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The lessons of Indian Wells
The tennis circus stopped in Indian Wells again for almost two weeks. And we made some notes.
by Jens Huiber
last edit: Mar 20, 2023, 03:07 pm
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- It's always amazing how the American spectators do it: In the women's doubles final between Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova on the one hand and Laura Siegemund and Beatriz Haddad Maia on the other, the stands on Saturday were, to put it mildly, sparsely occupied . A few minutes later, when Frances Tiafoe and Daniil Medvedev went to the first semi-final, there was a storm in the stands and there was hardly any space left.
- Speaking of Medvedev, the Russian seems to be testing himself on how far he can go behind the baseline on the return. And how quickly he is able to sprint towards the net when his opponents play a serve-volley stop. Answer: usually very quickly. But not fast enough against Carlos Alcaraz in the final.
- The women's title defense remains a closed book. This time it was Elena Rybakina who prevented a previous year's winner from triumphing in Tennis Paradise for the first time since 1991. The Kazakh can now try it herself in 2024.
- Karolina Muchova has a little Roger Federer in her. He didn't ask the audience to applaud with often exaggeratedly offensive gestures, as is common today with the younger generation. Instead, he simply lowered his head and held up the index finger of his right hand. Muchova is from the same school. However, unlike Federer, he has never won the title.
- The game plan in the final phase is, well, getting used to. All round of 16 games are played in one day (wonderful!), but then the matches are distributed in a way that is very reminiscent of the Champions League (not wonderful!). After all: The individual winners are still determined on the final Sunday.
- Soccer is also very popular with women. If you can believe the pictures that the WTA has transported to the world via social media, then a surprising number of WTA cracks warm up with a well-groomed kicker.
- Tommy Haas still has the best job in tennis, possibly even in the professional world. What we heartily grant him!
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