Unexpected Darkness Phenomenon plagues Estoril Open – Games Delayed!
Milos Raonic's match against Gilles Simon was delayed until late this afternoon due to rain. After it began, it was postponed due to darkness with Milos about to serve at 5-6. Although the players are on serve, each player has been broken once thus far, with Milos saving 0/1 break points and Simon saving 1/2.
The Milos Raonic (CAN) versus Gilles Simon (FRA) quarter-final match will resume tomorrow, 12 noon GMT, or 7 am Eastern Time on Court 1. It's unclear whether Sportsnet will be airing the matches this early, but their website states they will be showing the semi-finals tomorrow, starting at 3 pm Eastern. Best thing to do is check all their channels out at 7 am tomorrow. If they aren't carrying it, find a stream on the internet or check out the live score ticker available here.
If Milos wins his quarter-final match against Simon, he will face the winner of the Verdasco / Anderson match at 4 pm local (11 am Eastern Time) on Central Court. The Verdasco / Anderson match which will be resuming at 12 noon local time in Portugal as well on "Centralito". Verdasco had just enough time to lose the first set in a tiebreak before darkness caused the postponement of that match as well.
Estoril Open Draw
The main singles draw for the Estoril Open is out -- you can view it here. Since the Estoril Open is such a small event (ATP 250), Milos Raonic was one seed ranking away from receiving a bye into the second round. So according to the draw, Milos will face Igor Andreev (RUS) in the first round. Andreev is ranked 100 in the world and is obviously not seeded in this tournament. Looking at the head-to-head, Andreev beat Raonic in Kuala Lumpur in three sets last year. But that was their only meeting and it came before Raonic's rise in the rankings this season.
The order of play has been posted for Monday, April 25, but Raonic isn't scheduled for that day. Their match should be on Tuesday. Not sure yet if Rogers Sportsnet will be streaming this tournament.
Canadian Peter Polansky fell short of earning a spot in the main draw, losing to Roger-Vasselin (FRA) in the second round of qualifying.
Quarterfinals in Miami, the latter half
The last two quarterfinal matches on the men's side will be played later today in Miami at the Sony Ericsson Open. First up, Roger Federer (SUI) will take on Gilles Simon (FRA). Federer has a losing record (1-2) against Simon, but he won their last meeting -- a match that went the distance at the Australian Open this year. It looks like this match will be on Rogers Sportsnet One, starting at 3PM ET. But they won't be taking the court until the Petkovic vs Sharapova match is over. As it stands now, Petkovic won the first set, but Sharapova is up 4-0 in the second. This one may go three sets, so the TV coverage will probably be late starting.
In the other quarterfinal tonight, No.7 seed Tomas Berdych (CZE) will be playing top seed Rafael Nadal (ESP). These two have a more storied head-to-head history than Federer and Simon, but Berdych hasn't beaten Nadal since 2006. This match will also be on Rogers Sportsnet One, as well as on the Ontario and Pacific regional stations (which means HD for me!) starting at 7PM ET.
Sharapova is currently up 5-0 in the second set, and has a break point chance for a bagel...
UPDATE: Simon retired after dropping his first 2 service games, citing waking up with a sore neck and having difficulty moving. Sharapova got her bagel, and ultimately won the match.
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Quarters in Miami
The first two quarterfinal matches are set to go at the Sony Ericsson Open today. This afternoon, No.6 seed David Ferrer (ESP) will take on No.14 seed Mardy Fish (USA), who has been on a roll as of late. Fish dealt with a surging Juan Martin Del Potro in straight sets yesterday, and is looking to become the top ranked American if he can pull off win over Ferrer today. Veteran Andy Roddick will drop to No.14-15 after losing in the second round of the tournament.
Fish will likely have to be aggressive and come to net often in order to challenge Ferrer's serve. It's usually safe to assume that Ferrer will play solid defense and give up very few free points when returning. Fish will probably have to grind out some of service games.
In the night match, Kevin Anderson (RSA) will have his hands full No.2 seed Novak Djokovic (SRB). Anderson came through the section of the draw that saw early exits by seeds Andy Murray and Fernando Verdasco. As for Novak, he sailed comfortably through his matches in the previous rounds rarely allowing his opponents to hold on to their own serve.
What can be said about this match? Djokovic is not only unbeaten so far this season, he actually looks unbeatable when he plays. But Anderson may not be a total write-off -- he defeated Djokovic in Miami a few years ago in a three set match. Given that interesting historical tidbit, this is not the Djokovic of old. He has been dismantling his opponents with devastating precision all year. I don't expect there to be an upset tonight.
More on these matches here.
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Raonic came out flat
I wasn't able to watch today's match (glad to have the live scores ticker), but it was pretty clear that Raonic didn't get off to a great start against Somdev Devvarman in Miami. In this article, Raonic himself admits that he come out a little flat and just wasn't able to recover.
“I was trying to overcome a lot of things,” [Raonic] said. “I wasn’t playing my best, I wasn’t feeling the ball.
“I was trying to just squeeze by. I wanted to win today and use tomorrow to get better and play better Sunday. But that didn’t happen. He played well. It was not the greatest match but I was there fighting as much as I could today.”
And fight he did. Coming back from two breaks down in the first set to force a tiebreak is no small feat. But alas, it was not to be. According to this article, Raonic will be playing the ATP 1000 Masters event in Monte-Carlo next. This is the first big clay court tournament of the year, and it gets underway on April 9.
Day 1 Qualifying in Miami (and Milos’ draw)
QUALIFYING
It was a tough day at the office for the Canadian women trying to qualify for the Sony Ericsson Open. Both Rebecca Marino and Stephanie Dubois have been eliminated in the first round of qualifying. Here are their match results:
Junri Namigata (JPN) def. Stephanie Dubois (CAN) 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-3
Jamie Hampton (USA) def. Rebecca Marino (CAN) 6-1, 7-5
On the men's side, Frank Dancevic is the lone Canadian hoping to make it through the qualifying rounds. He defeated Brain Dabul (ARG) in straight sets today, 7-6(3), 6-1, and is one match away from the main draw. Dancevic will face Donald Young (USA) on Tuesday, who recently upset Andy Murray (GBR) in the second round of the BNP Paribas Open.
THE MAIN DRAW
Not all the qualifying spots are filled yet, but the main draw has been released. Milos Raonic is seeded No.31 in the draw, which means he receives a first round bye. Raonic could run up against (6) David Ferrer (ESP) in the 3rd round, should they both win their opening matches. Robin Soderling (SWE), the No.4 seed, is also lurking in Raonic's section of the draw. Check out the Fantasy Draw and make your picks for the tournament.
Milos' opponent in the second round will be either Somdev Devvarman (IND) or Potito Starace (ITA). There isn't much of a history to speak of between Raonic and these players. The first round for the men starts on Wednesday, which means we will have to wait until at least Friday before we see Raonic in action in Miami.
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Indian Wells Finals
The singles finals at the BNP Paribas Open are today starting at 2PM ET. It will be broadcast live on the ABC network.
Djokovic defeated Federer yesterday in 3 sets to earn himself a spot in the final against Nadal. With the win, Novak will take Roger's place as the No.2 ranked tennis player in the world. During the match, the commentators speculated as to whether Federer could regain the No.2 ranking by the end of the year -- they weren't too optimistic about his chances.
Nadal is going for his third title at Indian Wells after taking out Juan Martin Del Potro in the semis, a man who had given Nadal trouble in their last few meetings. Nadal has a winning record against Djokovic, and their last memorable match was in the finals at last year's US Open. That match ended with Nadal winning his first US Open title, and thus securing the highly prestigious Career Slam. Interestingly, Djokovic was coming off a big win over Federer to reach the US Open final against Nadal -- just like in this tournament. But given how well Djokovic has been playing this season, there might be a different result this time around.
But before any of this happens, the women's singles has to be decided first. Caroline Wozniaki has reached the finals in Indian Wells for the second time and will face Marion Bartoli of France. Wozniaki's dominating performance against Sharapova in the semi-finals is probably a good indicator as to how this final will play out.
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Slam Champs in Semis
It should be an exciting day of tennis at the BNP Paribas Open today, with a rare lineup playing out in the men's semi-finals.
Federer and the other three singles semi-finalists – Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Juan Martin del Potro – have combined to win the past 24 Grand Slam titles, beginning with Nadal’s triumph in 2005 at Roland Garros. The same four reached the semi-finals at the 2009 US Open, won by del Potro. (source)
There are a few storylines here. Both Nadal and Del Potro are coming back from injuries, and there is a rankings battle taking place between Federer and Djokovic. If Djokovic can beat Federer today (which would make it an impressive 'hat trick' for Novak after big wins at the Australian Open and in Dubai), he would take the #2 ranking away from Roger. You can read more about this showdown here. The men's matches will be broadcast live on ABC today starting at 2PM ET.
Unfortunately, there is no Milos-related news to report other than that, according to his twitter feed, he's in Miami and gearing up for the Sony Ericsson Open. I'll be taking a closer look at that tournament after all is said and done in Indian Wells.
It's a good day to be a tennis fan -- enjoy the matches today, everyone.
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A Day to Recover
Similar to the Major tournaments, players at the BNP Paribas Open have a day off between matches. In this article, Milos Raonic does not shy away from saying he could really use the extra day to recover before his next match:
Canadian Milos Raonic, the breakout star from the first two months of the 2011 season, took advantage of his opportunities to knock out 2008 finalist and World No. 15 Mardy Fish 7-5, 6-4. He fought off eight break points, including three in the final game, and capitalized on all three of his chances.
The 20 year old, who received treatment for a back muscle spasm during the match, said: “I'm hungry for the wins. I want to win as much as possible. I want to reach new limits. I want to keep improving. By winning today, especially here with a day in between, it's a good thing. I have a chance to recover fully and sort of treat and now come back in two days sort of hoping to play better, hoping to serve better, and hoping to feel better.”
Raonic defeated a Top 25 player for the sixth time this season, including four Top 15 wins. He also beat a 17th-ranked Fish last month in the Memphis semi-finals.
Hopefully the back muscle spasm won't be a lingering problem and Raonic will be able to recover enough to get his serve back on track. The serve was less of a weapon against Fish last night, who was able to earn 8 break points during the match. Raonic saved them all, but if Fish had been able to convert one or two the match may not have gone Raonic's way.
In his post match interview on court, Milos was asked if he was surprised by all of his recent success. He succinctly answered, "Yes" - at which point the audience erupted in laughter. It was a funny moment, but the short reply suggested that Raonic just wanted to get off the court and start the recovery process before his next match.
Read the full interview here, and check out this Public Service Announcement about Milos Raonic, in song form.
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On the BNP Paribas Open debut win
In this article from the BNP Paribas Open website, Milos Raonic discusses his first ATP 1000 win in his Indian Wells debut:
“It’s been two weeks since I played a tournament, so I was happy to be back feeling like I'm playing a lot better,” said Raonic, who has won 11 of his past 12 matches. “I didn't serve that well today, but I feel compared to Memphis and San Jose I'm playing another level from the baseline. I feel like it just gives me a lot more comfort that I'm improving that aspect.”
This echoes my assessment of the match today, which was based solely on the statistics from the live score ticker. It would have been nice to actually watch it, though. But at least I didn't miss a brilliant performance serve-wise.
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