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Ljubicic und Jankovic siegen in Indian Wells
von Matthias Nientiedt | 22.März 2010
Ivan Ljubicic und Jelena Jankovic heißen die strahlenden und auch überraschenden Sieger von Indian Wells. Vor allem mit Ljubicic als Turniersieger war eigentlich kaum zu rechnen. Der Kroate ist zwar regelmäßig für Top-Leistungen zu haben, aber so konstant über ein ganzes Turnier hinweg hat man ihn selten auftrumphen sehen. Sein druckvolles Spiel und der derzeit sehr starke Aufschlag haben ihm den Turniersieg gebracht. Mit Sicherheit einer seiner größten Erfolge, mit Siegen über Djokovic, Nadal und Roddick auch nicht hoch genug zu bewerten.
Auch Jankovic war nach ihrer doch schlechten Form der letzten Wochen nicht als Turniersiegerin erwartet worden und im Finale gegen Wozniacki ist sie auch als Außenseiterin angetreten, obwohl sie alle drei bisherigen Duelle für sich entscheiden konnte. Doch sie scheint wieder ganz die alte zu sein und ließ Wozniscki keine wirkliche Chance und dominierte das Match von Anfang an. Obwohl sie durch eine Erkältung gehandicapt war, was wohl ihr schlechtes Match gegen Errani erklärt in dem sie beinahe ausgeschieden ist, hat sie sich durch die Woche gekämpft und wurde von Spiel zu Spiel besser. In dieser Form mit dem neuen Trainer ist sie wieder ein ganz klarer Kandidat für die Nr.1
Jetzt geht es weiter in Miami, dann können wir die nächsten Tage auch wieder deutsche Tennisspieler in Aktion sehen (ATP und WTA).
24.März 2010 at 15:05
Miami ATP Masters 1000 preview
24.03.2010
This years Miami Masters 1000 event offers a very interesting draw with some exciting potential match-ups throughout the whole tournament.
First of all there is Roger Federer, who might run into Berdych first and then into rising star Marin Cilic. Cilic, coached by former Becker coach Bob Brett, showed his potential at the Australian Open already and might by inspired by fellow countryman, Ivan Ljubicic, who won last weeks event in Indian Wells. This is for or sure an interesting match-up and a real test for Cilic to check out his future potential. If he can beat Roger here, he will certainly do the next step in his career.
In the semi-final, Roger could face (if he beats Cilic…) either Murray or Soderling, which will be either this years Australian Open final rematch or last years French Open final rematch. Soderling also collected his first win against Federer in their last match, even though it was just during a show tournament prior to the Australian Open. But Soderling stepped up his game since last years ATP-Finals in London. These would be for sure two great semi-final match-ups. And the quarterfinal between Soderling and Murray will also be very interesting since it is a rematch of last weeks Indian Wells Quarterfinal, which Murray lost in straight sets, 1:6, 6:7. The last time Murray has beaten Soderling was in 2006 and if Murray wants to come closer to Rogers No. one spot, he needs to show up in the masters 1000 events.
Even though Roger I think that Roger does not care much about any other event besides the Grand Slams, I believe that his talent and potential is so big, that he will even win these matches in second gear and will reach the final, where he will probably meet Novak Djokovic. The Djoker is his biggest rival for the No. 1 spot, and he will see his opportunities this year, to make his dream reality. So this final will be an indication if he can contest the top ranking spot this year. By reaching the final Roger might be satisfied already though, so, I see it an open match. But with his talent, Roger will always be a good pick, of course.
In the bottom half are also some very interesting match-ups. With the return of David Nalbandian from his hip injury, there is a dangerous unseeded floater in the draw. And he will run into Rafael Nadal in the 3rd round, a player Nalbandian has not only beaten, but crushed, a few times already. Nalbandian, who I see as the second most talented player on the ATP-Tour, behind Roger, is able to take Nadals high top-spin shot on the rise without any problems. And this takes all the danger away from Nadals game, which is anyways not nearly as good as last year. So, I see a win for Nalbandian, who should come back to his old form in this tournament, and who will be motivated to get back into the top 10. If he really beats Nadal, he will have enough confidence and will also beat potential opponents, Karlovic and Isner. Djokovic might be to tough for him in the semi-finals but, you never know with David.
But there are two more very exciting match-ups in the bottom half of the draw. In the round of 16 we might see a rematch of the Indian Wells final, between Roddick and Ljubicic. Roddick will be eager to make up for his lost final, but I think Ljubicic will pull it off again, which might be the start for Roddicks departure from the top 10…
Against Djokovic I see his energy fading and his great run in the last two weeks come to an end. Even though he has beaten the Djoker last week, I think that Novak will be too competitive to let this happen again.
If I am right, we won’t see many changes in the top-10 rankings after this event, since Murray beat Djokovic in the finals last year and Nadal lost in the quarters. But if the draw developes like I predicted, this might be a hint of what is to come in this years season. So far the only change would be Nadal regaining the No. 3 spot from Murray again, even if he loses in the 3rd round to Nalbandian. With Davydenko and Del Potro out due to injuries and a fortunate draw in Indian Wells, Nadal will be able to stay in the top 4 going into the clay court season. Before the start of this year, I was not sure at all, if he will be still ahead of Davydenko and Del Potro at the start of the French Open. Since both players had not nearly as many points to defend, as Nadal. But now Rafa can be a bit more relaxed and look forward to stand on his favorite surface again, soon. But stiil I see problems for Nadal this year and Del Potro, Davydenko, Cilic, Soderling and hopefully Nalbandian on the rise. Tough opponents to fight off for Nadal.
Let’ see if I am right…
Hartmut Hesse
Professional Tennis Training