It’s started! I’m especially excited this year because it’s safe enough to actually attend again. My kids play competitively and Indian Wells is great for watching professionals up close and personal.
The opening Tiebreak Tens was fun to watch. It was womens this year. They invited eight top-tier players to a one-night tournament. Each match was a single set, a ten-point tiebreaker. Kids loved it because it’s exactly the format they play at their team practices. The players looked like they had a ton of fun too, since it’s relatively low stakes. I love that Naomi Osaka wore a soccer jersey.
The qualifier and R128 matches are fun to watch. Even if the players aren’t top-tier, the matches are close and competitive. I did hear one commentator talk about how jet lag and high altitude were affecting some players. (For those who don’t know, Indian Wells is nearly at sea level.)
Looks like power-hitter Arayna Sabalenka (2nd seed) was already ousted by 46th-ranked Jasmine Paolini, getting her first top ten win.
If neither my compatriots Alix Auger-Alliasime nor Denis Shapovalov get very far, I’ll pull for the spunky little spark plug Carlos Alcaraz. He’s funny.
Hoping, Pleonast, you won’t mind a quick little derail (this won’t go in NoVax thread, and not substantive enough for its own thread)*…
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a player so expressly get in an umpire’s grill like Micheal Zverev going postal on an ump about a month ago (or, well, coming close to bashing his toes in). I’m thinking of Serena’s dispicable lashing out at that line judge in the (I think) 2010 US Open, and Djokovic’s and Shapovalov’s whacking tennis balls at umps, but, nah, none of those come even close (especially Serena’s) to the express targeting of wacking away at an ump’s footstand. Freakishly scary-looking. In case some haven’t seen it:
So, I’m to gather ATP won’t penalize him in any way?
Heh?
*Was contemplating a general “Tennis 2022 (up until French Open)” thread, covering all the tourneys, etc, up until the FO. (Figuring that the FO would then have its own thread). Was thinking of kicking off such a thread with the Zverev meltdown, but then saw this thread, and thought, meh, maybe after Indian Wells, start such a thread?
(shruggee could look a little less Cartman-y)
Whoa, big scare for Raffa, first round, down 5-2 in the third, but then clambering back to win that set 7-6 (3) over Sebastien Korda.
RN now 16-0 on the year.
Yikes, Shapovalov - 30 unforced errors in the first set? Get crackin! Still too often beating himself - too bad he does not, at all, have the composure that Felix (oops, not Alix!) has.
Lots of a great matches yesterday. Besides Nadal almost losing to Korda, Tsitsipas almost lost to Jack Sock. My son declared Sock as his new hero. The crowds are very biased in favor of Americans, which I think gives them an advantage. But great players don’t give up.
On the womens side, Anisimova had multiple match points against Fernandez, but couldn’t win and ended up losing in tiebreak. And then she retired in tears; I don’t know the reason, presumably some injury. Very heartbreaking to watch. And Osaka looked stiff and was eliminated quickly by an unflagged player. The crowd was cheering her on (and icy to her opponent), but she said she was heckled. She left the court in tears as well. A lot of raw emotions.
(No problem putting other current tennis-relevant stuff here. I’d put this in MPSIMS, except for the sports.)
Didn’t see any games today but UGH Felix is just now eliminated by Holland’s impressively-named Botic Van De Zandschulp (WTP ranking - 49).
Figured the “youth thing” would catch up, with Emma already bowing out.
Will be interesting to check out the all-Spanish Nadal/Alcarez semi. There should be more meetings between these two - kinda like the passing of the torch of what I’ll call “The Spanish Master”, with the 18 year old being the first potential * successor to the 35 year old. Nadal was 19 when he got his first Slam (F.O. - '05), so it would be cool if Alcarez could get one in the coming year too.
Alcarez is also the youngest Indian Wells semi-finalist since Andre Agassi in 1988.
* Had to put emphasis on “potential” because if he wants to assume Raffa’s mantle, he’ll have some gigantic shoes to fill. Beating Raffa at the FO would be a neat start (although I still wouldn’t wager on it)(yet).
Iga Świątek beats Maria Sakkari in straight sets. Windy conditions, the first set had seven service games broken.
And Taylor Fritz beats Rafa Nadal in straight sets. Total WTF from everyone, Fritz included. Injuries on both sides; not sure how much it affected either player. Feels weird having an American win a title.
Don’t recall someone retiring with potentially still so much left her, however, if she claims that she simply doesn’t have it in her any more, and is “spent”, well, I guess that’s that, then.
Will she continue on with her cricket, or was that just a break she took from tennis?
Carlos Alcaraz, who turned 19 over the weekend, has beat Nadal (world rank #4) in a quarter-final, Djokovic (#1) in a semi-final, and Zverev (#3) in the the final to win the Madrid Open. This is on clay, which is Nadal’s strength. Alcaraz is only ranked #6 at the moment, but is on a quick path to the top. He’s simply amazing to watch.
To add to general tennis news (maybe a new, pre-French Open thread?)…
This Canadian is getting really, really, really, really, really pissed, now, at compatriot Dennis Shapovalov.
He’s had plenty of time, having been on the circuit long enough, to realise that his immature tantrums do him no good. Even if he had got to the rarified level that McEnroe did - I don’t fondly recall the latter’s histrionics back in the day, anyway, so DS has just gotta lose that crap. Even if this stupid behaviour eventually became fuel to motivate him to get into the top three, I wouldn’t enjoy watching that diva whining. Gets tedious, and detracts from the proceedings. Federer was a racquet-thrower as a junior, but got his deal in order by the time he was on the big stage.
I’m concerned if DS has the wherewithal to turn it around with his headspace. His behaviour at the recent Italian Open was so ludicrously drama queen-like, just over-the-top embarrassing. At least he apologized to the ump afterwards and acknowledged that the ump was simply going by the rules, but that didn’t really fully mitigate Shapo’s display.
So the opposite of his friend, rival and Canuck Felix Augur-Aliassime, who’s as composed and even-keeled as any 21 y.o. you’ll find. To a fault.
Anyway, yeah, this is gross…
ETA: I do believe this could be the first time ever that a pro athlete has yelled, at the top of his lungs, “Shut The F*ck Up” at a stadium crowd. I could be wrong.
(For those who don’t know, Indian Wells is nearly at sea level.)
