Thoughts on Indian Wells 2009

I am glad tennis is back in session after a two month layoff. I am glad to have Roger Federer playing again. I am excited to see how he deals with adversity and fight his way to the top of men’s tennis again. However, with each time he plays, there’s possibility of disappointment. Disappointments of him not playing at his potential and winning tournaments as he did two years previous.

Indian Wells was the first ATP Tour 1000 event of the season. ATP has changed their tournament naming to coincide with the maximum number of points a winner will get. For example, ATP Tour 1000 winner gets 1000 points. This helps a lot in term of figuring out who how the ranking stacks up and the different possibilities after the tournament is over.

I followed some matches online while watch a few important ones on TV. If you don’t know already, Rafael Nadal won the tournament. He deserves the title because he played the best in the tournament (except for one hiccup against Nalbanian). Here are some thoughts:
• Federer lost to Murray in the semi-final in their fourth consecutive meeting. I watched this one on TV and I was quite disappointed with Federer’s performance. The first two sets were good tennis but the third was terrible. Federer made too many unforced errors to give away the set. One notable, serving 1-2, love-15, Federer hit a ball that Murray could not get to but along the way, Murray felt down. He screamed as if he had broken one of his legs. He stood up 30 second later and won almost every single point until match point. Federer got distracted by the incident and his focus was gone. First, Federer should not get distracted by such acts. Second, these acts have been patterns in Murray’s game. He does these things on purpose to get other players off their games. You can see it by the way he lags his body around each point and how he makes big scenes out of little things. These acts are distasteful and have no place in tennis. Win by your talent and show some sportsmanship. I am glad Nadal did not get distracted by such theatrics in the finals when Murray kept at it with the umpire about a plastic bag being blown on court and there was no let.
• Djokovic lost again to Roddick. After the lost, Djokovic commented that Roddick did not do anything special and that he made all the mistakes. Roddick served 82% of his first serves in and Roddick has a booming serve. To ignore this fact is distasteful. Djokovic has made many comments like this before and he felt the crowd at the US Open during a match against Federer. Djokovic will fall to 4th or lower in the ranking by the end of the season. He needs to get his attitude in check and be an ambassador of tennis.
• In regards to Roddick, he has gotten a lot better with his new coach, Larry Stefanki. He’s fitter and is more able to play with the top players. However, this loopy forehand and backhand are still weaknesses and they can’t be fixed at this stage of his career. He will be top 10 for the next few years but not top 5.
• Nadal crushed Murray in the final. Nadal is still playing his topspin forehand but he’s very consistent. Once he gets a return in, it’s hard for most players to beat him on the ground strokes. The reason for his is Nadal does not beat himself. He rarely makes unforced errors. His error count is usually 10-15 per match over 3 sets. Don’t beat yourself, let the other player beat you. With the clay season coming up, I can’t see anyone getting the top spot from him this season.

It was another disappointment seeing Federer lose and not held up the trophy. It’s been a while since he’s held up a trophy (maybe 6 months). He used to win 8 tournaments a season but that’s dropped down considerably. What can he do to win? MINIMIZE his error count. Federer still have the best shots in tennis but he beats himself by making too many unforced errors. Minimize the error count by playing with larger margins. His court coverage will keep him in the match most of the time. Also, keep focus on the match. During the Aussie Open and his latest match, he lost focused and lost the match. He could have won the Aussie Open if he kept his composure and won the semi-final match if he didn’t let the fall break his rhythm.