Murray in line for Federer test

Murray could meet Andy Roddick in the fourth round
Andy Murray has received a bye in the first round of the Pacific Life Open - but has been drawn in the same quarter as Roger Federer and Andy Roddick.
The British number one is the 11th seed for the Indian Wells Masters Series event, which begins on Thursday.

Murray will face Marat Safin or Jurgen Melzer in his opening match.

The Scot is seeded to face in-form Roddick in the fourth round before a possible quarter-final meeting with world number one Federer.

Murray took his head-to-head record with Federer to 2-1 by beating the Swiss in the first round in Dubai - a tournament Roddick won.

Federer will look to get his season back on track after losing in the Australian Open semi-finals to Novak Djokovic before that defeat by Murray.

The 12-times Grand Slam champion has blamed his below-par performances on a virus but claims he is now back to full fitness.

Federer, who along with all 32 seeds has a bye in the first round, faces Argentine Sergio Roitman or Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain in his opening match.

The 26-year-old Federer will be looking for a good run in California to re-establish himself at the top of the world rankings.

Rafael Nadal has closed to within 350 points of the top spot, the smallest margin Federer has led by since May 2004.

Nadal could face an intriguing rematch with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the third round in Indian Wells.

Frenchman Tsonga blew away Nadal in straight sets on his way to the Australian Open final.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/tennis/7290738.stm

From my side,I get the sense that or feeling of Deja Vu.It could be a repetition of last years Canas Debarcle where he was able to score back to back wins over the Fedster.

What are your views?

Fed seems to have a reasonable draw - I think the other side is worse on this occasion!

If Federer gets that far in the tourno, I'll be surprised if Murray beats him - it's the early stages that normally concern me. If he gets to the semis, he's going to be playing well...Also, will Murray get that far?!

Interesting in that is the Tsonga/Nadal Possiblity.Juicy stuff! :ok: Good Points you raise there about Andy making it that far.Well lets hope that we get to see that rematch. :ok:

Good morning everyone.

I've been looking forward to indian Wells and Miami for a while, I love to watch them on television.

Some real interesting matches lined up eh? Great stuff :)

the possible Tsonga / Nadal one will be one I definitely want to catch on a stream somewhere.

Looking good - prefer the bottom half of the draw.

I think if they both get there, then it will be a good match. I would give the edge to Fed in that situation though, as he'll have played himself into the tournament. It won't be easy though as Andy knows how to play him.

However, there are quite a few potential hurdles for Murray on the way. I hope Roger will have a shot at winning the whole thing, but if he reaches the QF that will be a big improvement over last year ... and guarantee his #1 ranking until the clay season! :ok:

(But at some point he should start winning tournaments if he wants to defend his ranking ... )

I have to agree with you here.But it making for quite an interesting tourny.Murray playing Safun should be fun too. :ok:

It should be a tremendous tournament. All of the top 45 are supposed to be there! :o

This sounds so good!!! :D may have to go to a bar/restaurant & ask them to put espn or the tennis channel on.

:giggle:

you may find that when it starts people here will be able to give you links to websites where they are showing it :ok: As it's on in the evenings for us folks here in the UK I might actually get to watch some of there's good live feeds around :D

With Roddick on form and Fed of fkey, i think those two meetign later on could provide an interestign match and give Roddick a victory over Fed at last.

Come on Roddick :yahoo: Beating Fed here would be quite significant

I think Roddick will have to hope someone beats Federer beforehand - there's no way he can beat Federer.

Good point Sara, It would be a nightmare for Fed playing Murray first or second match, i think if they meet in the quarters Fed should edge it, having played himself into some form.

To be honest my friend,the time has come for Federer to actually stop playing himself into events and start playing himself into the next level from match 1.If he is to maintain a hold over the up and comers then its crucial that he treat every opponent as a threat which technically they are.

The one thing I loved about Lendl was that he didnt care who he played he went out there to destroy them.If he got to a 4-0 lead in any set,he made sure that he was going to bagel you or at least a breadstick.Regardless of who he played.This is the attitude Federer needs. :ok:

I feel like being reckless and predict that the world No1 will win this tournament.
Last year he lost I think due to the incredible run he had where he played 97 matches.He lost to Canas because by that point he hadn't lost in 41 matches so was due to be caught out.

He won't play off form for long,and if what he has said is all true and he has had 3 weeks of intense training and recovered his fitness then he can win it.

Of course in the other half is Djokovic and right now these two in their best form is hard to predict.Djokovic though still for me keeps throwing in odd losses,hasn't worked out like Federer how to mentally grind his way out of tough situations.
It's purely maturity and by the time he's 22-23 then he could really be the man to beat.

Whether Fed wins or not, it's certainly making it a bit more interesting him having a less than perfect start to the year. Instead of it being "Federer's playing so who will he be playing in the final" its "will Fed even get past the quarters" :shrug: Which can only be a good thing for men's tennis imho. :ok:

I'd just like to see Federer's form. Whether he really has recovered. I thought he played quite well in this Murray's first set match. But his energy level must have dropped afterwards. I just miss his tennis of 2006 when he was firing on all cylinders.

2005 for me was still his best year and the year he should have won RG. :( I only hope that now this is the motivation he needs to get that A game back.

Would love to see Roddick versus Federer in the quarters but Im also dying to see how Andy matches up against Andy.Thats gonna be a humdinger.

I agree Darky, 05 was very good but 04 was his RG best chance in my view. I remember the match v Guga and Fed did not turn up that day, yet you felt he could turn it around at any time. Also agreed that v Nadal, 05 was his best chance regarding RG but thinking about it, 06 and 07 were not bad either. A BP conversion there and then could have made it interesting...knowing that over 5 sets, Federer woudl have been favourite...I believe.

05 Federer was in Vintage form,like a superhuman and NADAL was at his first ever RG.Federer needed to take advantage of that inexperience and shouldve won that title.His forehand was immensley out of this world that year especially the off forehand but alas it wasnt meant to be. :(

Except in that FO semi final... :rolleyes:

:ok:

IMO 2006 is and will remain the best year of his career. Compared with 2005; better clay season, better indoor season (2005 he only played the YEC), more slam wins, more tournament wins and more matches won. In terms of level of play I don’t think it ever got any better than Wimbledon 2006 up to the final and YEC 2006.
As for winning RG; I think he could have won it last year, coming into the tournament with a fresh win over Nadal on clay. Besides that; Nadal played quite poorly by his standards in the final. Roger should have been 2 sets to love up and that probably would have been enough. But then again, it’s retrospective talk, at that time I never believed in it anyway..


On topic; i forgot which one is faster; IW or Miami?

Isnt Indian Wells Faster? :blink:

From memory IW is faster than Miami.

Fully agree: IMO '06 is the year ..as an overall his performances were great..Starting from an AO won without playing a great Tennis, a great run on the spring hard court season..A great clay season (Rome was just there :doh: )..and Then Wimbledon as a the BIG BOSS (review how the master managed Ancic or Gasquet :bow: :bow: )..And then a great end of the year..No '06 was his best :clap: :clap: ..Let's hope now he will be able to win one time RG..why not still possible :pray: :pray:

IW is faster than Miami If I remember well..But not such a big deal...

Moreover Miami can be very humid which reduce the speed when IW is in the middle of the desert, i.e. very dry so..I will say more or less the same stuff if we take all into account. :rolleyes:

:) ................ Just one wish for me ..Fed should win Roland Garros and Wimbledon this year.... the significance of those two things will personally put to rest all the talk and bad results..

Not bothered about Usopen... but for ranking points.... :unsure:

Both those courts are very slow anyway.Nadal likes these courts,and it's an important time of the year for him.
Perhaps because of this fact Federer might realise he could run around that backhand a bit more again hey Darky :pray:

Something I wish he would do more often against Nadal because that off forehand is something to marvel at.The only other off forehand that was a true beauty to watch was Steffi Graf. :ok:

Well, it’s good to know it was in IW in 2006 when Fed kinda turned the switch from mediocre play to astonishing play. It was in an early round (third round I believe)against Gasquet where he uppered his level for the first time that season and basically held on to that throughout that year.
So who knows what will happen next week.

:pray: :pray: :pray: :pray: :pray: :pray: :pray: :pray: :pray: :pray:

:ok:

:pray:

The courts at IW and Miami should play similarly, but the heat will probably affect the laykold courts at Miami and slow them down more than the plexicushion at IW.
I agree about 2006 being Fed's best year. Apart from anything else, Federer's air of invincibility was greatest in 06.

Those 10 days TMS are a drag! Nothing is really happening before Sunday or even Monday.

You never know. Remeber all those who said Murray couldn't do it, and Canas? And Djoko.

:ok: I agree.

Again agree. :ok: Steffi was amzing and it does usrpise me that she doesn't seem to have more fans on here.

oh cos there are all these people wittering on about how she didnt do enough when Monics got stabbed.... :rolleyes: