Indian Wells Wrap Up
Anytime the best four men in the world make it to the semifinals, you know you are in for a treat. And yes, for those keeping track, I am talking about Nadal, Murray, Federer and Roddick. I know Roddick is ranked 7th, but so far this year he is playing as well as anyone, and better than Novak Djokovic (whom he destroyed 3 and 2 in the quarterfinals). And for the most part, the Semi’s did not disappoint. The only disappointment was how Federer seemed to check out at 1-1 in the third set against Murray, leaving even the most diehard Federer supports to question just where Federer’s head is at right now (maybe with his unborn child…). Up to that point, however, the match definitely lived up to billing. Even better though was the Nadal Roddick match. Although it was only two sets, Nadal won 6-4, 7-6, it felt much closer. Roddick seems to have this new Rocky Balboa type mentality, and can grind it out with the best of them, no longer relying on his cannon of a serve to win him matches. Down a set and 5-3 in the second, Roddick fought back to break serve and force a tiebreaker – something that I swear the Roddick from a couple years ago would not have done.
I must confess though, I have a newfound respect for not only Roddick’s game, but also his personality after pulling out of Dubai in support of Shahar Peer. Last Roddick shoutout, I promise – kudos to him and Mardy Fish for saving three match points against Max Miryni and Andy Ram en route to the doubles title (a mere 20 minutes after Roddick lost to Nadal).
Moving onto the Finals, both the Mens and Womens were somewhat of a disappointment. Although I don’t think the players had any control over the sustained 40 MPH wind gusts that affected the matches a great deal. Although Zvonareva won the finals over Ivanovic is straight sets (Zvonareva also won the doubles with Azarenka), the match took forever because Ana tossed the ball an average of 2.6 times/serve, and considering her first serve percentage couldn’t have been too much higher than 50%, well let’s just say that added quite a bit of time. As for the Men’s, Nadal beat Murray by a lopsided score of 6-1, 6-2, and it simply seemed as if Murray couldn’t handle the wind nearly was well as Nadal did. All in all, great couple weeks of tennis.
One other thought – being out at Indian Wells for two weeks, much of the talk (yet again) was related to the Williams Sisters and the fact they don’t play the event anymore, as a result of a 2001 incident. In all honest, I don’t really have an issue with them continuing to avoid the event and standing up for what they believe in. However, just weeks ago when Shahar Peer was not issued a Visa to play Dubia, Venus played anyway, and said “I have to look at the bigger picture. The big picture is that Shahar Peer didn’t get a chance to play, but making an immediate decision we also have to look at sponsors, fans and everyone who has invested a lot in the tournament…Sponsors are important to us..We wouldn’t be here without sponsors and we can’t let them down. Whatever we do, we need to do as a team — players, sponsors, tour and whoever — and not all break off in one direction. We are team players.” If that’s your stance Venus, you (and your sister) should have been at Indian Wells.