BNP Paribas Open, Indian Wells, CA, 2022 - ATP Masters 1000

MargaretMcAleer

The GOAT
Joined
Apr 30, 2013
Messages
46,493
Reactions
30,581
Points
113
Anyway I off to watch Osaka's match....I dont mind the time zone for me at IW just late in the afternoon
 
  • Like
Reactions: Fiero425

kskate2

Administrator
Joined
Apr 14, 2013
Messages
31,025
Reactions
10,033
Points
113
Age
55
Location
Tampa Bay
Indian Wells Results for Round 2 Day 4 - Saturday, March 12, 2022

1647155766916.png

1647155810357.png

1647155846973.png
 
  • Like
Reactions: tented

Nadalfan2013

Multiple Major Winner
Joined
Aug 23, 2018
Messages
2,768
Reactions
1,426
Points
113
I'm so happy that GOATdal won. I didn't get to see the match but wow what a comeback! It would have sucked to lose this early at IW right after withdrawing from Miami. But GOATdal did it, and he's still undefeated in 2022 :clap:
 

rafanoy1992

Multiple Major Winner
Joined
Apr 15, 2013
Messages
4,572
Reactions
3,216
Points
113
I am here to report the matches I saw live yesterday:

First, I went to see Carlos Alcaraz match against Mackie McDonald. I can see on why tennis analysts and fans are excited for the future of Carlos Alcaraz. First, I want to talk about his tennis game. He has the aggressive mentality of Federer, his backhand especially when hitting from the defensive position is similar to Djokovic and he has the mannerisms of Nadal (including the jumping high before the matches). However; the shot I was super impressed with Carlitos yesterday was his forehand. That particular shot will win him multiple slams and make him world number 1 in the future. The reason I say this is because he can hit his forehand with power, different spins, and variety. Furthermore, he can control his forehand easily, so Mackie was stuck like a Yo-yo and Carlitos was the one controlling him. With all the good techniques that Carlitos has, there is one shot he needs to improve on if he wants to take his game on the next level: Serve (specifically serve placement). He can hit his serve up to 135 mph, however; he needs to improve his serve placement because he hit some serves yesterday that if he faced a better returner, he will get his serve broken frequently. Lastly, while he has the game to be the number 1 player in the world, he has the charisma AND physique to achieve that accomplishment. At 18.5 years old, he has a good physique and stadium was full packed in both his singles and doubles matches. People have high expectations for him and hopefully he is able match the expectations.

Second match I watched was the Nadal-Korda. I will skip the 1st two sets because they were pretty one-sided. I will jump straight-forward to the game where Nadal lost his service game at 2-4 in the 3rd set. Everybody in the stadium gasped and shocked went that happened because they were not used to Nadal playing like THAT. At that point, everyone assumed Korda will score the big upset, so they were rooting for him to finish the match. Then, Korda serving at 5-2 started to get tight as drum. In addition, Nadal started to hit his backhand magnificently to turn the tide of the match, then the crowd started to chant "Vamos, Rafa!" and "We love you, Rafa!" and its like people forgot about Korda already. Move forward into the tiebreaker, we already know what happened during the tiebreaker. One emphasis I want to point out here is that Rafael Nadal is a ROCKSTAR! I think Jelenafan have said this before, but there is something about Nadal that gravitates the crowd towards him. It is a different aura with Federer or Djokovic. With Nadal, when he is playing, people will go this match, whether he is playing good or bad. I mean yesterday was just a 2nd rd match on an early Saturday afternoon and the stadium was fully-packed. They love watching Rafael Nadal and will watch him religiously until officially retires from the tour. By the way, his double faults were more because he was going big on his 2nd serves. He wanted to continue his aggressive mindset of going big on his 2nd serves to preserve his body from long rallies. His groundstrokes were more of a problem than his serve.

Last match I saw live was the Sinner-Djere match. As I said last year, watching Sinner live is so fascinating. The reason I say this is because when you watch him in TV, it looks a normal shot, however, on live, his shots are mesmerizing. Sinner does not hit hard groundstroke shots (he can if he needs to), but what makes him special and potentially a future world 1 number player is the accuracy and precision of his ground strokes. He was just an archer last night meaning he was hitting his shots with not a lot of power but just pinpoint accuracy. Djere (and the crowd) was shock on how Sinner was able to hit groundstrokes accurately and consistently throughout the match. By the way, Sinner was not even grunting at all, so the silence from him makes him deadlier on a smaller stadium. I think my favorite from Sinner is his backhand DTL. That shot from Sinner is similar to Djokovic's BH DTL shot. He can hit it with pinpoint accuracy. But what makes that shot special from Sinner is that he can hit that short after hitting a CC BH to the opponent, thus surprising his opponent at the very last minute. He did that a lot to Djere last night and I was just in awe of that shot. He is also a great lateral mover for his size. He does not use unnecessary steps to go from side to side. Now, his forward movement need improvement lol. With all the good/great shots, Sinner has one weakness on his game: his serve. For his size, he does not have a powerful serve at all. The fastest serve he can hit is 130 mph and he does not want hit consistently. In addition, his second serve is weak. For his size, he needs to hit his 2nd serve AT LEAST 103 mph in order to be more effective. If he can improve his serve tremendously, he will definitely be future great player. Another thing he can improve about his game is variety from the ground (slices, going forward and net game). His groundstrokes are world class already, but if he can somehow add variety to his game, he will really be a complete player.

Bonus: I was able to watch Jannik Sinner practice at night with little spectators because he went straight to the practice courts right after his match. His new coach wanted Sinner to worked on his slice and forward game because his pupil did have a bad slice and forward game match. It went about an hour so...and then after his practice, he was extremely nice because he signed some autographs for the younger fans. Also, he gave some of his practice gear to some lucky fans so that was cool from him.
 

rafanoy1992

Multiple Major Winner
Joined
Apr 15, 2013
Messages
4,572
Reactions
3,216
Points
113
I want to add something: The hype around Alcaraz, Sinner, and FAA are real. The reason I say that is because every-time they play or practice, people will quickly go their respective courts. So, hopefully, those three young players can produce spectacular tennis in the years to come because they are very talented and charismatic in their own way.
 

Jelenafan

Multiple Major Winner
Joined
Sep 15, 2013
Messages
3,677
Reactions
5,015
Points
113
Location
California, USA
Everything Rafanoy said, but will add if Korda could harness his game he could be formidable.

Brookby is a hoot out there, so unorthodox but quite a little fighter in the 2nd set versus Kachanov.

To all you haters Rublev looked good and the hair was fabulous, even more impressive live. Some spectators were even talking about it, saying it looks redder on TV, LOL.

Sinner looks quite thin, wondering how much muscle he will eventually pack. Whereas Tsitsipas looks taller in person. That BH, the explosiveness he gets.

Nadal, what can one say? Its so funny because he read my mind, after winning the first set easily he had 0-30 on Korda’s serve in the 1st gsme second set and played a little sloppy and i thought he blew a great chance, and he obsessed on that game in his postmatch interview , LOL. Live his slice looks more impressive so one can see how hes incorporated so much of it into his game.

Felix is really a nice mover on court, almost silky smooth.

Had a chance to see Isner/Querey but opted out, have already been to see Sequioa National park.
 

Jelenafan

Multiple Major Winner
Joined
Sep 15, 2013
Messages
3,677
Reactions
5,015
Points
113
Location
California, USA
The one sad note was an almost altercation between some polish & Russian fans, and some complaints that the Russian flag was at first shown on the jumbotron for Rublev , then it was removed. :astonished-face:
 
  • Wow
Reactions: kskate2 and Moxie

rafanoy1992

Multiple Major Winner
Joined
Apr 15, 2013
Messages
4,572
Reactions
3,216
Points
113
What is a bad loss from Felix. He just took a break from Dubai after winning in Rotterdam and reaching Marseille Final in consecutive weeks and he lost his 1st match here at IW. I am hoping this result does not set him back a little bit.
 

rafanoy1992

Multiple Major Winner
Joined
Apr 15, 2013
Messages
4,572
Reactions
3,216
Points
113
Everything Rafanoy said, but will add if Korda could harness his game he could be formidable.

Brookby is a hoot out there, so unorthodox but quite a little fighter in the 2nd set versus Kachanov.

To all you haters Rublev looked good and the hair was fabulous, even more impressive live. Some spectators were even talking about it, saying it looks redder on TV, LOL.

Sinner looks quite thin, wondering how much muscle he will eventually pack. Whereas Tsitsipas looks taller in person. That BH, the explosiveness he gets.

Nadal, what can one say? Its so funny because he read my mind, after winning the first set easily he had 0-30 on Korda’s serve in the 1st gsme second set and played a little sloppy and i thought he blew a great chance, and he obsessed on that game in his postmatch interview , LOL. Live his slice looks more impressive so one can see how hes incorporated so much of it into his game.

Felix is really a nice mover on court, almost silky smooth.

Had a chance to see Isner/Querey but opted out, have already been to see Sequioa National park.
I actually agree with you about Tsitsipas, Jelenafan. He does actually look taller in person compared in television.

As for Sinner, he will have time to gain some muscle. If not, that is okay he can still be a successful player because just look at Medvedev. I think the key for him is can he gain some explosiveness on his serve? He does not have to hit hard serves all the time, but he can't hit serves in the 120 to 124 most of the times. He is tall enough where he should able to hit some big 1st serves (128 to 130 mph).
 
  • Like
Reactions: Jelenafan and Moxie

Moxie

Multiple Major Winner
Joined
Apr 14, 2013
Messages
43,608
Reactions
14,768
Points
113
I want to add something: The hype around Alcaraz, Sinner, and FAA are real. The reason I say that is because every-time they play or practice, people will quickly go their respective courts. So, hopefully, those three young players can produce spectacular tennis in the years to come because they are very talented and charismatic in their own way.
I'm going to add something the commentators said about FAA during a recent match of his. They pointed out that, as the Big 3 are aging out, and some of the top young players are...ahem...less than appealing in some of their antics, the tennis powers that be are very interested in the future of a terrific player like Felix who also comes off as a good person. I think you could say the same for Alcaraz and Sinner. And I think you can say the same for the tennis fans: we're looking for young men (and women) that we can love, be committed fans of. "Charisma" is hard to define, but it has to do with crowd appeal, for sure.
 
  • Like
Reactions: rafanoy1992

the AntiPusher

The GOAT
Joined
Apr 14, 2013
Messages
17,008
Reactions
7,120
Points
113
I'm going to add something the commentators said about FAA during a recent match of his. They pointed out that, as the Big 3 are aging out, and some of the top young players are...ahem...less than appealing in some of their antics, the tennis powers that be are very interested in the future of a terrific player like Felix who also comes off as a good person. I think you could say the same for Alcaraz and Sinner. And I think you can say the same for the tennis fans: we're looking for young men (and women) that we can love, be committed fans of. "Charisma" is hard to define, but it has to do with crowd appeal, for sure.
Felix is a legitimate good person..he is not going to be a Tiger woods meaning someone who is not as wholesome as his advertisers marketed him. Felix is gonna be a very poor man's Sampras. Very control fire and may develop to learn to unleashed it.. Yet, the difference is Pete was the quiet Assassin. Felix has everything to be a minor version of Pete.However, to say he can all of a sudden turn into the once assumed to be GOAT is a bit unrealistic at this point in his career. We shall see, IMO.
 

Moxie

Multiple Major Winner
Joined
Apr 14, 2013
Messages
43,608
Reactions
14,768
Points
113
Everything Rafanoy said, but will add if Korda could harness his game he could be formidable.

Brookby is a hoot out there, so unorthodox but quite a little fighter in the 2nd set versus Kachanov.

To all you haters Rublev looked good and the hair was fabulous, even more impressive live. Some spectators were even talking about it, saying it looks redder on TV, LOL.

Sinner looks quite thin, wondering how much muscle he will eventually pack. Whereas Tsitsipas looks taller in person. That BH, the explosiveness he gets.

Nadal, what can one say? Its so funny because he read my mind, after winning the first set easily he had 0-30 on Korda’s serve in the 1st gsme second set and played a little sloppy and i thought he blew a great chance, and he obsessed on that game in his postmatch interview , LOL. Live his slice looks more impressive so one can see how hes incorporated so much of it into his game.

Felix is really a nice mover on court, almost silky smooth.

Had a chance to see Isner/Querey but opted out, have already been to see Sequioa National park.
I hadn't quite realize you were actually going to be there, too. Thanks for the report.

I'm very high on Korda, and I think he took a step up yesterday, even if he lost. Sounds like you were at that match...do you agree? (And, as a Nadal fan, how did you survive it, live?)

Who hates on Rublev?! Nobody. Anyway, good one about Isner/Querrey. LOL.
 
  • Like
Reactions: AnonymousFan

Moxie

Multiple Major Winner
Joined
Apr 14, 2013
Messages
43,608
Reactions
14,768
Points
113
Sidebar: Murray lost, but that was a hard-fought first set TB, and the one who lost it, in this case Murray, was at a significant psychological disadvantage.
 

rafanoy1992

Multiple Major Winner
Joined
Apr 15, 2013
Messages
4,572
Reactions
3,216
Points
113
I'm going to add something the commentators said about FAA during a recent match of his. They pointed out that, as the Big 3 are aging out, and some of the top young players are...ahem...less than appealing in some of their antics, the tennis powers that be are very interested in the future of a terrific player like Felix who also comes off as a good person. I think you could say the same for Alcaraz and Sinner. And I think you can say the same for the tennis fans: we're looking for young men (and women) that we can love, be committed fans of. "Charisma" is hard to define, but it has to do with crowd appeal, for sure.
I agree. The reason I said my statement is because yesterday fans actually went to see Alcaraz and Sinner in their first matches respectively. There weren't a lot of fans went to Medvedev's first match in Stadium 1, at the same time, fans actually wanted to see Alcaraz play live tennis in Stadium 3. I have heard some fans behind me talking about on how Alcaraz can be the new Nadal and how they were amazed with his forehand and how he is able to control with ease.

Similar to Sinner, in Stadium 4, the fans were lining up to outside the Stadium to watch Sinner play before the match even started. The same thing about Alcaraz, the fans were talking about on how Sinner can become the next great player. In addition, the fans were awe (especially the person sitting right next to me and I) on how he can control his BH with ease especially the BH DTL. Darn, it was so beautiful to watch in a live official match. Similar to Alcaraz's FH earlier in the day.

Interestingly enough, if you combined Felix's explosive serve, Alcaraz's FH, and Sinner's BH, you have the ideal tennis player at least in terms of a technical standpoint.