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3/11/09 5:36 PM | Ricky Dimon
Andy Murray, ready to go for Indian Wells bot reportedly not 100 percent, is in a quarter of the draw riddled with talented Frenchmen (including Jo-Wilfried Tsonga) and Croats (including Marin Cilic).
Two players already with multiple ATP titles in 2009 could meet as early as the fourth round at the Masters Series Indian Wells, as Andy Murray and Marin Cilic were place in the same eighth of the BNP Paribas Open draw. Murray won a season-opening title in Doha and defeated Rafael Nadal in the Rotterdam final last month. Cilic also won a season-opening title in Chennai and secured a second trophy in his hometown of Zagreb, Croatia.
Murray, however, withdrew from the Barclays Championships in Dubai with a virus after reaching the quarterfinals. The Scot did not recover in time for Davis Cup last weekend, but he says he is ready for Indian Wells despite not being 100 percent.
Unfortunately for Murray, he might have to be 100 percent in order to get out of this quarter of the draw. Cilic is joined in Murray's section by fellow Croats Mario Ancic and Ivan Ljubicic. With Ancic and Ljubcic in the other half of the quarter, however, it's unlikely either one will eventually face Murray or Cilic. Ljubcic, unseeded, faces a first-round test against Kei Nishikori and Ancic would probably have to beat the Ljubicic-Nishikori winner, Gilles Simon, and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in order to make a quarterfinal appearance.
In addition to Tsonga and Simon in the top half of this section, Frenchmen Paul-Henri Mathieu and Florent Serra are with Murray in the bottom half. Serra, who has been playing relatively well during the U.S. hard-court swing, will face Murray if he can take out clay-courter Albert Montanes in the opening round. Mathieu has not been impressive in 2009, but he only needs to win one match in Indian Wells to set up a third-round clash with the world No. 4. Murray and Cilic are on a collision course for the fourth round, but Cilic will probably first have to survive Tommy Robredo (who also has multiple titles already in 2009) in the third round. Robredo would have the edge in that match on clay, but Cilic should not have too much trouble with the Spaniard on hard courts.
Predictions: Fourth round - Tsonga over Simon and Murray over Cilic. Quarterfinals - Tsonga over Murray.
It will be difficult for Murray to string together four straight wins if he is not 100 percent physically; especially with Cilic and Tsonga in his quarter of the draw. One impressive performance (perhaps against Cilic) is not too much to ask of him, but Tsonga is in scary form at the moment. Tsonga also (you guessed it!) has multiple titles in 2009 (Johannesburg and Marseille), making it four players in this section with two titles already this season. Needless to say, it's going to a battle every step of the way in Murray's quarter, but Tsonga should have the inside track on a semifinal berth.
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