Novak Djokovic is going to have a big advantage tomorrow when he plays the winner of the Andy Murray-Juan Del Potro match.
Djokovic put away Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in under an hour, meanwhile Murray and Del Potro are battling out a three-setter that’s going to last at least two and a half hours.
I wonder who’s going to feel fresher tomorrow?
Actually, the quarterfinal match between Novak Djokovic and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga wasn’t all that bad.
The first set was on serve until the fifth game when a double fault proved costly to the Frenchman, and ultimately cost him the set 6-3.
The second set is where it really fell apart for Tsonga. He lost the first game at love and then missed five first serves in a row, along with two double faults in a row. Needless to say, he was broken in that game, and it was all downhill from there.
Heading into the first day of the final weekend at the BNP Paribas Open, there are no more matches on outside courts.
The highlight of the day session is No. 1 Novak Djokovic vs. No. 8 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga that will begin at 1:30. That is followed by Andy Murray (3) vs. Juan Martin Del Potro (7) in the other men’s quarterfinal of the day, which won’t begin before 3:30.
The tournament eases into the day session with a doubles match between Treat Huey-Jerzy Janowicz and Alexander Peya-Bruno Soares, the winner of which will face the Bryan brothers in the men’s doubles final.
Tonight’s session begins no sooner than 6:30 with the first women’s semifinal of Caroline Wozniacki (8) vs. Angelique Kerber (4), neither of whom played quarterfinals, as both of their opponents withdrew.
The final match of the night will see countrywomen Maria Kirilenko (13) and Maria Sharapova (2) face off.
Happy watching.
Newly named Pope Francis I has his home country of Argentina well represented at the BNP Paribas Open Wednesday.
At least two Argentinian national flags could be seen hanging from the stands on Stadium 2, where Argentine Carlos Berlocq is playing No. 3 Andy Murray of Scotland.
Newly named Pope Francis I has his home country of Argentina well represented at the BNP Paribas Open Wednesday.
At least two Argentinian national flags could be seen hanging from the stands on Stadium 2, where Argentine Carlos Berlocq is playing No. 3 Andy Murray of Great Brittan.
Svetlana Kuznetsova, who is having a nice comeback season this year, making it to the quarterfinals at the Australian Open and knocking off 18th seeded Jelena Jankovic at the BNP Paribas Open Friday says she likes playing here, but it wasn’t always that way.
“When I was younger, it was too boring for me, this place,” the 27-year-old Russian said. “Now, I enjoy actually the tranquility of here. Just everything is fine.”
Former two-time Indian Wells champion Daniela Hantuchova escaped the first round Thursday, overcoming qualifer Stephanie Foretz Gacon 6-3, 3-6, 4-6.
She seemed to be cruising but in the second set, the cold weather and strong wind gusts may have gotten to her.
Her victory ensures a matchup between herself and top-seeded Victoria Azarenka in the second round. Between the two of them, they have three Indian Wells championship trophies. Azarenka’s coming last year, while Hantuchova won hers in 2002 and 2007.
The Slovakian’s two championships are the most for anyone in the women’s field this year.
As expected (as of last week, not as of the beginning of the season) USC ends up in the Sun Bowl — the bowl that gets to pick the fourth-most desirable team in the Pac-12.
As I mentioned last week, there was an outside chance the Holiday Bowl might take the Trojans, but with UCLA losing the Pac-12 Championship game to Stanford, the guys in San Diego had an equally attractive option for packing the seats of Qualcomm Stadium with Bruins as it did if it had taken a lesser USC team — both teams hailing from nearby L.A.
Having been to the last Sun Bowl that USC was in in 1998, a game which they lost to TCU and gained something like negative 23 rushing yards, I can tell you that I won’t be attending this year’s version.
First of all, despite it’s meteorologically attractive name, El Paso is freezing this time of year. Well, at least relative to the Coachella Valley. Also, at least half the fun of going there last time was spending time in Ciudad Juarez, where you could eat authentic Mexican food, practice your Spanish and have a few shots with the players (which might explain their lackluster performance on the field the next day).
But now I think you’d be (un)lucky to find a cab to take you across the border, and crazy to do it considering the crime and murder rate in Juarez these days.
From a fan’s perspective, especially a traveling one, the Sun Bowl was about the worst possibility for USC. San Diego, Las Vegas or even San Francisco for the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl would have been better options for a vacation.
And I haven’t even started about the Trojans’ opponent — 6-7 Georgia Tech? Really? The team with the worst record in bowl history. Wow. Talk about a disappointing season.
So now that USC has completed quite possibly it’s most disappointing football season in school history I’m sure there is one big question on all Trojan fans’ minds: What bowl will USC be playing in?
No? You mean if the Trojans don’t go to the Rose Bowl or another nearly-as-impressive BCS bowl you don’t really care? Huh, go figure.
Well, whether you like it or not, USC is going to be playing in some minor bowl somewhere, and it will make it easier on everyone’s holiday travel plans to figure out where it’s going to be sooner than later.
My best guesses are the Sun or the Holiday.
The Rose will of course get the winner of the Stanford-UCLA game on Saturday. After that, the Alamo Bowl gets the next pick, and they will presumably choose the loser of that game. (Oregon will probably get plucked by the Fiesta Bowl by virtue of the Ducks’ top five ranking.)
The Holiday Bowl, in San Diego, gets the next pick after the Alamo, and tell me who you think they’d rather see in their game — USC or Oregon State?
The Beavers are 6-3 in conference play, while the Trojans are 5-4. But can you imagine how much better Trojan fans will travel to San Diego than the folks from Corvallis? I’m sure the folks down at the Holiday Bowl are thinking the same thing.
They’ll do whatever they can to get USC, but if they’re pressured by the Pac-12 to take Oregon State, the Trojans will fall to the Sun Bowl in the relatively frigid climes of old El Paso.
USC isn’t used to, and really isn’t very good at these non-Rose/BCS bowls. They haven’t been to one since Matt Barkley’s freshman year when they won the Emerald Nut Bowl in the Bay Area, and before that hadn’t been to one since the Sun Bowl of 1998, which they lost to TCU.
So log onto Expedia and get your mouse-clicking finger ready to book a flight to Texas, Trojan fans, when the bowl announcements come out on Sunday. But keep the fingers on your other hand crossed for a Holiday Bowl berth and a short drive down Highway 74 for a weekend on the Pacific.
For all you true Blue believers out there who aren’t sure how to plan the rest of your week, here’s the lowdown on the Dodger schedule.
Of course everyone knows that once the Dodgers win the next two games against the Giants, and the Cardinals lose the next two to the Reds, L.A. will be in the postseason by virtue of tying the Cardinals for the second wild card spot.
Then the Dodgers will play the Cards in a one-game play-in game to get to the one-game wild card play-in game against the Braves. Got that?
But the big question is: Where will the one-game play-in game between the Cardinals and the Dodgers be played?
Coin flip?
Nope.
Head-to-head record?
Yup.
And, it turns out, the Dodgers won six of the 11 games between the two clubs, giving them the home field advantage for the contest. That means the play-in game to the play-in game will be played Thursday at Dodger Stadium, presumably at 7:05 p.m.
And there you have it — the answer to the question that I’m sure all of you were wondering about.