Passing Shots: Safin, Navratilova, Federer and More!

Some interesting tennis news from this week...

Steve Tignor on the importance of the OOP (Order of Play) (Tennis.com)

Federer's improved backhand the key to beating Nadal? (The Fan Child's Two Cents)

Best player quotes from Indian Wells (Beyond the Baseline)

Marat Safin getting married?!? Nooooooooooooo (Open Court)

Yes, I think it's pretty clear Federer's game is up to snuff (ESPN)

Martina Navratilova on Dancing with the Stars! (LA Times)

Federer's press conference after his win over Isner (Indian Wells)

And Isner's presser after his defeat (Indian Wells)

Oh Federer, Don't Ever Change

In celebration of Federer's win against Isner in Indian Wells I've posted a photo that I think sums up the way The Fed feels about himself...

This photo cracks me up. Mostly because I imagine that Roger made it for himself and then asked someone to take a photo of him with it. Just kidding, he would never do that...would he?

Oh Rog, you are simply my favourite player ever. Don't ever change.


Photo Credit: federerfan07.com

Men's Indian Wells Final Prediction

John Isner after his huge win over Djokovic in the Indian Wells semifinals

Federer beats Nadal on an outdoor hardcourt for the first time since 2005!?!

I'm pretty excited for today's final between Federer and Isner. I want Roger to win because I always want Roger to win. But I'll also be very happy for John if he wins because he seems like a nice guy and he's also never won a Masters 1000 title before.

Winning this final will mean a lot to Federer because a) he sort of needs a big win right now, b) it will mean he has 19 Masters titles which will tie him for the most ever with Nadal, c) it's embarrassing to lose to Isner twice in a short period of time so it's a must-win situation, and d) Gavin Rossdale and Anna Wintour will be seriously depressed if he can't pull this win off.

As for Isner, winning will mean a lot to him because a) he's never won a Masters title before, b) it will move him up to 8th in the ATP rankings, and c) he can brag to his friends that he beat the greatest player of all time AND the number one player in the world in the same tournament. Oh and d) maybe Caroline Wozniacki will finally agree to go out with him (remember those amazingly flirty twitter conversations those two used to have? Isner and Wozniacki's Twitter Flirtation).

I'm going to go with Federer winning in three sets. I think Isner will win one set in a tiebreak (possibly the first set), but that he'll be nervous about winning his first big title and won't be able to take two sets off Fed. But who knows, I clearly did not think Isner could take out Djokovic, so anything is possible. Looking forward to an exciting match!

Turning Point for John Isner

So, pretty sure that huge win over Federer at the Davis Cup recently was the turning point for Isner. Apparently he now believes he can beat the top guys and this was evident in his amazing victory over Djokovic in the Indian Wells semi-final. Way to go Roger, you've unleashed the (giant) beast!

No but seriously, I'm really happy for Isner for three reasons:

1) He's been one of my favourite players for awhile now and I'm excited that he's in his first Masters 1000 final
2) I needed Isner to win because if Federer beats Nadal today (I know, I know...unlikely) I didn't want Fed to have to play Djokovic in the final, so I was partially cheering for John because I thought he'd be an easier opponent
3) I'm a little bit in love with John Isner

And with that, I leave you with some highlights from the match:

Friday's Order of Play at Indian Wells

• Below is the order of play at Indian Wells today. Pretty amazing day at the tournament with matches like Federer vs. Del Potro, Nadal vs. Nalbandian, and Ivanovic vs Sharapova. I'm going to go with Federer, Nadal, and Ivanovic making it through to the next round.
  
  

  STADIUM 1 Start 11:00 am
  [1] Liezel Huber (USA) Lisa Raymond (USA) v	Iveta Benesova (CZE) Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (CZE) WTA
  Not Before 1:00 PM
  [9] Juan Martin Del Potro (ARG) v	[3] Roger Federer (SUI) ATP
  Not Before 3:00 PM
  David Nalbandian (ARG) v	[2] Rafael Nadal (ESP) ATP
  Not Before 6:00 PM
  [1] Victoria Azarenka (BLR) v	[18] Angelique Kerber (GER) WTA
  Not Before 8:00 PM
  [15] Ana Ivanovic (SRB) v	[2] Maria Sharapova (RUS) WTA

• STADIUM 2 Start 2:00 pm
  John Isner (USA) Sam Querrey (USA) v	[2] Max Mirnyi (BLR) Daniel Nestor (CAN) ATP

Raonic or Roger: My Cheering Conflict

My first reaction when I found out that Federer and Raonic would be playing against each other at Indian Wells was "AMAZING! This match is going to be so exciting!" But then I was like "Oh no! Who do I cheer for?!?" Some people might think this is a ridiculous thing to spend any time worrying about, but I was seriously conflicted over who I wanted to win.

On one hand you've got my all-time favourite player R. Fed, but on the other hand you've got the new tennis star who I really want to get into the top ten and be awesome and beat top players because he's Canadian and I'm Canadian and I'm pretty sure we're not going to get another Canadian tennis star anytime soon.

I have never watched a Federer match and wanted the other player to win. Never. And I'm not even sure I really wanted Raonic to win the match last night. I think I did, but I also sort of wanted Federer to win. See? I don't even know who I wanted to win and the match is already over.

All I really know is that the match WAS exciting, Raonic is really good, Federer is even better, and when Federer finally retires I'll still have someone pretty great to cheer for.