After becoming the first Serbians to win the Indian Wells title last year, Novak Djokovic and Ana Ivanovic were on top of the world. But time did not fly for the multi-talented childhood friends, as after the French Open, where Ivanovic won her maid
en Slam and then Aussie Open champ Djokovic reached the semis, the wheels came off.
Ivanovic hasn’t won a Tier I title since then and while Djokovic did turn his head around in the fall and by winning Shanghai, he flamed out at the Aussie Open, retiring against Andy Roddick in the final.
Djokovic is not the favorite to repeat in the desert but should be a major factor and is way too talented and headstrong to be counted out. Rafael Nadal, the ‘07 champ and new No. 1 is coming off leg problems, while another former champ, Roger Federer, is contending with back problems.
An American hasn’t won the tournament since ‘01, when Andre Agassi reigned supreme. None of the current guys have been tearing it up, but Roddick seems to have improved a bit under his new coach, Larry Stefanki (who won the ‘85 tournament when it was played at La Quinta). The attacking ‘08 finalist Mardy Fish is striving to crack the top 10 and 29-year-old James Blake is dying for his first Masters Series shield. Watch out, too, for young Southern Californian Sam Querrey.
If you are searching a non-American to go far, look no further than Britain’s Andy Murray, who outside of Nadal, has been the tour’s most impressive performer over the past seven months. Then there’s Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, an enthusiastic, powerful player who loves hardcourts and is staring down the top five. Other players worth watching are Fernando Verdasco, Gilles Simon, Gael Monfils, Nikolay Davydenko, Juan Martin del Potro, Marin Cilic and Ernest Gulbis.
Ivanovic could really use another significant crown to boost her confidence and after Alisa Kleybanova upset her in Australia, she hired Craig Kardon, Martina Navratilova’s tutor, as her new coach. AI isn’t the only Serbian woman who has been slumping: JJ (aka Jelena Jankovic), who ended ‘08 at No. 1 despite not winning a Slam, has had a lousy start to the year, after all she has been beaten up in three straight events by competitors she should have had her way with if she was in good form.
Outside of Aussie Open champion Serena Williams — the last American to win the tournament in ‘01 and who is once again boycotting the event with her sister, Venus – few players on tour have been tearing it up. No. 2 Dinara Safina has a great chance to take over No. 1, but she’s been emotionally reeling post her devastating loss to Serena in the AO final.
Maria Sharapova, the ‘06 titlist, hasn’t played since last August due to a shoulder injury and while she’ll be pumped up for her comeback, she can’t be expected to go far. So who does that leave to take long gander at? Certainly the 5 fiery 20-and-under players ranked between No. 10 and No. 18 – Agnieszka Radwanska, Alize Cornet, Caroline Wozniacki, Victoria Azarenka and Dominika Cibulkova. Then there’s Ms. IW, two-time titlist Daniela Hantuchova, as well as the revived two-time Slam titlist Amelie Mauresmo and the new comeback queen, Aussie Jelena Dokic. Russian veterans like Svetlana Kuznetsova, Nadia Petrova and the red hot Vera Zvonareva never go away, but outside of her walkabout against Serena in the AO semis, it’s Elena Dementieva who is looking all the part of a No. 1 to be and is a solid pick to win her first IW crown.
