Del Potro Impresses on Opening Day of Indian Wells; Nadal, Federer, Djokovic Playing Doubles Today

Fed says goal is to get back number 1

http://www.mydesert.com/print/article/20110311/SPORTS0701/103110334/Roger-Federer-sets-sights-No-1-ranking-after-lackluster-2010

March 11th, 2011 at 10:47 am

Juan Martin is such a sweet person–and wholesome too, quite a novelty; I wish him all the best.

March 11th, 2011 at 10:52 am

I am pulling for Nole to win Indian Wells, however. He has the heart of a champion.

March 11th, 2011 at 10:55 am

These wrist problems are very worrisome. What a loss for tennis if he never fulfills his promise.

March 11th, 2011 at 12:12 pm

TV – have you read Polito’s interviews? He and his team are satisfied with his progress. The man had surgery on his wrist, and he seems to be doing a lot better post-surgery than his fellow Argentine, David N. Give him time.

“Friday sees Roger Federer (w/ Wawrinka), defending champs Rafael Nadal (w/M. Lopez) and Novak Djokovic (w/Troicki) all on the doubles court. Olympic champs Federer and Wawrinka play the No. 2 seeds Nestor and Mirnyi.”

Friday sees it, but we won’t.
*sigh*

March 11th, 2011 at 3:55 pm

nadal and M.lopez have won big tournaments before. I think they could well here. they are up a set right now!

March 11th, 2011 at 5:03 pm

ah, i give up on the bracket challenge. chardy lost. so many little or is small upsets.. unbelievable!

March 11th, 2011 at 5:26 pm

now giraldo about to lose the second set, he was just serving for the match..sheesh!

March 11th, 2011 at 5:27 pm

dolgo, the dog writing a blod from IW.

blog no.1

http://bnpparibasopenblog.com/2011/03/bnp-paribas-open-alexandr-dolgopolov/

blog no.2

http://bnpparibasopenblog.com/2011/03/bnp-paribas-open-alexandr-dolgopolov-blog-no-2/

March 11th, 2011 at 6:54 pm

federer/wawrinka on court playing no.2 seed nestor/mirnyi..tough draw!

djoko/troicki are also on court playing chela/monaco.. winnable!

nadal/ m.lopez wins their doubles match..too good.

March 11th, 2011 at 7:20 pm

looks like they won the first set handily, the swiss. i was hoping they would get out of the first round so that i could see them on live stream. never saw the any olympic matches, so i wanted to see the dynamic duo here!

March 11th, 2011 at 8:17 pm

ps go igor!

March 11th, 2011 at 8:19 pm

damn you fe-lo

March 11th, 2011 at 8:20 pm

ha-ha did not expect this kind of results. federer/wawa gave nestor/mirnyi a thrashing!

March 11th, 2011 at 8:21 pm

dari..not igor, nishikori please!

have you ever watch federer play igor? the last 2 match have been nail biting!

March 11th, 2011 at 8:22 pm

tie break, go nishikori!

March 11th, 2011 at 8:26 pm

So funny how Fed and Rafa’s efficiency is the same in doubles. Rafa had a 2 hour doubles war and Fed was off the court in 50 minutes.

March 11th, 2011 at 8:26 pm

djoko/troicki serving for the match! great doubs results from top guys today.

March 11th, 2011 at 8:31 pm

i picked with my head for the bracket on that one, and i’m sticking to it. if roger can’t handle igor, then… he’s got bigger problems!

March 11th, 2011 at 8:32 pm

yeah, true dari.
ooops i was too fast to give djoko/troicki the win, looks like they might be broken…2 break chance for chela/monaco

March 11th, 2011 at 8:35 pm

saved BPs, djoko/troicki are thru.

March 11th, 2011 at 8:36 pm

murray’s brothers time to win now. go murrays

March 11th, 2011 at 8:46 pm

Wow Fed and Wawa kicked some butt. Nadal/Lopez and Nole/Troicki also won. Go brothers Murray!

March 11th, 2011 at 8:51 pm

dari – igor won, so you get your point :)

March 11th, 2011 at 9:21 pm

i guess that last set went pretty fast with kei and igor.
ummm, i picked fe-lo through at least two rounds :(

March 11th, 2011 at 9:25 pm

I think Golubev could be tough for Nole: mark my words. It is not an easy “first” rounder, as he is streaky and can really play when on form; he was one of the most improved players last year. He also took a set off Nole at Hopman. Maybe I am overthinking this, but I was hoping for Mayer.

March 11th, 2011 at 10:15 pm

funches, how come you’re not in our TX fantasy fan group? We need more good pickers. :)

March 11th, 2011 at 11:46 pm

jane- i thing mayer would have been tougher, he gave djoko a tough match in dubai but golubev, naaa…he has been going down than up this year. unless something has clicked, i wouldn’t worry about him. he was the only top player to be beaten by dimitrov this year. straight sets for improved nole.

March 12th, 2011 at 7:57 am

s/b i think

March 12th, 2011 at 8:03 am

the brothers muzza won their doubled match too. WOOT! fantastic doubles results for top guys. especially federer/wawa thrashing the second seed,just super!

now, go win your single matches

March 12th, 2011 at 8:25 am

the brothers muzza won their doubled match too. WOOT! fantastic doubles results for top guys. especially federer/wawa thrashing the second seed,just super!

now, go win your single matches

March 12th, 2011 at 8:25 am

why double posts? sorry guys :(

March 12th, 2011 at 8:25 am

hello tennis world!

no plans to go to IW today. it’s a day to nurse my sunburn.

but yesterday was canadian day! woot woot!

got to the playground early and ran right to stadium 2 where a huge group of canadian fans were sitting, eh. so, i had company cheering for milos. but most of us were scrambling in… over an hour early. and it was already hot at 10:00am. no shade. canadians next to me were from edmonton and spraying on the high test sunblock. being nice canadians they shared with me. thanks my friends from edmonton!!

the whole stadium was still filling by the time milos and ihlan walked onto court and we gave a polite but enthusiastic cheer for the turk. when milos came out all hell broke loose, canadian flags, whistles, woot woots, cheers for “MILOS!!!!!” milos himself was very professional about it but i was sitting close enough that you could see milos was surprised about the greeting and packed stands.

we were good fans and cheered for both players but as milos broke in the first set and pulled away…it was electric. his serve was getting bigger and bigger as he warmed up and when he hit a 150 mph, the whitlses and cheering was raucous. when milos won the 1st set, same thing. all of us went crazy. the second set commenced and we cheered equally for the turk, who was actually rallying quite well. then raonic inevitably broke the ilhan’s serve (ihlan with a big serve could be dangerous but he has none) raonic was serving for set and match at 5-4 and have to say it, he choked. yes, just a bit of nerves for baby face but he shook it off, no worries. and won it in a thriller tie break! LOL!! in his victory speech he confirmed what i saw on his face when he walked onto court in the beginning. he wasn’t anticipating a full house and he thanked all of us. “we love you milos!” OH CANaDA!

and BTW, he’s not just a big serve and a sweet baby face. that kid can move, come to net, hit winners backhand, forehand, has a “cool” on a stage… the choking for match was just a reaction to all the attention. he recoverd. he’ll need to get used to it! anyways…GO MILOS!

stadium 2: could have stayed there all day and night. everyone i wanted to see but dolpogo, roger, and rafa were playing there. so i continued frying my skin to a crisp to watch VERA Z almost to the end of her match. but i had to find shade and water, even though schiavone was up next.

my shady seat in stadium 1 was nice and i got to watch rafa and lopez struggle to win their doubles. the stadium was surprisingly full and of course cheering for rafa. sadly many of the crowd left for the wta match even though clijsters was playing. i felt a bit trapped in the big stadium halfway through kim’s match; anxious to see what was going on in the harrison/chardy match, schiavone match and others and had to get out for a look around. cilic was on my favorite practice court #15 and from there noticed davydenko was on another practice court. had to check that out. i dunno about davy. he wasn’t looking too happy with his game. have to agree. and mrs. davy, dressed up in all white and high heels sat on the players bench appearing bored, ready to leave. : ) and get to a pool or shopping….something…

then i was confused looking at my watch, should i go back to my seat and watch roger and stan get beat by #2 seeded nester and his doubles partner or go watch djoko and troiki in their match back on popular stadium 2. the choice was made for me. not a chance to get a general admission seat in stadium 2. apparently everyone stayed after shiavone won doubt and fans were lined up to get in.

got back to my seat in time to see federer and stan come out to huge cheers and a big crowd ( bigger than for rafa and lopez ) and noisier too. really, i thought nester and max would win but stanley was the man of the night. roger wasn’t bad either. roger in his speech mentioned that he and stan had not played doubles in “two years.” ouch, take that! current #2 seed doubles :/

i barely had time to eat my hot dog. stan and rog wrapped it up quick. nothing slow or methodical about them like rafa / lopez or delpo yesterday afternoon.

wanted to stay all night but my friend had other plans….damn it…oh well. will have another day and evening on sunday!! wish everybody was here!

good luck to everyone on their picks today! i see i’m not doing too well as usual.

March 12th, 2011 at 11:48 am

contador! Lovely! Now just enjoy roger’s (and stan’s wins!) and enough of this:

“then i was confused looking at my watch, should i go back to my seat and watch roger and stan get beat by #2 seeded nester and his doubles partner…”

reading about the match, nester was “destroyed” by roge and stan! Wish I was there with you :(

Keep up the great reports.

(I must go next year, sounds fabulous!).

March 12th, 2011 at 12:36 pm

sounds fabulous indeed madmax. contador, i am jealous. i follow the live score yesterday but you were there, up close and personal, live…lucky you.

Milos! GO CANADA!!! forgot to say a word about him yesterday..why kimmi? not good. so happy for him. happy he won his first masters1000 match. go milos. (MEELOSH) love the name!!

fed will be there on sunday. playing igor. the igor we all know. give him the good vibe pls.

cant wait to read your report, they are great!

March 12th, 2011 at 2:15 pm

fabulous indeed kimmi.

margot, jane and I are still on a promise for a girl’s weekend sometime soon. Remember, ladies?

Why do we have to work? It’s such a pain!

March 12th, 2011 at 3:08 pm

and the weather on skysports showing IW is just glorious. What is there to do in Indian wells other than watch tennis? I know nothing about the place. It seems in the middle of nowhere with the backdrop of the mountains.

March 12th, 2011 at 3:10 pm

contador – how fab that you got to hang out with Edmontonians. ;) Eh? Have fun! We are all loving your reports.

madmax, indeed. Can it be in your neck of the woods? I’d love to get back to Europe. London is great.

March 12th, 2011 at 5:55 pm