side of the court and inside out on the other, so that the wind would hook the forehand even farther out of court.

UrbanSuede, great observation about Murray's rather notable record going into today's final. Even if two in a row isn't much of a streak, you gotta wonder if there's ever been a #4 player who held winning streaks over the three guys ranked ahead of him.

The nuttiest thing about Roddick and Fish winning the doubles is that they pulled it off even though Andy double-faulted twice in the super tiebreak, ouch! Don't know if anyone here follows dubs all that closely, but last year's #1 ranked team of Nestor/Zimonjic have now lost three 1st-round matches in a row, OUCH!!

Was this tournament available only on The Tennis Channel? I looked in my TV listings several times over the past week, and other than one women's semifinal match on Friday night, I found no matches on regular cable.

I seem to keep underestimating Nadal, but I guess I should keep doing it because obviously it works out well for him. Regardless of the challenging conditions, I think the first half of the first set and the second half of the second set still managed to reflect past Murray-Nadal matches very well (on hard court anyhow - their grass and clay encounters were decidedly one-sided affairs), namely producing some dazzling all-court rallies, unbelievable gets and crafty plays. It's why I was looking forward to this one, and don't feel especially let down. Even the Rotterdam final had its moments until Rafa pulled up lame.

Anyhow it almost seemed like a superfluous title for Nadal (when will he finally learn to play on hard courts? oh, wait....) given he'd won it before and he is still resting on his AO laurels, but it was good for him as far as preventing Murray from establishing a Nalbandian-esque mental edge against him on the surface. Speaking of which, some of the extremely gutsy winners Nadal hit to save those match points seem even more remarkable now that he ended up biting the trophy.

I await the Miami draw with interest and hope Murray lands in the same half as Fed again. Remember when we used to care which half Djoko ended up on? Actually I think he will have something to prove at the scene of his breakthrough win a couple years back.

Oh yeah, but now I find myself hoping that the Fed gets Murray, Simon, Tsonga, and Verdasco on his side these days...Djoko doesn't even seem to make it to the late enough rounds to face the Fed anymore. And funny, those four were all on Rafa's side of the draw at the AO. While Fed really has had a knack for easy slam draws recently, Rafa's still been winning them with the exception of the USO.