For about a set and a half, Federer looked like he was in control, at least on his own serve. When Fed would serve, he'd win quick points usually at 15, and be ready for his opponent. When Baghdatis was serving, Fed would make errors, as he is wont to do. Fed then had a
As Indian Wells heads to the later rounds, most of the remaining matches are scheduled on Stadium 1, the main stadium. The organizers wanted Americans, Sam Querrey and John Isner, to be the evening highlight. Little did they know that there would be two tense three set women's matches that would push the start of
In 2008, Mario Ancic got mononucleosis and this forced him off the tour for the better part of a year. He's not played much in 2 years. Winning two rounds prior to this (Bobby Reynolds in the first round, Julien Benneteau in the second), was considered something of a success for Ancic, but he had
For a set, Novak Djokovic was cruising against Philipp Kohlschreiber, up 6-3, with Kohlschreiber making errors. But then, his game left him. He couldn't get his serves in. He was spraying shot. And suddenly he lost the second set, 6-2, and then was down 3-0 in the third with a point to be down two
If you were to ask someone who hadn't watched tennis in 5 years, how Andy Roddick plays, you might get an answer that is at odds with how he plays now. Roddick used to have a fearsome twosome: his serve and his forehand. Over the years, Roddick has learned an old adage about tennis, namely,
The big news of the day was someone who didn't play today. Nikolay Davydenko, who had been playing great tennis up through the Australian Open, withdrew from Indian Wells. It turns out he had broken his left wrist and is expected to take a few months off to recover. Last year, Davydenko had to take
Today was the first day that the seeds played. There were few upsets on the day, but the most notable one was Marin Cilic losing tamely to Garcia-Lopez, 7-6(1), 6-0. Yes, he was bageled in the second set. Gilles Simon was the other seed that feel, losing to qualifier Brian Dabul of Argentina. Simon had
While it's certainly possible that someone unseeded might win the tournament, let's look at the the top seeds favored to win. Number 1. That's Roger Federer. On the plus side, Federer won the Australian Open and looked pretty solid doing so. On the negative side, he got a lung infection and had to rest for
The NCAA Division 1 Men's Basketball Championships, or "March Madness", as it's often called, has been pondering increasing the number of teams from 65 (don't ask why it's not 64) to 96. They only have to look at Indian Wells to see a 96 person draw with the top 32 players get a bye and
Indian Wells is some 150 miles north of Los Angeles. This is the first Masters 1000 event of the year and has historically been a major tournament. However, until the past decade or so, this tournament was not covered nationally. Basically, US tennis coverage used to be restricted to the French Open, Wimbledon, and the
