Indian Wells - Finals Weekend

Finals weekend at Indian Wells was on the anti-climactic side with only one truly competitive match out of the four that were played on Saturday and Sunday. Also disappointing was the fact that our reporter in California, Patrick, didn’t stick around for the last two days of the tournament, and instead returned to the frigid Northeast just in time to catch the women’s final on ESPN2. Apparently, the lavish budget we bestowed upon him wasn’t quite enough to secure two more nights at the local trailer park. Regardless, Patrick taped the Blake – Nadal semi-final and got up early on Sunday morning to watch it so that we could have his expert analysis on what transpired.

We spoke about the match late this morning and here are some highlights:

“I finally got one prediction right!” Patrick had been picking against Nadal for the whole tournament and felt vindicated finally.

“Blake took the ball early and kept Nadal on his heels.”

“Blake is as quick, if not quicker, than Nadal. That was a factor in this match.”

“Blake matches up well versus Nadal. Nadal can't dictate against him.”

Patrick and I were in agreement on why Blake seems to handle Nadal better than the rest of the boys on tour. He is intent on taking Nadal’s ball very early especially when Rafa leaves it short in the court. Blake’s flat forehand is probably the hardest forehand in the men’s game today and Nadal has a hard time chasing it down when Blake is hitting it from inside the baseline. With most players, Nadal is able to use his heavy topspin to give himself time to recover and get back in position - not so with Blake. James steps in and takes Nadal’s ball on the rise, and hits it through the court. His flat, powerful forehand negates the Nadal running game.

Blake’s ability to deal with Nadal’s heavy forehand is a lesson for the rest of the tour. It remains to be seen if they can implement it with the same success as Blake has, but certainly Roger Federer will take notice. The challenge for everyone will be to create the kind of pace that Blake is able to on his forehand. It’s going to be interesting to see how things go in Miami.

Patrick and I also discussed today’s final and we were both confident that Federer would emerge victorious. Neither one of us could see Federer allowing Blake to dictate points in the same way that he was able to versus Nadal. Of course, for the first five games of the final, Blake did exactly what we thought he couldn’t do. He was returning well and crushing his forehand for winners, but then something went awry in the sixth game. He basically broke himself with some careless errors and then was never really the same player after that.

Federer started hitting a lot of backhands up the line including some low sliced ones and this seemed to disturb Blake’s rhythm. Blake wasn’t getting into attacking positions with his forehand nearly as much as he was in the beginning of the match. Errors started to creep into his game and possibly the pressure of the moment affected him at times when he committed especially silly mistakes. Give Federer credit though – he’s the master of figuring out how to win matches. He constantly probes his opponent looking for weaknesses and he never lets him get comfortable. Once they reached the closing stages of the first set, you knew that a Federer clinic was in session. The final two sets were completely routine for the Mighty Fed.

As for the ladies final, there isn’t much to say about it. Maria Sharapova was the deserving winner over a tired Elena Dementieva in extremely windy conditions. Sharapova played the wind well and didn’t have to do much spectacular to come out on top.

The next big event for both tours is the Nasdaq in Miami. The women should have a stronger field than they did in IW as Venus Williams, Amelie Mauresmo and possibly Kim Clijsters will all be there. Serena Williams will not be there. Last week, she took time out in between Big Macs to announce that she wasn’t fully fit yet and that she was withdrawing from the Nasdaq. At this point, will anyone even miss her?

The men’s event will have some similar story lines with Indian Wells, namely the rise of James Blake, the descent of Andy Roddick and Lleyton Hewitt, the saga of Andre Agassi, the determination of Rafael Nadal and the continued dominance of Roger Federer. Last year’s Nasdaq concluded with a dramatic five set final between Nadal and Federer and let’s hope for a repeat of that, at least in the drama category.

Well, that’s it for my Indian Well thoughts. Thanks to our reporter Patrick for his work throughout the week. Thank you for checking in and please continue to visit throughout the Nasdaq. I will also have Part 2 of my Team Canada – Soviet Union 1972 Summit Series soon, as I know a couple of you enjoyed Part 1.