Today’s Men’s News (3/9) – Indian Wells

Written by: Staff on 9th March 2013

Today's Men's News (3/9) - Indian Wells

epa03617162 Roger Federer of Switzerland hits a return against Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan during the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament in Indian Wells, California, USA, 09 March 2013. EPA/JOHN G. MABANGLO |

Indian Wells

Singles – Second Round: (2) R Federer def. D Istomin 6-2 6-3

A good start for Roger Federer’s title defense, given that he faced a pretty strong opponent. But Federer is still in danger of losing the #2 ranking. Denis Istomin loses some points and will fall to #45 or lower.

Singles – Second Round: K Anderson def. (4) D Ferrer 3-6 6-4 6-3

Grant that this was a horrid draw for David Ferrer. Grant that he didn’t have much time to adjust to hardcourt. Still, this is shocking. Ferrer looked pretty bad in the Acapulco final; maybe there was more going on there than we knew…. Ferrer is still #4 in safe points, and by a wide margin, but this means that Rafael Nadal can overtake him with a title. Kevin Anderson gains a few points and will probably be around #35.

Singles – Second Round: (13) G Simon def. P Lorenzi 6-3 3-6 7-5

Paolo Lorenzi served for this at 5-4 in the third set — and perhaps revealed why he isn’t ranked higher. Having failed to serve it out, he then was broken two games later to lose the match.

Gilles Simon rarely does well at big events. Last year was an exception. He made the quarterfinal here. He remains at #13 in safe points — and needs a lot more than this if he is to climb.

Singles – Second Round: L Hewitt def. (15) J Isner 6-7(6-8) 6-3 6-4

John Isner just isn’t right these days. He had only four break chances against Lleyton Hewitt, and blew them all, and Hewitt managed to get just enough balls back to break Isner twice. And Isner was last year’s finalist. He is out of the Top Twenty; the best he can hope for is #23, and it might be #24. Probably not lower. No matter what, he is no longer the #1 American player; Sam Querrey is. Querrey still has a Top Twenty shot, but as of when this match ended, there were no Americans in the Top Twenty.

Singles – Second Round: (18) S Wawrinka def. (Q) W Odesnik 6-3 2-6 6-1

Stanislas Wawrinka was the first seed to win a match, and even he struggled. An omen? Certainly it was a tough day for seeds. At least he has defended his points.

Singles – Second Round: B Paire def. (21) P Kohlschreiber 6-4 6-2

A tough first match for Philipp Kohlschreiber. It probably means Kohlschreiber won’t reach the Top Twenty. But Benoit Paire’s Top Forty ranking now looks safe.

Singles – Second Round: (24) J Janowicz def. D Nalbandian 7-6(7-4) 4-6 6-3

Wouldn’t you know that the one match where the seed won was the match in which the unseeded player had the most on the line….

David Nalbandian was a quarterfinalist last year. And that was almost a third of his points. He came here ranked a mere #93. He will probably fall below #125.

Singles – Second Round: J Nieminen def. (29) F Verdasco 6-1 6-0

Fernando Verdasco had to miss events in the Latin American clay season; he probably wasn’t really ready to play. But he loses some points, and may lose his Top Thirty ranking.

Singles – Second Round: L Mayer def. (30) M Youzhny 6-2 6-3

It was a tremendous afternoon for upsets — four in the first five matches. But then, Leonardo Mayer is on a hot streak, and Mikhail Youzhny tends to leave his best stuff in the small tournaments. Youzhny will not rise above #30; he may fall.

Doubles – First Round: F Lopez/Raonic def. (3) Bhupathi/Nestor 6-4 7-6(7-4)

A fascinating contest, since it involved the two primary members of Canada’s Davis Cup team. Interesting that power could top so much doubles experience.

Doubles – First Round: (WC) Murray/Murray def. (5) Lindstedt/Zimonjic 6-4 4-6 10-4

At the rate things are going, Lindstedt/Zimonjic may want to rethink their partnership.