Indian Wells/Miami Preview

I am actually writing this post on Saturday and will be on vacation next week so I will miss my usual wrap up for the week that included tournaments in Dubai, Acapulco, Delray Beach, Florianopolis, and Kuala Lumpur, but before I get to my IW/Mia preview I will run down some notable goings on at those locales.

-Berdych beats Federer in the Dubai semis as the top four seeds there reach the semis, saving 3 match points in the 2nd set tiebreaker, but the Djokovic wins the title sweeping past the Czech.
-Wozniacki is ousted from Kuala Lumpur by a Chinese qualifier in the first round, a tournament you would have thought she could win easily.
-Young Czech player Karolina Pliskova (one of the twins) reaches her first WTA quarterfinal in Kuala Lumpur.  She didn't stop there, she will be playing (surprise!) Mattek-Sands in the final after the American took out Pavlyuchenkova.
-Acapulco is the home for clay lovers.  Spaniards Ferrer, Nadal, and Almagro reach the semis on the men's side while Suarez Navarro and Errani will contest the women's final.
-The American had another poor performance in Delray Beach with only Isner reaching the quarters.  Querrey was ousted by Gulbis in a 3rd set tiebreaker, and if anyone knows the whereabouts of Harrison's game, please let me know.
-Venus played her first tournament since the Aussie Open in Florianopolis (a new event) and reached the semis, falling to Puchkova, who will play Niculescu in the final.

I will get the tournament champions and quarterfinalists page updated at some point, but it could be a week later than usual.

Indian Wells and Miami are especially big tournaments for the men as we'll see all the guys in one place for the first time since Melbourne.  Murray will make his first appearance, Nadal has put in good results but hasn't played many top players, Federer is played in Rotterdam and Dubai but hasn't looked great, while Djokovic has played Davis Cup and Dubai and hasn't lost.  There have also been spurts of good play from the second tier of Ferrer, Berdych, Tsonga, and Del Potro.  Djokovic has to be the favorite going in.  Murray hasn't played well at this event the last couple years.  Nadal is a question mark even to play, and Federer is the defending champion but lost to Benneteau and Berdych in recent weeks.  I predict Djokovic will defeat one the second tier players in the final.

The women have mostly been together once since Australia, in Doha and then many of them in Dubai.  I would expect more tournaments where the majority of the top 8 reach the quarters and then they duke it out from there.  Azarenka has to be the favorite in Indian Wells, where she is the defending, as not many players not named Serena have shown the ability to beat her.  These tournaments are also important for us to see where ladies like Kerber, Kvitova, and Li are at after they have had mixed results recently.

Here are last year's results:

Men
Indian Wells - Roger Federer (SUI) def. John Isner (USA) 7-6(7) 6-3
Miami - Novak Djokovic (SRB) def. Andy Murray (GBR) 6-1 7-6(4)
Semis - Both: Rafael Nadal (ESP), IW: Novak Djokovic (SRB), Mia: Juan Monaco (ARG)
Quarters - IW: Nicolas Almagro (ESP), Juan Martin Del Potro (ARG), David Nalbandian (ARG), Gilles Simon (FRA), Mia: David Ferrer (ESP), Mardy Fish (USA), Janko Tipsarevic (SRB), Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA)

It is not inconceivable that any of these men get back to the quarters, and while Nalbandian may be a bit of a reach he has been playing well in South America, reaching the Sao Paulo final and losing to Nadal.  Fish will play in IW for the first time since the US Open.  Monaco and Tipsarevic have both been playing awful as of late (Monaco 0-3 in '13 tour action, Tipsarevic 0-2 since he left Australia though he has been injured).

Women
Indian Wells - Victoria Azarenka (BLR) def. Maria Sharapova (RUS) 6-2 6-3
Miami - Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) def. Maria Sharapova (RUS) 7-5 6-4
Semis - IW: Ana Ivanovic (SRB), Angelique Kerber (GER), Mia: Marion Bartoli (FRA), Caroline Wozniacki (DEN)
Quarters - Both: Na Li (CHN), IW: Marion Bartoli (FRA), Maria Kirilenko (RUS), Agnieszka Radwanska (POL), Mia: Victoria Azarenka (BLR), Serena Williams (USA), Venus Williams (USA)

Many of these women are playing more or less well, or least put up decent results here and there, so I wouldn't be surprised if any of them reach the quarters this year.  The only problem for those on the fringe of the top 10 or outside it is that the top 8-ish players have been consistent and there haven't been lots of upset this season.

Here are players that reached the quarters or better at both tournaments in '12:
-Djokovic (SF/W)
-Radwanska (QF/W)
-Sharapova (F/F)
-Nadal (SF/SF)
-Bartoli (QF/SF)
-Li (QF/QF)

I'll check back in midway through the tournament to give you the quarterfinalists as usual and recap some of the early happenings that were important to me.