Sony Ericsson Open Thoughts

A few random thoughts on the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami.

Federer - Cañas
What's the deal with Roger Federer losing to Guillermo Cañas again in a Master Series event? At the time, Cañas' victory in Indian Wells appeared to be an anomaly with Federer playing poorly and looking disinterested. He also had an issue with a blister on his foot. One would have thought that Federer would relish the chance to play Cañas again, and so quickly so that he could erase any lingering doubt over his dominance. Well, it didn't turn out that way as Federer was once again vexed by the speedy Argentine, this time in 3 sets. The Swiss Master was in control of the match in the third set, but seemed to self destruct with a flurry of stupid shots and he opened the door for Cañas to hang around into the latter stages of the final set. That's a dangerous proposition when playing a human backboard and you're feeling the pressure to win as it was apparent that Federer was. Let's give Cañas some credit as well. I certainly didn't figure on Cañas being able to take out Federer twice in a row, and now he has reached the final of the event. The man is on a roll and now we are left to wonder how long this roll will last? Is it temporary or is this the level we should expect from the Argentine for the remainder of the season? My instinct tells me that Cañas will come back down to Earth in the next few months as we get into the clay season, but nevertheless, he's opening some eyes with his success on hard courts.

Ladies Final
Today's Ladies Final was a worst case scenario for me in terms of rooting interest. My disdain for the Belgian Bellyacher has been well documented on this site and I am certainly no fan of the Williams sisters. So when I picked the match up at 6-0, 5-4 in favor of Henin, I was unsure of how to feel about that. What was remarkable about the tennis is that we were able to see some characteristics of these ladies' games that make them intriguing players. Justine showed us that even though she's a multiple major event winner, she's vulnerable to nerves at crucial moments, but often comes back to snatch victory on those occasions. Serena's theme for 2007 seems to be fight, fight, and keep on fighting. She's a vicious competitor and I think she has improved her consistency by switching racquets to a more stream-lined model. Her previous racquet looked more appropriate for a 3.0 player, not one of the world's best. Serena took a 2-0 lead into the third set and it looked like it was all but over. But as Justine often does, she clawed back into the set to even the score at 3 all and it appeared that we had a match again. Alas, it was not to be as Serena completed her comeback with a 6-3 final set victory with some help from the Belgian's errors. With the victory, Serena inches her way back to the top of the game and based on her current form, one has to wonder if there is anyone out there who can beat her. She's made Maria Sharapova look absolutely stupid in 2 consecutive matches and other top players are faring no better. Perhaps the clay court season will help the rest of the ladies out, but if Serena can stay healthy and committed, there is no reason that she can't dominate the tour perhaps more than she has ever done.

Ljubicic
Every time I watch Ivan Ljubicic play a match against a top player, I'm keen to see how he will sabotage himself into a loss. I've been tracking Ljubicic in this way for the past couple of years and he rarely lets me down (such as my prediction that he would lose his first round Australian Open match to Mardy Fish this past January). Friday night's semifinal match versus Guillermo Cañas was no exception. Silly errors, poor shot selection, frustration with the wind were all self created opportunities for the Croat to give the match to Cañas. Ljubicic sees himself as one of the world's best players, and from a physical standpoint, he certainly is. But until he manages to become more mentally tough, he'll never be viewed as one of the game's greats. He'll be remembered as a very good player who didn't have what it took to win the big events. So even though Ljubicic thinks that Rafael Nadal is only a good player because he is left-handed, he underestimates the mental strength of the young Spaniard and that is perhaps where Ljubo needs to dedicate more attention to in his own game. He has the physical tools to be a dominant player, but he lacks what so many before him have been missing - the ability to play one's best tennis in the big moments and big events.