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Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Miami Sony Ericsson Open 2012: Nadal Versus Tsonga - Preview

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga will take on Rafael Nadal in perhaps the most difficult of the quarter-finals in the Sony Ericsson Open at Miami on Thursday, the 29th March. It will be fight between attack and defence, flamboyance versus doggedness, and risk taking versus percentage play.

Tsonga relies on his inside out shot from the ad court and that is where it is likely to hurt Nadal most since it is this corner which provides plenty of gaps. Nadal has a tendency to move to his right to convert backhand into forehand and let his forehand corner present gaping holes. Secondly, his racquet grip is such that he can play a down the line forehand very well but is not comfortable in slicing the ball like a squash shot to remain in the rally. However, since Nadal is so good in movement and defensive forehand that he may go on playing cross court forehand from the ad side. Some of these shots will land short and Tsonga has natural movement to advance to the net whenever he gets an extra fraction of second. He will place Nadal into defensive court positions many a time, but then, Nadal is a past master in defensive play. Nadal has excellent passing shots to thwart players rushing to the net for volley. Tsonga has superb volleying skills and good speed, but his footwork is not that good. His extra body mass makes him sometimes unbalanced while executing the volley.  

Tsonga thrives on crowd support and there might be a lot in his favour. His resemblance to Mohammed Ali never went unnoticed. Nadal has a committed fanship and the match is not being played in France. The defences of Nadal are too good for anybody not playing at his best. His retrievals from unreachable positions keep him in the rallies and enable him to prevail in the longer exchanges. Tsonga might try to pull the trigger first in a rally and hope that it does not misfire. He is the one who will take risks and gamble with incessant attack. His aces will outnumber those of Nadal but there would be more unforced errors. He plays his usual game, but does not carry an effective plan B if that game is not succeeding. Nadal plays percentage tennis to perfection and has a tendency to rise from ashes. As the match progresses, the opponent finds it tiring to hit many winners to win a single point. Those with perseverance have succeeded. Tsonga displays that type of perseverance sometimes, but it is not a daily affair. Nadal is unlikely to defeat himself; Tsonga will have to defeat him. On the other hand, Tsonga can sometimes defeat himself. It will therefore be left to whoever plays better on the day. The odds are definitely in favour of Nadal, but Tsonga has beaten him on more occasions last year.

Thursday, March 15, 2012

2012 BNP Paribas Open Semi-Finals : Isner Versus Djokovic - Preview


John Isner and Novak Djokovic will meet in the semi-finals of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, U.S.A on Saturday, the 17th March. It will be the third meeting between them.
They played against each other twice in 2010 with Djokovic winning on both the occasions. Much water has flowed under the bridge since then. Djokovic has become the best player in the world for the last one year and Isner has achieved the best ranking in his career. Isner is playing with renewed confidence. His defeating Roger Federer in the Davis Cup was the hall mark of this confidence. However, his loss to Kevin Anderson in the Delray Beach tournament last month has instilled some doubts. Anderson fired an equal number of aces as Isner in that win. Djokovic serves well but does not fire that number of aces. Isner is not that good a returner and is likely to concede more points on the first serve of Djokovic. He however will win his service games in spite of Djokovic being one of the best returner in the game. If he takes the set to tie break, advantage lies with him.
Djokovic’s strategy will be to move Isner from side to side with occasional drop shot to place the ball beyond his reach. He plays angles with precision, especially when ball is short. His forehands are very deep, sometimes forcing the opponent to take them almost on half volley. Isner now possesses good ground strokes, but requires a good position to hit them. If he is on the run, precision will not be that much and he might commit forced errors. He cannot stay in the rally for long with Djokovic. He will attempt to rely heavily on his serve. He served 56% on first serve with eleven aces in the fourteen service games against Gilles Simon in the last match. This may not be sufficient to topple Djokovic. He will try to do even better with his serve so that he can win his service games and put pressure on Djokovic’s serve. His comfortable wins in the past have come with an average of 1.5 aces per service game. His other first serves were also not the usual ones where opponent is not able to return the ball well. Consequently, the percentage of points won on first serves suffered.  
Isner has played well against the top players in the past. He has taken Djokovic to five sets in Davis Cup 2010, has won against Federer in Davis Cup this year and led Rafael Nadal two sets to one in the French Open last year. He can play even better in a three set format against those who profess to have great stamina.
The outcome of the match will be on Isner’s serves. If his serves are working wonders, he can win; otherwise, the best player in the world wins.  

Monday, March 12, 2012

BNP Paribas Open 2012: Federer Versus Raonic - Preview


Milos Raonic meets Roger Federer in the third round of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells. This is the first meeting between them. Raonic is billed as a future top ten player and his fans consider him capable of winning a major within two - three years. Roger Federer is playing very well and has rarely lost to somebody not in the top twenty. Raonic has a booming serve which has taken him to two titles in the last two months.  
Raonic serves high kicking second serve to the backhand which poses a bit of problem for the single fisted backhanders. Federer has been troubled by the wide serve of Rafael Nadal especially in the ad court. He might face a similar problem from Raonic. He has handled the serves of right handers well in the past, say that of players like Andy Roddick. But Raonic serve goes a bit higher. Federer is likely to employ slice return sometimes, which will not let Raonic step into the mid court to blast away easy winner in the opposite direction. Low slices have often troubled tall players.
Federer has not been unduly troubled by players who do not move well. Raonic has good reach because of height, but his mobility is not as good. Federer is likely to move him around and not let him take his best shot. Ground rallies are likely to be won more by Federer.
Raonic is likely to employ the strategy of winning service games relying on his serve capabilities. He will have to exceed one ace per service game to be in a position to win the game. Federer is a good returner and players like Ivo Karlovic have not much troubled him in the past, though Raonic is in a different category. He has a good forehand too, but he requires a good positioning to create angles with it. He is not likely to get them much. He may try to come to the net, but Federer has good acumen to pass a rushing player. Raonic does not have the volleying capabilities of say Federer, Michael Llodra, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga or Radek Stepanek. He will not rely much on volleys when attacking Federer. He might go in for powerful forehand from baseline. He does not play flat forehand. His forehand has top spin with low net clearance. It will be difficult to outplay Federer with that strategy.
Federer is as good a server and Raonic does not have the best return in the game. Federer will employ one - two combination behind his angled serve. Raonic does not have the running shots of Rafael Nadal or Andy Murray. If he plays aggressively, he will have to keep the shots within the court, since his aggressive shots sometimes tend to sail beyond the baseline.
Federer is unlikely to play a losing game and it would depend on how well Raonic plays on the day. If he serves in the vicinity of 70% with two aces per service game, he can put pressure on Federer’s serve.  It is going to be an absorbing contest, but advantage lies with Federer.