Day by day, hour by hour we’ve got more and more coming from the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. We had some late matches last night, with the final match of the evening, between Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and Ryan Harrison not ending until 1:45 AM. Harrison took the match 6-4, 7-5. Both Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer play today, but not against each other, yet. Nadal doesn’t go on court until after 4:30 PM, and Federer not until after 7:00 PM, meaning tonight could be another late one in Indian Wells. Federer looked a little ill after his match against Denis Kudla of the USA, and a little worried in the interview afterwards when asked about his match tonight against up-n-comer Milos Raonic. Nicolay Davydenko dropped out of the tournament this morning due to illness. Many of the top women’s players are lined up and ready to advance into the semifinals. Caroline Wozniacki defeated Sofia Arvidsson last night, 3-6, 7-5, 6-2, and faces Ana Ivanovic next.
(courtesy of Nathan M. Cuny, at Indian Wells).
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Here are some clips from 10sChiro on the 10sBalls youtube channel in slow motion. Send him some questions for analysis and he will do his best to answer them. You can see a lot in the slow motion clips!
Novak Djokovic:
(click here).
(click here).
Rafael Nadal
(click here).
Juan Martin Del Potro
(click here).
(There’s plentty more!) [CLICK HERE].
*****
By: Nathan M. Cuny
The BNP Paribas Open harbors a little secret many friends of tennis slip past after entering the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. I encourage you to stop for a minute and look to your left when entering from the West Gate. You’ll notice a yellow band of flowers wrapping around a large and round deep green mound. Atop the mound and growing slightly raised out of it are two curving, symmetrical lines of tiny white flowers. Short grass clippings stick to Fernando Fregoso’s sheers as he clips gently near one of the lines of miniature white flowers. He stands proudly next to his creation, which has been at the West Gate’s entrance for several years. It has gone through minor changes over the years, like the addition of the little flowers that rise out of the mound giving it the distinct appearance of a living tennis ball. Fregoso’s creation is one of many garden features that add to the beautiful atmosphere of the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. [READ MORE].
*****
By: Craig Cignarelli
Sub-Saharan temps surround thousands of tank-topped tennis aficionados ardently supporting their champions. Two gladiators brandish rackets parabolically, as fluff the color of dandelions arcs across the arena. In plastic chairs, a few referees’ rumps grow sore, while others spend their daylight hours leg-spread, hands to knees, staring down a vertical white line and periodically screaming “Owrghhtt!” with near reckless abandon. With their lemonade ices, at least three fans are bordering on something romantic. Across the palm tree-laden desert, tennis fans snake through the sands in hopes of sitting courtside while the world’s greatest players compete for the title. This is Indian Wells tennis. [READ MORE].
*****
The most exciting tennis so far at the 2012 BNP Paribas Open has come from the Men’s Doubles draw. Tennis fans were absolutely thrilled earlier this afternoon as the Bryan Twins came back from a set down and saved match points to win 6-7(2), 7-6(4), 17-15 to defeat Feliciano Lopez and Marcel Granollers. The Spaniards were more solid than the Bryans on this day but they couldn’t execute on the big points in the tiebreakers. The Bryans looked really strange today, awkwardly getting caught in bad positions and shot selection that was neither smart nor effective. Normally you see the twins putting poaches away, returning solidly, and not making too many unforced errors. But on this day, they gutted out a victory despite their lack of good form and move on in the tournament. [READ MORE].
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