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Some interesting results in Miami - the Nadal/Djokovic/Federer trio hasn't had too much trouble getting to the quarterfinals (actually, Federer hasn't played his 4th round match against Oliver Rochus as I type this - it might occur at 1 AM the way Sharapova/Dulgheru is going), but there have been a number of surprises elsewhere in the men's draw - both Soderling, Murray, and Wawrinka all got knocked out early (though Soderling's loss to Del Potro wasn't overly surprising). Dolgopolov caught an unlucky break with the Monday night rain delays in his Tsonga match and got squashed by Nadal, but a run to the 4th round is still solid. Marty Fish had an excellent win over Del Potro to get to the quarters.
The women's game isn't nearly as interesting to me right now with the power vacuum at the top (no Williams sisters, no Henin, no full-strength Sharapova), but Andrea Petkovic has been playing well; I think she had a good run at the Australian Open too.
To me, the most interesting questions in the men's game as we approach the French Open are:
1) Will Djokovic's dominance on hard court be able to carry over to clay (i.e. will he become a clear #2 on clay behind Nadal and possibly challenge Nadal at Roland Garros)?
2) How much will Del Potro continue to improve as he continues to recover from his 2010 injuries?
3) Can Federer stem the tide of what looks like slippage from his previous invincible (and later invincible against everybody by Nadal) level? (To think that a guy can be clearly no worse than the #3 player in the world and still be thought by some to be slipping is truly amazing - then again Federer in his 2005-2007 prime was truly amazing.)
I haven't been able to catch any of them as of late, just been busy working, though I've been watching the score boards online.
And I've read about Ferrer hitting a ball into the audience towards a crying baby. Someone brought a baby to a tennis match? Gonna go catch up on the videos now.
Yeah Murray got knocked out in the first round like in Indian Wells. I read an article that he was saying that the temperature from Miami to California was a drastic change (Murray trains in Miami, FYI) and that affected his ability to gauge his play with the ball -- yeah, not so much, Murray.
D-Joke, reached the QF last year in the French, who knows. Nadal has always dominated that court.
I think Del Potro, if no injuries occur, could possibly reach the top 20 by the end of the year.
I'm surprise to see Fish doing so well, I'll be honest, he never caught my attention -- I'll have to watch him play. I read that he'll be ahead of Roddick in rankings.
As to Federer, I think it's still too early to say whether he's truly slipping -- seeing how he's doing well in the tournaments; just look at Murray, I'm perplexed as to why he remains as No 5. Although the gap between Federer and Nadal, in terms of ranking, seems rather wide. Also with DJoke, who knows how long he'll last, some players reach #1 for a year only to fade back quickly -- like with some players; Roddick, Hewitt, Ferrero and a few others I can't really recall. And I suppose you can speculate his age, the other two are younger than him, not sure how much that would be taken into account though.
I am really impressed by the fact Novak Djokavic beat Rafael Nadal on clay in Nadal's home country in Madrid. That's really, really impressive. At this point I really hope Djokavic and Nadal play in the finals at Roland Garros this year (or that Roger Federer plays the Joker in the semifinals or finals at the French Open in 2011). A Djokavic/Nadal match at the French would really be something to see.
It's still early in the year, but I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility that Djokavic could win a calendar year Grand Slam in 2011. When you consider Nadal had the best year of his career and won 3 Slam events in 2010, and the greatest player ever in Federer, while not quite as great as he once was, is still near the top of his game, the idea that someone would suggest Djokavic could win the calendar year Grand Slam and not be looked at funny (and I'm sure I'm not the only saying it's a possibility) is truly amazing.
I am really impressed by the fact Novak Djokavic beat Rafael Nadal on clay in Nadal's home country in Madrid. That's really, really impressive. At this point I really hope Djokavic and Nadal play in the finals at Roland Garros this year (or that Roger Federer plays the Joker in the semifinals or finals at the French Open in 2011). A Djokavic/Nadal match at the French would really be something to see.
It's still early in the year, but I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility that Djokavic could win a calendar year Grand Slam in 2011. When you consider Nadal had the best year of his career and won 3 Slam events in 2010, and the greatest player ever in Federer, while not quite as great as he once was, is still near the top of his game, the idea that someone would suggest Djokavic could win the calendar year Grand Slam and not be looked at funny (and I'm sure I'm not the only saying it's a possibility) is truly amazing.
Novak's win is no doubt impressive, but Roland Garros is a different ball game. I remember when Fed beat Nadal in Hamburg a few years back and everyone thought the victory was an omen. Well, Nadal just manhandled him again at the French. Granted, Novak is hot right now, but my money is on Nadal to be the sharpest and fittest player at the French after a long and grueling clay court season.
IMO Nadal should be considered the favorite at the French Open, but Djovakic has to be considered a close #2 favorite for the Paris Grand Slam event right now.
Let's not forget Djovakic has now beaten Nadal in 3 straight finals (all 1000 Series Masters events) after never beating him in a tournament final before that. That has to be in Nadal's mind at least a little bit.
Nadal wins the French Open, he stays at #1. If Fed would have won, Jock-itch would have taken #1. I think Fed just wants to win a major at this point, don't think he really cares for ranking. Anyways, I'm mad I missed the Final -- it just so damn early, ugh.
The semis in the FO between Fed and Jock-itch, I think Jock-itch was annoyed with the overwhelming fans that where cheering on "RO-JER!". He's made complaints in the past where he expects the majority of the audience to cheer him on. Several times during the match he would imitate the audience and join in their cheering, albeit mockingly. I'm sure McEnroe is somewhat relieved ... at his loss ...
Rafa had a remarkable turn around in the 4th set. Roger rallies to win the 3rd set, then is up a game with 3 break points in front of him, just to see Rafa win the rest of the games to take the set 6-1. Crazy.
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