Nadal/M.Lopez Defeat #3 Seeds Zimonjic/Llodra, Fish/Roddick Fall to Nieminen/F.Mayer

Written by: Staff on 10th March 2012

Nadal/M.Lopez Defeat #3 Seeds Zimonjic/Llodra, Fish/Roddick Fall to Nieminen/F.Mayer

epa03137564 Rafael Nadal of Spain responds to questions during a press conference at the BNP Paribas Open tennis in Indian Wells, California, USA 08 March 2012. EPA/JOHN G. MABANGLO |

This year’s BNP Paribas Open features many top ranked singles player trying their hand in the doubles draw as well. With the tournament schedule allowing days off between singles matches, it’s a perfect way for players to get accustomed to the courts and for some like Nadal, to work off some of the rust. Nadal hasn’t played a tournament since the Australian Open earlier this year. He teamed up with one of his best friends, MarcLopez who’s currently #34 in the world in the doubles rankings, to beat the pair of Nenad Zimonjic and Michael Llodra 6-4, 6-4.

Americans Andy Roddick and Mardy Fish teamed up but were unable to seal the deal against Jarkko Nieminen and Florian Mayer earlier in the evening. Roddick and Fish started the match off slowly, trailing 1-5 in the first set before a fan called out during the Fish’s service game: “C’mon Mardy, wake up! It’s 6:30 in the evening!” This got a rise out of the crowd and also in Fish, who then blasted two unreturnable first serves to hold. Fish/Roddick brought that energy into their next return game and broke. Roddick held his serve to bring the match to 4-5, but Nieminen/Mayer handled the pressure and closed out the set with 4 straight points. But Roddick/Fish continued to play better as they had toward the end of the first, through big serving and solid return games, they were able to chip away at Nieminen/Mayer until they had taken the 2nd set, 6-1. A match tie-break would then determine the overall winner and it looked as though Roddick/Fish would delight fans as they went up 7-5. But costly errors crept in and it was Nieminen/Mayer who found themselves with a chance at 9-8. They took their chance and the match, ending any hopes for the American duo to advance in this year’s draw.

Topics: Andy Roddick, Feliciano Lopez, Llodra, Mardy Fish, Rafael Nadal, Zimonjic