Sony Ericsson Open: Miami Masters

[Drummond]

Another Masters Series event is underway, and the coverage begins on Fox Sports in a few hours time. The only combined 12-day tennis event on the ATP and Sony Ericsson WTA Tour calendars, the Sony Ericsson Open features the world's top-ranked pros - 96 men and 96 women - in singles competition, and 32 men's teams and 32 women's teams in doubles action.

And the first big shock of the tournament...

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/SPORT/03/28/tennis.djokovic/

Djokovic crashes out of Miami Masters

MIAMI, Florida -- South African qualifier Kevin Anderson enjoyed a stunning upset victory over defending champion Novak Djokovic in the second round of the ATP Masters Series tournament in Miami on Friday.

Djokovic slid out of the Masters Series tournament to qualifier Anderson.

Australian Open champion Djokovic, fresh from his Masters Series triumph at Indian Wells, was beaten 7-6 3-6 6-4 by the 122nd-ranked Anderson.

Anderson had reached the final of the ATP event in Las Vegas earlier this month, but was not expected to trouble Djokovic.

But he struggled from the start against the South African and was rattled by a warning from the chair umpire for taking too much time between points with his ritual ball bouncing.

Serving at 2-0 in the third set, Djokovic won the next point after the warning to reach deuce, then lost 13 points in a row.

Jeers from the crowd further agitated him, and by the time Djokovic collected himself, Anderson was up a break at 3-2.

"Obviously, the time violation and a lot of different things affected my service game," Djokovic told the Associated Press.

He was the defending champion, so there goes a heck of a lot of ranking points which is a big blow to his chances of getting the #2 or even #1 ranking spot in the near future.

Men's draw:

http://www.sonyericssonopen.com/draws/msdraw.pdf

Women's draw:

http://www.sonyericssonopen.com/draws/wsdraw.pdf

Young gun Caroline Wozniacki upset the 9th seed Marion Bartoli and will now face Srebotnik. Chakvetadze vs Paszek should be a good game, I'm hoping Tamira can get up.

 

[Scruff83]

Yeah, was gonna make a post about this. Cant believe he got knocked out second round (first round basically!) The upsets keep coming after Federers loss last week. Maybe we'll see men's tennis open up a bit again? Would be a nice change!

 

[Karbo]

Groundhog day - Hewitt loses, blames injury.

 

[Ricketts]

Don't worry, Hewey will still make it back to the top 10.

 

[gopies1981]

Round 3, Lindsay Davenport thumps World No.2 Ana Ivanovic 6-4 6-2.

Can Lindsay at 31 years old can win in Miami. I think she can if she doen't get injured! It cost her the Indian Wells Title when she injured her back in the Quaters against Jankovic.

Lindsay Will be inside the top 10 by Wimbledon! Hopefully she has 1 more grandslam win within her.

Lindsay has won 3 Grandslams (U.S open 98, Wimbledon 99 and Aus open 00) But should of one at least 2 more but didn't cos she got injured (04 U.S open (unbeated during the U.S hardcourt season but injured her back against Kuznetseva in Semi's while being up 6-1 4-1, and 05 Wimbledon again injured her back at 5-5 in the third against V.Williams, had 2 match points!)

 

[Drummond]

Can't stand Davenport, why did she have to lose to her? Seriously, Ana is my favourite player but the world #2 should not be losing to a 31 year old who is one of the slowest players on tour. I guess the long run at Indian Wells took it out of her as Djokovic also crashed out early in Miami. Still, not much of an excuse as she really should have been the one handing out the thumping.

 

[pepsi]

Don't worry, Hewey will still make it back to the top 10.

I hope he does, but I doubt it. Tennis has moved on and Lleyton no longer has the same confidence as he had a few years ago.

 

[gopies1981]

Can't stand Davenport, why did she have to lose to her? Seriously, Ana is my favourite player but the world #2 should not be losing to a 31 year old who is one of the slowest players on tour. I guess the long run at Indian Wells took it out of her as Djokovic also crashed out early in Miami. Still, not much of an excuse as she really should have been the one handing out the thumping.

Yes lindsay has probably slowed down a step or two since her comeback but at 31 it happens to all players. But lindsay does have better ground-strokes then Ana and a much better Serve! Lindsay I belive will be ranked between 4-6 in the world at the end of the year! I also believe that lindsay will play one more year as a farewell tour before she hangs up her rackets for good!

 

[Ricketts]

Round 3, Lindsay Davenport thumps World No.2 Ana Ivanovic 6-4 6-2.

Can Lindsay at 31 years old can win in Miami. I think she can if she doen't get injured! It cost her the Indian Wells Title when she injured her back in the Quaters against Jankovic.

Lindsay Will be inside the top 10 by Wimbledon! Hopefully she has 1 more grandslam win within her.

Lindsay has won 3 Grandslams (U.S open 98, Wimbledon 99 and Aus open 00) But should of one at least 2 more but didn't cos she got injured (04 U.S open (unbeated during the U.S hardcourt season but injured her back against Kuznetseva in Semi's while being up 6-1 4-1, and 05 Wimbledon again injured her back at 5-5 in the third against V.Williams, had 2 match points!)

Yes lindsay has probably slowed down a step or two since her comeback but at 31 it happens to all players. But lindsay does have better ground-strokes then Ana and a much better Serve! Lindsay I belive will be ranked between 4-6 in the world at the end of the year! I also believe that lindsay will play one more year as a farewell tour before she hangs up her rackets for good!

They are some of the craziest opinions i have ever heard.

Are you her husband?!?!

 

[Bloods boy from the Bush]

Davenport went on to lose to Safina

Leaving
Henin
S.Williams
V.Williams
Kluznetsova
Jankovic
Safina

Left to battle it out for the title.

Must say I can't stand any of them so I wont be following this tournament much any more.

 

[Drummond]

If Berdych plays the way he did against Ferrero for the entire tournament, he’ll win. He played beautifully and completely destroyed the Spaniard giving him no chance of getting in the match. He now faces Dmitry Tursunov which is a great chance for him to make the Quarters and pick up a few ranking points considering he made the 3rd Round here in 2007.

Paul-Henri Mathieu vs. Rafael Nadal, what a cracker this promises to be! Mathieu was getting pumped by Nadal when they met in Melbourne before he retired which will give Nadal some confidence but I think this could be an extremely tight affair. At the very least I expect it to go to 3 sets.

Janko Tipsarevic was great against Johansson and now faces Youzhny who put in a very up and down performance against Almagro. I’m confident he’ll beat him and might I just add that Tipsarevic has surpassed Moya as the coolest man in the game.

Mario Ancic is definitely back on track as he defeated Andy Murray and Juan Monaco in back to back matches. Ancic will be back in the top 10 before too long and that’s where he belongs. One of the more enjoyable guys to watch on tour IMO, great to see him healthy and performing at his best again.

Davenport went on to lose to Safina

Leaving
Henin
S.Williams
V.Williams
Kluznetsova
Jankovic
Safina

Left to battle it out for the title.

Must say I can't stand any of them so I wont be following this tournament much any more.

Very disappointing, especially considering they are actually televising the latter stages of the tournament. Doubt I'll even watch the Semi's and Final as there is no one that I even come close to liking.

 

[red+black]

Don't worry, Hewey will still make it back to the top 10.

Wanna bet $500 on that?

 

[red+black]

Youzhny:

[YOUTUBE]0AEfCQxVmxM[/YOUTUBE]

 

[pepsi]

LMAO!! That is one of the funniest things I've seen on a tennis court.Classic! Not surprised it was Youznhy that did this, he has a short fuse. That would have hurt.

 

[Drummond]

That’s scary. The reaction from Almagro was classic though; he seems like a real nice guy. But that reaction from Youzhny was just flat out scary. I know he goes off at the drop of a hat and he’s always trying to fire himself up but that reaction was a shocker.

As for the tennis, Nadal v Blake was a beauty. IMO Blake was the better player for the first 2 and a bit sets but he had a few brain fades serving at 1-1 in the 3rd and in the end it cost him. He missed a few simple vollies and Nadal took his opportunities. After taking the first set I thought Blake had the match and would win in straight sets but Nadal, being the fighter he is, managed to claw his way out of trouble and he ended up destroying Blake in the 3rd.

Berdych is my tip to win the tournament though and he now faces Nadal who I’m confident he’ll beat. However I was also confident when they met at Wimbledon last year and Nadal won in straight sets so this could go either way.

Tomorrow's QF's:

Roger Federer v Andy Roddick
Nikolay Davydenko v Janko Tipsarevic

And lastly, is it just me or are some of the ball girls quite tidy?

 

[red+black]

And lastly, is it just me or are some of the ball girls quite tidy?

And quite young I'm guessing (not that there's anything wrong with that - as long as you don't get caught).

 

[Syd Kennets]

Roddick looking pretty solid here.

1 set all 4-3 on serve.

Engaging in a brilliant conversation with the referee aswell.

 

[Syd Kennets]

Federer's Backhand letting him down aswell.

 

[Syd Kennets]

Roddick wins 12 of the last 14 points of the match to go from 0-30 down at 3-3 to win the set 6-3 and the match....

 

[pepsi]

Roddick played extremely well today and very consistent. Serve was unbelieveable and I am so happy he finally beat Roger for only the 2nd time in his career, and for the first time in 11 matches. He has been wanting that win for a long time so it is great to see him get it. We are now in April and Roger still hasn't won a tournament. That is pretty amazing, but something tells me he is all geared towards the French Open this year, I think it is his sole aim for 2008.

 

[Drummond]

And quite young I'm guessing (not that there's anything wrong with that - as long as you don't get caught).

Not that young.

Wow, Roddick v Federer was a great match! Roddick played as well as I’ve ever seen him play and he didn’t drop his level of play at any stage of the match. The first set was a ripper and went to a tiebreak. Roddick played it well but Federer gifted him a 4-1 lead due to 3 unforced errors. Andy’s serving was on fire and Federer only managed to break his serve midway through the second set.

Full credit to Roddick for his brilliant performance and the way he closed out the match. As Syd Kennets said, he was does 0-30 serving at 3-3 but managed to reel off 12 straight points. He got a little edgy while trying to serve it out but he managed to seal it with a huge serve. Federer just doesn’t seem invincible anymore; there’s something about his game that’s lacking at the moment. I think it’s mainly due to his movement as I think he’s moving a bit sluggish and he’s not getting to balls as quickly as he has in the past.

Roddick played extremely well today and very consistent. Serve was unbelieveable and I am so happy he finally beat Roger for only the 2nd time in his career, and for the first time in 11 matches. He has been wanting that win for a long time so it is great to see him get it. We are now in April and Roger still hasn't won a tournament. That is pretty amazing, but something tells me he is all geared towards the French Open this year, I think it is his sole aim for 2008.

No doubt that’s the one last goal he’s hoping to reach, but how will he manage to achieve it? He’s playing well below what he was 12-24 months ago and Nadal isn’t showing any signs of slowing down on the ckay. Then of course there’s Djokovic who is good on every surface and he could make the FO final this year. I just don’t see him winning it and his best chance has come and gone.

Semi Finals:

Rafael Nadal v Tomas Berdych
Nikolay Davydenko v Andy Roddick

I'm hoping for a Berdych/Roddick final but I'm not exactly confident. Berdych has played some of the best tennis I’ve seen from him at this tournament but as is always the case with Tomas, you never know what he’ll produce on any given day. He has a good record against Nadal so I expect this to be a very tough match.

In the other semi it will be interesting to see whether Roddick can reproduce the form he displayed against Federer. Davydenko destroyed Tipsarevic today, dropping only 3 games in what was a disappointing display. I’m going to say Roddick in 3 sets.

 

[Bloods boy from the Bush]

Daveydenko smashes Nadal in the final 6-4 6-2. How the hell did he do that.

 

[Drummond]

Daveydenko smashes Nadal in the final 6-4 6-2. How the hell did he do that.

Didn't get a chance to see the final, in fact I have it IQ'd but seeing as though Davydenko won I don't think I'll bother watching. Kind of annoying watching the whole tournament and missing the final but I don't think I'm interested in seeing the most boring player on tour win the title.

I'm guess Davydenko got everything back that Nadal threw at him and Nadal couln't get anything past him from the back of the court. Davydenko is such an annoying player, I really can't stand him. Simone Bolelli came very close to knocking him out in the earlier rounds and probably would've done so had he not chocked in the second set. He was either 5-4 up or perahps 5-5 but regardless, he has break points only to stuff it up. Shame.

As for Nadal, he had a good tournament and once again managed to knock off some good players but he can't seem to win a title on a surface other than clay at the moment. I bet he's looking forward to the clay season which starts very shortly.

As for the women's side, Serena Williams beat Jankovic in 3 sets. Good old Serena, she can play once in a month, and be in pretty ordinary shape, but someone manage to win. I guess it says more about the WTA tour than it does about her...

 

[pepsi]

As for the women's side, Serena Williams beat Jankovic in 3 sets. Good old Serena, she can play once in a month, and be in pretty ordinary shape, but someone manage to win. I guess it says more about the WTA tour than it does about her...

I disagree. Federer only played 15 tournaments in the last 12 months and managed to dominate (well not the last couple of months). Serena has played 12 tournaments in the last 12 months. She is simply a player who does not need tournament play to win, she is just that good. She is one of the greatest of all time and deserves more credit. Her mental strength as well as her serve and groundstrokes help her win any match. And I think she is in pretty good shape at the moment.

 

[Drummond]

I disagree. Federer only played 15 tournaments in the last 12 months and managed to dominate (well not the last couple of months). Serena has played 12 tournaments in the last 12 months. She is simply a player who does not need tournament play to win, she is just that good. She is one of the greatest of all time and deserves more credit. Her mental strength as well as her serve and groundstrokes help her win any match. And I think she is in pretty good shape at the moment.

I immensely dislike her but there’s no doubting she’s a great player and will be remembered as one. However, the fact that she is able to dominate after being out for often a month at a time doesn’t say much for the other top players. She will often put her name down in a tournament only to pull out at the last minute, often given a pretty poor excuse as to why she failed to play. That’s what annoys me; she just plays when she feels like it. I guess the fact that she still manages to win all the time it’s testament to just how good she is and you’re right about that, still doesn’t stop me from disliking her.