Indian Wells, ATP 1000 event (first of the year)
Seeds:
1. Nadal
2. Federer
3. Djokovic
4. Murray
5. Davydenko
6. Del Potro
7. Roddick
8. Simon
9. Monfils
10. Verdasco
11. Tsonga
12. Ferrer
13. Blake
14. Nalbandian
15. Robredo
16. Wawrinka
This event seeds 32, as it’s a 128 draw. I’m not going to list them all because it takes up too much space and frankly they wont win. The only guys who I could see making any wake from down there are Stepanek and Ancic.
Now lets look at the draw and see who has good and bad luck, and a few predictions.
Quarter #1
Nadal: Within his first three rounds his toughest competition would be Berdych. (I still have no faith in Nalbandian.
Nadal will then beat Del Potro to move onto the Semi’s.
Del Potro: Is going to make it to Nadal, and then get whacked. Toughest competition would be Monfils, but I’m not sure Monfils will get past Isner in the first round.
Quarter #2
Djokovic: Scheuttler won’t do it. He’s into the roun dof 16 without much trouble. Then I’m guessing he plays Stepanek
Stepanek vs. Wawrinka: Stepanek leads 2-0 lifetime and has had an amazing year so far. I don’t see it changing any time soon. I think Djokovic advancing but would not be suprised at ALL if Stepanek took down the Djoker to advance through his round of 16.
Ferrer: Plays Fish early on which is a bit tricky, but I’ll assume he is just too solid and grinds Fish out of the tournament. Thats also assuming Fish gets past the winner of Chardy/Henescu in his first round… which is by NO means a given.
Roddick: If Roddick doesn’t make it to the round of 16 it’d be SHOCKING. He’s hoping Ferrer gets dropped earlier on (perferably by Fish) so he can advance to meet Stepanek or Djoker in the quarters. Ferrer has beaten Roddick the last 3 times in a row, but judging by their year so far I would take Roddick to advance in a battle.
Very tough call but I’ll pick Roddick to advance through the quarter to meet Nadal
Quarter #3
Simon: Ancic would be a very tough match here. Ancic leads the series 2-1 having just beat Simon in 3 tough sets in Rotterdam earlier in the year.
Ancic: Bit of a tough draw as he could face Ljubicic in the second round. Ancic is the better player in my opinion but they are good friends and have played doubles together several times. Ljubicic leads the series 4-1. I take a minor upset in that I still pick Ancic to move on.
Gulbis: I’m taking a small upset in Gulbis to upset the #22 seed Andreev.
Tsonga: Moves past a tough Acasuso and then beats Gulbis. Then he beats Ancic to move into the quarterfinals.
Robredo: I realize he has been dominating the claycourts (not hard) but his game transfers well… and I’ll look for him to make a run here beating Cilic who is a very tough opponent and then moving past Murray.
Murray: Cruises past Mathiu as long as his pinky or something doesn’t hurt… and then gets chopped down by Robredo. Some of you may think I’m crazy and don’t give enough respect to Murray… and while I won’t argue with the crazy comment, Robredo has won both times they’ve played.
I’ll pick Robredo to move through to the semi’s as he has beat Tsonga in straights the only time they’ve played.
Quarter #4
Davydenko: Could lose to anyone, including Benneteau in his first round.
Gasquet, Verdasco, Llodra, Lopez, Bellucci, Soderling.
Take your pick, any of these guys could advance without any wonder or suprise. If I were a betting man I’d take Verdasco. As well I’ll bet against Davydenko to advance.
Federer: The only way he loses before the quarters is if he’s still too injured to go on. You could say the Dr. (karlovic) is scary to play.. but Federer simply returns too well. Federer leads their head to head series 6-1 though Ivo did win the last meeting. Likewise I just don’t see Gonzalez or Blake stepping up to the plate and knocking the Fed out. That being said whoever he plays in the quarters from above really isn’t going to pose too much of a threat. Federer moves into the semis.