This is a brutal draw for soderling. Not only does he have Murray to contend with, he has a potential round of 16 mathc up against dolgopolov or Del potro. Del Potro at his best simply has more game than soderling, and dolgopolov beat him in Australia. I still expect him to make it to at least the semis though.(as del potro isn't at his best yet and murray has lost it mentally.)

Agree with tj. Delpo is not back to his best yet. Sod is the man to beat in this quarter, even though Dolgo will give him lots of problem. Still Dolgo has to get pass his other opponents first, so there's no guarantee that Sod and Dolgo will meet.

I am in agreement with the comments already posted about Sod having a really tough draw. If Sod meets Dolgo, he will not want to lose to him again. Also, Delpo has shown signs of regaining his form and that first title win had to be a big boost to his confidence.

You never know, so maybe his draw will open up somewhat. The players have to get through to meet him. Sod has won two titles and seems to be playing well. For now, Murray is the least of his problems!

can't wait for a söderling - murray rematch...

Are you sure it will happen? Both of them have to get there! We will have to wait and see!

i really hope it will happen. it is too seldom top of top players meet head to head :(
that's why year end masters is such a great tournament...

really good they made all top players more encouraged to play all the masters tournaments the recent years...

I think Delpo can make it to R4, may be he will lose against Sod but his chances are bright at least to me.

He has got his confidence booster by winning first ATP event after a long wait and return.

If he plays well he could make it to quarters..

Who knows he may even go out in first round lets hope for the best.

champ,

I agree that it is possible for Delpo to at least make the fourth round and further. Sod is also playing well these days, having won two titles. He should be ready for Delpo but I would really like to see the two of them go at it!

As you say, the possibility of an early exit always exists, but I really think he is in decent enough form to make it further than the first round. I do not envy Ljuby having to play him! He is defending 1000 points as last year's winner, but this will be tough.

I think we may see Andy M do well here.

I don't think Soderling is going to make the quarters. Delpo will beat Dolgo in the third round and then...well, I think Delps just has more game than Soderling.

This is one heckuva quarter.

cheryl,

I must admit that I am a bit surprised at your prediction about Sod. You obviously think that Delpo is in good enough form to take on someone like Sod. I don't know if I am correct, but is it true that Delpo hasn't played any of the top five players yet this year? I don't think he has, but if I am wrong then please correct me.

I think we are all in agreement that this quarter of the draw is highly competitive!

Cheryl has made a couple of good predictions this year but I fear her latest prediction is based on her partiality for the Argentinian. Anyway, NNY, we will soon know, which is a better predictor, the heart or the head. Eleanor Roosevelt is reported to have said, when in doubt, listen to your heart. But, as I am not in doubt ( pride comes before a fall for me? ), I go by my head and I don't think Delpo will get past the Quarters. He may, in fact, fall earlier.

Soderling has won 3 tournaments & is 18 - 1. His luck to get the toughest quarter - hands down. Other than with his loss to Delgo - he's been almost unbreakable - I think he's only lost 3 sets during his 18 wins. He'll make it to the semis.

As we've seen many times, DelPotro becomes very jaded after playing for extended periods of time. And, this is not in any way affiliated with the wrist. His physical resources seem to dwindle pretty quickly. It's one of the reasons he hasn't won a Masters title, as that's the most difficult titles to win due to the tough competition, and very little rest in between matches. DelPotro was so tuckered out at DelRay -- very little rest, with no days off. His physicality has always been very questionable, but he's able to conserve energy and win, due to hitting his FH as hard as he possibly can for an outright winner, while having the opponent scrambling around to get to his return shots. His reach and span are a huge advantage for him especially when he's tired. all he has to do is stick his arm out and return the ball, without running.

Soderling also has a tendency to run low on energy levels when playing for long stretches of time. He recently won a title, then played Davis Cup for Sweden. Thus, it could very well be, that Soderling is also tired.

It will be interesting to see their level of play vs. each other, and in this case, I think the stronger or less tired player will emerge the winner.

Some fans place very little value on a 250/500 title, but those tournaments are also tough, as they are played without days off.

"But, as I am not in doubt ( pride comes before a fall for me? ), I go by my head and I don't think Delpo will get past the Quarters. He may, in fact, fall earlier." holdserve

I think pride goeth before a fall. It never comes, it goes. I'm not one for predictions and post-mortems about who will win, I just speculate a little, but i'd say at the present ime, after watching DelPotro at DelRay, that he must be running on fumes, and that could be the advantage for Soderling.

Their quarter is by far the toughest. Even though Sod's not one of my faves, I think it's fair to say that he's absolutely earned his No. 4 ranking. However, my gut tells me that he's in for a let-down some time soon. And, famous last words, ...... only time will tell .....

Murray loses to Young - 76 63, what a surprise.

Well ...this was disappointing... so much about Muzza Sod match :(
I think that Muzza now has to ask himself... what does he want in tennis!!!
There are two options obviously... to continue to be spoiled brat and take the Prize of Biggest Brit's Failure In Tennis, or to make pause... work with coach, shrink... and get out of mammies influence. Mammy...PLEASE stay at home!!!!
He is sinking like Titanic...
Time to make some changes!!!
Deuce, Alex... what can I say :(

I think we may see Andy M do well here.
smr
, 3/11/11 2:39 AM

There's always doubles.

Don't know what happen to Murray. Feel so sorry for deuce and alex. Are we seeing 2010 all over again for Murray?

I don't know why everyone blames Andy's mother. I am sure she is a pillar of strength to him. When a player is on the court, he is all alone and winning and losing depends entirely on him. Why is Andy disappointing his well-wishers, we don't know. But to blame it on his mother is not justified. Maybe he needs to see a shrink. He is reported to have gone through some traumatic experience in school. Maybe, he needs to let go of something and move on. Maybe, he just needs better coaching.Obviously, he needs some help.

Well, you go out for dinner on a Saturday night and come back to Donald Young having taken out the world number 5.
numero, sounds as if Jamie may have an injury so dubs may not be in the cards either.

omg what a shocker! whats up, Andy? get a shrink already, dude! sorry deuce :(

and sorry alex. too much football, methinks. Nole/ Viktor etc, watch out!

"she is a pillar of strength ..."
...I think that is the problem... HE has to be pillar of strength!!!
Sometimes he reminds me on Dementieva... after every lost point, there is frighten look in mommy's way. Yes he had trauma in school... but it was almost 20 years ago...
Somehow I am sure that this is not top of his carrier, but if he is not careful it could be...
I don't know... but he has to change something... mammy, girlfriend, hairstyle ... whatever...

He's just moody is the thing. Probably one of those days when he doesn't feel like being on court. A shrink could fix everything, even if he was some kind of Serbian witch doctor :P

A traumatic incident in childhood could affect you forever unless you deal with it. I just can't understand otherwise how this super talented guy just seems to give up or play passively against an inferior player.
He could be carrying an injury. These athletes never tell but he was reported to be having some wrist problem after AO and wrist problems could be serious as in the case of Del Potro. He did seem injured even at AO. Leg or something was troubling him, I don't remember what.

stu,

Is there a such thing as a Serbian witch doctor?:)

I was watching the tennis channel, but they showed the Delpo/Ljuby match. Then they cut to the end of the Murray/Young to show the last point. I thought that I was seeing things. I can't say what happened, because they didn't show the whole match. This is really cause for concern.

I don't know what Murray needs, but I still feel that he has lost the joy of playing tennis. Sometimes it's not that complicated.

holdserve, I'm no psychiatrist but I do believe that Murray behaves like someone affected by PTSD. I can see how it would happen, considering that he was friends with the guy who shot all those people. PTSD can be controlled, but never completely goes away. Still, he's a professional sportsperson, and traveling with a therapist might be an option for him.

NNY, I think he will come back strong in Miami. He's got to. He likes to play there, and it's his last chance to get his act together before the clay season...

deuce: commiserations - So sorry about Andy M.

I suppose his wrist is still problematic and he's playing with pain, even though he's not saying. Wasn't his wrist the reason he exited in the first round a month ago? The wrist? One's wrist/joint injury, is not something that gets better with over-use (I speak from experience). I think Andy needs to take some time off and allow his wrist to heal, completely, or else, he'll have a severe problem that could eventually be career ending. I doubt any of this is psychologically related -- it's physically related. And, as such, one cannot force mother nature to do the impossible. Time is a great healer.

I feel the same will happen to DelPotro again. He's engaging in the same MO that caused his injury in the first place = hitting his FH as hard as he possibly can to get an outright winner. For him, it would be better to engage in a longer rally to get the winner, than try to hit it from the inception of the point. There are times when he hits his FH, he grunts very loudly. I don't think that will help JMDP in the future, but will cause him more problems.