Indian Wells Third Round (ATP) 2012 - Bottom Half Preview

The 3rd round action wraps up today with 6 of the top 10 players taking court for a 4th round spot today. Let us have a quick look at what do we have in store for today.


THIRD QUARTER
1- Ferrer (5) vs Istomin

Description	Ferrer	Istomin
Match Record this year	19-1	12-6
Overall H2H	1	0
Hard Courts H2H	1	0

Ferrer is the only player to win 3 trophies so far this year and will be aiming to become first player to win 20 matches this year when he takes on Istomin. His only loss came to Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open this year. He is riding 11 match win streak coming into this match against Istomin. The pairs only meeting came at Beijing in 2010 where Ferrer defeated Istomin in straight sets. This is Ferrer's 10th appearance at Indian Wells, and he has made it out of the 3rd round only twice in his past 9 visits (2007 and 2009). Ferrer is only 5-10 in his meetings with the players ranked outside the top 50, here at Indian Wells. For Istomin, this is his 3rd showing at Indian Wells and the first time that he has won a match here, he lost in the first round of the Qualifiers in 2010 and in the first round last year. Istomin showed some good tennis in dismantling Lu and Chela in the first 2 rounds, however, Istomin is 0-10 in his career against the top 10 players. With Ferrer running high on confidence, it is his match to loose.

Ferrer in straight sets.


2- Del Potro (9) vs Verdasco (19)

Description	Del Potro	Verdasco
Match Record this year	17-4	9-5
Overall H2H	1	2
Hard Courts H2H	1	1

Verdasco is coming off a runner-up performance at Acapulco, (lost in straight sets to Ferrer), while Del Potro is coming off a semi-final showing at Dubai (lost in straight sets to Federer). Del Potro has been playing well lately. 3 of his 4 losses this year have come at the hands of Federer. Del Potro has reached the QF of all the events he has so far played in 2012 (5 to be exact). This is Verdasco's 9th showing at Indian Wells and he has made it out of the 3rd round only once before when he went on to reach the QF before falling to Federer in 2009. 4 of Verdasco's 8 losses at Indian Wells have come at the hands of top 3 players, while 6 of his 8 losses have come at the hands of players ranked inside the top 25. For Del Potro, this is his 4th appearance at Indian Wells and he has fallen before the QF only once, back in 2007 on his debut here in Indian Wells (he lost in the second round to then world no.16 Gasquet). Verdasco is 0-2 against top 10 players this year and 15-57 (20.8%) in his career, Verdasco has not won a match on hard courts against top 10 players for almost 2 years (loosing all 7 played in this span), his last win over a top 10 player on hard courts came at Miami in 2010 against Cilic.

Del Potro in straight sets.


3- Davydenko vs Bellucci

Description	Davydenko	Bellucci
Match Record this year	7-6	6-5
Overall H2H	1	0
Hard Courts H2H	1	0

The pair has met only once before, (Paris 2010) with Davydenko coming out on top in straight sets then. Bellucci showed some great form in dispatching Melzer in the second round. This is Bellucci's 4th visit to Indian Wells and his 3rd consecutive 3rd round showing here. For Davydenko, this is her 7th showing here at Indian Wells and he has made it out of the 3rd round only once in his previous 6 visits here, back in 2007. Davydenko is 4-4 in here in Indian Wells against players ranked outside top 45. I have to give a slight edge to Bellucci given his recent win over Melzer, but you can never count Davydenko out, who had Federrer on ropes in the semi-final of Rotterdam.

Davydenko in 3 sets.


4- Federer (3) vs Raonic (27)

Description	Federer	Raonic
Match Record this year	17-2	16-2
Overall H2H	0	0
Hard Courts H2H	0	0

Raonic is coming off a runner-up showing at Memphis, and has won 2 titles so far this year. Raonic is 2-0 against top 10 players, so far this year, both wins coming during his title run at Chennai. Federer is riding a 10 match streak coming into this match, however, Federer was low on energy in his opening match here, and admitted to having fever later on in the Press Conference. For Raonic, this is his 2nd appearance at Indian Wells, last year he lost in 3 sets to American Harrison in the 3rd round. For Federer, this is his 12th appearance at Indian Wells, and he has made it out of the 3rd round in 6 of his past 8 appearances here (since 2004). With Federer running little bit low on energy, this will be Raonic's best chance to take him down and make his move to the 4th round, but we all know Federer. FOr Raonic, he must hold his serve to have any chances of breaking down Federer. It will be a very tough test, not only for Ranoic but also Federer. Raonic is 0-6 against the top 8 players, while Federer has won 72 matches in a row against the non-top 20 players.

Federer in straight sets.


FOURTH QUARTER
1- Tsonga (6) vs Stepanek (28)

Description	Tsonga	Stepanek
Match Record this year	14-3	8-5
Overall H2H	2	1
Hard Courts H2H	1	0

In their most recent encounter at Eastbourne in 2011 Stepanek thrashed Tsonga in straight sets, while Tsonga's 2 wins over Stepanek have come in 3 sets. 2 of Tsonga's 3 losses this year have come at the hands of Del Potro. Tsonga is coming off a QF showing at Dubai, where he lost to Del Potro, while Stepnaek is coming off a SF showing at Memphis where he lost to the eventual champion, Melzer in 3 sets. THis is Tsonga's 5th appearance at Indian Wells and he has made it out of the 3rd out in 2 of his prior 4 showings here. This is Stepanek's 10th appearance here at Indian Wells, and in his previous 9 showings here, he had won only one match here back in 2008 in the second round, he defeated Mirnyi who was ranked 206 at that time.

Tsonga in straight sets.


2- Tipsarevic (10) vs Nalbandian

Description	Tipsarevic	Nalbandian
Match Record this year	12-4	9-4
Overall H2H	0	1
Hard Courts H2H	0	1

Their only meeting came in the first round of Australian Open in 2007, and they have not met since then. Nalbandian is 0-1 against the top 10 players this year. This is Nalbandian's 9th appearance at Indian Wells. He has made it out of the 3rd round in 5 of his previous 6 visits here (since 2004). Nalbandian knows what it takes to defeat a top player, but Tipsarevic has shown that he can beat anyone on a given day. This is Tipsarevic's 7th appearance at Indian wells and he has yet to make it out of the 3rd round here.

Tipsarevic in 3 sets


3- Dolgopolov (21) vs Baghdatis

Description	Dolgopolov	Baghdatis
Match Record this year	8-5	14-6
Overall H2H	2	1
Hard Courts H2H	2	1

3 of Baghdatis's 6 losses this year have come at the hands of top 10 players. Dolgopolov has yet to win back to back matches since her 3rd loss at the Australian Open this year. Dolgopolov can play any shot effortlessly, but he is very inconsistent. This is his second trip to Indian Wells, in his first visit here last year he lost to Del Potro in the 3rd round. For Baghdatis, this is his 6th appearance, and he has made it out of the 3rd round in 2 of his previous 5 visits here. It will be an interesting match if both players are on fire. Both Dolgopolov and Baghdatis are coming off first round losses at Dubai, Dlogopolov lost to Del Potro, while Baghdatis lost to Tsonga.

Dolgopolov in 3 sets.


4- Nadal (2) vs Granollers (26)

Description	Nadal	Granollers
Match Record this year	10-2	4-4
Overall H2H	0	0
Hard Courts H2H	0	0

This is the first meeting of the pair. Nadal is playing his first event since his heart-breaking loss to Djokovic in the final of Australian Open. Nadal looked good in his opening match, and has won his last 9 matches in a row and 20 of his past 21 matches against fellow spainiards (his last loss coming against Ferrer at the QF of 2011 Australian Open). This is Nadal's 8th appearance here and he has reached the SF or better the last 6 times he has played here at Indian Wells, his only loss before semi-final coming in his debut year here in 2004. For Granollers this is his 3rd appearance at Indian Wells and this is the first time he has won a match here. He failed to win a match during his past 2 visits here. Granollers is 3-10 in his career against the top 10 players but he has never beaten anyone ranked higher than 8.

Nadal in straight sets.


Which favourite do you see going home today? Keep us posted. Enjoy the on-court battles.