Week 11-12: Indian Wells [Oxenstierna]

[dontcloseyoureyes]

I'll choke no doubt.

 

[Mister Wright]

Mustard is never going to be a true contender if he can't consistently beat the top players in the world. Probably not all that concerning given his doubles prowess, but will be if he can't get deep into the latter stages of week 1 or 2 in the doubles competition.

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

BNP Paribas Open
Quarter Finals (Thursday) - Indian Wells, CA (United States) - Hard (outdoors)

Men's singles (Seeds - Finals - Section 1 - Section 2 - Section 3 - Section 4 - Section 5 - Section 6 - Section 7 - Section 8)
Men's doubles (Seeds - Finals - Top Half - Bottom Half)

• Tenth seed Jefferson Drake was too good for compatriot Spas Delev in their quarter final clash as he moved to the semi finals here in Indian Wells with a straight sets win. Delev's path to the round of eight included just one win over a seed, but he loomed as a difficult prospect for Drake having claimed some big scalps this year anyway. But the occasion was one Drake was used to, and he had everything his way in a one-sided first set; not conceeding a break point in a set he claimed 6-2. Delev needed a big start to the second set and got it as he broke and went ahead 3-0 with some good serving down the line. With his back to the wall, though, Drake got out of a real hole at 0-30 to get on the board and then took advantage of his second break point opportunity of the set with a great forehand down the line that forced an error from the No. 62. With Drake soon drawing level, Delev looked to steady the ship and managed to stick with the tenth seed until 5-5. But at that point, Drake pierced the defences of his countryman to bring up a chance to serve for the match. After two match points he did it, a crafty drop shot summing up his positive style as he marched into the semi finals 6-2, 7-5.

• There he will play the USA's Darcy Cowan after he bundled out defending champion Radivoj Daneu in straight sets. The Serbian fourth seed's ranking is hanging on defending the 2,000 points from his Indian Wells and Miami victories last season, and he dropped a huge chunk today as his ordinary form was exposed by the red-hot Cowan. Cowan's loss to Bogdan Maurer in the Davis Cup a fortnight ago seems a distant memory as he produced great tennis to set up a date with Drake 6-1, 7-6(4). Daneu's win ensures he will drop out of the top 5 to No. 6 and gives the Wimbledon champion a chance to threaten the top four.

• Seeded players out:
  
  Radivoj Daneu.

• In the first doubles semi final, Miroslav Brdar & Nilikar Midid advanced to their first tour final as a team with a come-from-behind win over Eric & Rick Henson. The American duo took the first set 6-4 in fifty-six minutes, but in a hotly contested affair it was the Croatians who moved into the final as they wrapped up a 4-6, 6-4, [11-9] win in the match tiebreaker. Brdar tomorrow plays a quarter final against World No. 1 Jason Hall in the singles before Saturday's final against either the top or third seeded doubles duo.

• Seeded players out: None.

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

BNP Paribas Open
Quarter Finals (Friday) - Indian Wells, CA (United States) - Hard (outdoors)

Men's singles (Seeds - Finals - Section 1 - Section 2 - Section 3 - Section 4 - Section 5 - Section 6 - Section 7 - Section 8)
Men's doubles (Seeds - Finals - Top Half - Bottom Half)

• Fifth seed Sven Oxenstierna has made it to the semi finals in Indian Wells for the second year in a row with a three-set win over Germany's Becker Haas. The 29th seeded German has played fine tennis this fortnight in an effort to turn his season around, but started sluggishly as Oxenstierna claimed the first set 6-3 with some patient tennis. But Haas, who has already ousted the World No. 3 and a season I finalist, wasn't going to lay down as he fought back to claim the second set 6-4 thanks to two breaks of serve - one as a result of a horrible overhead smash from Oxenstierna that went about a foot long. But where Oxenstierna was awesome in the third set on Wednesday, he was just as good in the same set on Friday as he cut down Haas with some typically strong returning and solid serving. He needed just two breaks of serve before serving out the contest with his eighth ace of the match to move into the semi finals 6-3, 4-6, 6-1.

• His opponent in the semis will be World No. 1 Jason Hall after he survived an early scare to beat eleventh seeded Croat Miroslav Brdar. Hall was a set and a break down and in real touble of falling meekly before he took six games on the trot to send the match to a decider. There he proved too good for the Croat as he extends his lead over the rest of the pack at the top of the world rankings with an ultimately comfortably 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 win.

• Seeded players out:
  
  Miroslav Brdar;
  
  Becker Haas.

• In a highly anticipated doubles semi final, third seeds Hayden & Ross Onwye took a confident victory over top seeds Hugh James & Ralph Robinson to advance to the final. James and Robinson hadn't dropped a set this week, but neither had the Moroccan brothers who continue in their search for a Grand Slam crown by building through the PTA Masters 1000 events with a 6-3, 6-4 win. They head into tomorrow's final as favourites against Brdar and Nilikar Midid.

• Seeded players out:
  
  Hugh James &
  
  Ralph Robinson.

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

BNP Paribas Open
Semi Finals (Saturday) - Indian Wells, CA (United States) - Hard (outdoors)

Men's singles (Seeds - Finals - Section 1 - Section 2 - Section 3 - Section 4 - Section 5 - Section 6 - Section 7 - Section 8)
Men's doubles (Seeds - Finals - Top Half - Bottom Half)

Men's singles - 1st semi final

• Jefferson Drake came into his semi final showdown with Grand Slam winner Darcy Cowan knowing a victory would see him leap into the World No. 8 position, but more importantly a chance to win his maiden PTA Masters Series title. But needing a strong start, he did not get it as he was broken immediately by Cowan who looked to start his semi final the same way he commenced his quarter final against defending champion Radivoj Daneu. Cowan consolidated, but Drake was not out of the set yet as he struck back trailing 1-2 to keep the set on serve. Both players served nervously, which was unsurprising considering the circumstances and with three breaks a piece the set went to a tiebreaker. But after blowing two set points at 6-5 40-15, Cowan produced a seven-point blitz of the tenth seed as he cruised to take the tiebreaker to love. Drake was clearly stunned by the explosive tiebreaker from Cowan, and needed to shake off that shock to stay in the match. But he couldn't do it as he tried to pull the trigger too early at 15-40 on serve to fall behind 0-3. Despite two break point opportunities for Drake in the next game, Cowan looked all too good for the East CWLander and only needed to hold his serve til the end to secure a 7-6(0), 6-2 win and his maiden PTA Masters Series title.

Men's singles - 2nd semi final

• Cowan's opponent will be fifth seed Sven Oxenstierna who avenged his World Tour Finals semi final loss to Jason Hall by ousting the World No. 1 in three tight sets. With a tense atmosphere on Centre Court in California, Oxenstierna kept the American crowd silent throughout as he dealt our a rare thrashing to the world's best player in just thirty-eight minutes. But Hall, after dropping the first set 1-6, set about starting fresh in the second set and got the break he needed as Oxenstierna put a backhand half way up the net to hand the American a 4-2 lead. That set up a four-game run for Hall who went on to break again and to also get the opportunity to serve first in the third and final set. But there was another twist in the tale as Oxenstierna broke immediately with a deep forehand drawing a backhand error from the top seed. His advantage didn't last long, though, as in the fourth game Hall levelled the set at 2-2. But the topsy-turvy affair continued, and in a nine-minute game Hall failed to maintain his momentum as Oxenstierna came to the net and put away a big drive volley to move to 3-2. This time he didn't blow his lead, and Hall - staring down the barrel of two match points - sent a forehand long to hand the West CWLander a 6-1, 2-6, 6-3 victory.

• Seeded players out:
  
  Jefferson Drake;
  
  Jason Hall.

Men's doubles - final

• Moroccan brothers Hayden & Ross Onwye have claimed their second PTA Masters Series title with a straight sets thrashing of unseeded Croatian duo Miroslav Brdar & Nilikar Midid. The irregular Croatian pair weren't expected to beat the quality third seeds, but did not put up as much of a fight as they'd have liked as they fell 0-6, 3-6. It was a fitting finish to the week for the world's third best pair as they completed a flawless ten set to love tournament.

• Seeded players out: None.

 

[Magrat Garlick]

Well, we all know what's going to happen now.

Fun getting this far though.

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

sup SBI

ur ghey, h8u

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

BNP Paribas Open
Final (Sunday) - Indian Wells, CA (United States) - Hard (outdoors)

Men's singles (Seeds - Finals - Section 1 - Section 2 - Section 3 - Section 4 - Section 5 - Section 6 - Section 7 - Section 8)
Men's doubles (Seeds - Finals - Top Half - Bottom Half)

It was a fittingly sunny day to end the first PTA Masters Series 1000 tournament of the season with World No. 5 Sven Oxenstierna pitted against Wimbledon champion and local favourite Darcy Cowan. With just two titles from six finals appearances respectively, the pressure was on both players to reverse their poor career records in front of a packed Indian Wells crowd. Cowan, whose one title came at Wimbledon, was a slight favourite to edge out Oxenstierna who has perhaps unfairly been branded with the "choker" tag after finals defeats in Clowich and at Roland Garros. Needing a good start, Oxenstierna got it as he secured an early break of service as Cowan searched for the line with his forehand and couldn't hit it. But serving at 5-3, Oxenstierna suffered a set back as double fault handed Cowan two break points. He needed just one as a weak first serve from the Ox landed right in his zone and he put away the easy backhand winner. Both players held clutch service games to send the first set to a tiebreaker where Oxenstierna got the jump on Cowan as he won the first four points. There was no clawing back from the 19-year old Wyomingite as Oxenstierna converted his first set point with his third ace of the first set.

Always game for a scrap, Cowan fired back immediately in the second as, serving first, he set up a 3-0 lead through some attacking serve-and-volley play. Oxenstierna had little answer for the thirty-four minute onslaught as Cowan successfully kept points short and secure a set-winning second break with a powerful backhand approach shot and easy smash. The 2-6 scoreline perhaps flattered Oxenstierna as he was comprehensively outplayed, and he didn't seem to recover between sets as again found himself down a break at 1-3. This time, however, he managed to claw it back as a surprisingly nervus approach to the net from Cowan saw him put a normally regulation winner right into the tape. That gave Oxenstierna the look in he needed, but just as the set looked like heading to a tiebreaker Cowan had a set point on the Oxenstierna service after clawing his way back from 40-15. He needed a second, but managed to close out the set in style with a fantastic backhand volley as his net play continued to cause the baseliner real difficulties.

Down a set, Oxenstierna needed to lift his game and keep Cowan away from the net where he had won an impressive fifteen point from eighteen approaches. With more positive tennis he kept Cowan on the back foot, and received polite applause as he bossed a break point opportunity and sealed a 3-2 lead with a drive volley into the backhand court. It brought on a four-game run as the Ox played confident tennis to keep the American behind the baseline as the West CWLander ensured the match would head to a fifth-and-final set. With it all on the line, Cowan had the opportunity to serve first again and immediately snapped the four-game streak with a hold to love. In the next game he acquired two break points but failed to convert either as Oxenstierna gratefully stuck with Cowan with his tenth ace of the match. The big break for Oxenstierna, though, came in the fifth game of the set as he was a beneficiary of a netted backhand from Cowan to give him a chance to serve at 3-2. He held twice, and put the pressure on Cowan to serve to stay in the match at 3-5 in the fifth set. Cowan faltered and found himself down 15-40 and staring down the barrel of two championship points. But the American steeled himself and forced errors from Oxenstierna with two clutch serves as he gave the fifth seed the honour of trying to serve the match out. It all looked smooth sailing for Oxenstierna as he finished the points quickly to bring up three championship points at 40-0. But again, the World No. 6 showed real determination to save all three - benefitting from two nervous forehand from Oxenstierna. However an ace brought up championship point number six which this time was finally converted as the fifth seed secured the title 7-6(2), 2-6, 5-7, 6-2, 6-4.

• Seeded players out:
  
  Darcy Cowan.

 

[Magrat Garlick]

Well, that wasn't a slam so it doesn't count.

*/tennis 'fan' mode*

Was a pleasure to read the match report

 

[Mister Wright]

Well done Ox.

+1 on the match report also, good job.