Indian Wells, BNP Paribas Open, Masters 1000

[GameSetAndMath]

Congratulations to JMDP!

Even though I am sad that Fed lost, I am glad that JMDP won. He is a good guy who fought a lot of adversity and fully deserves the win. I would much rather Roger lose to him than to almost any one else.

Now, Fed needs to make QF or better at Miami to retain #1 at the end of Miami. But, let us hope he can defend that one at least.

 

[the AntiPusher]

By Wimbledon? I'm not convinced of that.

Moxie..Novak’s next 3 months will allow him to train and hit a ton of balls on the court during matches.. he will be aight..

 

[GameSetAndMath]

This is the first full match of JMDP that I am seeing after the USO of last year. He is able to do a variety of things with his BH. His backhand is not to be considered a weakness any more. I think he should be legitimately considered a contender for all the tourneys for the rest of this year at least.

p.s. It would be nice if he could win RG as someone else said.

 

[Moxie]

one of the mysteries on this forum is this belief in a Novak come back. He's never done it before. I'm not saying he can't come back, but he has to prove it. So far he's been limp. Just because Roger and Rafa do it doesn't mean it's easy

Well, at least in the belief that he's going to slide straight back into the mix. It's been a long time now that he hasn't. If people are marking his comeback from his surgery last month, I think they're ignoring a lot of strangeness for the 18+ months before. He may come back to full-strength, but I think he's got a long road ahead of him.

 

[mrzz]

Congratulaciones, hermano!

Great match! Too bad Federer lost, but JMdP deserves for sure one masters...

 

[Moxie]

This is the first full match of JMDP that I am seeing after the USO of last year. He is able to do a variety of things with his BH. His backhand is not to be considered a weakness any more. I think he should be legitimately considered a contender for all the tourneys for the rest of this year at least.

p.s. It would be nice if he could win RG as someone else said.

Agreed he should be considered a contender. I have watched him go from mainly slice BH, to figuring out how to use his 2-Hander more often, and more effectively. He has adapted his BH well. Of course, you'd like to see him as a force at RG, but I've always been a bit doubtful about that, even before the surgeries. He has worked on his fitness, but I don't think his game, overall, is going to translate to success at RG.

 

[mrzz]

Agreed he should be considered a contender. I have watched him go from mainly slice BH, to figuring out how to use his 2-Hander more often, and more effectively. He has adapted his BH well. Of course, you'd like to see him as a force at RG, but I've always been a bit doubtful about that, even before the surgeries. He has worked on his fitness, but I don't think his game, overall, is going to translate to success at RG.

That forehand can translate itself to success even at the Alpha Centaury Open.

 

[Horsa]

Congratulaciones, hermano!

Great match! Too bad Federer lost, but JMdP deserves for sure one masters...

So you're related to a famous tennis player as you've just called him your Brother or is that just a term of endearment?

I agree. Congratulations are in order for him etc.

 

[DarthFed]

don't forget he made Novak cry in one Olympics and beat him in another. He's utterly big time and really should have more big titles. If he ends the year as number one, I for one won't complain. He should be number 1 at some point. It would be tragic if he isn't. As far as I'm concerned he is by far the best player not to have it

I'm not forgetting but one was just a bronze medal match and the other a first round of the Olympics. Something about Fed makes him confident, I just get the sense he has a good feel for when Roger gets tight.

Anyways a true debacle of a loss but we know Roger gets over them time and time again. He's had a lot of them exactly like today. It's just something we haven't seen at all the past 15 months. Miami should be interesting as it's not at all a good surface for Roger. Indian Wells is a mediocre one for Roger too but Miami is far worse.

 

[Ricardo]

Still, depends on how he's playing and how Roger is. Del Po may be looking for the lost years, and, let's face it, like here, Roger isn't going to wake up every day as TMF at 36.

True, like today it took an off form Federer who also had to choke for Delpo to get a win.

 

[DarthFed]

You darn right..the chair umpire was a real real Wus..very GOP like dealin* with Trump

Good to see you around even if it's only because Roger finally wet the bed

 

[Moxie]

True, like today it took an off form Federer who also had to choke for Delpo to get a win.

Federer, at 36, isn't going to be on-form every day. He wasn't yesterday, either. And by many accounts, JMDP was on-form today. Aren't you discounting delPo's win?

 

[DarthFed]

Federer, at 36, isn't going to be on-form every day. He wasn't yesterday, either. And by many accounts, JMDP was on-form today. Aren't you discounting delPo's win?

He ain't going to suck and choke every day either. Roger will be fine when he remembers who he is and what's been working these past 15 months, too much passive shit today and he barely won a big point all match.

 

[lob]

He ain't going to suck and choke every day either. Roger will be fine when he remembers who he is and what's been working these past 15 months, too much passive shit today and he barely won a big point all match.

Is Delpo in Roger's head?

 

[DarthFed]

Is Delpo in Roger's head?

He shouldn't be. Any good tennis from Roger takes care of DP, even a rejuvenated one. But Roger clearly has been generous to DP in a couple big finals now which is frustrating.

 

[Moxie]

He ain't going to suck and choke every day either. Roger will be fine when he remembers who he is and what's been working these past 15 months, too much passive shit today and he barely won a big point all match.

I don't think Roger has forgotten who he is. Playing like that every day gets harder at 36. I don't want to rub salt into the wound, but Roger played most of the last 2 days like he did wake up feeling his age. And it's going to get harder to predict when these days happen, injury or no. You've called "geriatric" on Fed's losses to Djokovic 3-4 years ago, and yet you refuse to admit "geriatric" now. You can't have it both ways, and neither can he. That said, he clearly has a lot of fine tennis in him. He'll get a shave, probably to Mirka's relief, and start again in Miami.

 

[Moxie]

Is Delpo in Roger's head?

No. He just beats him, sometimes.

 

[mrzz]

So you're related to a famous tennis player as you've just called him your Brother or is that just a term of endearment?

I agree. Congratulations are in order for him etc.

It is a term of endearment (at least in my case). Brazilians usually call Argentinians "hermanos" (brothers, for the ones who are not familiar with Spanish), even if most times sarcastically. But some use it in a good way, which was my case.

 

[DarthFed]

I don't think Roger has forgotten who he is. Playing like that every day gets harder at 36. I don't want to rub salt into the wound, but Roger played most of the last 2 days like he did wake up feeling his age. And it's going to get harder to predict when these days happen, injury or no. You've called "geriatric" on Fed's losses to Djokovic 3-4 years ago, and yet you refuse to admit "geriatric" now. You can't have it both ways, and neither can he. That said, he clearly has a lot of fine tennis in him. He'll get a shave, probably to Mirka's relief, and start again in Miami.

Of course he's geriatric but as we've seen he is still capable of great tennis and he's played it pretty consistently. This all around was not a good tournament for him, at least the matches I saw aside from Chung. I wonder where Ljubicic was, I like him in the mix, kind of get the sense he's helped push Fed to the type of more aggressive game that was missing today. That loss really sucked in every way but I'm interested to see how he recovers from it. That's the first big match since 2016 Wimbledon semi that he really pissed away from a commanding position.

 

[atttomole]

I give him props for even trying. He has said that he didn't know what level he'd be able to come back to. But he was willing to put in the work and try. He's starting to figure out how to manage his BH, which is critical. And the 2-hander is really starting to have some sting. He knows when to employ it, too. Despite how much it stings for Fed fans, I'm sure a lot of people are happy for delPo today.

It does sting for us Fed fans because we have been spoiled. Roger served for the match, and we thought the win was certain, only to be broken. We have gone through this before, and as always, Roger has been able to bounce back, therefore we remain optimistic. Personally, I am happy for Del Potro for the same reasons that other people have given.

Del Potro amazes me as a player. He is a 6 foot 6 player with the agility of a 6 foot 1 player. His apparent sloth between points is misleading.