Mannarino Finds Stunning Passing Shot in Indian Wells 2017
Mannarino Finds Stunning Passing Shot in Indian Wells 2017
Mar102017
Seven of the Top 10 singles players will play doubles in the desert
Forget the stacked bottom half of the BNP Paribas Open singles draw for a second. How about the loaded doubles draw in Indian Wells?
In addition to former champions Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan and top seeds Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut, the draw features a plethora of ATP World Tour singles stars. On the top half, three-time defending singles champion Novak Djokovic is pairing with countryman Viktor Troicki. They’ll face Indian Rohan Bopanna and Brasil Open singles champion Pablo Cuevas in the first round.
In the same quarter, World No. 6 Rafael Nadal is partnering with Aussie Bernard Tomic. Nadal/Tomic will meet Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain and Joao Sousa of Portugal in their opener.
On the bottom half, top singles seed Andy Murray will play with fellow Brit Daniel Evans. They will face fifth seeds Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez in the first round. Murray/Evans could meet Croatians Marin Cilic and Nikola Mektic in the second round.
World No. 3 Stan Wawrinka and No. 13 Grigor Dimitrov should bring plenty of firepower to their first-round contest against Treat Huey and Max Mirnyi, who reached the Delray Beach Open final last month.
Less than three weeks ago, Belgian David Goffin and Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga played against each other during the ABN Amro World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam. But during the next two weeks, the two Top 15 players will be teammates. They’ll meet sixth seeds Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram, who won the Delray Beach Open doubles title last month.
Tsonga, who won back-to-back singles titles at Rotterdam and Marseille in February, could meet another 2017 singles titlist on the doubles court in Indian Wells. Rio champion Dominic Thiem is partnering with German Philipp Kohlschreiber, whom Thiem beat last year in the Stuttgart final. Thiem/Kohlschrieber face the Zverev brothers – Alexander Zverev and Mischa Zverev – in the first round.
The most popular team in the doubles draw, though, might be one of the two wild card recipients: Argentine Juan Martin del Potro and Indian Leander Paes. The 43-year-old Paes is going for his 55th career tour-level doubles title.
Top seeds Herbert/Mahut open against Americans John Isner/Jack Sock, and the second-seeded Bryan brothers face Aussie Nick Kyrgios and Serbian Nenad Zimonjic in the first round.
Read More: Murray, Like Fans, Marvels At Other Side Of Draw
Karen Khachanov claimed his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 victory on Thursday at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden as he defeated Tommy Robredo 6-1, 7-5 in the first round of the BNP Paribas Open.
The #NextGenATP star is making his debut in Indian Wells and introduced himself to the Stadium 1 crowd in style, firing 12 aces and rallying from 5-3 down in the second set, saving a set point before prevailing in 73 minutes.
“It feels great. It’s my first time here in Indian Wells. I’ve heard a lot about this tournament and I’m really happy that I could get through to the second round. Today I had to be ready from the first point, concentrate 100 per cent and play my game,” Khachanov said. “It’s a big tournament, but I didn’t even think about it, that it’s my first Masters 1000 win. I’m just going step-by-step through the levels.”
The 20-year-old Khachanov is looking to kick start his 2017 campaign and ended a run of four successive first-round defeats. He next goes on to challenge 11th seed David Goffin for the first time.
Third seed Stan Wawrinka will open his campaign against Paolo Lorenzi after the Italian dismissed Robin Haase 6-4, 6-3.
Read: Wawrinka Happy With Build Up
American teenager Reilly Opelka was left disappointed as he fell 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 against German qualifier Peter Gojowczyk. But fellow American Bjorn Fratangelo enjoyed success, cruising past Bernard Tomic 6-2, 6-2 to set a second-round clash with 13th seed Tomas Berdych.
Davis Cup matches are very likely to be played over three sets in future – and ties could last just two days.
The International Tennis Federation’s Board of Directors has unanimously endorsed a “package of comprehensive reforms” for both Davis Cup and Fed Cup at a meeting in Indian Wells.
The recommendations will have to be ratified by the ITF’s AGM in Vietnam in August.
Changes were discussed following a review of current match formats.
Any reform will require a formal vote of approval.
Amid all the hype surrounding Novak Djokovic’s section of the draw being chock full of former champions at the BNP Paribas Open this week, fourth seed Kei Nishikori finds himself the man in waiting. The Japanese star turns his pursuit of a maiden ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title to the Californian desert and is seeded to meet whoever emerges from that heavy quarter.
Nishikori readily admits there are a mountain of obstacles to overcome before he would even turn his sights to that semi-final clash. And after mixed results on the Latin American clay leading in, he gave himself extra time to settle in ahead of the season’s first ATP Masters 1000 event.
“I’m feeling very good,” Nishikori, a quarter-finalist at last year’s event, said. “I had a lot of time after Rio so I was working really hard. I had a couple more days here to adjust to this surface.
“It was a big decision not to play Memphis but I think it was a good experience. The condition was a little bit tough in South America. I thought it was a good two weeks even though I lost first round and lost a final. I hope I can do well here and Miami now.”
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Nishikori believes he is gradually closing the gap on the Big Four’s dominance of the ATP Masters 1000 events. It is as much about mental inroads as technical.
“Those guys have a lot of experience,” he said. “They know how to raise their level in the match and we’ve got to fight for those tough moments.
“I’m working on a bit of everything. Tennis-wise I think my serve, strokes – I’ve still got to make some adjustments and mentally I have to be strong to win big tournaments like this.
“You usually have to play the tough guys second or third match and conditions are not that easy. These two tournaments are 1.5 weeks but you have to play tough opponents almost every day so you have to be really mentally and physically tough. To win the Masters you have to beat maybe Djokovic and Andy and some of those top 10 players.”
The fourth seed would likely meet sixth seed Marin Cilic in the quarter-finals with 14th seed Lucas Pouille his seeded round of 16 opponent. He will meet either Daniel Evans or Dustin Brown in his first match.
Third seed features in top half of draw with Murray, Tsonga, Goffin
Under sun-kissed skies, Stan Wawrinka has be practising hard for a shot at improving on his performances at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. The Swiss star has gotten off to a strong start in 2017 and is hoping to carry the momentum into the desert.
“I’m still trying to work on my game every day and trying to improve, getting results every week,” said Wawrinka, ahead of the first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament of the season. “I’m happy with the first month, with semi-finals in Brisbane and at the Australian Open. I was playing well, after a good off-season. I had some knee problems since then, so I couldn’t play well enough in Dubai, but I think it’s been going well on the practice courts. If I can keep that level the result will come.”
Wawrinka, who opens his campaign against Robin Haase or Paolo Lorenzi, reached the quarter-finals at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in 2008 (l. to Djokovic) and 2011 (l. to Federer).
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With every member of the Big Four – Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray – performing well, the 31-year-old Wawrinka was hard-pressed to pinpoint a favourite to win the tournament, which features 44 of the Top 50 in the Emirates ATP Rankings.
“It’s tough to really put one as a favourite, with Roger winning the first Grand Slam of the year, Rafa coming back, Novak not playing quite as good as the past few years and Andy winning the Dubai title. It’ll be interesting to see how the draw goes a little bit. For sure, if Novak can win a few matches, especially with his draw, he’s going to gain a lot of confidence from that.”
Play gets under way on Thursday, with 16 first-round matches from the top half of the draw.
Twelve-time ATP World Tour titlist Tommy Robredo makes his return to the BNP Paribas Open on Thursday in his first match at Indian Wells in two years. Having undergone right elbow surgery last season, the former World No. 5 in the Emirates ATP Rankings arrives in the desert on a protected ranking and will meet #NextGen ATP Russian Karen Khachanov first up on Day 1.
The pair has never met and will open play on Stadium 1, with Robredo looking to overturn an age gap of 14 years to deny the World No. 52. The Spaniard reached the quarter-finals at the BNP Paribas Open in 2010 and 2011.
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#NextGen ATP Americans Frances Tiafoe and Bjorn Fratangelo also begin their 2017 BNP Paribas Open campaigns on Thursday. Tiafoe arrives off a first-round defeat at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel in Acapulco where he extended Juan Martin del Potro to a deciding-set tie-break. He opens against Serbian qualifier Dusan Lajovic. In the second round last year, Tiafoe held two match points before falling to eventual semi-finalist David Goffin.
Fellow wild card Fratangelo starts against World No. 42 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, Bernard Tomic. Last year, Fratangelo extended then-No. 1 Novak Djokovic to three sets in the second round before the Serb went on to clinch the title.
Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov has tasted success in the desert before when he upset then-No. 1 Rafael Nadal en route to the 2014 BNP Paribas Open semi-finals. The 28 year old captured his first ATP World Tour title since 2012 in Buenos Aires two weeks ago and faces a tricky opener against World No. 39 Viktor Troicki. The Serbian leads the pair’s FedEx ATP Head2Head series 2-0.
TALKING POINTS
• Novak Djokovic, Nadal and Roger Federer have won 12 of the last 13 BNP Paribas Open titles. In 2017, however, only one of the former champions could reach the semi-finals after being selected in the same quarter of an ATP draw for the first time ever. Also in the bottom quarter are Nick Kyrgios and del Potro, who both have wins over Djokovic, Nadal and Federer.
• Djokovic enters the first ATP Masters 1000 event of the season with five titles and a 17-match winning streak at Indian Wells. He could meet del Potro in the third round on Tuesday, only 13 days removed from their second-round match at Acapulco. Djokovic avenged losses to del Potro in the 2012 and 2016 Olympics by beating the Argentine in three sets at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel.
• Nadal is a three-time singles and two-time doubles champion at Indian Wells, and he’s playing both events again this year. The Spaniard will team up with Tomic for the first time. Nadal has already reached singles finals at the Australian Open and Acapulco in 2017. However, the lefty has played six finals and 30 events on hard courts since his last title on the surface at 2014 Doha.
• Federer, a four-time BNP Paribas Open champion, returns to Indian Wells after missing the 2016 event. The Swiss recovered from his knee injury and knocked off Nadal at the Australian Open to became the oldest Grand Slam champion (35) since Ken Rosewall at the 1972 Australian Open and the lowest-ranked major champion (No. 17) since Gaston Gaudio at 2004 Roland Garros.
• Nadal and Federer could meet again in the fourth round on Wednesday, which would be the earliest match in their rivalry since their first encounter in the 2004 Miami third round. The winner may meet Djokovic in the quarter-finals. Nadal’s last meeting with Djokovic was in the 2016 Rome quarter-finals, while Federer has not played the World No. 2 that early since the 2007 Dubai quarter-finals.
• World No. 1 Andy Murray is one of two former finalists in the top half of the draw along with No. 20 seed John Isner. Murray is missing only Indian Wells and Monte-Carlo from his collection of 14 ATP Masters 1000 titles. Now 2,215 points ahead of Djokovic in the Emirates ATP Rankings, Murray has captured 10 titles in 14 finals from the 16 tournaments that he has played since May.
• The 2017 BNP Paribas Open marks the one-year anniversary of #NextGenATP, launched at Indian Wells last year to spotlight the tour’s youngest Top 200 players. Born in 1996 or later, nine #NextGenATP players are in the draw this week, including American teenagers Tiafoe, Stefan Kozlov, Taylor Fritz and Reilly Opelka. Tiafoe is the highest-ranked of the four at No. 86.
• Seven of the Top 10, 15 of the Top 20 and 31 of the Top 40 singles players in the Emirates ATP Rankings are playing doubles at Indian Wells, including Murray, Djokovic and del Potro. Murray and Djokovic are teaming with countrymen Daniel Evans and Troicki respectively. Del Potro, on the other hand, is paired with 43-year-old Indian Leander Paes, who won the 2007 doubles title.
No doubt about it, the hot topic at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden is that section of the draw. The one that features Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Juan Martin del Potro, Nick Kyrgios and Alexander Zverev to name but a few.
At the top of the draw, World No. 1 Andy Murray is able to rub his hands together with glee, just like any other tennis fan.
“It’s an amazing draw. I’ve never seen anything like that. It’s one of the toughest sections of a draw of all time,” said the Scot, speaking during his pre-tournament media at the BNP Paribas Open on Wednesday.
“In terms of the number of Grand Slam titles you have in that section and some of the younger up-and-coming players that are likely to be at the top of the game for a long time, it’s pretty exciting for tennis fans. There will be some exciting matches early on in the tournament for sure. There’s even guys like [Fernando] Verdasco in there, who are dangerous players. It’s definitely tough on the guys in that section. It’s obviously a section that ideally you’d want to be avoiding if you can.”
One possibility the draw throws up is a Federer-Nadal fourth-round clash. The two met for the 35th time a few weeks ago when they contested the Australian Open final, with Federer prevailing in five sets to clinch his 18th Grand Slam championship.
“People want to watch Rafa and Roger playing against each other and when they’re on opposite halves of the draw it takes a lot to go right for them to compete against each other,” said Murray. “When they’re right next to each other, it’s only one or two matches, people want to see it. If they get there it will be a packed house and that’s good for tennis.”
Murray has been the man to beat at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments in recent months, winning the past two of the elite tournaments in Shanghai and Paris. The Scot is hoping that momentum will carry him to a first BNP Paribas Open title, having finished runner-up in the desert in 2009 (l. to Nadal).
It’s one of few goals Murray has left to achieve in tennis, but as he explained to the media, all his successes bring him even more happiness now.
“The past few years have been great on and off the court,” said the Dunblane native, who married his wife, Kim Sears, in April 2015 and welcomed his first child, Sophia Olivia, just over one year ago.
“I’ve certainly enjoyed my wins a lot more than I did that first Wimbledon (in 2013), when it took me a little while to get back on track after that. I had my back surgery quite soon afterwards but also I felt like that was what I was playing tennis for, that my reason for playing was to win Wimbledon. After that, what else was there for me?
“But definitely now I’ve moved on from that. I play tennis predominantly for myself and my family now and I want to keep achieving as much as I can.”
Read More: Federer Unfazed By Difficult Indian Wells Draw