Indian Wells - Day 4

No problems for the top men's seeds in proceedings at Indian Wells on Day 4 with Richard Gasquet (8) and Milos Raonic (12) decisive winners over Mahut and Cervantes respectively.  13th seed Monfils had more to handle with Spanish 52 ranked Pablo Carreno Busta who pushed the French player in both sets falling just short 5-7 6-7.  

The match of the tournament - Berdych v Del Potro - certainly lived up to the hype in Set One with both players delivering a high standard.  Del Potro stuttered first at 5-6 when facing his initial break point but calmly saved it and a tie break was required.  Through the tie break and beyond, the 6th seed dominated and Del Potro could do little to combat the pressure exerted. Berdych continued the procession of seeds into round three.

2nd seed Andy Murray thankfully shut up about Sharapova and did what he does best, defeating a hard working opponent, this one Marcel Granollers, ranked just inside the top 100, but who had the initial break in Set One and also forced a second set tie break.  Murray of course manufactured a win 6-4 7-6.

Aussie best mates Bernie and Nick had varying outcomes - 17th seed Tomic dispatched American Rajeev Ram in straight sets without any drama apart from dropping serve when serving for the match at 5-3.  24th seed Kyrgios lost the first set tie break to Ramos-Vinolas, a crime for a player with his serve.  He then was broken in the second set,  also having all sorts of trouble winning points off the Spanish serve.

Unable to convert any of the four break points available to him, Nick was exonerated from further singles action at Indian Wells 7-6 7-5. 

For the women, 12th seed Timea Bacsinszky, whose season has been little short of a disaster, managed to sail through her second round match against Pironkova and perhaps the Swiss sensation can live up to her break out season in 2015 from now.

The other Swiss star and 7th seed Belinda Bencic had to fight to survive against American Lauren Davis but escaped in three sets.

9th seed Roberta Vinci was trailing 0-3 in the third before she repeated the Radwanska escape manoeuvre from the day before and won the tie break and match over the Russian 12 years her junior.  Although the vanquished in this match, Margarita Gasparyan continues to impress, and her ranking in the forties should be much lower before long.

The major upset was the ousting of Aus Open champ Angie Kerber, who just hasn't handled things well since her January triumph.  This time she was overcome by 64th ranked Denisa Allertova, another product of the Czech factory which continually churns out female tennis players of the quality enabling them to keep wining the Fed Cup.  Next for Denisa is the rapidly rising Johanna Konta from the UK, another seeded player successfully negotiating her way to round three, thrashing US hopeful Madison Brengle   (Konta had lost all of their previous 3 meetings)

Following Kerber out the door was 4th seed Garbine Muguruza, whose 2016 promised heaps but has delivered nothing.  As opposed to Day 5 the supposed elite have been exposed for their frailties and players such as American Christina McHale are confident of their chances entering matches against the top ten accordingly.  62 ranked Christina smashed Garbine 7-5 6-1.

17th seed Elina Svitolina, like Heather Watson a winner last week, appeared ready to repeat the Watson trick of falling at the first hurdle in California.  German Annika Beck has been in good form this season and from the first game looked competitive, and after edging out Elina in the first set, took total charge in the second, ripping into the Ukranian first serve and retaining command of most points until 5-3 and serving for the match where the wobbles occurred and Elina broke serve to prise her way back into the contest.  Not only did she prise but she tore an enormous hole and jumped through it to claim the second set tie break without loss of a point and win the first five games of the final set.  Svitolina won 4-6 7-6 6-1 while Annika went missing.

Indian Wells - early notes

Tennis is on at Indian Wells, the first big event since the Australian Open, not a Major, but rated the biggest Masters for the men and similarly important Premier for the ladies.  Of course most interest has been off court and centred on Maria Sharapova.

In fact players interviewed after matches at Indian Wells have had more questions Sharapova related than focused on their own fortunes.  Thankfully my curiosity extends to the battle of the racquets in California and although we're only in the middle of the men's first round and the women's second round we have already seen some shock results.

15th and 16th seeds Sara Errani and Sveta Kuznetsova lost their second round matches after first round byes, confirming that the rest did not do them any good.

Lesia Tsurenko from the Ukraine, ranked 36 but winless this year decided to rectify that and Sara was the unlucky straight sets recipient.  The Italian's inconsistent form has seen her impressively win a title in 2016 but lose other matches to opponents much less credentialed.

Coco Vandeweghe, in defeating Sveta, thrilled her home nation and continued her good form from the first round.  This was probably not as much of a surprise result considering the power game of the American and the potential that she has shown periodically.

Third seed Aga Radwanska pulled a Houdini after being 5-2 down in the decider against Dominika Cibulkova, winning the final five games to survive into the third round.  Heather Watson, winner last week in Mexico and through to the fourth round here last year, looked on course again after levelling her match against Monica Niculescu with a 6-2 second set.  However the Romanian showed why she is ranked higher by outclassing the Brit in the final set and advancing further.

The two matches of interest for me in the men's first round so far include the win by Juan Martin Del Potro  6-4 6-0 over American Tim Smyczek.  This one I think the American fans wouldn't mind conceding just to see the comeback of Del Potro continue.  He is ranked 420 but continued fitness will see that dramatically change and for the sake of men's tennis we need him back in the top few.  A salivating second round sees Del Potro facing 6th seed Tomas Berdych.

The other match was a thrill both for the USA and for the tennis world as it was a clash between two 18 year old American young guns Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe.  Fritz has had the headlines and the success with his ranking jumping to 80 in recent weeks.  This time though it was Tiafoe who claimed bragging rights and won through to the second round and a tough assignment - 15th seed David Goffin.

Maria Sharapova career crisis

Was shocked along with the rest of the world when hearing of Maria Sharapova's failed drug test at this year's Aus Open.  I hope that her suspension reflects an error borne of ignorance rather than a finding of deliberate attempts at deriving advantage.

I like watching Maria play - don't like listening to her screaming - but her shot making is delightful and she also displays a fighting spirit when down in matches. Her absence will be a big loss to the WTA Tour.

However she must do her time.

Maria's response to the massive personal and career crisis was dignified and to her credit she carried complete responsibility for the mistake.  Her apology to fans and to tennis in general appeared heartfelt.

Enter the haters, surprisingly at the head of the pack former star Jennifer Capriati whose Twitter attack was a hateful jealous reaction - I was happy for Capriati when she won Aus Opens which I saw live in Melbourne but to expect Maria to lose titles won before the drug was banned is to disappointingly second guess the findings of a case yet to be heard.  Jennifer needs to be more selective in her commentary. Already Maria is suspended pending the decision of the case.

Martina Navratilova was the wise voice from the tennis world calling for individual judgements to wait until all the facts are known and the case formally prosecuted.

 

Hopefully the decision will be a reasonable suspension enabling a return to tennis for a repentant Sharapova.

WTA wins for Watson & Svitolina

Heather Watson, the number two British player and 84th ranked in the world, completed a terrific week in Monterrey, breaking the Mexican stand off with Belgian Kirsten Flipkens in the third set of the final in the unseeded WTA event.

This was Heather's third title and with it her ranking will jump to 53.

Her victory included a win over Caroline Wozniacki in the quarters, but with Wozniacki's poor form perhaps that was not the upset it ordinarily would have been.

Irrespective Heather will be featuring at Indian Wells - her ranking would normally not give her automatic entry, but since she reached the fourth round last year she earned a wild card into the main draw.

Elina Svitolina as second seed performed her duties as the highest ranked player following Sara Errani's inglorious early exit in Malaysia.  Her final with Eugenie Bouchard was eagerly awaited and the Kuala Lumpur crowd was not disappointed.

The first set was so close that a tie break decided its fate.  The Canadian Bouchard prevailed seven points to five.

The remaining sets were similarly tight if not requiring tie breaks.  Elina managed to win the vital points and despite Genie creating break points when Elina served for the match, the Ukrainian won the day 6-7 6-4 7-5

Bernie & Nick - we're proud then embarrassed

I backed Bernard Tomic as he played some terrific tennis throughout 2015 and was lambasted for his off court comments which were basically driven by his father.  Having seemingly ditched his immature approach to media and socialising, the Davis Cup was expected to be a chance to prove himself as Australia's leading male tennis player. He acquitted himself in both matches accordingly.

I also have been a strong supporter of Nick Kyrgios this year, as much as I criticised him heavily last year for wasting his talent with self indulgent loutish behaviour. He has devoted great energy into his tennis with results beginning to match his potential.

Now the two undoubted talents have resorted to an unsightly brawl through media - public and social - acting like naughty 10 year old school boys arguing over a marbles game at recess.

Davis Cup is a team game and whatever you think of each other Bernard and Nick, you do yourselves a disservice by airing your differences to one and all.  Worse still it embarrasses Australia.  The rest of the world must be wondering what in the hell we are doing.  Take a leaf from the book of teamwork, which the Aussie girls in the Fed Cup have read, and apply it to Davis Cup.

No matter how good you may be, there are others who commit to the ethics required and will gladly step up to take your places if you continue this nonsense.

Isner steps up for USA

Despite a fighting performance by Australia in the doubles, especially John Peers in his debut Davis Cup appearance, the Bryan brothers managed to win in five sets, therefore increasing the home teams task from difficult to monumental.  Big serving John Isner had to first be taken down by Bernard Tomic and Sam Groth then win the match of his life against Jack Sock, a player he had once beaten at Wimbledon but at a time when their games were travelling in different form trajectories from today.

Isner jumped from the barriers almost before they opened with Tomic left several lengths at the start.  The American travelled the first few hundred metres claiming the inside running and without needing the whip at any stage.  Tomic couldn't make up the ground, having to run wide for much of the distance and was adrift by two sets at the midway point.

Isner's clear run received a check soon after half distance with Tomic finding the better ground and moving up a couple of lengths, cutting the margin by a whole set.  The crowd rose in anticipation of an historic finish much like Kiwi in the 1983 Melbourne Cup and it was the Australian stallion that looked stronger as they entered the final furlongs.  As he drew alongside the American born and trained entry, Tomic lost stride at the crucial stage and Isner galloped to the line to win the Kooyong Stakes by a comfortable two lengths and sets.

The 3 day Davis Cup Carnival was a success for the American trainer Jim Courier who now had three group one winners and the likelihood of another with the favourite in the next race.

Aus v US & WTA Mexico Malaysia

Today's Davis Cup tie at Kooyong between Australia and the USA did not feature Nick Kyrgios due to a bad virus, and that meant out of form Sam Groth had to face similarly big serving but more accomplished John Isner in the first match.  To no ones surprise the first set went with serve until a tie break was required.  What did raise more a few eyebrows was the number of break opportunities created by Groth.  Isner had the poise to squash these and proceed to take the first set.  Beyond that the contest was effectively over with the American living up to his ranking just outside the top ten.

The USA led the tie 1-0 and pressure was on Bernard Tomic to win his clash with Jack Sock, a player like Tomic seen as future top ten material and with a 3-0 record against the Aussie.

Tomic did his job, winning in four sets, and defying the Channel Seven commentators who constantly attacked his capacity to close out the match following his loss of the third set. It was irritating listening, and sad considering these were Australians not supporting their own, just throwing out unnecessary doubt.

Hard for Australia to win the tie, with the Bryan brothers so powerful in the doubles tomorrow.  Hoping for a surprise, and it could yet depend on Lleyton Hewitt returning from retirement to replace Groth who now has singles duties.

In women's tennis, Monterrey has seen the removal of top seed Sara Errani in the second round, losing to the famous Estonian star Anett Kontaveit, ranked 91 in the world.  The quarter final does have 3 remaining seeds featured, including the number two, Caroline Wozniacki, who prevailed over Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, the Croatian born in Germany and living in the US.  Caroline celebrated her first win since it must be when racquets were wooden, and maybe she will be back to some sort of form for Indian Wells.

Kuala Lumpa also has 3 seeds left for the quarters - Svitolina, Lisicki and Bouchard - and each of those has the potential to kickstart a good run and improve their ranking to a previous high.  Especially former Wimbledon finalists Genie Bouchard, currently ranked 52 (career high 5) and Sabine Lisicki, currently ranked 31 (career high 12).