Wk.11- Novak Proves His Credentials Once Again

Hey Y'all.

After all these years, the drill is the same. The WTA BACKSPIN page run by Todd has a large and very interesting post which is generally WTA-themed. This side of Backspin will be focusing more on the ATP, but for the whole tournament overview, next door is the place.

This is the third/fourth post for Indian Wells and the last until next year. I think the top seeds at next year's events will be Williams and Nishikori. Yep. So, let us get down to it. And, yet again, it is a little unusual.

Fourth Round:
...Djokovic beat Isner 6-4, 7-6 in a fairly routine victory here. That gives him a 2-1 lead over Isner at Indian Wells. The two have developed a history there. Also in Djokovic's quarter, Tomic outlasted Kokkinakis 6-4, 4-6, 6-4. It was the best match of the round with both players bringing out all the stops. Tomic used his backhand down the line to great effect. Murray was untroubled in seeing off form player Mannarino 6-3, 6-3. Mannarino is not untalented, but the top ten have a base level of talent which most players just don't have. Or have too much of. Lopez upset Nishikori in routine fashion, 6-4, 7-6[2]. It was one of the upsets of the tournament, but Lopez was just too good and, really, in some ways it doesn't actually feel like an upset. Raonic beat Robredo 6-3, 6-2. It wasn't just the scoreline that impressed, it was the fact that Robredo should be able to disrupt Raonic. Robredo shouldn't be a good match-up for the young Canuck. Raonic had too much power in that match. He even returned well. It was a boring round, this one for the most part. But the most boring of them all? Rafa beating Simon 6-2, 6-4. That's quite dull. Rosol had a fantastic tournament and although he does not go up in the rankings he does not drop, either. Given a seed at the next two slams, he could find a gap and exploit it. In the last few editions of both Wimbledon and the French we have had runs by underdogs. Even if given a low seed, that could be Rosol. Berdych outlasted him 6-2, 4-6, 6-4. Rosol double faulted on match point. Another good run was that of Sock. He had been unseeded but won the doubles and made the fourth round in the singles. He rises 13 places to 45 in the rankings. Not bad. Still, Federer put him to the sword 6-3, 6-2.

So, we now have our quarterfinals. Would there be more drama to come? Yes. Would it match the ladies' drama? Never.
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Quarterfinals:
...First things first. Tomic withdrew after a successful week that saw him get back in the top 30 for the first time since 2012. He was number 27 then. A career high ranking surely beckons for him now. At age 22, Tomic has already had a whole career, it feels like. Deliciano Lopez is hot. And so is his form. Deli is at 12, his highest ever ranking, and he consolidated his position there this week. He made a quarterfinal run here but he lost to Murray again. He struggles to beat the Scot but usually puts in a spirited performance. Murray won 6-3, 6-4. The match of the tournament was Raonic/Nadal. Raonic showed his muscles in this encounter. Nadal was in control of the match, having taking the first set 6-4 and showing little fear when faced with the cannon. Rafa was not being blown off the court by a big server like he has been before. Ljubicic, the coach of Raonic, did it to Rafa here in recent memory in a semi-final. Roddick always proved difficult opposition for Rafa, too. Raonic dragged the second set into a breaker and then saved three match points on his way to a 12-10 victory. One highlight included a smash from the ground that clipped the line. It showed great ball control. It was Agassi-like in its execution. Rafa never goes away and so it proved to be. He and Raonic went all the way to 5-5 in the final set. Then Raonic broke in an epic rally before serving it out to claim his biggest ever win.
Federer showed his own muscles in a simple win. Berdych had beaten the people he had to beat in order to reach the quarterfinals and had not had to go through Wawrinka. It is nice when a draw falls ones way even if it draws questions about deserving it and such. Berdych was competitive for the first 40 minutes, but the gulf in class was soon apparent. Federer claimed the first 6-4 and never looked back as he cruised through 6-4, 6-0.

The semi-finals were now set. And it would not be the big four again this time. No, this time they had a young, fresher feel.
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Semi-finals:
...Murray/Djokovic was the marquee match. Murray should have won that final in Australia but he choked just a little. Not enough to hand it to Novak, but enough to allow Djokovic a way back into the match. It would prove to be enough. Usually the recent slam final would indicate this to be a good match. It wasn't. Murray couldn’t serve. We've all had those days where the serve just won't work. Lots of times for the professionals, it's the serve which is the cornerstone of their game. If the serve works, everything just clicks together nicely. For me, it's the forehand and for Todd I think it may be the volley. Every player has a shot that has to work for their game to click. It's usually that shot that works when the rest of the game falls apart. Murray has served his way to wins when the rest of his game is crumbling. Djokovic won 6-2, 6-3 and it felt that one-sided. Murray could never seem to find any momentum. Murray was poor throughout and nothing worked. Djokovic has been superb this whole week. Murray could not find any rhythm on his service games and he paid the price. Murray, Nadal and Nishikori will be swapping around for the rest of the year in the rankings, although the top four is the main goal. Raonic is no longer a Cinderella story. To qualify, you must be on a comeback, [see Bryan's wife or Mardy Fish] a young unproven star [Oudin, Kyrgios] or old and thought to be past it with no seeding or a very low one [Jankovic or Youzhny]. Raonic is about to hit his prime and this week he has already beaten Nadal. He will have to wait to wear glass slippers once more. Raonic hit nine aces and the ace count is usually a good indicator of how he is playing. Federer was aced nine times in his 7-5, 6-4 victory. Yes, it was tight but it was comfortable. Like at Wimbledon, Federer was not troubled too much. Raonic played fine but he could not raise his level adequately enough to live with the world number two. Federer had too much variety for Raonic, using the slice as a weapon. Federer has the world's best slice backhand right now and he knows how to use it as a weapon. It can be really horrible to deal wiith a proper slice backhand. It proved to be one of the differences.

Federer and Djokovic would play each other in another semi...
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Final: Djokovic d. Federer
...Have you ever thought about the number one position before? Djokovic is the best player on the planet. 7,303,228,053 people on this planet. Djokovic is better than every single one of them. The German soccer team is the world's best. America is the best country in the world at sport in general. The Giants are the best baseball team in the world, the Patriots are the best. The Spurs too. The Kings rule all in hockey. The number one isn't just a number, it's a thing a team or player or horse has earned. Nadal has 141 weeks, Djokovic 139 and Murray 0. Federer has spent 302 weeks at number one or 5.8 years. His 237 consecutive weeks is equal to a presidential term plus half a year. Steffi Graf was, out of some 6 billion people, the best in the world for 377 weeks: 7.2 YEARS. Graf also had 186 consecutive weeks in the top spot. Chris Evert was number one for 260 weeks and Serena has 233. One serious injury probably ends Williams' career and her body is breaking. Can she hang on and overtake Chris? In consecutive weeks, Evert is 113, Williams 110. Williams should step into third, but in all these rankings Graf and Navratilova are way ahead. Djokovic, world number one right now, had lost to Federer in Dubai recently. Federer's schedule hints that he is making a run at number one, with him skipping Miami to focus on the clay swing. It's feasible Federer could be playing for the top position at the French. Djokovic was too strong in the first hour of the contest. He got to a 6-3, 4-3 lead before Federer broke using some of the old magic. He outlasted Djokovic in the lengthier rallies and forced a breaker. In the breaker, he twice came back from a mini-break down to win the set 7-5 in the breaker. Djokovic was plagued by double faults throughout the match. The Serb once again turned it on in the final set and took the match 6-3, 6-7, 6-2. Federer fought but Djokovic proved his credentials once again. It wasn't a classic, but it was a good quality final filled with drama. It showed that this era is drawing to a close. It may sound foolish to say that, but the signs are there that the big four are starting to crack. Here's how Djokovic felt....



Thanks all. See you soon!

Go to WTA BACKSPIN, too. They have the first barbecue of spring coming up this week. No, really, the weather is warming up where Backspin HQ is. HQ has quite the outdoor area, especially the one slam wonder statue garden.

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