2017 BNP Paribas Open...ATP 1000...Indian Wells, California USA (Trump Land)

[don_budge]

The ATP website is trumpeting Roger Federer's quarter as the toughest in history. More hyperbole. Fake news is the standard these days. But it's a tough draw and one that Roger will probably let go of without straining his milk.

http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/score...ells/404/draws

The top half of the draw may well be the most boring in history as the most boring number one ranked player in the world Andy Murray is on top virtually all by himself. I sort of rifled through the draw and didn't see anyone in the top half that should be able to dent the defense of Murray. At least not on paper. You would think that I might mention Stan Wawrinka but Stan is a real disappointment week in and week out. He more or less somehow chooses where he is going to play on a given week and then he has another decision to make. Will he compete?

The bottom half of the draw has a lot of interesting names. Consider these: Marin Cilic (lame #6 seed), Grigor Dimitrov, Sam Querry (beat Thiem, Kyrgios and Nadal last week), Kei Nishikori, Rafael Nadal, Fernando Verdasco, Roger Federer, Nick (The Jerk) Kyrgios, Alexander Zverev, Juan Martin del Potro (The Jolly Green Argentine) and Novak Djokovic.

It's stacked. Unbelievably. I would suggest a redraw.

[klacr]

The 5th slam!
Indian Wells Tennis Garden is a sight to behold. The event should be on every tennis fans bucket list. High level tennis in a gorgeous environment.
The bottom quarter of this draw is absolutely stacked. Pity the player that is in that quarter. However, you could make an argument that of all the players in that quarter, there is only one that could get stronger as the competition ratchets up, and thats Federer. He did it Down Under, he can do it in the Desert.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[don_budge]

The 5th slam!
Indian Wells Tennis Garden is a sight to behold. The event should be on every tennis fans bucket list. High level tennis in a gorgeous environment.
The bottom quarter of this draw is absolutely stacked. Pity the player that is in that quarter. However, you could make an argument that of all the players in that quarter, there is only one that could get stronger as the competition ratchets up, and thats Federer. He did it Down Under, he can do it in the Desert.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

Wishful thinking my good friend klacr. I follow your trail but Federer doesn't have a taste for this one. Number one...the courts are way too slow to suit his slash and attack mode of play at this point in his career. He is in it for one last hurrah as if the Australian Open title wasn't enough. What a glorious win that was...if only Nadal the skunk had not done his best to muck it up with his match point challenge and his hogging of the microphone at the award ceremony. This should have been Roger's moment...only Roger's.

But Indian Wells is "only" an ATP 1000 and Roger only has eyes for 2000's and above. In fact he has narrowed his sights on two tournaments...Wimbledon and the U. S. Open. A heavy emphasis on Wimbledon. I think the year end in London may be in his sights as well...if he qualifies and he is healthy. It's only Wimbledon now for the Swiss Maestro. That is some four months away and he will stealthily be tracking his target with meticulous preparation. Leaving no stone unturned. He did the same thing for the Australian and played himself into form during the tournament. What a feat. These four months he will be measuring every step in order to arrive on the hallowed grass with the optimal shot at one more Slam. Rest is an important ingredient at this stage of the game...in Federer's world. An early out of Indian Wells will give him more time to rest. Perhaps he will even to lose to Steve Johnson after playing him to the brink like he did in the last tourney in Dubai. After that loss in Dubai what do you think Roger was doing? Plotting. Planning. Preparing. For Wimbledon. By losing to Johnson he avoids a potentially disappointing loss to Nadal in the round of sixteen. Why risk that when he has the psychological advantage after destroying him Down Under in the Finals? Pure speculation...just trying to get into the head of the man...The Living Proof.

You reveal yourself klacr. Your are a classic at heart. Remarkable and a godsend. Tennis is going to need guys like you very shortly. They are going to speed the courts up a notch or two. Mark my words.

[klacr]

Thanks for kind words don_budge.
I played on the Indian Wells courts last year with fellow tennis player.net contributor Dave Hagler. The courts were slower than your normal hard court and the ball seemed to sail or float an extra few inches on my shots, especially my volleys which if I were on any other court would have landed in.

Courts will be tough proposition for Federer. But looking forward to seeing him in Miami, at sea level.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[stotty]

Indian Wells....

Well it is certainly and attractive venue, attractive in the modern sense. By that I mean slick and minimalist. The problem with minimalism is it lacks soul and earthy vitality. I visited a minimalist home a few weeks ago...some tennis parents. The problem is the home told me nothing about who lives there, their character....nothing gets revealed. I found that disheartening for some reason. The sofa looked lovely but was actually very uncomfortable to sit on. Putting looks before comfort has always been a bit weird to me...get your priorities right, please.

A more normal, natural home betrays who lives there; a minimalist home tells you nothing, quite boring actually. Indian Wells has the same effect on me. Pretty and nice to look at...but a bit soulless.

I hear the food is really good though....

[don_budge]

Turnabout is Fair Play...

Sweden's hapless tennis program takes another shot on the chin. It's going nowhere fast as they say. Elias Ymer who is currently ranked in the neighborhood of #158 in the world is Sweden's highest ranking player. It's the pits of the world as "The Great One" used to say. There is no hope in sight. The system refuses to adapt in any way shape or form.

In the latest fiasco of Swedish tennis fortunes Ymer won two qualifying rounds to get into the main draw at Indian Wells. He bet Canadian Peter Polansky, no relation to Roman Polanski, and then he beat the Japanese player Yoshioka Nishioka who is ranked #70 in the world 6-3, 6-1. A pretty good performance relative to their rankings. But as luck would have it Ymer drew Nishioka in the first round of the main draw. Nishioka was a "lucky loser" evidently and he returned the favor to Ymer with a 6-4, 6-1 drubbing. Say good night Elias...say good night Swedish tennis.

[klacr]

The highlight of Swedish tennis happened yesterday in Stockholm at the Kings of Tennis event. Jonas Bjorkman was victorious against Philippoussis. Always loved Jonas.

Early rounds of Indian Wells have come and gone. No real stories. Seeded players (all with byes) have been resting comfortably in their desert oasis haciendas. This weekend we will see the big boys flex their muscles.

American players are 0-9 on the stadium court so far in the tournament. Not good.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[don_budge]

The highlight of Swedish tennis happened yesterday in Stockholm at the Kings of Tennis event. Jonas Bjorkman was victorious against Philippoussis. Always loved Jonas.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

Robin Söderling in the house too. Supposedly he is supposed to play in the Kings of Tennis event as well. Playing doubles with Thomas Enqvist.

[don_budge]

Stefan Kozlov...

Stefan Kozlov showed up on the tennisplayer.net forum radar screen at one point a couple of years ago. I believe that it was Stotty that flagged him first. Here he is now ranked #116 in the world and probably rising. He seems committed and if he doesn't burn out he may find himself in the top fifty in a year or two. He lost to Donald Young in a couple of close sets in the first round...7-5, 7-6. A better showing than their first meeting when Young drubbed young Kozlov 6-0, 6-4 on grass. Next up for "The Donald"...Sam "The Bam" Querry. A maiden voyage for these two...it could be interesting. Young showing signs of being more competitive and Querry making a landmark statement winning in Acapulco last week.

Here is his record to date...not earth shattering by any stretch of the imagination.

http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/players/stefan-kozlov/ke64/player-activity

[klacr]

Murray loses to Pospisil. The Canadian served and volleyed and limited Andy's chances in return games. Andy lost to Mischa Zverev in Aussie Open, another serve and volleyer. Interesting...and beautiful.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[don_budge]

Murray loses to Pospisil. The Canadian served and volleyed and limited Andy's chances in return games. Andy lost to Mischa Zverev in Aussie Open, another serve and volleyer. Interesting...and beautiful.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

Very interesting klacr. Did you see the match? I didn't...but there was this clip from youtube. It doesn't look to me that Pospisil is using the serve and volley very consistently. It's more of a change of pace tactic that he threw in occasionally. I didn't get the sense of constant pressure on Murray as a result of net play or even the threat of it. What I did sense is Murray didn't play very well. Pospisil was perhaps a bit more aggressive in general but I didn't get the sense of what the ATP article below suggested either in the headline. As if the serve and volley tactic was the lynchpin in the contest.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7P2SuAKcCME

A couple of things that I did glean from the video clip is that Pospisil did make numerous forays into the net but I wonder what his success ratio was in the end. For instance...I was impressed with his backhand volley technique but time and again it seemed that he either missed or Murray exploited it. The other thing that I noticed is that Pospisil has a beautiful service motion and it seems that there is some potential left in this aspect of his game as well. He hasn't exploited this strength to the nth degree yet.

http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/news/...-2017-saturday

Quoted from Sir Andy Murray from the article:

“I have never really practised playing against serve-and-volleyers in my career. But when I have come up against them, it's normally been a game style I have enjoyed playing against,” said Murray. “Today it wasn't so much the serve/volley that was the problem. It was my own serve, not getting enough opportunities when he was serving. I think that was more the problem tonight.”

"I don't think loads of players are taught it now growing up. It's not something that's practised a lot. But if there are guys that do it from a young age, it's definitely a game style that can be successful,” said Murray. “Obviously in certain conditions or court surfaces it's easier to do it, like on grass and quicker hard courts. But there is no reason why, if you play that game style well, you can't be effective doing it at the top of the game.”

I think in the tie-break that Pospisil won a couple of key points by getting the quick drop on Murray with the net approach tactic. He had numerous opportunities throughout the match but I found that his approach tactics sort of betrayed his follow up with the volley. One noticeable thing that I saw that wasn't mentioned was the liberal use of Pospisil with the slice backhand. It looked to me that he neutralized a lot of Murray's capabilities with his play of the slice. Instead of trying to ram his two hander into him crosscourt into the Murray strength he sort of changed the pace a lot and concentrated on hitting the ball deep without a whole lot on it...except the pesky underspin. In this way he kept Murray at bay and it didn't look to me that Murray was sharp enough to be as aggressive as he might have been.

From the clip it was an interesting tactical struggle but I still found a majority of the play to be from the backcourt. Pospisil was trying to crown the baseline as much as he could which seemed to imply that he was interested in going forwards. A couple of things about Pospisil that may enable him to transition into more of an all court player and using the serve and volley tactic more consistently is that he is one of the top doubles players if I am not mistaken and he now employs one of the Woody's as his coach. Woodbridge? Woodford? But with the serve and the remaining potential he should brush up on his tactics with the serve and look for opportunities to make it to the net. His forehand volley looked quite decent as well. He used the underspin in approaching as well...he has the acumen. It almost looks as if he wants to further develop in this direction. It would be interesting to have a conversation with either him or his coach.

Dusen Lajovic next...who beat Feliciano Lopez. Another serve and volley pretender.

[don_budge]

2017 Indian Wells...Round of 64


It looks to be some interesting pairings in the bottom half but you know how that goes. They sound interesting on paper but when it gets down to action nearly every time it turns into a snoozer unless you know who is playing. The Living Proof...Roger Federer.

Marin Cilic versus Taylor Fritz looks to have some potential as Cilic is struggling and Fritz is an up and coming American. But where is the charisma? The savoir faire? Jack Sock against Finnish born and Swiss domicile Henri Laaksonen. Henri defeated the "Next Generation" whiz kid flash in the pan Borna Coric. How about Donald Young and Sam Querry? Can anything of interest develop from this match up other than a final score? And so on and so forth. You see how I am. It's tough to find anything of any real interest if you are a true connoisseur of the game. I watched Jo-Wilfred Tsong and the petulant Italian Fognini last night. I opted for the pillow after a set and a couple of games. Can Fognini put together a string of good performances? It's a good question...don't you think so?

There is a match that can potentially be very interesting. I have been watching this guy quite closely and his game interests me for a couple of reasons. Daniel Evans plays Kei Nishikori. Evans dispatched "Downtown" Dustin Brown with impunity in the first round just as he should if he is serious about playing on the ATP tour. Brown is an exceptionally talented player who just seems to lack the glue to hold it all together for any substantial period of time therefore he should be cat food for the serious contender. Evans sent him packing to the tune of 6-1, 6-1. Enter the Japanese Kid...Kei Nishikori. Nishikori has not played due to his being the #4 seed so Evans has a bit of an advantage since he is somewhat used to the conditions. Also the two are even head to head with each having one win over the other. Evans surprisingly beating Nishikori in straight sets at the U. S. Open in 2013 in a first round.

I really like Evans and what I have seen from him. I like the way he competes and he doesn't back down against the big boys. He is a little guy...5' 9" tall and 165 lbs. So is Nishikori. He is an inch taller and the same weight. I think this one should be fun seeing the two go toe to toe. Nishikori doesn't back away from the baseline either. The difference is that Evans seems to be much more inclined to go forwards and attack. I like that way he takes the short ball and flattens it out and drives it...catching these guys on their heels a lot. In Dubai he was really walloping Monfils before Gael got it under control. It looks to me that Evans may be one of these workman type guys who just may develop into some kind of giant killer. I hope so. The game needs lots of players like this guy. Enough of the boring baseliners who haven't fully graduated from the junior game.

[klacr]

Pospisil served and volleyed often. But he normally does not do it near that frequency in regular matches. He was trying to give Murray a completely different look from previous matches. And he succeeded. It will be interesting if Pospisil starts to employ this tactic more often in all matches. I'd like to see that.

This match was a combination of Pospisil playing above his average and Murray playing below his, but I've seen Murray play many abysmal matches and still find a way to win. Pospisil bent, but he did not break. Credit to the player that wanted to be at net.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[stotty]

....but I've seen Murray play many abysmal matches and still find a way to win....

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

True...

Just watching Nadal play Pella. Nadal is moving much better than he was down under and his forehand is fizzing a little more too. He makes hard work of his service games at times but this is more down the quality of his serving than anything else. He is so predictable on serve. Everybody knows what's coming. He did have a period some years ago when he was serving with more penetration but he seems to have lost that these days.

[stotty]

2017 Indian Wells...Round of 64

I really like Evans and what I have seen from him. I like the way he competes and he doesn't back down against the big boys. He is a little guy...5' 9" tall and 165 lbs. So is Nishikori. He is an inch taller and the same weight. I think this one should be fun seeing the two go toe to toe. Nishikori doesn't back away from the baseline either. The difference is that Evans seems to be much more inclined to go forwards and attack. I like that way he takes the short ball and flattens it out and drives it...catching these guys on their heels a lot. In Dubai he was really walloping Monfils before Gael got it under control. It looks to me that Evans may be one of these workman type guys who just may develop into some kind of giant killer. I hope so. The game needs lots of players like this guy. Enough of the boring baseliners who haven't fully graduated from the junior game.

One thing about Evans is that he think he can do it...take scalps. He's a cocky bugger...you know, small guy cocky. Not that I am knocking that. If I guy is undersized he has to make up for it somehow. But it is his sliced backhand that some players seem to find awkward. He can float it, knife it, or angle it...and he mixes all three types up very nicely indeed. With a good draw, he is capable of getting through a good few round.

I see Nishikori proved a step too far for Evans. Shame I missed it. I would have liked to have seen how it played out.