Now onto Part 7 of the Indian Wells thingymabob, which I thought I would split into two parts so I conclude this stuff in just 7 parts (or 7.2 parts!) and this post covers the semi finals action on the men's side of the BNP Paribas Open.
The two semi final matches promised to deliver much, and to large extent they certainly did, and to kick off with the first match, which was between Novak Djokovic and the big guy John Isner. I somehow thought this would be a really tough match given Isner's current form and big serve, and I was right, as he really took on the World No.1 and played as the aggressor. In the first set however, Isner was a break down but then he broke back and they soon went to a tiebreak, which Isner won, but in the 2nd set Djokovic secured a break at 4-3, and took the set, but once again in the 3rd it went to a tiebreak where again, and this time Isner sealed Djoko's fate and handed the world's best player, his 2nd defeat of 2012. Without a doubt this was the biggest win of Isner's career, winning in a tighter than a tight thing score of 7-6(7), 3-6, 7-6(5).
From what I saw of it, it looked like a really gripping match, with some highly impressive and aggressive play from Isner, and now that Isner is playing the best tennis of his career, he will prove to be a real nightmare on tour with that serve and height of his. Djokovic by no means played a bad match here, but once again it did highlight what I've always said was his main weakness, and that is tiebreaks, as he seems lose that bit of concentration needed in the vital moments. So that is the 2nd title this year Djokovic has failed to defend, and it clearly shows that his incredible winning streak from last year, right enough has proved to be impossible to repeat. But Djoko will have plenty more chances ahead of him, and he said himself he will prioritise the slams this year and the Olympics above everything else, but whether or not he can win the remaining slams or not we will see. I also think after the incredible success he had last year, he realised he chased after everything and just about got it all, but it took its toll on his body, so I'm sure he will prioritise his schedule more this year, and he might not play in certain tournaments and conserve his energy for the bigger ones.
But anyway onto the second men's semi final, which of course proved to be the more highly anticipated of the two, between Roger and Rafa. To be honest their meetings on the tour can be a bit hit and miss at times, and this one I have to say was more of a miss, as throughout Roger dominated the play and give very few chances for Rafa to get into the match. Although Rafa broke back once in the 1st set and again in the 2nd, but after a very short rain delay, ON match point no less, Roger closed it out with one single ace, for a place in the Indian Wells BNP Paribas Open final, winning in 6-3, 6-4.
So this sets up the men's final which I think promises to be a really good one, between Roger and John Isner. Who's gonna win then?????????? Again very tricky to tell, Isner is one of the two players that has defeated Roger this year, as he did in the Davis Cup last month, and if he plays like he did yesterday he's got a strong shout of lifting the biggest title of his career. On the other hand, we have arguably the greatest player of all time, who eats pressure for breakfast, lunch and dinner, who has won numerous Masters and Slams, and might just snatch another one today. So my gut instinct here will be Federer in either two tight straight sets, or in 3 sets, but I just think it might be one to watch.
And that's it for now, and tonight first up is the ladies BNP Paribas Open final, with Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova fighting it out for a chance to lift that big awkward glass starry shaped trophy. My money is firmly on Azarenka for this one, but who knows???? Just maybe Sharapova could play a great match and end Vika's winning streak, but I doubt it, but I just hope it isn't a straight set pummelling like their last meeting was, so fingers crossed its a good one.
That's it for now.
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