Archive for March, 2007

Men’s semifinals at Indian Wells features a clash between Spaniard Rafael Nadal and American Andy Roddick–hot, hot, hot!! Second seed Nadal made short work of Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina in the quarterfinals (7-5, 7-5). Third seed Roddick beat Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia in two tough sets that went to tie break (7-6 (7), 7-6 (8)).

I was excited because I was playing the way I wanted to in the breakers. I kept going forward. I won some points. I lost some points. I hit a new little chip short one, that won me a couple points. I was happy with that. I thought all in all, I gave myself a chance to win and eventually was able to do it.”
– Andy Roddick

The other side of the men’s bracket will be Novak Djokovic (12) of Serbia against either Andy Murray (13) of Scotland or Tommy Haas (9) of Germany.

In women’s semifinal action at Indian Wells, second seed Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia defeated 33rd seed Sybille Bammer of Austria (6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-1). Daniela Hantuchova, seeded 14th and hailing from Slovakia, overcame Na Li of China who was seeded 12th (7-5, 4-6, 6-1). Hantuchova and Kuznetsova battle tomorrow to see who will wear the ladies’ crown at Indian Wells in 2007.

In women’s quarterfinals action at Indian Wells, Li Na of China defeated Vera Zvonareva of Russia (6-4, 7-5) and Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia overcame Shahar Peer of Israel in a match lasting 2 hours, 43 minutes (6-2, 5-7, 7-6 (5)). Still to play in the women’s quarterfinal round are Bammer vs. Golovin and Vaidisova vs. Kuznetsova.

With Federer out of the race, the men’s title is totally up for grabs. The men’s quarterfinal round will include Ferrer vs. Djokovic, Murray vs. Haas, Ljubicic vs. Roddick, and Chela vs. Nadal.

The underdog reigns supreme at Indian Wells this year. In women’s play, three of the four top seeds have been defeated in the initial rounds of the tournament. In fact, six of eight matches in the fourth round went to the player that was ranked lower. Maria Sharapova lost to Vera Zvonareva and will lose her world number one ranking as well now. Zvonareva was seeded 15th.

Even in the first two sets I didn’t feel like I was playing amazing tennis. After [I served for the match] I just deflated a little bit. I wasn’t moving well at all; I missed a lot of first balls. That obviously gives your opponent so much confidence. She just started swinging and wasn’t making a lot of errors. There was a lot of wrong things going on today. That was just one of them — especially in the third set. But like I said, it was more of a snowball effect than anything else.”
– Maria Sharapova

In the women’s quarterfinals, Zvonareva will face China’s Na Li (12th seed). Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia (14th seed) takes on Shahar Peer of Israel (11th seed).

Just when tennis fans were beginning to believe that Federer might have fathered the WiiBot, Roger faltered. In the men’s upset of the year, Guillermo Cañas of Argentina defeated Roger Federer in two sets in the second round of Indian Wells (7-5, 6-2). Cañas was impressive where Federer was immobile. Currently ranked 60th in the world, Cañas capitalized on Federer’s unusual propensity for errors to defeat him soundly (39-8 errors).

Is Federer disappointed that he didn’t break Vila’s record for longest winning streak? It seems he actually enjoys the rare defeat now and again.

It’s just a guy put me away when he had to. He played a perfect match in the end. He didn’t give me anymore chances. I was just playing too poorly in the end to come back. So the right guy won. I’m a very positive thinker, and I think it’s going to be good for me eventually this season. I’ve had a very relaxed opening to the season… just playing the Australian Open and Dubai and having enough time to rest. So I definitely won’t be worn out towards the end of the season. That’s a good thing. Over the last one-and-a-half years, I’ve been in all the finals except Cincinnati and now here. I was just pushing the limits all the time. So something like this is actually maybe good for me, (I can) just get away from it, have time to rest up again, and practice real hard before Miami.”
– Roger Federer

As for Cañas, he lost the next round to Carlos Moya (6-4, 6-4). At least he can enjoy the infamy of having cut short Federer’s winning streak.

Later this month in Miami, Sony Ericsson hosts “Night Tennis” at The Ice Palace Film Studios complete with sets by world-renowned house DJs Paul Oakenfold and Masters at Work. Yes, DJ sets, not to be confused with tennis sets. “I’m very intrigued by the whole Night Tennis concept,” Oakenfold said. “Who would have expected sport and electronic culture to combine in this way?” Indeed.

The night match will be played with only ultraviolet lighting, players dressed in neon whites, and UV-reactive court, net, and balls. Dean Taylor of Sony Ericsson says, “The more I look at tennis, the more opportunities I see to present it in a new and experimental way. Tennis fans love tennis, and I wouldn’t want to change that, but we want to find ways of getting a new audience and by blending tennis with music, creating a visual and audio spectacular, I think we achieved that.” The future of tennis looks neon white.

Roger Federer may have finally met his match! Check out the WiiBot, it wields a nasty racquet. And hey, if WiiBot can’t beat Roger fair and square, he also has the option of wielding a sword instead. Look out, Federer–you may be losing your records to a robot one of these days.

In looking at the schedule for Indian Wells, a couple points jump out:

1. Being a resident of Indian Wells has serious perks:

Sony Ericsson WTA Main Draw – Monday, March 5
Free Admission at the gates to watch the WTA Qualifying Rounds

ATP Main Draw – Tuesday, March 6
Free Admission at the gates to watch the WTA Qualifying Rounds

City of Indian Wells Residents’ Day – Thursday, March 8
Residents of Indian Wells receive complimentary tickets to a full-day of matches. 

2. The well-known camera manufacturer’s campaign at Indian Wells creeps me out a bit:

Canon Maria Look-alikes – March 9-11 & 16-18
Join the Canon PowerShot team by celebrating one of the most loved champions in tennis today.  Maria Sharapova look-alikes will be canvassing the Tennis Garden grounds.  Stop them and say hello or simply get your picture taken with them.

Stay tuned for more Indian Wells drama, will it be Federer and Sharapova? Or Williams and Hewitt?

Official Men’s Rankings (ATP Tour)

1 Roger Federer
2 Rafael Nadal
3 Andy Roddick
4 Nikolay Davydenko
5 Fernando Gonzalez
6 James Blake
7 Tommy Robredo
8 Ivan Ljubicic
9 Tommy Haas
10 David Nalbandian

Official Women’s Rankings (WTA Tour)

1 Maria Sharapova
2 Justine Henin
3 Amelie Mauresmo
4 Svetlana Kuznetsova
5 Kim Clijsters
6 Martina Hingis
7 Nadia Petrova
8 Elena Dementieva
9 Jelena Jankovic
10 Nicole Vaidisova

Wow!! Roger Federer won the Dubai Open (of course) but more importantly he won his 41st straight victory, tying Bjorn Borg’s streak. Gulp, if he wins another match, he’ll tie John McEnroe’s record; three more, he’ll tie Ivan Lendl. With eight wins, he’ll tie Guillermo Vilas’ 1977 record. If Roger Federer wins just nine more games in a row, he’ll hold the record for most consistent wins at 50. Didn’t he set a world record last week? Tune in to Indian Wells later this week to watch history in the making.