Djokovic and Murray out of Miami

Could this be the break that we needed to witness another Federer/Nadal showdown? After their biggest threats, crashed out in the first round of the Sony Ericsson Open, Nadal and Federer now look poised to meet in the finals of a tournament, for the first time in nearly a year.

There's still quite a few opponents left in the draw who could stop this meeting and Roddick seems to be the best bet for doing it. Since, the start of the tournament Andy, has blown through all of his opponents, without losing serve once. While, that's very impressive, it won't necessarily translate over to a match-up with Nadal in the semi-finals.

But this is still a good sign for Roddick fans, Andy's playing well, serving well, and those are two things that he must do, to have any chance against Nadal, if they do meet later in the tournament.

I was disappointed to see Murray and Djokovic, crash out so early. This is going to cost them both, a serious amount of ranking points ( they made the finals here last year.) Not to mention this really doesn't bode well for Djokovic, heading into the clay court season. He has a lot of points to defend up until the French Open and given his recent form, I would be surprised if his ranking doesn't drop at least 2 spots.

Ironically, Juan Martin Del Potro, the guy who's been side-lined with an injury for two months. May be the player who benefits the most from these upsets. Starting in April, Nadal, Murray, and Djokovic, have a ton of points to defend and given their inconsistencies, don't be surprised if you see Del Potro, within striking distance of the #2 ranking, by the end of May.

Tennis pros & steroids

Have you heard about this? Apparently Wayne Odesnik, was found with several small containers of HGH, which is a performance enhancing drug (or human growth hormone.) This is extremely serious and could lead to him, being banned from the tour for 2 years.

Odesnik, is not the first person on tour to be found with performance enhancing drugs, several other players, especially clay courters, have been linked to this stuff.

This of course, brings up the question, "Are steroids and other performance enhancing drugs being used by other athletes, on the tour?" In my opinion, there's a definite possibility of it.

Just look at these pictures of Sam Stosur, Rafael Nadal, and Serena Williams

Honestly, I am at a loss to explain, how they could have gotten this kind of muscle mass, naturally. To me, it doesn't look real. Nadal, is the one that disturbs me the most. Back during his early years on tour, he would fist pump, scream, and jump into the air, pretty much every time he won a point. He was also, extremely strong at a very early age, to the point where, yet again, I can't explain it. Could his celebrating after every point, have been some sort of an affect of roid rage? And if so, then does this partially explain why he has slimmed down and is more naturally athletic looking today? He's stopped using roids.

I don't know, but Nadal, Stosur, and Serena's physique's have always been a bit of a question mark to me. Even though, I'm a huge Nadal fan, I still don't understand how he was able to gain all of this muscle mass, when he was only 18 and then suddenly lose quite a bit of it in just a few months time.

Take a look at these pictures and you'll see what I mean

Just doesn't look right, does it?

Federer to win Sony Ericsson Open

That's my prediction. Even though, Roger was a little bit off last week, in Indian Wells, I think he's likely, to make his comeback here and win his second title of the year.

Nadal, who has often been Roger's foil, recently stated that he's been having excruciating pain, from his wisdom teeth. It's caused him to miss a few days of practice but he's back at it now and will be looking to win his first title in Miami. Nadal has been to the finals of this tournament twice, in 2005 and 08 but whether he'll win here or not, is a whole nother matter. The courts here are pretty fast and that usually doesn't bode well for him. Nadal, hasn't won a title in 10 months and I don't see that changing until the start of the clay court season, where he'll probably resume his dominating ways, pick up a bunch of titles, and get himself back in contention for the number one ranking.

Novak Djokovic, and the defending champion Andy Murray, are also serious contenders for the title. Djokovic, has had a tough start to 2010, even though his current ranking is the highest it's ever been, he hasn't had many victories over players ranked in the top 10. I see him getting upset early in this tournament.

Murray, seems to be the more consistent of the two, for the time being, I'll pick him to meet Roger in the finals. With Nadal, reaching the semis and Djokovic, losing in the quarters.

Other dark horses include, Andy Roddick, Fernando Verdasco, Jo Wilfried Tsonga, and John Isner. Honestly, of all these players, Isner, seems like the most likely player to make a major impact in the tournament. He's got an amazing serve, great ground strokes (that are usually consistent) and he's good on the returns. I still believe, Isner, has a real chance at a slam but if he's going to do it, then it's got to be within the next couple of years.

Otherwise, the competition will pass him by.

Roddick vs Ljubicic BNP Paribas finals

Sometimes, you can pick them and sometimes you can't, I admit it.

While, I did think Roddick, had a good chance, of reaching the finals, I would have never in a million years, picked Ljubicic, to be the one, he'd play for the title. Especially since Ljubo, had to go through Djokovic and Nadal to even make it there.

Can Ljubicic, really do the unthinkable? Can he beat the hard serving American Andy Roddick, in a match, that should be Andy's to lose? My thinking is, yes he can. Just a couple of years ago, Mardy Fish, did the same thing, that Ljubo's doing now. He had an incredible hot streak and blew through opponents at the Pacific Life Open, who would crush him under ordinary circumstances.

Roddick, hasn't played his best this week and Ljubo should have an opening to take it from him.

With Roddick, his game usually revolves around his confidence and playing in front of the home crowd always helps him out. Ljubo, will definitely have his hands full but if he plays as well today, as he did against Nadal, in the semis, then I think he's got a great shot, to win his first masters series tournament.

Ljubicic, at 31 is at the end of his career, he probably won't get another chance at a title this big, so I hope he makes the best of this one.

My Prediction is that Ljubo, beats Roddick in 3 sets.

Bhagdatis upsets Federer, Djokovic ousted by Ljubicic, Nadal survives scare from Isner

Been a tough few days for the top seeds in the BNP Paribas Open. First Baghdatis, felled Federer, in a nail biting 3 set match that went over two hours. Then Rafa, looked like he was going to have the same fate handed to him when Isner, took the second set in their 3 set match, but he managed to fight through it and made his way, into the quarter-finals. Finally Djokovic, who already struggled earlier in the week against Kholscrieber, was downed by Ljubicic, in straights.

At this point Rafa and Murray are the two most likely finalists. A repeat of their match in the finals last year is imminent. But Soderling and Roddick, are the two players most likely to stop that from happening and they're both stationed in Murray's half.

Nadal, has been playing great, as has Murray and I'm really looking forward to a potential showdown between them. Although, Soderling/Roddick vs Nadal would probably be just as exciting.:)

Btw, I hope everyone got the chance to see the Marcos Baghdatis/Roger Federer match. It was a simply incredible, performance from Marcos, even struggled against Roger, he still produced a brilliant level of tennis and played the important points, better than Roger did.

Marcos, really deserved this and I was glad to see him win.

Don't worry too much Federer fans. It wouldn't surprise me at all, to see him come back hard and take Miami, just a couple weeks from now.:)