Desert Exposure

Roger Federer def. James Blake 7-5,6-3,6-0: Federer missed a rematch with emerging nemesis Rafael Nadal when Blake defeated the young Spaniard in the semifinal. As expected, the world number 1 resoundingly took the title and handed Blake a bagel in the process.

From Tennis.com:

After falling behind 4-1 in the opening set, the top-ranked Federer came back to beat Blake 7-5, 6-3, 6-0 Sunday for his unprecedented third consecutive Pacific Life Open championship.

"He really got the better of me in the beginning, so I had to react and not panic," Federer said. "I did a good job there.

"In the end, I played fantastic tennis, with some great shots once again. To pull them off in a final, it's always a nice feeling. The form is excellent right now."

Still, it was a good week for the American, now ranked 9th in the world after his great runs at Las Vegas -- where he beat Lleyton Hewitt in the final -- and at Indian Wells. Blake has overtaken Andre Agassi in the rankings and is nipping at the heels of higher-ranked but slumping compatriot Andy Roddick. Come to think of it, Blake seems to have had better results this year than Roddick, who lost to Igor Andreev in the third round. (Blake dispatched Andreev in the next round.) Roddick has slipped to 4th in the world, overtaken by David Nalbandian by 25 points. However, Roddick has a chance to make up the difference at the upcoming NASDAQ-100 Open in Miami, where he has exactly one point to defend because he retired in the second round last year.

Maria Sharapova def. Elena Dementieva 6-1,6-2: Last year, Sharapova went out in two bagel sets to Lindsay Davenport in the semifinals, but this year she showed no sign of being the willing double bagel victim the second time around. In her route to the final, Sharapova steamrolled opponents Jamea Jackson, Lisa Raymond, Shahar Peer, Anna-Lena Groenefeld, and Martina Hingis. Yes, the Russian has beaten the Swiss Miss twice in a row now, but at least Martina took home the scalp of second-seeded Lindsay Davenport in the fourth round (I want to say I predicted it, but I didn't really).

From Telegraph.co.uk:

"This feels really great," Sharapova said. "I had a really tough end to last year. Not a lot of people know about it, but it was very frustrating because, tournament after tournament, I'd be working hard, I'd be trying to get back in shape, and all of a sudden my injury would kind of bring me down again.

"So these kind of tournaments, they mean a lot to me, they give me more confidence because I've known I've put in the hard work. It's good to see that it did pay off today."

Here are the full results for the 2006 Pacific Life Open. This week the players move to warmer, possibly more humid conditions in Miami. Kim Clijsters and Roger Federer will be defending their singles titles, but there'll be at least one player who won't be around. Serena Williams, one of last year’s quarterfinalists, withdrew from the NASDAQ-100 Open citing a knee injury and lack of training. She has fallen to 58th in the world and has not played since her third-round exit at this year's Australian Open.

TennisReporters.net gives her a tongue-lashing:

It's gotten to the point where it's become incredibly boring announcing Serena Williams' withdrawals. This time, it's Miami, but it's the same reason: She's out of shape because she's not committed enough to rehab her chronically sore knee.

If she was committed, like she was at the turn of last year when she won the Aussie Open, she could rehab, but she's not. It's the least well kept secret in the sport that she's found plenty of time to hit the New York and LA party circuit, but has devoted little time to get in shape and practice her sport.

posted by Noelle De Guzman @ 10:26 AM  2 comments

Blocking off the Days

Lent preparations are underway in my country, and the special days have already been marked out on the calendars. I'm also preparing to block off the next few weeks on my calendar, because the Pacific Life Open at Indian Wells started today and will last for a fortnight. Then it'll be followed by another fortnight of tennis at the NASDAQ-100 Open in Miami. These are probably my favorite weeks on the tennis calendar aside from the Grand Slam tournaments because they showcase both men's and women's tennis. Also, after the mishmash of smaller competing tournaments after the Australian Open, it's convenient to have all the players converge to play one event.

Andre Agassi will be back after his long absence: he headlines the Pacific Life Open website and will be a major crowd draw. He will have to fight through his section of the draw, though: potential opponents include Tommy Haas in the third round, James Blake in the fourth round, then Andy Roddick in the quarterfinal. Of course, players will always take tournaments one match at a time, and potential may yet go unrealized.

Other players looking to make a splash at the Wells include my favorite female player, Martina Hingis, and Britain's new hope Andy Murray. Can anyone shed light on what the Pacific Life Open website means by these pairings, though? This inquiring mind wants to know.

***

HOLY INSTANT REPLAY, BATMAN!: After Indian Wells, the players will descend on Miami, where the ATP, WTA, and USTA will be premiering the use of HawkEye technology in line-calling. TennisReporters.net has the details and analysis on why this is being implemented, and what some players have to say. Always opinionated, Marat Safin (who returned to action at the Dubai Duty Free Open last week) had some pretty strong words about it: "Who was this genius who came up with this stupid idea?... It is bull."

I'm reserving judgment on the electronic line-calling, as it was used to review line calls (but did not overturn them) without much fuss at the Hopman Cup earlier this year. I wonder if HawkEye has sharper eyes than those line judges we see wearing coke-bottle eyeglasses.

***

MEN'S DOUBLES: I found this button on the Pacific Life Open website. Being one of the people the ATP duped into taking the survey which they used to justify the radical changes proposed last year (most of which were later junked, thankfully), I'm really very pleased that doubles is getting promoted not only on the ATP website, but also on the various tournament websites. I think there is a market for doubles: the recent addition of a forum for Mike & Bob Bryan on one of the biggest tennis forums on the Internet is a testament to this.

I hope that my television tennis coverage over the next few weeks includes some doubles!

posted by Noelle De Guzman @ 9:57 AM  3 comments