ATP M1000/WTA PM BNP Paribas Opn 3/7-3/18/2012

[mmmm8]

RESULTS
Men's Singles - Final


[3] R Federer (SUI) d [11] J Isner (USA), 7-6(7), 6-3



Women's Singles - Final


[1] V Azarenka (BLR) d [2] M Sharapova (RUS), 6-2, 6-3



Men's Doubles - Final


M Lopez (ESP) / R Nadal (ESP) d J Isner (USA) / S Querrey (USA), 6-2, 7-6(3)

[TalkAboutTennis]

2012 BNP PARIBAS OPEN SETS ATTENDANCE RECORDS

More Than 370,000 Fans Attend The Tournament;
Classic Series Ticket Packages For 2013 Event On Sale Wednesday

INDIAN WELLS, Calif., March 19, 2012 – For the sixth straight year,
the BNP Paribas Open, the largest ATP World Tour and WTA combined
event, has broken its attendance record. The 2012 event welcomed
370,408 fans to the Indian Wells Tennis Garden for two weeks of
world-class tennis.

In addition to breaking overall attendance records, the tournament
also set a day session attendance record on Sunday, March 11 with more
than 24,300 fans coming to the event. The staggering attendance
figures solidify the BNP Paribas Open’s place as the most-attended ATP
World Tour and WTA combined event in the world.

Fans interested in the 2013 edition of the tournament (March 4-17),
can begin purchasing tickets Wednesday, March 21 when Classic Series
ticket packages go on sale. The Classic Series package includes all 21
sessions of tennis and is the tournament’s best value.

World No. 1 Victoria Azarenka captured her first BNP Paribas Open
title and brought her season record to 23-0 with a win over 2006 BNP
Paribas Open champion and World No. 2 Maria Sharapova. This was the
first time the WTA No. 1 and No. 2 players faced off in a final since
2008. On the men’s side, Roger Federer defeated World No. 2 Rafael
Nadal in the semifinals and then defeated American star John Isner in
the final to earn his record-setting fourth BNP Paribas Open title.

In doubles, the World No. 1 team of Liezel Huber and Lisa Raymond
defeated No. 2 seed and defending BNP Paribas Open doubles champions
Elena Vesnina and Sania Mirza. The team of Rafael Nadal and Marc Lopez
captured their second BNP Paribas Open doubles title (first was 2010)
by defeating Americans John Isner and Sam Querrey in the final.

About the BNP Paribas Open

The BNP Paribas Open is the largest ATP World Tour and WTA combined
two-week event in the world, offers more than $11,000,000 in prize
money, and is the only event to provide the Hawkeye line challenge
system on all match courts. In 2011, more than 350,000 people attended
the event. Visit www.bnpparibasopen.com to purchase tickets online and
view the calendar of events, listing of main draw singles players,
schedule of matches and more. Indian Wells Tennis Garden Box Office,
800-999-1585 or 760-200-8000, 78-200 Miles Avenue, Indian Wells, CA,
92210.

About BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas (www.bnpparibas.com) is one of the best rated banks in the
world*. The Group has a presence in more than 80 countries and more
than 200,000 employees, including more than 160,000 in Europe. It
ranks highly in its three core activities: Retail Banking, Investment
Solutions and Corporate & Investment Banking. In Europe, the Group has
four domestic markets (Belgium, France, Italy and Luxembourg) and BNP
Paribas Personal Finance is the leader in consumer lending. BNP
Paribas is rolling out its integrated retail banking model across the
Europe-Mediterranean zone and boasts a large network in the western
part of the United States. In its Corporate & Investment Banking and
Investment Solutions activities, BNP Paribas also enjoys top positions
in Europe, a strong presence in the Americas and solid and
fast-growing businesses in Asia. *Rated AA- by Standard & Poor's.

About BNP Paribas and Tennis

Long-standing partner to the sport of tennis since 1973, BNP Paribas
is actively involved in the game at both local and international
level, and in club, schools and social tennis as well as professional
events. BNP Paribas has gradually become the number one sponsor in
world tennis: official sponsor of Roland Garros since 1973 and sponsor
of five ATP Masters 1000 events - the BNP Paribas Masters since 1986,
Monte Carlo Masters since 2005, Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome
since 2006, BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells since 2009 and the
Shanghai Masters since 2010. The Group is also title sponsor of the
Davis Cup by BNP Paribas since 2001 and the Fed Cup by BNP Paribas
since 2005, as well as being actively involved in many other
international competitions including the Bank of the West Classic in
California, the Grand Prix Hassan II in Casablanca, the Open 13 in Marseille and
the BNP Paribas Showdown in New York. BNP Paribas is also an official
partner of International Wheelchair Tennis, such as the “BNP Paribas
World Team Cup”. Through its support for more than 20 national tennis
associations, 2000 clubs, 550 amateur tournaments, plus schools and
social programmes around the world, BNP Paribas helps to promote
tennis and encourage widespread participation in the game. The Group's
commitment to social values is reflected in the sports sponsorships it
has undertaken in numerous projects, including Yannick Noah's ‘Fête le
Mur’ Association and the tennis Téléthon in France, the Oberer Tennis
Camp in Switzerland and the BNP Paribas ‘Taste of Tennis’ in the
United States. As part of its creative sports sponsorship policy, BNP
Paribas is launching a website “wearetennis.com” entirely dedicated to
tennis news. The Group’s new sponsorship slogan ‘We are tennis’
underlines the fact that BNP Paribas promotes tennis for all, at all
levels.

###

[ponchi101]

It is good to see that Rafa will be able to keep himself busy during the non-clay season playing doubles.
(Almost a year now without a title. Not. That. Good.)

[James7]

It is good to see that Rafa will be able to keep himself busy during the non-clay season playing doubles.
(Almost a year now without a title. Not. That. Good.)

He was in a ton of finals lost to Djokovic, though. Including all of the GS.

[suliso]

He was in a ton of finals lost to Djokovic, though. Including all of the GS.

Certainly, but his last title was at RG. Never mind Djokovic, other people have won multiple titles since. Roger Feder has 6, Murray 6, Tsonga 3, Ferrer 3.

[Edmond Dantès]

It is good to see that Rafa will be able to keep himself busy during the non-clay season playing doubles.
(Almost a year now without a title. Not. That. Good.)

He has been known to have these longish delays between titles before. Have to bear in mind that if it wasn't for Novak then he would likely have won most of the big titles in the last year (not that I'm suggesting you are unaware!). So. Not. That. Bad. Either. And Monte Carlo is on the horizon*

* I reserve the right to completely change my tone on this if he doesn't win on the clay

EDIT - note to self, check for other responses before typing own response

I think one of the other reasons why he sometimes has these extended gaps (compared to the other top guys) is because he tends not to achieve so much in the post US Open period - either through burn out/injuries, lack of motivation, because the indoor events suit some other guys more than it does him etc.

[suliso]

Haven't you heard that Djokovic is playing Monte Carlo this year?

[Edmond Dantès]

Haven't you heard that Djokovic is playing Monte Carlo this year?

He's has 2 semi final defeats in a row. Terrible compared to last year. It's a crisis

Look forward to seeing what happens. Heading into it, it seems like the most open clay season for a long long time.

[ponchi101]

It was kinda tongue in cheek, specially in view that he IS a rather good doubles player.
But:
He is nowhere near his 2010 form. The backhand has reverted to being a liability, after it had become a weapon in 2008. His serve has dropped. And as somebody pointed out, the rest of the lot have won multiple tournaments.
Right now, I don't think he is #2. Roger can claim that. Rafa is at #3, and if he does not anchor the backhand he is vulnerable to every single top 10 guy except Fish (who may be a fish, but currently a guppy).

[Moose]

Right now, I don't think he is #2. Roger can claim that. Rafa is at #3, and if he does not anchor the backhand he is vulnerable to every single top 10 guy except Fish (who may be a fish, but currently a guppy).

Then the really bad news is that after next week, Fish is most likely out of the Rop 10.

[Edmond Dantès]

It was kinda tongue in cheek, specially in view that he IS a rather good doubles player.
But:
He is nowhere near his 2010 form. The backhand has reverted to being a liability, after it had become a weapon in 2008. His serve has dropped. And as somebody pointed out, the rest of the lot have won multiple tournaments.
Right now, I don't think he is #2. Roger can claim that. Rafa is at #3, and if he does not anchor the backhand he is vulnerable to every single top 10 guy except Fish (who may be a fish, but currently a guppy).

I think he definitely lost something on serve compared to the 2010 US Open. But as time goes on, that kind of looks like a freak occurrence that he is never getting back to. Suddenly he was getting extra speed on it. Then suddenly he wasn't.

Backhand. You might well be right on this. When it comes to his matches against Djokovic it's definitely one of the areas that is costing him.

Rankings. I see the case for what you are saying. But in the biggest tournament of the year so far Rafa outperformed Roger. And compared to Roger he has hardly played this year.

Matches against the top 10. Again, I understand your caveat. However, I don't really see that Rafa is going to be losing many matches to people outside the top 4 in the coming months.

These types of discussion are very subjective. No doubt that he is a fantastic doubles player though.

[Drop-shot]

It was kinda tongue in cheek, specially in view that he IS a rather good doubles player.
But:
He is nowhere near his 2010 form. The backhand has reverted to being a liability, after it had become a weapon in 2008. His serve has dropped. And as somebody pointed out, the rest of the lot have won multiple tournaments.
Right now, I don't think he is #2. Roger can claim that. Rafa is at #3, and if he does not anchor the backhand he is vulnerable to every single top 10 guy except Fish (who may be a fish, but currently a guppy).

You that watching his matches at Indian Wells I got a sense his backhand was doing some damage again. I'm not that pessimistic about that shot in particular.

His serve can be explained because he reverted to his previous technique. Don't remember where I saw a video of Rafa practicing what would be his USO '10 serve with a new coach. In that same vid, they marked that he had stopped using the changes introduced by said coach.

[omess]

Then the really bad news is that after next week, Fish is most likely out of the Rop 10.

After you take way 2011 Miami points, #8 Tipsaveric 2640 #9 Isner 2585, #10 Del Potro 2570, #11 Fish 2550. So it will be a battle

[James7]

I still can't follow the logic of someone who is still riding 4 consecutive GS finals "in trouble". It's the same problem I have with calling Roger washed up. He's only really losing consistently to the current world number one and I would think that there would only be that one person would would not trade last year's results with him.

[munchin]

I still can't follow the logic of someone who is still riding 4 consecutive GS finals "in trouble". It's the same problem I have with calling Roger washed up. He's only really losing consistently to the current world number one and I would think that there would only be that one person would would not trade last year's results with him.

I'm positive Rafa wouldn't trade last year's results with Roger, either