Miami Masters 2012 - Big 4, Big 3 or Big Servers???

 Our guest writer, Idrees Arif, is back with a preview of Sony Ericsson Open 2012. Let us see what Idrees has in mind:

The best tennis guys now move from California to Florida, as we are in the middle of the two biggest ATP events (Grand Slams don’t count as ATP events).

The 2^nd of the “9” ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events kicks off on Wednesday. Talking of Masters 1000 events, its worth mentioning here that Federer and Nadal both now stand at “19” Masters Series titles, a record.

The tournament became Ericsson Open from Lipton Championships in 2000, became NASDAQ-100 Open in 2002 and is being played as Sony Ericsson Open since 2007. The sponsors might have changed frequently, but the spirit of the tournament has always been on a higher level.

The draw is out and puts Nadal and Federer in two different halves, which is always a good prospect. Should the draw follow the seeds, it would be Djokovic vs Federer and Nadal vs Murray in the semi-finals of Sony Ericsson 2012. Will the Big 4 make it to the semi-finals or will Big servers step up again to upset one or more of the Big 4???

Djokovic’s form and consistency is beyond doubt. As for Federer, he is on a 15 match winning streak, has won 39 of his last 41 matches and he has had revenge of both of the losses during this span – against Nadal in the Australian Open semi-final 2012 and a Davis Cup loss to Isner. So, we can say that the top half “super-semi” is almost assured.

Nadal vs Murray semi-final has some doubts, as Nadal has super-serving Isner in his quarter, and Murray   will have a potential third round encounter with Raonic and a potential quarter-final against Berdych/Nalbandian.

Who has won the most titles since 2002? Lets have a look at the Singles Finals since 2002:

2002   Andre Agassi def Roger Federer 6–3 6–3 3–6 6–4

2003   Andre Agassi def Carlos Moya 6–3 6–3

2004   Andy Roddick def Guillermo Coria 6–7 6–3 6–1 retired

2005   Roger Federer def Rafael Nadal 2–6 6–7(4–7) 7–6(7–5) 6–3 6–1

2006   Roger Federer def Ivan Ljubicic 7–6(7–5) 7–6(7–4) 7–6(8–6)

2007   Novak Djokovic def Guillermo Canas 6–3 6–2 6–4

2008   Nikolay Davydenko def Rafael Nadal 6–4 6–2

2009   Andy Murray def Novak Djokovic 6–2 7–5

2010   Andy Roddick def Tomas Berdych 7–5 6–4

2011   Novak Djokovic def Rafael Nadal 4–6 6–3 7–6(7–4)

Amongst the current players, Federer, Roddick and Djokovic have won 2 titles each, with Murray and Davydenko also having won it once. If Federer and Roddick get through their opening matches, they will face off in the 3^rd round. Nadal is the only one of the Big 4 who has yet to win this title, However, he was a runner-up in ‘05, ‘08, ’11 against Federer, Davydenko and Djokovic respectively.

As a last note, Olympic Gold-Silver-Bronze Medalist, Australian Open Finalist and Former World No. 5 Fernando Gonzalez will be making his final appearance on the tour at Miami. His last appearance on the tour, at Copa Claro, saw him reach the Quarterfinals losing to the eventual champion, current World No.5 David Ferrer. He will be facing French Nicolas Mahut in the 1^st round.

We wish Gonzo a very happy future and look forward to great contests of sport at the Crandon Park.

How do you see Idrees's preview? Here is his Indian Wells 2012 Preview. Keep us posted about your views.

American Ace or Swiss Stylo - Indian Wells (ATP) 2012 - Final Preview

Isner downed Djokovic to make to his first Masters Series final, while Federer outclassed Nadal to play for championship against Isner. Both players will be chasing history and will be extra motivated to win the title when they walk onto the court today. One chases history in the record books, while the other chases history for his career. Federer chasing his 4th career title at Indian Wells will be looking to set yet another record, while Isner will be trying to win his first Masters Series and a place as the American top ranked player. Playing at a career high ranking of 11, Isner has nothing to loose in this match. Isner already has to top 10, top 3 to be exact, wins this year. He beat Federer in the Davis clash and beat Djokovic in the semi-finals. Let us have a quick look at the match:

Description	Federer	Isner
Match Record this year	21-2	13-4
Overall H2H	2	1
Hard Courts H2H	2	0

Federer with his win over Nadal in the semi-finals has now won the most matches in 2012 of all the ATP Players. Federer will look to continue his form that took him to the Rotterdam and Dubai titles, while Isner will be looking to carry on the momentum from his semi-final match. The most recent encounter of the pair came at Davis cup when Isner stunned Federer in 4 sets to clinch an important rubber for U.S.A. The memories of that clash will be fresh in the minds of both players. Federer avenged his Australian Open loss at the hands of Nadal and will be looking for some revenge over Isner.

Let us have a look at the road to the final for both players:
Isner

Rd.	Opponent	Ranking	Final Score
1r	Bye	-	-
2r	Gil	86	75 63
3r	Monaco	22	75 75
4r	Ebden	91	64 75
QF	Simon	13	63 16 75
SF	Djokovic	1	76(7) 36 76(5)

The road to the final was full of hurdles but Isner made it through each hurdle loosing 2 sets en-route and lost his serve only 5 times during that span.
Federer

Rd.	Opponent	Ranking	Final Score
1r	Bye	-	-
2r	Kudla	185	64 61
3r	Raonic	27	67(4) 62 64
4r	Bellucci	50	36 63 64
QF	Del Potro	9	63 62
SF	Nadal	2	63 64

Federer had some problems against Raonic and Bellucci but since then outclassed Del Potro and Nadal. Federer, much like his opponent has lost 2 sets en-route and has lost his serve for 5 times.

Stats Corner at Indian Wells 2012

Description	Federer	Isner
1st Serve %age	61%	65%
%age Points won on 1st Serve	79%	77%
%age points won on 2nd serve	60%	63%
Break points saved	67%	72%
1st return points won	32%	29%
2nd return points won	52%	46%
Break Points won	62%	40%

Service game will be very important for both players, whoever will let go of his serve will be in danger. Federer will have up his first serve percentage, while Isner will have to be solid while returning the serve. It will all come down to serves and nerves, as I had pointed out in my Inser - Djokovic semi-final Preview . Whoever will handle both better than the other will emerge victorious.

What do you think? Willl the Amercian Ace have enough in tank and his guns to dismantle the Swiss Stylo??? Who do you see taking this one home??? Keep us updated.

Swiss Stylo downs Mallorcan Majician - Federer defeats Nadal in Indian Wells Semi-Finals 2012

Rain and wind welcomed the first Fedal dual at Indian Wells, in the semi-finals of 2012. Rain pouring down caused delay of the match by around 3 hours, but the wind never died down. It all started to be in for Federer's way, Federer building a 3-0 lead quickly but Nadal, as we have come to know him, is a great fighter, and that was what he exactly did, as he fought back to win the next 3 games to bring the set back on serve. From then on, it was all Federer, literally painting the lines and going 2/2 on break points in the first set and winning it 63. Federer quickly went up 5-2 in the second set, only to see Nadal break him back and close the gap to 5-4, but Federer served it out in his next chance. There were rain delays in between the match. Thrice the match was stopped because of drizzling, Nadal went for a washroom break when Federer had to serve for the match. A lot of awkward stuff out there, but Federer beat everything including Nadal to win a spot in the championship match. What was amazing today was how Federer's backhand held up against Nadal. Federer marches on, while Nadal goes on to Miami. The final score being 63 64.

Let us have a brief overview of the stats:

Nadal

Description	Pre-SF	SF
1st Serve %age	67%	71%
%age Points won on 1st Serve	80%	57%
%age points won on 2nd serve	64%	44%
Break points saved	85%	33%
1st return points won	35%	36%
2nd return points won	53%	35%
Break Points won	54%	50%

You can see a marked difference in the %age of points won Nadal won on his first serve and second serve, he also could not capitalise on Federer's second serve resulting in a 63 64 loss to the Swiss Mastero.

Federer

Description	Pre-SF	SF
1st Serve %age	61%	64%
%age Points won on 1st Serve	83%	64%
%age points won on 2nd serve	58%	65%
Break points saved	73%	50%
1st return points won	29%	43%
2nd return points won	51%	56%
Break Points won	61%	67%

Federer played very aggressively throughout the match and it did pay off at the end. You can note the marked decrease in his winning percentage on first serve, but also a marked increase in the points won while returning Nadal's serve. What was most important was Federer making the most of break points. Federer took both break point opportunites he had in the first set and ended up winning 4 of the 6 break point chances he had by the end of the match.

For now on Federer marches on to his first Indian Wells final since he won his last trophy here in 2006 (defeated James Blake). Federer will be playing Djokovic's conqueror, Isner, another American.

The Server downs the Returner - Isner downs Djokovic for a spot in Indian Wells Final 2012

It was a big day for both players at BNP Paribas Open 2012, Isner wanted his first win over reigning no.1 player, he wanted to make it to his first Masters Series final, while Djokovic wanted to have a shot to defend his crown at Indian Wells for the first time. There was not much difference in the rankings, just putting another 1 in front of Djokovic's ranking makes up Isner's ranking, and Isner did show that today. The match started out in Djokovic's way as he broke Isner in the third game at love, and then held the rest of the way to get a chance to serve for the set. But that was where it all started, a double-fault to open the game, followed by 2 stunning winners by Isner and there you go, it was back on serve. The set went to tie breaks. You never want to play tie-break against a guy like Isner on a day when his serve is on, and that is exactly what happened, Djokovic turned to defensive as Isner took control and ended up winning the first set 76(7).
In the second set Djokovic upped his level, winning 92% of the first serve points, as against only 69% in the first set and wining 100% points on his 2nd serve as against only 50% in the first set. Djokovic earned tripple break point in the 8th game of the second set but Isner saved all three with some good serves, however he ran out of gas on Djokovic's 4th break point chance, handling Djokovic the break and again an opportunity to serve for the set, only that this time there would be no breaking back by Isner. Djokovic served it out to level the match one set apiece.
The 3rd set started with each player holding his serve, Djokovic was the first to see a break point opportunity in the 7th game of the set but a big serve (an ace) shut out that opportunity for Djokovic. Inser earned his first match point in the 12th game of the 3rd set,however Djokovic saved that match point to send the match to the tie-breaker. Coming into today's match Inser was 9-2 in tie-breaks so far this year, while Djokovic was only 3-2. In the tie-break Djokovic saved 2 more match points, however, there would be no win for Djokovic this time after saving match points, as Isner seized the match on his 4th match point by firing his 20th ace of the match. The final score was 76(7) 36 76(5).

Let us see how a brief overview of the stats:
Djokovic's Stats

Description	Pre-SF	SF
1st Serve %age	62%	65%
%age Points won on 1st Serve	72%	78%
%age points won on 2nd serve	63%	62%
Break points saved	86%	50%
1st return points won	36%	28%
2nd return points won	58%	48%
Break Points won	58%	33%

For Djokovic, he did everythig well today as compared to his previous matches so far here at Indian Wells, with the only exception of his return as is evident from the stats above (highlighted), but what else can you do against a guy like Isner, who is constantly throwing bombs at you, coming at 143 M.PH and 144 M.P.H.

Isner's Stats
How did Isner pull off this win?

Description	Pre-SF	SF
1st Serve %age	62%	74%
%age Points won on 1st Serve	79%	72%
%age points won on 2nd serve	67%	52%
Break points saved	75%	67%
1st return points won	31%	22%
2nd return points won	48%	38%
Break Points won	39%	50%

You can see a marked difference in his first serve %age (highlighted), and that was what won Isner the match today, although his winning %age on his second serve dropped but with Isner serving at 74% and winning 72% of those points, a dip on the second serve can be forgiven.

All in all it was a solid performance from a big guy, who will break into the top 10 for the first time in his career and there could not be a better way to do this, than dismantling the world no.1.

The Question at the start of tournmanet was who can break the hold of Big 3???? Well! We all now know who can.

Indian Wells Semi-Finals (ATP) 2012 - Previews

Semi-finals of the BNP Paribas Open will be contested today featuring the world's top 3 players and one American no.2 fighting for a place to fight for championship. The first match pits World no.1 Novak Djokovic against home favourite and American no.2 John Isner, while the other semi-final pits Roger Federer against Rafael Nadal.
Let us have a quick look at the matches.

1- Djokovic (1) vs Isner (11)

Description	Djokovic	Isner
Match Record this year	14-1	12-4
Overall H2H	2	0
Hard Courts H2H	1	0

The pair has met only twice, in the semi-finals of beijing 2010, where Djokovic came out on top in straights sets and in the the first round of Davis cup in 2010 when Djokovic won in 5 sets. Let us have a look at how did each player made it to the semi-finals.


Road to Semi-finals:
Novak Djokovic

Rd.	Opponent	Ranking	Final Score
1r	Bye	-	-
2r	Golubev	145	63 62
3r	Anderson	30	62 63
4r	Andujar	45	60 67(5) 62
QF	Almagro	12	63 64

Djokovic has been in stellar form so far this week, his form dropped a bit in his 4th round win over Andujar but he was in fine form in his quarter-final clash against Almagro dismantling him in straight sets.

John Isner

Rd.	Opponent	Ranking	Final Score
1r	Bye	-	-
2r	Gil	86	75 63
3r	Monaco	22	75 75
4r	Ebden	91	64 75
QF	Simon	13	63 16 75

Isner has played some inspired tennis throughout this tournament, and much like his semi-final opponent has lost only one set en-route.


Stats corner for Indian Wells 2012:

Description	Djokovic	Isner
1st Serve %age	62%	62%
%age Points won on 1st Serve	72%	79%
%age points won on 2nd serve	63%	67%
Break points saved	86%	75%
1st return points won	36%	31%
2nd return points won	58%	48%
Break Points won	58%	39%

Djokovic has only been broken  twice in the entire tournament so far, once in his opening match against Golubev and once by Almagro in his QF match, while isner has been broken only thrice during the tournament,all three times by Simon in the pair's quarter-final calsh. Djokovic is one of the best returners in the ATP tour at the tournament and if Isner is to have any chance against Djokovic, he must not let go of his serve. Isner is no match to Djokovic when it comes down to return of serve and break point conversion, but with his confidence running high at the moment, he may create trouble for World no.1 who is gunning for his 4th final appearance here in Indian Wells.

This is Isner's second straight Masters series semi-final appearance. He is playing at a career best ranking of 11 and is on the cusp of making it to the top 10. Will he be able to defeat Djokovic and make his breakthrough or will he go down, only time will tell us. Let us hope for a great match.

2 - Nadal (2) vs Federer (3)
Federer and Nadal are arguably two of the greatest players to ever play tennis. This is the pairs 28th meeting overall, but first in Indian Wells. Let us have a quick look at what the match holds for us.

Description	Nadal	Federer
Match Record this year	12-2	20-2
Overall H2H	19	8
Hard Courts H2H	5	5

In the pair's most recent encounter, Nadal came after loosing the first set to win their clash in the semi-final of the Australian Open this year. Will Federer be able to extract some revenge? Let us have a look at the path of each player to semi-finals.


Road to semi-finals:
Roger Federer

Rd.	Opponent	Rank	Final Score
1r	Bye	-	-
2r	Kudla	185	64 61
3r	Raonic	27	67(4) 62 64
4r	Bellucci	50	36 63 64
QF	Del Potro	9	63 62

Federer had arguably the toughest quarter of all, but he made it out of it, with excellent play, 'never let go of it' attitude, and some luck as well. For two consecutive matches (3rd and 4th round) Federer lost the first set, but won the next two to take the match. he had a much easier win against Del Potro and must be well rested for his clash against Nadal.


Rafael Nadal

Rd.	Opponent	Rank	Final Score
1r	Bye	-	-
2r	Mayer	78	61 63
3r	Granollers	26	61 64
4r	Dolgopolov	21	63 62
QF	Nalbandian	74	46 75 64

Nadal had a much smooth journey till his quarter-final clash against Nalbandian. Nadal had neither lost a set, nor his serve when he took the court against Nalbandian for a spot in the semi-final, but it all changed, he lost the first set and he lost his serve twice, but he emreged as the winner to set up a block buster semi-final against Federer.

Stats Corner for Indian Wells 2012

Description	Nadal	Federer
1st Serve %age	67%	61%
%age Points won on 1st Serve	80%	83%
%age points won on 2nd serve	64%	58%
Break points saved	85%	73%
1st return points won	35%	29%
2nd return points won	53%	51%
Break Points won	54%	61%

Federer has been broken only thrice so far in this tournament, once in his opening match against Kudla and twice in his 4th round encounter against Bellucci, Nadal on the other hand has only been broken twice, and that happened in his quarter-final match against Nalbandian. Nadal has lost only one set, in his quarter-final match, while Federer has lost 2 sets, in his 3rd and 4th round matches. Federer will need to up his first serve percentage if he wants to have any chance agaisnt Nadal, and he will have to improve upon his return of serve. Federe has won the least 1st serve return points of all the 4 semi-finalists. Federer's record of break point conversion against nadal has laways been poor and has been one of the main reasons of his losses against Nadal, he will have to improve on it to have any shot at Nadal. For Nadal's part, he is superior in all his stats so far at the tournament, with the only exception of break point conversion. He will have to raise his level against Federer to record his 20th win agianst the Swiss. Both players have been in tremendous form so far. It will all come down to nerves and serves, who ever handles both things better will emrege as winner. No matter what the outcome, we are all in for a treat. Let us hope for a great match.

Who are you rooting for and who do you think will make it to the final? Will it be another Nadal - Djokovic or will Federer and Isner have their say? Keep us posted. Enjoy :)

Fedal or Potral in Indian Wells 2012 - QF Preview

The last two Quarter-finals take place today with arguably two of the game's greatest players taking the court against their tricky and talented opponents. Federer taking on the court against Del Potro (this is pair's 4th meeting this year) , while Nadal taking on the court against Nalbandian. Let us have a quick review:

1- Federer (3) vs Del Potro (9)
Federer has been to Del Potro, what Azarenka has been to Radwanska this year, with only 2 differences. Federer has lost a match to Nadal (Australian Open Semi-Finals), while Azarenka has yet to loose a match this year. Radwanska has not lost to anyone but Azarenka, Del Potro has lost one match to a player not named Federer, this year (the loss coming in Sydney to at the hands of Baghdatis). Like Azarenka- Radwanska, this is Federer - Del Potro's 4th meeting this year. It promises to be an interesting match, Federer was stretched to length in his last two matches here, in both of which he lost the first set but came back to win the match. In the pair's most recent meeting in the semi-finals of Dubai, Federer saved 4 set points in the second set tie-breaker. Del Potro has been on a roll himself this year and he is getting into form that took him to his only Grand Slam he has won so far. Del Potro was also given a tough test by Istomin in the pair's 4th round encounter. It will all come down to who can hold his serve efficiently. Expect it to be although battle.

Description	Federer	Del Potro
Match Record this year	19-2	19-4
Overall H2H	10	2
Hard Courts H2H	7	2

Del Potro was the last South American to beat Federer, in the 2009 Barclay's ATP World Tour Finals, since then Federer has not lost any of 17 matches he has played against the South Americans. Federer has won the pair's last 4 meetings in straight sets, but their most recent meeting at Dubai suggests that things might get interesting here. Federer has so far last his serve only 3 times (held 34 times out of 37 times), while Del Potro has lost his serve only twice so far in this tournament (held serve for 34 times out of 36 times). It will all come down to whose serve breaks down. I hope Federer can continue his winning ways, although I have a feeling that Del Potro may be taking this one. We are in for a treat no doubt.

Federer in 3 sets.


2- Nadal (2) vs Nalbandian

Description	Nadal	Nalbandian
Match Record this year	11-2	11-4
Overall H2H	3	2
Hard Courts H2H	3	2

Nalbandian is 2-2 against top 10 players at Indian Wells, and he has beaten two top 10 players for the first time in one tournament since Paris 2008. nadal has not lost any set so far in this tournament. Nadal has made it to the semi-finals or better in each of his past 6 appearances here, while for Nalbandian this his only 2nd QF appearance here. In the pair's most recent encounter, Nadal came out on top in the 3rd round of last year's U.S Open. Nalbandian with his back to back top 10 wins has shown that he can create trouble for Nadal. In 2 of the pair's last 3 meetings Nalbandian did take a set off nadal. If Nalbandian can keep his level up, it will be an interesting match and we may see an upset here. Nadal will win this one, but I want to go for Nalbandian, since there is no harm in going for the player you like ;)

Nadal in 3 sets.

Azarenka, the streaka or Kerber, the Iron nerved lady

The first semi-final pits Azarenka, the shrieka and the streaka against fast rising German, Kerber, who has shown that she has the nerves of iron after her first 2 matches here, and who holds the 3rd most match wins this season, after Azarenka and Radwanska. Azarenka is 21-0 so far this year, while Kerber is 19-4 this year. The pair has never met before, both had straight sets wins over their opponents in the quarter-final matches.

Let us have a look at their path to the Semi-final. First up is Azarenka:

Round	Opponent	Ranking	Final Score
2nd	Barthel	37	64 67(4) 76(6)
3rd	Kuznetsova	27	61 62
4th	Goerges	15	63 61
QF	Radwanska	5	60 62

Azarenka nearly lost her opener against Barthel, but since then has not lost more than 3 games in a set, and has only lost her serve for 4 times in her previous 3 matches. Azarenka with her win over Radwanska has tied Serena Williams for the best start to the season since Hingis's run of 37 consecutive matches in 1997. Serena set the record of 21 straight wins in 2003, the year when she won the Serena Slam. Azarenka has matched her previous best showing here at Indian Wells, with her SF showing this year (her previous showing coming in 2009 when she lost to Zvonareva who went on to win the title).

How does Kerber's road to semi-final look like?

Round	Opponent	Ranking	Final Score
2nd	Stephens	90	26 75 64
3rd	King	58	Walk Over
4th	Mchale	35	63 36 76(4)
QF	Li	8	64 62

Kerber had never been to the 4th round here prior to this year, her previous best showing coming here last year which was 3rd round, and here she is surviving match points in the first 2 matches she played here and then dismantling the reigining French Open champion to book a SF spot, her first SF here at Indian Wells.Kerber is 3-1 against the top 10 player so far this year, and with matches where she survived match points and then a solid performance against Li, must give her a huge confidence booster.

STATS CORNER:


Let us have a look at the stats of the matches each has played so far here at Indian Wells.

Description	Azarenka	Kerber
1st serve percentage	69%	70%
%age of points won on first serve	67%	63%
%age of points won on 2nd serve	45%	52%
Break Points saved	55%	74%
1st return points won	47%	38%
2nd return points won	60%	55%
Break points Converted	62%	48%
Double Faults	24	4

Azarenka is averaging 6 double faults per match, while Kerber is averaging only 1 double fault per match, it is interesting to note that all 4 of kerber's double faults have come in her match against Mchale. Azarenka has a low winning percentage on her second serve, whereas Kerber has won more than 50% of the second serves returned in her matches so far, Azarenka will definitely have to step up for her second serves. Kerber has been serving well, which is evident from the fact that she has saved 74% of the break points she has faced so far, but if we see the break point conversion rate for Azarenka, it is an impressive 62%, which means Kerber will have to be more cautious here. Kerber will also  need to improve on her second serves as Azarenka has won a huge 60% of the second serves she has returned so far at this year's tournament. All in all, if Kerber plays like she has bee, it will be a treat for everyone.

Azarenka and Kerber are the only players left in the draw to have won a title in 2012 and they will be facing off each other for a spot in the final, which means we will have only one player left in the draw after this match who has won a title in 2012. Neither Kerber, nor Azarenka has ever been to the Indian Wells final before, which means we will see a first time finalist here at Indian Wells this year. With Li bowing out to Kerber, we now have only one reigning Grand Slam champion left in the draw, being Azarenka (Australian Open 2012).

Will it be Azarenka, the streaka or will it be Kerber, the iron nerved lady??? Who will walk off the court smiling? What do you say?