Soooooooooooooooooooooooo here is yet another update on the Indian Wells BNP Paribas Open tournament which saw things get more interesting as the remaining men's quarter finals took place and the ladie semi finals as well.
Right starting with the ladies we first up had a first time meeting between the World No.1 Victoria Azarenka and the promising rising German player Angelique Kerber. Kerber actually did quite well in this match as she pushed the No.1 player quite far especially in the first set as they traded breaks, and the same in the 2nd set, also due to the windy conditions on court. But it was Victoria who once again came through and sealed her 22nd match win this year, remaining perfect in 2012, and winning in 6-4, 6-3. This definitely shows that Victoria Azarenka is without a doubt truly the World No.1 in ladies tennis, and so far she has put together a very impressive run, which seems to be in rush of ending soon, and its easy to make comparisons of her winning streak with Djokovic's last year, so it will be interesting to see how far she can go. In the other ladies match, Maria Sharapova took on Ana Ivanovic, and in the first set it was a high quality contest, which Sharapova eventually took the break and the set. However Ivanovic starting having lower back pain and took a medical timeout, during the first set, but in the second it proved to be too much for Ana, who was forced to retire, which secured Sharapova's place in the final with Azarenka.
So this sets up a very intruiging final between the world's tour best players on the ladies tour, however in their last meeting in the Australian Open final, Azarenka absolutely trounced Sharapova, in 6-3, 6-0, and I fear that the result this time will be the same. It would be great if Sharapova can cut out the unforced errors and improve her serve for tomorrow's final, but she can be very erratic, as she can be either brilliant or bloomin awful. Sharapova can afford to make these errors against any player ranked below her, but not with Azarenka, as she will make her pay if she does, and it will be just like fish in a barrel for Vika. But despite what happens it promises to be a good final, and hopefully this time we will get a battle that goes the distance, or maybe not, just wait and see.
And now onto the mens quarter finals, starting off with Roger Federer and Juan Martin Del Potro, who met for the fourth time this year. Roger so far has had the measure of Delpo this year, and this match proved to be no different, which Roger take apart Delpo in just over an hour. After a very long first game on Federer's serve, there was a problem with the hawkeye system, which affected a call made by Delpo, and as a result this knocked Del Potro's concentration off, as Roger dispatched him in their easiest meeting to date. This was a shame for Del Potro as he has continually struggled to get past Fed this year, and their previous meeting in Dubai, was a very tight encounter, which promised more in this one, but once again it just wasn't to be. Now onto Rafa's match, which couldn't have been more different, as Rafa faced another Argentine David Nalbandian, who has been in very good form of late, having already defeated Janko Tipsarevic and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. And early in the match Nalbandian really was the better player, as Rafa struggled and made quite a few unforced errors, particularly with his backhand, which Nalby take the first set. In the second however, despite coming within two match points of defeat at 5-4, on Rafa's serve, the former No.1 turned it around and held serve, and soon broke Nalbandian's to take the match into the decider. In the final set, Rafa made the early break and held on, and after a close last game, Rafa won the match in 4-6, 7-5, 6-4.
So this sets up yet another mouth watering encounter between two of the greatest rivals in the sport, Roger and Rafa. Last time they met they played a terrific high quality match in Melbourne at the Aussie Open, so it will be interesting to see what happens this time. So who's my money on?????? Really hard to say, on one hand, Roger has had two tough matches this week, but an easy one against Delpo, whereas Rafa has just come off a tough one, so it depends who has the most energy. Given Federer's impressive run on the ATP tour so far this year, he remains unbeaten (the Davis Cup and Australian Open defeats aside, cos they aren't part of the actual tour) so the odds could be in his favour. But something tells me no matter what Roger throws at him, Rafa will probably come through this one, but I'm not sure, so time will tell, but if I had to pick a favourite, if it goes the distance, I would say Rafa might just edge it, either that or Roger will end it in straight sets.
And in the other semi final, which is almost equally intruiging, we have Djokovic against the big un John Isner, who has really been in form of late. This match could be a real struggle for Djokovic, as Isner has been playing the best tennis of his career lately, and his big serve, makes him a nightmare to break down. However as I said before, Djokovic is a great athlete, and he will no doubt find a way to defeat the big Yank, so my money is definitely on him winning this. But it promises to be a really good match.
Well that's it for now, more to follow, once we know the finalists in the men's, should be really good.
The End.
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