SirBloody Idiot
Cricketer Of The Year
Beat the World No. 7 in Dubai, IIRC...Spanish journeyman on hardcourt? Would take an evens bet...
-
Welcome to the Cricket Web forums, one of the biggest forums in the world dedicated to cricket.
You are currently viewing our boards as a guest which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our free community you will have access to post topics, respond to polls, upload content and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please, join the Cricket Web community today!
If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us.
Week 11-12: Indian Wells [Oxenstierna]
- Thread starter SirBloody Idiot
- Start date
HeathDavisSpeed
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Another poor draw for Heef. At best, an exit to Blanco in the third round.
Mister Wright
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Haha. How many times does Mustard get Cowan in his quarter?
Should make 3rd round, have gained some confidence so might be a show against Cowan. Would like to add another doubles title also.
Should make 3rd round, have gained some confidence so might be a show against Cowan. Would like to add another doubles title also.
Jarquis
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Looking good for me then
SirBloody Idiot
Cricketer Of The Year
Indian Wells Preview
The first PTA Masters Series 1000 gets underway at the picturesque Indian Wells Gardens and nearly all of the top players in the world are present.
World No. 1 Jason Hall looks to claim his second Masters Series title back home in the United States, and perhaps has been given the draw to do it. His form since winning the Australian Open admittedly hasn't been all that flash, but he bounced back to a defeat against Jefferson Drake in Dubai with two good wins on the weekend in Davis Cup action in North Carolina to lead the United States into the quarter finals. His draw is fairly easy with the customary bye all seeds receive into the second round, and there neither Carretero or Midid should cause him any difficulties on this surface. There's potential for a huge third round clash against countryman Jason Bradley - last year Bradley stunned Hall at the same tournament in the third round, so the three-time Grand Slam winner will no doubt be out for revenge. He faces a good run to the quarter finals, as the only other seeds in Varga and Murdoch have poor records against him.
We look likely to get another big semi final matchup between Hall and Radek Špidlá who plays this tournament well. He made the quarter finals last year before being knocked off by Daneu, and looked particularly awesome against Li Wang in the fourth round where he won 6-1, 6-0. His draw is not quite so easy as he faces a tough first match against Denisov or L'Estrange, before a possible fourth round clash with Almen Benaglio or Oneil Stewart. Benaglio is a particularly interesting case as he made the final here last year, and stands to lose huge points if he cannot repeat that. His form is poor, but he showed some good signs on carpet in Geneva over the weekend that he might be able to at least push for the fourth round. Špidlá faces a quarter final matchup against a player from the stack fourth section; the most likely being Danijel Micic who has been superb this year. There's also the prospect of old rival Sven Oxenstierna - a matchup he'd no doubt like considering his dominant record against him. Oxenstierna is a semi finalist here, and will be intent on keeping in touch with the top four.
The big story will be how Radivoj Daneu performs in the place where he won his first of two Masters Series titles. Daneu took out both Indian Wells and Miami last season, but what will worry him is his horrible form this year that sees him hold a record of 8-5. He's been gifted a path to the fourth round with no one before that possessing the weapons to take advantage of his recent form, but standing in his way is Rick Henson who is more than capable of beating him; particularly in Indian Wells. He needs to defend these points badly, though, and arrest his slump but he's not been given the draw to do it with Jefferson Drake potentially in the quarter finals. Drake has been on a huge run and has amassed a 14-3 record this season including two big wins on the clay on the weekend. He's versatile enough to find his feet on the hard courts again very quickly, and if he can get past a tricky Gorshkov/Vollan matchup in the second round he could make a real dash here in the second week.
The big story, however, will be whether Daniel Páez Blanco can play at his best here. Blanco makes his return from an injury that has kept him out since the Australian Open, and that would suggest he's ripe for the picking. Luckily, he has few points to defend here after losing his first match last year to Jamee Hancianu. He should improve on that by beating Adams or Peters in the second round, but this is the perfect opportunity for Heath Davis to pick up an upset in the third round. If he can get through there, he'll be sternly tested by Smeltz or Amato and I'm just not sure he's got the fitness to match them right now.
Indian Wells, along with Miami, has the largest draw at a MS event with a field of 96. This means byes for all seeded players and generally fewer exciting first round clashes. There’s still a couple of interesting first-up matches including Denisov/L'Estrange, Engel/Rivers, Parmentier/Boyd, Schmidt/Harmel and even Delev/Doh. It’s the second round where things start to really heat up.
QF Prediction:
Hall def. Brdar
Špidlá def. Oxenstierna
Cowan def. Daneu
Drake def. Amato
SF Prediction:
Hall def. Špidlá
Cowan def. Drake
Final Prediction: Hall def. Cowan
It isn't easy to pick the first Masters event of the year, but I think Hall has what it takes to atone for last year's loss. He's lost some big points this year and Blanco has narrowed the gap on him significantly, so this is the perfect time for him to jump out. Logic doesn't necessarily suggest Cowan has the form to make it far considering he's not won a title this year and was beaten handily by Bogdan Maurer last week. That being said, he made the fourth round last year, it is a home tournament and he has a lot of match practice on the hard courts and his section is actually relatively easy.
The first PTA Masters Series 1000 gets underway at the picturesque Indian Wells Gardens and nearly all of the top players in the world are present.
World No. 1 Jason Hall looks to claim his second Masters Series title back home in the United States, and perhaps has been given the draw to do it. His form since winning the Australian Open admittedly hasn't been all that flash, but he bounced back to a defeat against Jefferson Drake in Dubai with two good wins on the weekend in Davis Cup action in North Carolina to lead the United States into the quarter finals. His draw is fairly easy with the customary bye all seeds receive into the second round, and there neither Carretero or Midid should cause him any difficulties on this surface. There's potential for a huge third round clash against countryman Jason Bradley - last year Bradley stunned Hall at the same tournament in the third round, so the three-time Grand Slam winner will no doubt be out for revenge. He faces a good run to the quarter finals, as the only other seeds in Varga and Murdoch have poor records against him.
We look likely to get another big semi final matchup between Hall and Radek Špidlá who plays this tournament well. He made the quarter finals last year before being knocked off by Daneu, and looked particularly awesome against Li Wang in the fourth round where he won 6-1, 6-0. His draw is not quite so easy as he faces a tough first match against Denisov or L'Estrange, before a possible fourth round clash with Almen Benaglio or Oneil Stewart. Benaglio is a particularly interesting case as he made the final here last year, and stands to lose huge points if he cannot repeat that. His form is poor, but he showed some good signs on carpet in Geneva over the weekend that he might be able to at least push for the fourth round. Špidlá faces a quarter final matchup against a player from the stack fourth section; the most likely being Danijel Micic who has been superb this year. There's also the prospect of old rival Sven Oxenstierna - a matchup he'd no doubt like considering his dominant record against him. Oxenstierna is a semi finalist here, and will be intent on keeping in touch with the top four.
The big story will be how Radivoj Daneu performs in the place where he won his first of two Masters Series titles. Daneu took out both Indian Wells and Miami last season, but what will worry him is his horrible form this year that sees him hold a record of 8-5. He's been gifted a path to the fourth round with no one before that possessing the weapons to take advantage of his recent form, but standing in his way is Rick Henson who is more than capable of beating him; particularly in Indian Wells. He needs to defend these points badly, though, and arrest his slump but he's not been given the draw to do it with Jefferson Drake potentially in the quarter finals. Drake has been on a huge run and has amassed a 14-3 record this season including two big wins on the clay on the weekend. He's versatile enough to find his feet on the hard courts again very quickly, and if he can get past a tricky Gorshkov/Vollan matchup in the second round he could make a real dash here in the second week.
The big story, however, will be whether Daniel Páez Blanco can play at his best here. Blanco makes his return from an injury that has kept him out since the Australian Open, and that would suggest he's ripe for the picking. Luckily, he has few points to defend here after losing his first match last year to Jamee Hancianu. He should improve on that by beating Adams or Peters in the second round, but this is the perfect opportunity for Heath Davis to pick up an upset in the third round. If he can get through there, he'll be sternly tested by Smeltz or Amato and I'm just not sure he's got the fitness to match them right now.
Indian Wells, along with Miami, has the largest draw at a MS event with a field of 96. This means byes for all seeded players and generally fewer exciting first round clashes. There’s still a couple of interesting first-up matches including Denisov/L'Estrange, Engel/Rivers, Parmentier/Boyd, Schmidt/Harmel and even Delev/Doh. It’s the second round where things start to really heat up.
QF Prediction:
Hall def. Brdar
Špidlá def. Oxenstierna
Cowan def. Daneu
Drake def. Amato
SF Prediction:
Hall def. Špidlá
Cowan def. Drake
Final Prediction: Hall def. Cowan
It isn't easy to pick the first Masters event of the year, but I think Hall has what it takes to atone for last year's loss. He's lost some big points this year and Blanco has narrowed the gap on him significantly, so this is the perfect time for him to jump out. Logic doesn't necessarily suggest Cowan has the form to make it far considering he's not won a title this year and was beaten handily by Bogdan Maurer last week. That being said, he made the fourth round last year, it is a home tournament and he has a lot of match practice on the hard courts and his section is actually relatively easy.
dontcloseyoureyes
BARNES OUT
Would take a SF appearance tbh.
SirBloody Idiot
Cricketer Of The Year
BNP Paribas Open
First Round (Thursday) - Indian Wells, CA (United States) - Hard (outdoors)
Men's singles (Seeds - Finals - Section 1 - Section 2 - Section 3 - Section 4 - Section 5 - Section 6 - Section 7 - Section 8)
Men's doubles (Seeds - Finals - Top Half - Bottom Half)
First Round (Thursday) - Indian Wells, CA (United States) - Hard (outdoors)
Men's singles (Seeds - Finals - Section 1 - Section 2 - Section 3 - Section 4 - Section 5 - Section 6 - Section 7 - Section 8)
Men's doubles (Seeds - Finals - Top Half - Bottom Half)
- FR CWLand's Rob Bowenburg has survived an early scare to come from a set down in his three-set win over Belarus' Denis Isaev. After competing in the final in Cherbourg on Sunday, Bowenburg came into the match with form behind him but quickly fell behind as the opportunistic Isaev snatched an early break. Despite having a 15-40 lead in the very next game, Bowenburg could not level the set at 3-3 as the Belarusian No. 1 moved to a 4-2 lead. With two solid games on serve, the World No. 66 had a big set to love lead and looked to go for the kill early in the second. But after the early hiccup in the first set, Bowenburg looked very strong on service and held every game from there on. Isaev likewise was unflappable, and it was the solitary break of serve following the first set that gave Bowenburg the second set. In a tight tiebreaker to decide the match, the World No. 70 broke free from 4-4 to bring up two match points; converting his second to advance to a second round showdown with sixth seed Darcy Cowan 3-6, 7-5, 7-6(6).
- There was a similarly tight scoreline between Martti Korpinen and Waylon Jones, but for the most part that was based on inconsistent serving in a topsy-turvy affair. This time it was the American wildcard who got the better of Korpinen as he converted five of eleven break points after a frustrating performance from the West CWLand qualifier. Korpinen's first serve percentage dipped below sixty per cent and he managed to win just one in five points on his second serve as he slipped out of the singles draw 6-7(7), 5-7 despite having two first set points.
- Marcuss Deane's first PTA World Tour match came on the big stage in Indian Wells, but he could not overcome in form Spaniard Javier Villaneuva. Despite a straight sets loss, Deane looked impressive as the youngest player in the draw and continues to show that he has the physique to match it with the top hundred players as he continually troubled Villaneuva with his raking serves. Unfortunately he did not hold up under considerable pressure and struggled for consistency on serve; his 56 per cent not enough despite twelve aces in the match. Villaneuva, who beat József Boros in Dubai a fortnight ago, through in a good performance 6-3, 6-4.
- Finally, East CWLand's Spas Delev was back in form in his first round clash as he smashed Japanese veteran Ninteh Doh in straight sets. Doh, who went 1-1 in his singles rubbers against Sweden in the Davis Cup over the weekend, obviously struggled to adjust to the outdoor conditions as Delev ran all over him 6-4, 6-0. With twenty-three winners, Delev was almost unstoppable and runs into eighteenth seed Carlo Amato in the next round on the back of a convincing win.
- Seeded players out: None.
- Second seeds Heath Davis & Jojo Mustard made the perfect start to their doubles campaign with a 6-4, 6-3 win over wildcard entrants Shaun Poole & Oneil Stewart. The Australian Open champions have been lacking victories as a duo lately, but eased past the Jamaicans with some typically convincing doubles play to surge into the round of sixteen. There they face Australian Open quarter finalists Eric & Rick Henson who struck a huge blow against Artem Krohmal & Merab Shvelidze in a 6-1, 7-6(2) win. If results fall his way this week, Mustard could become the new World No. 1 doubles player.
- In the big upset of the day, fifth seeds and Wimbledon champions Sandro Bachunelli & Hicham Hadir were bundled out in three sets by Australian pairing Toby Brookes & David Champion. Despite dropping the first set, the Australian Open quarter finalists came back strongly and finally converted their fourth match point to advance to the second round 4-6, 6-3, [12-10].
- Seeded players out:
Sandro Bachunelli &
Hicham Hadir.
Last edited:
SirBloody Idiot
Cricketer Of The Year
BNP Paribas Open
First Round (Friday) - Indian Wells, CA (United States) - Hard (outdoors)
Men's singles (Seeds - Finals - Section 1 - Section 2 - Section 3 - Section 4 - Section 5 - Section 6 - Section 7 - Section 8)
Men's doubles (Seeds - Finals - Top Half - Bottom Half)
First Round (Friday) - Indian Wells, CA (United States) - Hard (outdoors)
Men's singles (Seeds - Finals - Section 1 - Section 2 - Section 3 - Section 4 - Section 5 - Section 6 - Section 7 - Section 8)
Men's doubles (Seeds - Finals - Top Half - Bottom Half)
- World No. 146 Mat Mitchell has picked up his biggest victory in more than a season as he stunned World No. 43 Tal Cohen in three sets to move into the second round of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. The East CWLander, who was forced to qualify for the main draw, rated himself a chance of knocking off the top Israeli and showed why early as he controlled the match with some powerful forehands that forced Cohen well behind the baseline. Whilst Cohen began to attack the far weaker backhand side, Mitchell dominated rallies by running around some loopy balls to put away twelve forehand winners in a big first set. Despite dropping the first set 2-6, Cohen hit back in the second in a great smash-and-grab effort to snatch a break of serve after having to fight off three on his own. That set up a 5-1 lead, and he went on to serve out the set 6-2 to match Mitchell's first set effort. It sent the match to a deciding third, but this time Mitchell tightened his game up considerably to cut down on the unforced errors and produce tennis much more similar to the first set. Cohen, meanwhile, lost confidence on serving and was broken twice to Mitchell's once as the qualifier advanced with an unlikely 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 upset. He now plays World No. 23 Patrick Pascaul in the second round who received a bye through the first.
- The only other CWLander in singles action on Thursday was rapidly rising Scotland Rivers who smashed Luxembourg's Oliver Engel in straight sets. Engel was in fantastic form by making two PTA semi finals this season, but in his first appearance on hard courts since the Australian Open he was found sorely wanting by the World No. 55 who dominated him right from the start. With some high tempo and aggressive tennis, Rivers created a number of opportunities in the first set against an uncharacteristically tentative Engel. Taking the set 6-1, Rivers set about continuing his dominance in the second set and took an early break to lead 2-0. Engel looked to answer by shooting for the lines at every opportunity and it worked briefly as he returned to 3-3. But the unforced errors began to flow in a frustrating return to the hard courts, and Rivers set up a very exciting second round clash with countryman Sven Oxenstierna 6-1, 6-3.
- Seeded players out: None.
- In the tightest match of first round doubles action, CWLand duo Rob Bowenburg & Jarkko Maxum prevailed in a marathon three-set match against tidy Chinese pair Gai Kai & Lu Xun. The CWLanders dropped the first set 4-6, but only due to a double fault from Bowenburg at set point. That did not keep them out of the contest as they began to mount a big comeback from 0-3 in the second to secure the second set in a tiebreaker following an easy put away from Bowenburg at the net. That forced the match into a super tiebreaker, and both teams struggled for the ascendancy with a number of match points. But it was the CWLanders, after five of them, who finally escaped with a victory as Maxum forced Gai to frame a volley well long to secure a stunning 4-6, 7-6(3), [16-14] win.
- The biggest shock of the day, though, came earlier as fourth seeds Jefferson Drake & Martti Korpinen were sensationally dumped out by Morton Blundell & Wayne Boyd. In an amazing match, the East CWLanders and Australian Open finalists looked like coasting to victory as they claimed the first set 6-0 and opened up two break points in the first service game of the second set. But Blundell and Boyd, who claimed back-to-back titles in San Jose and Memphis last month, rallied to stave them off and to take the second set 6-4. In a sensationally turnaround, a stunned Drake and Korpinen were blitzed from 5-5 by the unseeded duo who took five of the final seven points to complete a tremendous 0-6, 6-4, [10-7] boilover.
- Seeded players out:
Jefferson Drake &
Martti Korpinen.
Last edited:
vic_orthdox
Global Moderator
Winning is super.
dontcloseyoureyes
BARNES OUT
Ouch.
Mister Wright
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Good to get a win in the doubles first up. Hopefully can continue on with that.
Magrat Garlick
Global Moderator
Bad times for Korpinen. Clearly the Eastern food is to blame.
SirBloody Idiot
Cricketer Of The Year
BNP Paribas Open
Second Round (Saturday) - Indian Wells, CA (United States) - Hard (outdoors)
Men's singles (Seeds - Finals - Section 1 - Section 2 - Section 3 - Section 4 - Section 5 - Section 6 - Section 7 - Section 8)
Men's doubles (Seeds - Finals - Top Half - Bottom Half)
Second Round (Saturday) - Indian Wells, CA (United States) - Hard (outdoors)
Men's singles (Seeds - Finals - Section 1 - Section 2 - Section 3 - Section 4 - Section 5 - Section 6 - Section 7 - Section 8)
Men's doubles (Seeds - Finals - Top Half - Bottom Half)
- A fast-starting Rob Bowenburg was unable to topple reigning Wimbledon champion Darcy Cowan as he fell in three sets in their second round fixture. Cowan was coming off a shock Davis Cup defeat last week in North Carolina to Bogdan Maurer, but started serving well against the West CWLander. However, Bowenburg wasn't overmatched and he served equally as confidently and prospered as he snatched a surprising break to take the first set 6-3. A stunned local crowd might have felt they were witnessing an upset, but the American 20-year old recovered well by breaking immediately to claim a 3-0 lead. Bowenburg held twice, but had dropped off substantially after the first set as Cowan claimed the set 6-2. Bowenburg stuck closer in the decider, but still could not create break point opportunities as Cowan advanced to the third round with a 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 win.
- In the same section, 23rd seed Jojo Mustard survived a horror second set to oust American veteran Wayne Boyd. The consistent Boyd dropped the first set 4-6, but bounced back in emphatic style as he shut Mustard out of the second set in just under thirty minutes. After that disaster, Mustard took the time between sets to regain his composure and finally was on the board in the third as he slammed home a backhand from the net. In the fourth game of the set, Mustard earned a decisive break as Boyd sent an attempt at a forehand winner wide and the West CWLander charged on to secure a 6-4, 0-6, 6-3 win. He plays out-of-form 33rd seed David Champion who came from a set down to snatch a 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(8) win over Jean-Christophe Genghini.
- Tenth seed Jefferson Drake has been in awesome form this season, but found himself in a world of trouble early against inconsistent Russian No. 2 Gregor Gorshkov. Gorshkov reversed some horrible form to beat Tom Vollan in the first round, and continued that into his second round clash against the World No. 10 by taking the first set 6-2. The Russian had Drake on the ropes at 4-3 in the second a break up, before the tenth seed struck back immediately to level the set at 4-4. Drake, who was struggling for touch in North America after his doubles exit, did enough to struggle into a tiebreaker where he finally found his range to bagel the unseeded opponent. That seemed to set him alight in the third, but Gorshkov stuck close as he fought off three break points to be level at 4-4. But he couldn't fight off two in the next service game as Drake powered a backhand volley deep into the court to secure a gutsy 2-6, 7-6(0), 6-4 win. He plays Colombia's Diego Hurtado who beat local wildcard Sam Lazzeri 7-6(5), 7-5.
- Fourteenth seed Randy Smeltz's chances of a top ten chase have taken a massive blow as he was stunned by Finland's World No. 82 Lari Färkkilä. Smeltz's last appearance on hard courts was less than a fortnight ago in Dubai, and his semi final appearance there seemingly held him in good stead to go deep in Indian Wells. That didn't eventuate as he struggled with consistency against the top Finnish player who took the first set 6-3. Färkkilä adopted Smeltz's strategy of cutting down on unforced errors and looking to make his opponent play that extra shot, and this time it was Smeltz who was becoming obviously frustrated by the tactics. He claimed a single break of serve in the second set 6-4, but was still looking troubled by Färkkilä's consistent serving and the lengthy rallies he was being drawn into. That culminated in a disastrous third set as he made seventeen unforced errors and just eight winners as the unseeded Färkkilä moved into the third round 6-3, 4-6, 6-2.
- Färkkilä now plays fellow unseeded player Spas Delev who picked up arguably the biggest win of his career against World No. 19 Carlo Amato. Delev came into the match on the back of some indifferent form, and quickly found himself in difficulty at 15-40 in his first service game. Nevertheless, he fought those break points off and drew first blood with a break of Amato in the fourth game. Leading 3-1, Delev blew an opportunity to further press his advantage as he put a big wind up forehand into the net to allow Amato back into the set. The normally strong Amato serve was struggling in windy conditions, and Delev again surged ahead a break. But his game was also lacking in the outdoors arena and he gave up the ascendancy straight away. Predictably, it took a tiebreaker to separate the pair and it was surprisingly Delev who came out on top 7-5. Amato needed a stronger start to the second set, but again couldn't get it as his service percentage in the first three service games fell below fifty. That saw him nursing a 1-5 deficit and he could only manage one more game before Delev secured a stunning 7-6(5), 6-2 upset with a great backhand passing shot.
- The seeds continued to tumble in the eighth section, and in perhaps the most disappointing performance of the day 28th seed Heath Davis was stunned in straight sets by Swedish up-and-comer Björn Donaldson. Just a fortnight after pushing the World No. 1 to three sets, Davis was comprehensively outplayed by the 22-year old Swede who backed up his first round win with a 6-3, 6-4 upset. Davis lacked penetration in his game and his high ball toss was brutalised by the swirly conditions. Meanwhile, Donaldson controlled the rallies with smart shot placement and took advantage of a big tally of unforced errors to move into the round of 32.
- In other results, the biggest upset of the day was no doubt the stunning defeat of sixteenth seed Rick Henson. Henson was touted as one of the big chances to go deep in the draw, but was shocked by Spain's Javier Villaneuva who picked up another huge scalp with a 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 upset. He plays Dutchman Maarten Berg who picked up the biggest win of his comeback from injury with a 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(4) upset of 24th seed Sanchez Emelio. Elsewhere, Daniel Páez Blanco made a winning start in his first match since the Australian Open with a 6-7(3), 6-4, 6-1 win over Alex Peters. Fellow returning player Kim Vollan played his first match of the season, and was comfortably beaten by Viktor Vuriak 6-1, 4-6, 6-3.
- Seeded players out:
Carlo Amato;
Heath Davis;
Sanchez Emelio;
Rick Henson;
Randy Smeltz;
Kim Vollan.
- The last of the first round doubles matches took place on Friday, and in the pick of the action top seeds Hugh James & Ralph Robinson led the way with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Denis Inomov & Rustam Toshpulatov to set up a second round clash with Rob Bowenburg & Jarkko Maxum.
- Seeded players out: None.
Last edited: