Welly welly well. Welly well well well. Or should I say Indian Welly Welly Well. OK to the point now.
The ATP Paribas Open 2011 tournament from Indian Wells California is now over and Novak Djokovic has just transformed from a top player into the tennis terminator, as he's just defeated Rafael Nadal in 3 sets at the Indian Wells, scoring 4-6 6-3 6-2. Its the first time he has beaten Nadal in any final and its certainly payback for his defeat at the US Open last year, but its an unbelievable result for the young Serbian, with an undefeated run since the beginning of the year, having won 20 matches. No one is safe now from the Djokoniator. I honestly thought Rafa might beat him but this was a real surprising turnaround, this is undoubtedly Djokovic's year and his time. Just as Nadal is the king of clay, Djokovic is now the king of the hard court. I bet Murray will be quaking in his boots right now, he might as well pray for an early exit in Miami, cos beating this man is now a seemingly impossible task. I've not seen anything like it since Federer in his heyday, who is a man who has now it seems past his best, although he did produce some fine tennis against Djokovic in the semi-final.
But the question now remains: can Djokovic dominate the other surfaces now? As we know Nadal is still the king of clay, so he will have to work pretty hard to defeat him, even on grass Roger Federer could make a resrugance, its hard to say, but if Djokovic can, he will be number 1 easily by the end of the year. Its a shame for Murray too, as he's worked so hard to try and win a grand slam, but I think Novak has ended that dream altogether for him, unless Djoky gets injured before a slam, then maybe he might get a chance, but its looking mega doubtful.
But I have to say a big well done to Djokovic, he has proved himself to be a truly great player this year alone, his country winning the Davis Cup, winning the Australian Open, victory at Dubai and now Indian Wells, its best the start to a year one player could ever have dreamed of. Novak said after his Aussie win, he is a tennis player and he believes in the dream, and he has certainly proved it. Doubtless he will win at Miami as well, the hard court season is his, we'll see how the rest of the year pans out for him, but I think things are looking ultra bright for the Djoker.
On a final note of the Indian Wells tournament, I was really pleased to see Alexandr Dolgopolov take his first tennis title with Xavier Malisse, winning the men's doubles against the Swiss team Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka. The two of them went on an unstoppable run of their own, defeating all the top singles players playing doubles enroute including the world best doubles players, the Bryan brothers, as well as the Murrays, and finally Roger and Stan. It was a big win for a first title, so well done to the Dog, he is up and coming too.
Moving onto the WTA tennis at Indian Wells, Caroline Wozniacki took her first title there in the woman's single finals. I must admit I wasn't so keen to watch the final because I thought it would be a pushover for Wozniacki as most of her matches appear to be, so I thought it would be a short and disappointing final, but it was actually far from it, as it was stretched to a 3 set battle packed with some terrific rallies, the match lasting 2 hours and 8 minutes. In fact it was so good I thought the much anticipated Nadal vs Djokovic showdown paled in comparison. In the final Caroline faced off a very tough opponent in Marion Bartoli, who after blowing her off the court in the first set, Bartoli came back into the game and blew Wozniacki off the court in the second set! Leaving the world number 1 needing to dig down and fight back in the 3rd set, where she battled it out with a tired but still game Bartoli, with the final result 6-1 2-6 6-3. It was good to see Caroline earn her title as I always felt a bit frustrated by seeing some of her easy winnings in the past, but with more at steak, the opponents will take up the fight and it certainly was a great match, in fact it was one of the best matches I've seen this year so far, so well done to Caroline. One advantage I must say the runners up of the men and woman singles have is at least they don't have to hold that massive bloody glass trophy as it looks like it weighs a ton!!
I also really admired Marion Bartoli's battle and her tennis play throughout the tournament has been pretty strong so it was good to see her in a final as prestigious as the BNP Paribas Open. Unfortunately for Marion, Caroline was a much fitter more agile opponent but she put up a great fight and I'll certainly be watching her with interest from now on. I also really like her style of playing which is very unorthodox, she always uses a two handed forehand and backhand, fires shots with great speed and aggression at different angles, as well as her quirky on court behaviour such as jumping up and down on the spot, swinging her racquet, and her unusual but very balletic serve. Which is another great thing about Bartoli and players similar to her who are unorthodox in style, such as Gael Monfils, Alexandr Dolgopolov, they bring something fresh and interesting to tennis, which is always welcome.
Anyway enough of my tennis ramblings. More will doubtless follow when the Sony Ericsson Open rears.
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