Indian Wells 3rd Round Preview (ATP) 2012 - Top Half

The third round action kicks off today at BNP Paribas Open today, led by three top 10 players, Novak Djokovic, Tomas Berdych and Mardy Fish. One of the Big 4, Andy Murray, is already out of the tournament, and his conqueror, Garcia Lopez takes on American teenager Harrison for a place in the 4th round. Which underdog will prevail against the favourite today? Let us have a quick look at the matches:

FIRST QUARTER:
1- Djokovic (1) vs Anderson (29)

Description	Djokovic	Anderson
Match Record this year	11-1	11-4
Overall H2H	3	1
Hard Courts H2H	1	1

Anderson is playing on a career high ranking of 30, and recently won his seond career title and first of 2012 at Delray Beach, en-route he defeated Roddick and Isner. Anderson is 2-11 against top 10 players, however those 2 wins have come against the Big 4, one in 2008 against Djokovic in the 2nd round of Miami (Djokovic was coming off his first title at indian Wells), and the other being against Murray lasy year in Montreal. Djokovic is coming off a straight set loss to Murray in the semi-finals of Dubai. However, he was solid in his first match here at Indian Wells. It will be a tough call for Anderson given Djokovic's current form and Anderson's record against the top 10 players. This is Anderson's 5th appearance at Indian Wells and his best showing so far. This is Djokovic's 7th appearance at Indian Wells and he has lost only once before the 4th round here, that being in his debut in 2006 when he was ranked 67.
Djokovic in straight sets


2- Andujar vs Ramos

Description	Andujar	Ramos
Match Record this year	5-6	8-7
Overall H2H	1	0
Hard Courts H2H	0	0

The pair has met only once at the ATP circuit and Andujar emerged victorious, the pair have met 5 times on the challenger tour with Andujar leading 4-1 in their challenger tour matches. Ramos is playing on a career high ranking of 57, while Andujar is two spots shy of his career best ranking of 43. Andujar had a straight sets win over Mayer, while Ramos was stretched to 3 sets in his both matches here so far. However, Ramos did show mental toughness in hanging out there against Gasquet, despite losing the first set. This is Andujar's second appearance at Indian Wells, while for Ramos, this is his first appearance at Indian Wells and this is the best showing for both players at Indian Wells. It will be all about nerves, the player who holds himself together for long will emrge as victorious.
Ramos in 3 sets


3- Almagro (12) vs Giraldo

Description	Almagro	Giraldo
Match Record this year	18-5	11-6
Overall H2H	3	0
Hard Courts H2H	2	0

Almagro is coming off a QF run at Acapulco where he was beaten by Verdasco, while Giraldo is coming off a SF showing at the same tournament but was taken down by the eventual champion, David Ferrer. Almagro is 16-1 so far this year against players ranked outside top 40, Giraldo on the other hand is 0-4 against top 25 players so far this year. In the pair's most recent meeting at Auckland this year Almagro came out on top in straight sets. This is Giraldo's 4th appearance at Indian Wells and his best showing here so far. Almagro's history at Indian Wells has not been good as well. This is his fifth showing here and he has made it out of the 3rd round only once before in 2010, when he retired in his 4th round match against Murray while trailing by a set and 0-1 in the second set. It will be interesting to see how Giraldo fares against Almagro after his straight sets win over Nishikori.
Almagro in straight sets


4- Roddick (30) vs Berdych (7)

Description	Roddick	Berdych
Match Record this year	5-4	15-3
Overall H2H	6	3
Hard Courts H2H	4	3

Roddick has had an injury plagued and a poor start to 2012 and his ranking has fallen to 31, his lowest since July 30, 2001 when he was ranked 35. Berdych on the other hand had a good start to the year, making it to the QF of Australian Open where he put up a good show against Nadal before falling in 4 sets. All three losses of Berdych so far have come against the top 10 players (Nadal at Australain Open, Del Potro at Rotterdem, and Murray at Dubai). Both Roddick and Berdych came back after loosing the first set to win their second round enconters. This is Roddick's 10th appearance at Indian Wells, and he has always made it to the 4th round but once in 2008 when he lost in the second round. This is Berdych's 8th appearance here at Indian Wells and he is made it out of the thrid round in 3 of his past 7 appearances. Roddick has lost 12 of his last 13 matches against the top 10, his lone victory during last 18 months coming against David Ferrer at last year's U.S Open. It will come down to whose serve holds for the day and whose serve lets him down, since both are big servers.
Berdych in straight sets


SECOND QUARTER


1- Garcia-Lopez vs Harrison

Description	Garcia-Lopez	Harrison
Match Record this year	6-5	8-5
Overall H2H	0	1
Hard Courts H2H	0	1

The pair met last year at the same tournament in the second round. Harrison came out on top in straight sets. Garcia-Lopez will have a shot to get some revenge for his loss to Harrison when the two square off today. Garcia Lopez had a very solid and well deserved win over Andy Murray. Harrison is also coming off a good win over Troicki. Harrison has some fond memories from last year's Indian Wells, when he made it to the 4th round before falling to Roger Federer. He will have a shot at making it to the 4th round for the second consecutive year when he faces Garcia-Lopez today. Garcia-Lopez has won back to back matches for the first time since in 2012 since Auckland. This is Gracia Lopez's 6th appearance here at Indian Wells, he has made it out of the 3rd round only once before, in 2010 when he defeated the then no.9 Cilic in the second round and went on to reach the 4th round. For Harrison, this is his 3rd appearance at indian Wells. He lost in the second round in his debut here in 2010 and went on to reach the 4th round last year. Harrison is 6-1 against players ranked 50 or below so far this year.

Harrison in 3 sets.

2- Wawrinka (23) vs Simon (13)

Description	Wawrinka	Simon
Match Record this year	10-5	8-6
Overall H2H	1	0
Hard Courts H2H	1	0

In their only previous meeting on the ATP tour, at Shanghai in 2010 Wawrinka came out on top in straight sets. The pair has also met on the challenger tour back in 2003, Wawrinka came out on top back then as well in straight sets. Wawrinka reached back to back semi-finals at Buenos Aires and Acapulco, where he lost to Almagro and Verdasco respectively, but both those events were on clay. Simon has not been playing well lately, he is 0-3 so far against top 40 players so far this year and had lost 3 of his last 4 matches coming into Indian Wells. Wawrinka and Simon both won their second round encounters in 3 sets. This is Wawrinka's 5th appearance at Indian Wells and he has made it to the 4th round at least in all his trips so far other than his debut year when he lost in the second round in 2006. Other than his debut year, all three of his losses here have come against the big 4 (2 to Djokovic and 1 to Federer). This is Simon's 6th appearance at Indian Wells and he has never made it out of the 3rd round in his past 5 appearances.

Wawrinka in straight sets.

3- Isner (11) vs Monaco (22)

Description	Isner	Monaco
Match Record this year	9-4	6-3
Overall H2H	1	0
Hard Courts H2H	1	0

A lot of hype has been going on since Isner defeated Federer in Davis Cup, but Isner has not yet capitalised on that confidence booster win over Federer. Isner is playing on a career high ranking of 11. Their lone meeting came in the second round of Auckland 2010, where Isner walked away smiling. Monaco won his first title this year at Vina Del Mar, he has not won back to back matches in 2012 so far other than his title run at Vina Del Mar. Monaco needed 3 sets to dismantle Mahut in the second round while Isner won in straight sets. Monaco has not played a top 40 player so far this year. This is Isner's 5ht appearance at Indian Wells and he has made it to the 3rd round for the 4th time. Isner has never lost to a player ranked outside the top 8 at Indian Wells.  This is Monaco's 6th appearance at Indian Wells and he has made it out of the 3rd round only once (2010) and he went on to reach the quarter-finals before falling to Ljubicic.

Isner in straight sets.

4- Ebden vs Fish (8)

Description	Ebden	Fish
Match Record this year	6-5	4-3
Overall H2H	0	0
Hard Courts H2H	0	0

Fish has not won back to back matches so far this year, while Ebden has won back to back matches for the first time this year at Indian Wells. He showed some good form in overcoming one set deficit over the 32nd seed Benneteau, but he is 0-4 in his carrer against the top 10 players. Fish was leading by a set and 3-2 in the second set when Seppi retired. It is a good chance for Fish to get some matches under his belt and get some momentum before Miami, where he is defending a lot of points from his SF showing last year. Will Ebden record his first top 10 win or will Fish win this battle and get some confidence back? Fish made the finals of Indian Wells in 2008 and defeated 3 top 10 players (Davydenko, Nalbandian and Federer) before falling to Djokovic in 3 sets, but has not made out of the 3rd round since then. Infact this is his first 3rd round showing here in the last 4 years. This is Ebden's best showing at Indian Wells, last year was the first time he played at indian Wells and came through qualifiers to loose in the first round.

Fish in 3 sets.

Who are your picks? Do keep us updated. Enjoy the magic on court.