The first ATP Masters Series event of the year kicks off in the California Desert. Boasting a 96-player field (which gives all 32 seeded players a bye), the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells should be home to some fantastic tennis over the next week and a half or so. Here’s our take on the draw.
The first quarter is arguably the toughest, as it arguably contains three of the five biggest favorites going into the tournament: #1 Roger Federer, #6 Andy Roddick, and #11 Andy Murray. Federer, coming off of mono and a disappointing opening-match loss here last year, will be looking to do well, and should advance to the quarterfinals without too much drama. We’ll go out on a limb here and say his opponent will be named Andy. Which Andy, we cannot say. Murray and Roddick are projected to face each other in the fourth round. Murray might have a tough third round match against Ivo Karlovic, and Roddick might have to get by Tommy Haas (or in-form Julien Benneteau) and Fernando Verdasco. Interestingly, if Roddick and Verdasco face each other, it will be the third time in four years they will play at this tournament.
While it perhaps doesn’t contain as many title favorites as the top quarter, the second quarter of the draw is still full of potential threats in #4 Nikolay Davydenko, #7 David Nalbandian, and former champion Lleyton Hewitt. It will be interesting how local boy Sam Querrey, fresh off winning his first title last week in Las Vegas, handles himself in a much larger tournament. A second round match between him and Hewitt could be interesting, as could a third-round match Nalbandian and in-form Radek Stepanek. While Davydenko should make the quarterfinals, he faces potential threats in compatriot Mikhail Youzhny. As for who Davydenko or Youzhny (or Hewitt or any one of the other solid players in that section) might face, the obvious favorite would be Nalbandian, but who knows which Nalbandian will show up, so we could easily see Stepanek or Fernando Gonzalez (if he can find his form in time) in the quarterfinals instead.
Last year’s winner, #3 Novak Djokovic, and Finalist #2 Rafael Nadal head up the bottom half of the draw. In the third quarter, which contains Djokovic and also #5 David Ferrer, doesn’t have as many lower-ranked threats, but there are still some interesting potential matchups to look forward to. An intriguing fourth round match could pit Ferrer against #10 Tomas Berdych. The winner of that match should face Djokovic in the quarterfinals, but the defending champ faces a potential test in the third round against Philipp Kohlschreiber and might have a difficult match against Guillermo Canas, who made a name for himself last year as a lucky loser who upset Federer in the second round. Still, we expect to see Djokovic in the quarters here, and probably farther.
In the last quarter of the draw, Nadal seems the obvious favorite to make it through his section, but this quarter of the draw is full of players who have the game to beat the Spaniard on hardcourts. His first test could come as early as the third round, where he will likely face serve-volleyer Feliciano Lopez, his occasional doubles partner. Lopez is coming off his impressive final showing in Dubai, where he beat a slew of top ten players before losing in the final. It won’t get easier from there for Nadal, as whoever wins the potential match between Frenchmen Paul-Henri Mathieu and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who took Nadal out of the Australian Open, could pose problems for Nadal. Should Nadal advance to the quarterfinals, he could face yet another player who has given him difficulties, James Blake or Richard Gasquet. Blake has had particularly good success against Nadal on hardcourts, but if Gasquet were to get his backhand firing and make it to the quarterfinals, he could also pose a tough test for Nadal. Also in that section is Robin Soderling, and while his results outdoors are not as good as indoors, he has the potential to post good results and his powerful baseline game can give any of these top players trouble if he finds his form.
As you can see, the first Masters Series event of the year is full of potentially fascinating matches and hopefully some upsets here and there! Our blogger Debra will be at the event this weekend and will have lots of pictures and reports to share when she gets back!
