Posted: 16.03.13 23:26. Post subject: Indian Wells: Del Po..
Indian Wells: Del Potro d. Murray Friday, March 15, 2013 /by Peter Bodo TENNIS.com
Perhaps newly elected Pope Francis petitioned for a little divine intervention on behalf of his Argentinian countryman Juan Martin del Potro. Surely, the Lord knew del Potro needed when it came to his history with Andy Murray.
Del Potro, the gentle giant with the meat-and-potatoes game, has been consistently flummoxed by the devious Murray and his legerdemain-heavy game. Although both are former U.S. Open champions, Murray had outfoxed del Potro in their previous meetings, five matches to one.
But it’s not like del Potro has been conspicuously overmatched. Four of the five three-set meetings between the men before today’s exercise went the distance, and in their only Grand Slam clash—at the 2008 U.S. Open—Murray won in four sets.
Today, though, del Potro turned the tables. Not only did he get the better of Murray in numerous long rallies, he also snatched the role of versatile counter-puncher out of Murray’s hands. Del Potro won an error-strewn but entertaining quarterfinal, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-1.
Murray looked stronger in the first set, despite showing a penchant for making errors that would last through the entire match. He finished with a whopping 49 unforced errors, while del Potro had just 27. Some of those led to two del Potro two break points in the very first game. But when he failed to convert either and Murray held, it looked as if the Scot’s ability to slip whatever noose del Potro tried to fit over his head would once again come to his rescue. Still, the fact that Murray couldn’t get any traction against del Potro’s serve prefigured how this match would go—a detail easily ignored after Murray squirmed out of the first-set tiebreaker.
You could be forgiven for jumping to conclusions given how badly del Potro mangled his chances in that first-set decider. He started it with a mini-break, but promptly turned over the next two points. Del Potro struck back for 2-2, but Murray won the next three points to go up 5-2, with two serves to come. But the No. 3 seed found a way to blow that big lead by losing those two points with unforced errors. Again, del Potro failed to capitalize. Murray outlasted him in a 43-shot rally to end the next point and go up 6-4. After del Potro held the next point, Murray teased a backhand error out of him to end it.
Instead of yielding to frustration, the 6’6” No. 7 seed stepped up and won the first game of the second set at love. He reeled off the next three points as well to leave Murray serving at 0-40. A double fault by Murray, one of an uncharacteristic eight for the match (including one at match point), gave del Potro the first break of the match by either man. He made the most of it, too, holding with relative ease the rest of the way to serve out the set.
By that time, del Potro had worked himself into a fine groove, while Murray was growing more and more careless. Suddenly, it seemed, del Potro was the one throwing in the unexpected drop shot, the one mixing up the pace with the occasional sliced backhand or looping, time-buying forehand. If there was a strong streak of Murray in del Potro’s game, Murray seemed inclined to want to hit his way out of trouble—something we’re more likely to expect out of del Potro, and something that didn’t work at all.
And there was always that del Potro serve, or more precisely that ability to hold. Murray didn’t see a break point in this match until second game of the third set, and del Potro crunched that one away with a smash winner. After surviving that minor scare to hold, del Potro stood by as Murray made three errors, starting with a double fault, to fall behind 0-40. He was eventually broken for 1-2 when he made a forehand error.
Del Potro’s biggest crisis occurred in the next game, which lasted nine minutes. Murray reached his second—and final—break point, but another forehand error helped del Potro out of the jam. Del Potro then held for 3-1 and continued to apply the pressure. Just as important, he cooly resisted what little pressure Murray was able to muster the rest of the way.
Del Potro took a crucial step toward shedding his reputation as the best player never to win a Masters 1000 event, but he may be in even greater need of a little help from above when he meets his next obstacle, Novak Djokovic.
Posted: 17.03.13 00:48. Post subject: Tatiana пишет: не з..
Tatiana пишет:
quote:
не знаю, кто это такие - продолжатели дела Джокера.
я даже не то, что по результатам, по стилю никого не могу припомнить: многие из этих новоявленных талантов - подаваны, Томич слайсит по делу и без; Гоффен быстр, и усё - отлетает всем подряд. Григор тоже не особо похож, хотя вообще мало его матчей последних видела, да и где. У него в этом году было пару удачных турниров, а в остальном ничего выдающегося, особенно на БШ. Янович - это подача и укорот, и все (ну не считая психов на корте). Мне Нишикори еще давно нравится, но у него карьера, конечно... Сверкнет на турнире - и опять в лазарет.
Tatiana пишет:
quote:
я чет рада так была - сама накануне о таком и не думала
Posted: 17.03.13 20:46. Post subject: Mela пишет: ...и с ..
Mela пишет:
quote:
...и с победой над Джоком, конечно
спасибо! вот уж этого ждать совсем не приходилось. не может быть! долго же пришлось "заводить" Дельпо . Джок устал - удивительно было это видеть. а наш парень - после победы ничего себе, мог бы и еще побегать, довольный такой. а эйс на матчпойнте - как-будто весь матч его экономил, берег для такого случая. о приближающемся финале даже не хочется пока думать - так порадовали оба, Рафа и Дельпо. победа нужна обоим, но она одна...
Posted: 17.03.13 22:48. Post subject: Divine Invention Sat..
Divine Invention Saturday, March 16, 2013 /by Steve Tignor TENNIS.com
quote:
INDIAN WELLS, CALIF.—Saturday was a great day to watch tennis at the BNP Paribas Open, but a confounding one for anyone trying to create a coherent storyline about the state of the men's game.
In the first semifinal here, Rafael Nadal beat Tomas Berdych to reach the final of the first hard-court event that he has played in nearly a year. As Rafa made his seemingly inevitable way back from 3-5 in the second set to close it out, the words “same as it ever was” began circling through my head. Even after all of that time away, Rafa, and by extension the Big 4, still reigned supreme, while Berdych, and by extension the second-tier, were doomed to eternal failure in the clutch.
The words were still lodged in my head a few hours later, as the second semifinal, between Novak Djokovic and Juan Martin del Potro, reached the halfway point of its final set. By that stage the world No. 1, after a few fits and starts, was doing what we expected him to do: Leading del Potro 3-0, and running the big man ragged in the process.
But just when all appeared right and normal in the ATP, when a doubled-over del Potro looked ready to depart with honor, and a confident Djokovic appeared ready to take his place in what many people here were calling a “dream final” against Rafa, something happened. Something very strange happened. Was it, perhaps, divine intervention? After all, from Rome to Indian Wells, Argentines are getting used to having their prayers answered this week.
Earlier in the tournament, Del Potro had expressed his approval of Pope Francis I, formerly of Buenos Aires.
“I think he’s gonna do his work perfect,” del Potro said. That was obviously good news for the player, who described himself as “very Catholic.”
By today, though, del Potro sounded a little skeptical about whether the new Pontiff had really taken the time to help him through his upset wins over Djokovic and Andy Murray here.
“I talk a lot about the Pope [already],” del Potro said when the subject came up again. “I would like to enjoy my moment.”
Divine intervention? Maybe not. But we could call del Potro’s run to the final a case of divine in-vention. After an early-round match, he said that he was protecting his surgically repaired right wrist by using his slice backhand more. He went to it often against Murray, and even more so today. In the past, del Potro has had trouble matching up against Djokovic— he couldn’t hit through him, and he couldn’t out-rally him. But the slice backhand enabled him to stay in points longer and maneuver himself into position to hit his knockout forehand, which was clicking today. What started as injury prevention could end up giving del Potro’s fairly straightforward power game a new wrinkle.
“I used it a lot,” del Potro said of his slice, “because that helps me to play more aggressive with my forehand and try to do different things. That helped me to beat Murray yesterday, today Nole.”
Still, Del Potro said he didn’t think he’d unveil it quite as often against Rafa tomorrow. For logical reasons: “He’s a lefty,” he said, “and he moves really, really fast on the baseline.”
Posted: 17.03.13 23:08. Post subject: Indian Wells: Del Po..
Indian Wells: Del Potro d. Djokovic Saturday, March 16, 2013 /by Hannah Wilks TENNIS.com
Sometimes stories twist in the most unexpected ways. Suffering from pain in his left wrist, Juan Martin del Potro has been forced in Indian Wells to resort largely to a slice backhand. One would predict consequently poor results — I once heard a commentator bafflingly yet aptly describe del Potro’s slice as ‘cheesy’ — yet he used it to outfox the great bamboozler, Andy Murray, in the quarters before it played a crucial role in handing Novak Djokovic his first defeat of 2013, coming back from a 0-3 deficit in the third set to win 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Meetings between these two have generally been decided by Djokovic’s effectiveness in the area in which del Potro is most conspicuously lacking, the backhand down the line. Not only was that shot largely missing in action today for Djokovic but he missed more than usual off that wing, appearing to struggle with generating accurate pace as del Potro floated back slice after slice. Backing off from attacking on that side meant that del Potro had more time to run round and set up his forehand, which was at its credulity-defying best in the latter stages of the match.
Both men struggled on serve in the early exchanges, but it was Djokovic who came up with the first hold to love then earned three break points with del Potro serving at 3-4. The Argentine saved them by the skin of his teeth, but Djokovic was working him around the court more often than not and at 4-5, he consistently pegged del Potro back into his forehand corner, then moved forward to attack the open court. Del Potro staved off two more break points before shanking a forehand well long to give up the set. Djokovic, however, opened the second with a careless service game that saw him broken and while del Potro failed to consolidate, he roared back strongly to break again with a startling off-backhand winner into the open court. A double break was as spectacularly taken — and quickly surrendered — but del Potro was consistently and successfully targeting Djokovic’s forehand and took the set with a full-throated roar.
It was del Potro’s turn to wobble and his opponent’s turn to regroup after Djokovic succeeded in drawing del Potro into consecutive cat-and-mouse exchanges at the net which his superior reflex volleys and transitional movement successfully negotiated for a break and a 3-0 lead. The Serb’s post-match press conference mentioned poor concentration and there was no stronger example than the following game, in which Djokovic played himself into a 0-30 lead with an unforced error and a double fault before allowing del Potro to send him scampering behind the baseline, giving up the break as a defensive lob drifted long.
It was the second of four straight games del Potro would win and while Djokovic momentarily stopped the rot, saving a break point at 3-3, the Argentine was flying around the court by this point without a hint of holding back on his groundstrokes. Turning surprisingly strong defense into attack in a most Djokovic-like fashion, del Potro broke to serve for the match and even a poor drop-shot attempt into the net and a time violation warning on match point could not do more than slow him down as he slammed down his fourth ace to move into just his second Masters’ series final.
Posted: 19.03.13 23:05. Post subject: Indian Wells: Nadal ..
Indian Wells: Nadal d. Del Potro Sunday, March 17, 2013 /by Hannah Wilks TENNIS.com
Whatever else has been gained or lost during Rafael Nadal’s long absence from the game, it’s clear that neither his ability to think his way through matches nor his fighting spirit have been in any way impaired. After falling behind a set and a break to Juan Martin del Potro, Nadal roared back to win, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, claiming the Indian Wells title, his record twenty-second Masters crown and his first hard-court title since 2010.
Nadal took the long route to the victory, after taking advantage of a typically sleepy start from del Potro by breaking immediately. Del Potro was in serious danger of going down a double-break at 0-3 before his forehand turned up in the nick of time. He quickly moved up the gears, breaking back after Nadal double-faulted on game point at 3-1.
Nadal has struggled to find consistent accuracy on his forehand throughout the week, and as del Potro started to serve better and put together those belief-beggaring sequences of forehands with which he had overwhelmed Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray, Rafa looked rocked, uncertain, and devoid of rhythm. Del Potro won six of the final seven games in the first set to jump ahead.
Broken immediately at the start of the second set, Nadal let loose with a brief snarl of frustration after del Potro erased a possible break-back point with another huge cross-court forehand. Being Nadal, however, he rebounded quickly, going back to his bread-and-butter, brutally effective play of opening up the court with a wide serve and ripping his forehand into space. It bought him two service holds and a palpable return of intensity after some tentative play.
Del Potro, meanwhile, having soared through a set-and-a-half, was poised to come down to earth eventually—he must have been desperate to close it out in straights after two grueling three-setters in the past two days. That manifested itself in an excruciatingly poor drop-shot to open the 3-1 game; he got away with it, but immediately followed with a double-fault and a forehand error before Nadal converted his second break point.
It was all the invitation Nadal needed. As del Potro started to back off on his backhand, Nadal played with ever more aggression, especially to that side, manufacturing opportunities point after point to step inside the court and attack. With that upswing in aggression, Nadal’s accuracy seemed to return as well, as he broke for a third time and served out the second set to love.
After it took del Potro 10 minutes and 21 seconds to hold serve to open the third set—before Nadal held in under ninety seconds—the writing was on the wall for the Argentine, and he was broken in the next game. He went down swinging, but Nadal’s shot selection was nearly impeccable by this point, and although del Potro fought off three match points at 3-5, it was both metaphorically and physically last-gasp stuff.
Nadal finished the match in superb style, looking as confident and fearsome at the end as he had uncertain in the beginning. Having withdrawn from Miami, he can focus clearly on the upcoming European clay tournaments. I’d warn the rest of the ATP to be healthily afraid, but if they’ve been paying attention, they are already.
Posted: 20.03.13 21:54. Post subject: Mr. Delpo Risin’ Wed..
Mr. Delpo Risin’ Wednesday, March 20, 2013 /by Peter Bodo TENNIS.com
It isn’t easy to overlook Juan Martin del Potro, the 6’6” “Tower of Tandil.” But he, or at any rate the work he did last week in Indian Wells, was easily lost in the shuffle of Rafael Nadal’s spectacular, surprisingly quick resurgence.
So let me remind you: Starting in the quarterfinals and in sequence, del Potro bamboozled Andy Murray, hog-tied Novak Djokovic, then led Nadal by a set and a break in the final. But at that point it was del Potro, and not Nadal, who went weak in the knees. Taking advantage of some poor del Potro decisions, and perhaps some choking, Nadal mounted a furious fightback.
So once again, one of the subplots at a big event was that del Potro continues to have trouble recapturing the form and confidence he had before he was laid low by a significant wrist injury. In some ways, del Potro is the anti-Nadal—the guy who just can’t find the groove he once had. It’s gotten to the point where we’ve had to ask, “Was it just a fluke that del Potro busted out and belted Roger Federer off the court to win the 2009 U.S. Open—all before his 21st birthday?”
Most pundits and camp followers would answer “no.” Del Potro remains the only man in the Top 10 outside the Big Four who has won a Grand Slam singles title, he has a game suited to the demands of this era, he’s diligent, and also is a mere youth at age 24.
On the other hand. . . we’ve had one-Slam wonders before, some of whom couldn’t hold a candle to del Potro when it comes to consistent success. After all, the Argentine has become very comfortably re-entrenched in the Top 10 (he’s presently No. 7). And while it’s undeniable that the Big Four have powerfully suppressed not just del Potro, but David Ferrer, Tomas Berdych, and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the reality is that Delpo is the only man among them who hasn’t won a Masters title.
That could change next week in Miami, where del Potro is seeded fifth and assured, like everyone else, that neither Federer nor Nadal will barge in to provide him with a reality check. The time seems right for del Potro in a number of ways, raising the question: Is Mr. Delpo Risin’?
Watching del Potro since his return and re-adjustment to the demands of the tour has been a baffling experience. At times, it’s looked like the game has passed him by—a preposterous notion, given his age and the fact that there was nothing whatsoever wrong with that game on that sultry night in New York, when he drove Federer back and off the court.
But at other times, it’s seemed that del Potro has lacked some critical essence of energy—or is it inspiration? Has there ever been a power-reliant, out-sized, physical player whose game has appeared at times so unimaginative, and sometimes lacking volatility?
The match that summed up del Potro’s struggles for me was his loss to Ferrer at Wimbledon last year. It was a depressingly routine affair, won by Ferrer, 6-3, 6-2, 6-3. Ferrer leads their head-to-head, 6-2, and perhaps there are some lessons about del Potro to be mined from that statistic. After all, the only two wins on del Potro’s side of the ledger were both recorded during the run-up to his breakout 2009 season. Both were on hard courts, and del Potro won both matches without the loss of a set. One of those matches was a fourth-rounder in Miami that ended 6-3, 6-2. Where has that del Potro gone?
Given the way Ferrer handles all but the most dangerous of ball strikers, his recent mastery of del Potro suggests that the big man is simply less dangerous than before. I think that’s true, but it isn’t because there’s some fatal flaw or sudden shortcoming in del Potro’s basic game and/or strategy. To me, his greatest failings have been in the area of execution, and in a most basic way. He’s continued to hit the ball hard, especially on that forehand side. But he hasn’t, until lately, been hitting it deep enough, or close enough to the lines.
Well, that just underscores an easily forgotten point. The success or failure of any strategy and/or tactic is not only predicated but utterly dependent on an acceptable degree of execution. Execute well and then you can start to ask yourself: Down the line or cross-court? Slice or topspin? Kicker or slider? Execute poorly, or in the muted way that often seemed to characterize del Potro in recent times, and your tactics and strategy will be doomed.
Once upon a time, del Potro knew how to make the court on the other side of the net look hopelessly big—that was my main impression during his landmark win over Federer—impossible to adequately patrol and cover. But during his comeback, it’s looked more like del Potro compressed his game to make it fit the conventional dimensions of the court, much to his detriment. He didn’t exactly start playing small, he was just playing smaller. Enough so that a quality retriever like Ferrer can consistently outfox, outrun, and frustrate him.
There have been signs that this is changing. At last year’s Olympic Games at Wimbledon, del Potro forced Federer to go way into overtime—19-17 in the third and decisive set—before he capitulated in the semis. He then took the bronze medal from Djokovic. Later, he was beaten in the late stages of Cincinnati and at the U.S. Open by Djokovic—no shame in that. And still later, in Federer’s home town of Basel and on a fast indoor court that the Swiss icon loves, del Potro beat him for the title. He recorded another win over Federer in the round-robin portion of the World Tour Finals, but he lost in the semifinals to Djokovic.
Upset by the hot hand of Jeremy Chardy at the Australian Open, del Potro got off to a shaky start this year, but he’s made great progress. He won Rotterdam and made the semis in Dubai (where he lost to Djokovic) before finally getting a little payback against the world No. 1 at Indian Wells.
Granted, that semifinal was an odd match; del Potro isn’t likely to win many big finals leaning on the slice backhand as heavily as he did against Djokovic. But after a slow start, del Potro looked good against Nadal. He moved well, and his forehand looked more effective than it has for some time. His energy level looked high. He had the match in the palm of his hand, but he dropped it.
Del Potro will get another good look at a Masters title in the coming days. His legs may feel a little heavy after all the tennis he played last week, but there’s no reason he can’t finally win one of these elite tournaments. Interestingly, the major obstacle in del Potro’s quarter appears to be third-seeded Ferrer. Somehow, it seems a fitting challenge at this stage of del Potro’s development.
Posted: 21.03.13 23:38. Post subject: Tennis: Del Potro co..
Tennis: Del Potro commits to Queen's AFP March 19, 2013 14:01
Indian Wells finalist Juan Martin del Potro has become the latest leading player to announce he will take part in the traditional Wimbledon grasscourt warm-up event at London's Queen's Club in June.
The Argentine, who lost in three sets to a resurgent Rafael Nadal in the final in California last week, joined US Open champion Andy Murray and world number six Tomas Berdych in committing himself to play at Queen's in the June 10-16 event.
"I like to play on grass, and at the Aegon Championships you feel like you are at home," said del Potro, the world number seven.
Del Potro is looking forward to returning to London, where he won an Olympic bronze medal during the 2012 Games tennis tournament at Wimbledon.
"I have a fantastic memory from last year when I won the bronze medal at the Olympics," he said.
"It was a magnificent experience for me. I had never played at an Olympics before so it was a big moment for me and my country.
"To win on grass at Wimbledon as well made it an even bigger moment. I think that if I play my best tennis I have a chance to win a Grand Slam tournament on grass, but it will be very difficult."
On the hard courts of Indian Wells, del Potro performed impressively to beat British star Murray from a set down in the quarter-finals before defeating world number one Novak Djokovic in the semis.
"Juan Martin proved he is back to his very best by beating Murray and Djokovic back-to-back last week, which is similar to what he did in 2009 when he won the US Open title in such spectacular style," said Queen's tournament director Chris Kermode on Tuesday.
"The British crowds really took to him when he won bronze at the Olympics last year, and we are thrilled that he has decided to return to London for the Aegon Championships. We look forward to seeing him at the Queen's Club in June."
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