Each week, Sport360°'s tennis expert, Reem Abulleil, offers her thoughts on the major talking points from the Tour before looking to the week ahead…

Rafael Nadal’s astounding win at Indian Wells may be dominating the headlines – and rightly so – but Juan Martin del Potro’s form over the two weeks in the Californian desert deserves its fair share of the plaudits.

The towering Argentine took out Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray back-to-back and was three games away from adding Nadal to that impressive hit list. Yes, del Potro’s performance was streaky at times, first going down 0-3 before going up a set and a break, only to squander that lead and lose the match, but what we saw when he was on top was nothing short of unplayable tennis.

No one could have countered del Potro between games four and 14 in that final. He wasn’t just blasting forehands that were probably faster than half the serves on tour, he mixed it up with smooth half volleys and swift footwork that a 1.98m athlete should not be capable of showcasing.

Those wondering if he could ever return to his pre-wrist surgery form, he has answered that question loud and clear.

THUMBS UP

Indian Wells finalists

From Nadal’s fairytale return from injury to del Potro’s giant-slaying forehand to Maria Sharapova’s title run without dropping a set, to Caroline Wozniacki bouncing back from a poor showing in Malaysia, all four Indian Wells finalists deserve a nod.

Special metion to tournament owner Larry Ellison who revealed his plans for an expansion of the venue and continues to deliver one of the best tournaments on tour.

THUMBS DOWN  

Robson and Stephens

The past few weeks have not been kind to Laura Robson and Sloane Stephens. It appears the promising teenage duo are not adapting to their top-50/top-20 statuses as quickly as they would have liked, with Robson falling in the first round for a third consecutive tournament and Stephens following a similar pattern losing in the second round in Doha, and first rounds in Dubai and Indian Wells. Is consistency too much to ask of the young talents of the WTA?

Tsonga

At a time when del Potro is becoming a real threat to the “Big Four”, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga’s 54-minute loss to Djokovic was hard to swallow. You expect more from a world No8 and a Grand Slam finalist.

POOR MOMENT

Grigor Dimitrov had a superb start against Djokovic in their highly-anticipated third round clash. But then the world No35 double-faulted four times while serving for the first set. Dimitrov oddly held to love in just 65 seconds in his next service game. Wrong sequence, Grigor! The Bulgarian needs some major work up there in the mental department.

BIZARRE MOMENT

David Ferrer is one of the most loved and respected players on tour and is constantly commended for his work ethic. So when the Spaniard told the umpire “what the f*** are you doing” after he mistakenly overruled a ball, which should have been a winner for Ferrer, it left everyone in complete shock. It goes to show all players are human after all, even the saintly Ferrer.

WEEK AHEAD

The withdrawal bug has hit Miami hard with Nadal, Federer, Marcos Baghdatis, Stanislas Wawrinka, Gael Monfils, Sam Stosur, Mardy Fish and Ernests Gulbis amongst the ever-growing list of those set to miss the ATP Masters 1000 event which is regarded by many as being the “Fifth Slam”. Nadal’s withdrawal means Ferrer will probably reclaim the No4 spot by the end of the fortnight.

 

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