Federer Has His Revenge, Nadal Cruises; Djokovic v Isner Wednesday At Indan Wells

by Staff | March 18th, 2015, 9:19 am
  • 16 Comments

Roger Federer had his revenge Tuesday at Indian Wells. The Swiss was stunned by Andrea Seppi in the third round at the Australian Open, his only loss of the season. But this time Federer had no troubles with the Italian in a 6-3, 6-4 win.

“It absolutely was an opportunity right away to play him again and sort of erase it to some extent from the memory as the season moves forward,” said Federer.

Federer, who is seeking a fifth Indian Wells titles, now faces American upstart Jack Sock later today. The 22-year-old Sock is making the most of his 2015 debut, reaching the fourth round after a 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory over Roberto Bautista Agut.

“I know him off the court because we always chat in the locker room and we crack jokes and stuff,” said Federer. “Other than that, I know he’s got a nice serve; good forehand…

“Right off the bat he has a great start again. I’m very happy for him, anybody for that matter, who has been injured and is able to come back quickly. It’s nice to see. Always a great story. He’s clearly tough to beat, especially here in the States on the hard courts.”

Rafael Nadal had no trouble either, taking down fellow-lefty Donald Young 6-4, 6-2. Nadal now has a tricky test today against Gilles Simon.

“I like playing here – I love the players, I love the organization, I love the fans here and I feel very comfortable. I’m happy to be in the fourth round… Tomorrow I have a tough match against Simon. He’s tough, a good player.”

Milos Raonic, Tomas Berdych and Lukas Rosol also were winners. The lone upset of the day was Grigor Dimitrov falling to 32-year-old Tommy Robredo.

Federer and Nadal are back on the court today, joining Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray on a full slate of fourth round matches. Djokovic faces the big American No. 1 John Isner for the third time at Indian Wells.

“I can’t ask for better conditions to go up against someone like that,” Isner said. “These conditions suit me very well. That being said, every condition suit him well. He does everything the best. That’s why he’s No. 1 in the world. There is no surface he’s a slouch on.

“But I think a court like this and maybe hopefully the crowd on my side can certainly help me a lot. I seem to run into him in Masters Series events, and I would like to play him again, you know. I anticipate he’s going to win. You never know we’ll see.”

INDIAN WELLS WEDNESDAY SCHEDULE

STADIUM 1 start 11:00 am
ATP – [12] F. Lopez (ESP) vs [5] K. Nishikori (JPN)

Not Before 1:00 pm
WTA – [3] S. Halep (ROU) vs [12] C. Suárez Navarro (ESP)
ATP – [13] G. Simon (FRA) vs [3] R. Nadal (ESP)
ATP – J. Sock (USA) vs [2] R. Federer (SUI)

Not Before 7:00 pm
WTA – [1] [WC] S. Williams (USA) vs [27] T. Bacsinszky (SUI)

Not Before 8:30 pm
ATP – [1] N. Djokovic (SRB) vs [18] J. Isner (USA)

STADIUM 2 start 11:00 am
ATP – [4] A. Murray (GBR) vs A. Mannarino (FRA)
ATP – [27] L. Rosol (CZE) vs [9] T. Berdych (CZE)
ATP – [6] M. Raonic (CAN) vs [17] T. Robredo (ESP)
ATP – [WC] T. Kokkinakis (AUS) vs [32] B. Tomic (AUS)
ATP – P. Carreno Busta (ESP) / R. Nadal (ESP) vs S. Bolelli (ITA) / F. Fognini (ITA)


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16 Comments for Federer Has His Revenge, Nadal Cruises; Djokovic v Isner Wednesday At Indan Wells

lyle nubbins Says:

Grigor is trying to get used to a new oversized frame, I think that is his problem. I watched the Kygrios match and he shanked many easy groundies.


TennisVagabond.com Says:

Great comments all round, enjoyed this.


Hippy Chick Says:

Whats going on in mens tennis?so much for the next generation of up and coming players losing to the veterans,Robredo beats Dimtrov, now Lopez beats Nishikori pftt….


Markus Says:

Nishikori, good as he is, will always be at the mercy of the bigger, more powerful players. When they are on, Nishikori has an automatic disadvantage.

Pretty boy Dimitrov is starting to look like an airhead on court.


TennisVagabond.com Says:

Raonic still representing HC!

Not a great tourney in terms of Rof16 stars, intrigue and match ups, but there’s enough to keep us watching with the Big Four on collision course, and Berdych and Raonic still hanging round.

Kind of feels like 2013 again.


KatH Says:

Something going good with Andy – seems he does need a coach nearby….is much more consistent than has been.


Hippy Chick Says:

TV LOL i hope your right,i would love a 2013 type of tennis season,my two favorites bagging three out of a possible four GS between them…

And Raonic and Berdych are doing well here as you say,lets see how they fair against the top players….


skeezer Says:

Congrats to Feds 50th match win here. Milestones continue to pour in! Next up ; Birdsh!t.


sienna Says:

Everybody wants to see a fedal here.
Fed will have to be cool and collected if he wants to win it.
Just like when he faces Novak.


danica Says:

Nole played great match against John who, in turn, also played waaaay better than usual. Some crazy points there. Congrats to both, but Nole, oh boy – amazing!


Colin Says:

No, that was not “revenge” for Roger.

If this headline had been about anyone other than the sacred Federer, we’d be reminded that, despite all the “fifth slam” hype, Indian Wells is not a major.


Michael Says:

I see the old spark and fire in Rafa’s game after some time. Against Simon, he was belligerent, aggressive and was hitting some ferocious shots from both wings and at the same time defending to near perfection. His first serves too were lethal and it seems he has developed some pace around it. This is different from the Rafa we saw against Donald Young, who was looking a tad out of sorts and his serve too was ordinary. How did this turn around happened with just one match is hard to tell ? But Rafa seems confident and raring to go. Nobody expected this scoreline and everybody were expecting a tough three setter.
But Simon had little answer to Rafa’s onslaught and he succumbed. He didn’t get a good number of first serves in it and that sealed the match.

At the other end, you had the exemplary Roger who again weilded his masterful display and that touch of magic in taming his young opponent who had no answers to his wonderful touch tennis of elegance. Now Roger faces Berdych and it should be a tough match. At the other end you have Rafa against Raonic which I feel the former will easily sail through.

So, are we going to see the resumption of rivalry between Roger and Rafa ? It is a match everyone is eagerly awaiting with bated breath since it has taken some time to happen. Hope Berdych doesn’t spoil those expectations !?


Michael Says:

Alison,

Whats going on in mens tennis?so much for the next generation of up and coming players losing to the veterans,Robredo beats Dimtrov, now Lopez beats Nishikori pftt

I do not have high hopes about Dmitrov. He is not living upto expectations as he lacks consistency, variety as well as temperament. To complement his misery further, he is erratic at times. He might at best shine in some matches but that may not be enough to win a tournanment. But, Nishikori is quite a talented and gutsy player who has a huge potential yet to be fulfilled. Definitely you cannot write him off with this one loss and he is going to bounce back. He might soon find a place in the top four.


TennisVagabond.com Says:

Nishikori and Raonic have proven to be the class of this class. They are consistently reaching late rounds, and they’ve had several epic battles already.
They both have major holes in their game, something we just don’t expect to see at the top since Rog, Raf and Novak have set the standard. Can they overcome their built-in flaws to win a Slam?
I’m very interested in seeing the Rafa/Raonic match. If there’s a surface Raonic should be able to challenge Rafa, this has to close to it. Same goes, to a lesser extent, to Berdych/Fed I suppose.


madmax Says:

Colin Says:
No, that was not “revenge” for Roger.

If this headline had been about anyone other than the sacred Federer, we’d be reminded that, despite all the “fifth slam” hype, Indian Wells is not a major.

March 19th, 2015 at 5:17 am

Colin, the fifth slam? Who ever said IW was? First I’ve heard. WTF is the fifth slam – or so I thought.

Roger played sublime against Sock this morning. I thought Sock played a very good match – very powerful and wily on court.


Humble Rafa Says:

You beat me at a major, I beat you at the masters.
Good revenge.

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